Many people have forgotten that escape artist Harry Houdini parlayed his stage fame into a series of gimmick movies and a serial during the age of silent films. Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at those overlooked productions.
THE MASTER MYSTERY (1918-1919) – The first film footage of Harry Houdini performing his stage act dates to 1907, but it wasn’t until this 15-part serial that he hit the big screen in a series of adventures. Chapter One of The Master Mystery debuted on November 18th, 1918 and starred Houdini as a federal agent named Quentin Locke.
Quentin is assigned to infiltrate a sinister corporation that practices patent fraud, but as Locke’s investigation probes deeper, a far-reaching conspiracy against the entire United States is exposed.
Every cliffhanger ending for the chapters of the serials involves a deathtrap which Houdini escapes from at the start of the following installment.
No trick photography was used in filming Harry’s escapes, and another bit of history in The Master Mystery involves the villain’s robot, called the Automaton. One of the first powered exoskeletons in movie history was used to maneuver the android around. As the story goes on, the Automaton’s creator modifies it to spray his nerve gas called the Madagascan Madness. Continue reading
A MODERN MUSKETEER (1917) – This 68-minute film was released on December 30th, 1917, when Douglas Fairbanks was known for his comedies rather than for his later success as cinema’s first swashbuckling superstar. 
I’m not exaggerating when I say that that opening segment provides almost as many thrills and spectacular stunts as the entirety of Doug’s 1921 serious turn as D’Artagnan in 
THE MYSTERY OF THE LEAPING FISH (1916) – Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog may remember that I’m a geek for Silent Movies. Last week’s look at 
The short’s comedic approach to cocaine, opium and more demonstrates the “anything goes” attitude before film codes were implemented to ban certain content from the big screen. In the pre-internet years, The Mystery of the Leaping Fish was a film that people refused to believe existed until you had them sit down and watch it with you.
THE MARK OF ZORRO (1920) – Douglas Fairbanks digs into his comedic AND acrobatic skills in this first screen adaptation of Johnston McCully’s masked hero of 1820s California (The Curse of Capistrano had just been published the year before and Fairbanks bought the film rights for United Artists.) 
Excellent fight choreography, heroic opposition to tyranny and the rousing, marathon chase and fight scene near the film’s finale make The Mark of Zorro an absolute must-see for anyone curious about silent movies. Nearly every frame of the film is a portrait.
Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog may remember that I’m a silent movie geek, and have reviewed some of them in the past. Today, I decided to post this beautiful silent era movie poster for Douglas Fairbanks’ forerunner of modern-day special effects blockbusters – his 1924 version of The Thief of Bagdad.
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