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The Grim Game

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Director
  
Irvin Willat

Budget
  
200,000 USD

7/10
IMDb

Genre
  
Adventure, Drama

Duration
  

Country
  
United States

The Grim Game movie poster

Language
  
Silent film English intertitles

Writer
  
Arthur B. Reeve
,
John Grey

Release date
  
August 25, 1919 (1919-08-25)

Initial release
  
August 25, 1919 (New York City)

Screenplay
  
Irvin Willat, Walter Woods

Cast
  
Harry Houdini
(Harvey Hanford),
Thomas Jefferson
(Dudley Cameron),
Ann Forrest
(Mary Cameron),
Augustus Phillips
(Clifton Allison),
Tully Marshall
(Richard Raver),
Arthur Hoyt
(Dr. Harvey Tyson)

Similar movies
  
Salt
,
Knock Knock
,
Blackhat
,
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,
Saving Private Ryan
,
Casino Royale

Houdini the grim game 1919 the plane crash


The Grim Game is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by Irvin Willat and starring Harry Houdini and Ann Forrest. The basic plotline serves as a showcase for Houdini's talent as an escapologist, stunt performer and aviator.

Contents

The Grim Game Harry Houdini Silent Movies The Grim Game

Plot

The Grim Game Films of Harry Houdini The Grim Game 1919 Monster Movie Kid

A gang of men frame Harvey Hanford (Houdini) for murder, and also decide to kidnap his fiancée. Hanford is quickly apprehended by the police and falsely imprisoned for the crime. Shortly afterward, Hanford escapes and pursues the men who framed him. The film unfolds as a series of Houdini's trademark set-piece stunts and escapes; his tormentors chain him up and imprison him on numerous occasions, only for Hanford to escape. The film concludes with a climactic mid-air collision following an aeroplane pursuit. Following the collision, Hanford is reunited with his fiancée.

Cast

The Grim Game The Grim Game harryhoudinicircumstantialevidencecom

  • Harry Houdini as Harvey Hanford (credited as Houdini)
  • Thomas Jefferson as Dudley Cameron
  • Ann Forrest as Mary Cameron
  • Augustus Phillips as Clifton Allison
  • Tully Marshall as Richard Raver
  • Arthur Hoyt as Dr. Harvey Tyson
  • Mae Busch as Ethel Delmead (credited as Mae Bush)
  • Edward Martin as Police Reporter
  • Jane Wolfe as Hannah (credited as Jane Wolf)

    • Plane collision

    The Grim Game Review of The Grim Game and the Festivities in Hollywood

    The famous mid-air plane collision was not scripted. It was a real accident caught on film over the skies of Santa Monica, California. Stuntman Robert E. Kennedy was doubling Houdini at the time. No one was killed, and the story was rewritten to incorporate the accident. Publicity was geared heavily toward promoting this dramatic "caught on film" moment, claiming it was Houdini himself dangling from the plane.

    Preservation

    The Grim Game Card harryhoudinicircumstantialevidencecom

    Widely considered to have been a lost film, a complete print of the film was acquired by Turner Classic Movies from Larry Weeks, a former juggler from Brooklyn who had obtained his copy from the Houdini estate.

    Following up on a lead from Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz of The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, The Grim Game was restored by Rick Schmidlin. TCM gave the restored version a world premiere as the closing film for their annual Classic Film Festival on March 29, 2015. TCM premiered the film on October 18, 2015.

    Poster

    An original 1919 movie poster from The Grim Game was auctioned by eMoviePoster.com for $67,166 on December 3, 2013, a new auction record for any Houdini poster (movie or magic). The poster was purchased by illusionist David Copperfield.

    References

    The Grim Game Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA

    The Grim Game IMDbThe Grim Game themoviedb.org