Houdini Adaptations, plus Playwriting and Film Treatments: The Grim Game and Terror Island Stories Hardcover – August 25, 2024

Arthur B. Reeve and Houdini worked on three silent film stories together, ‘The Master Mystery’ (1918), ‘The Grim Game’ (1919), and ‘Terror Island’ (1920). ‘The Master Mystery’ silent film was adapted to a book in 1919. While not adapted to a book, ‘The Grim Game’, was adapted to a story paper format in 1920, just like ‘Terror Island’ was in 1921.‘The Grim Game’ and ‘Terror Island’ story adaptations are featured in Joe M. Notaro’s book for the first time and illustrated with original movie stills to help tell the story. For each of the 3 films that Reeve and Houdini worked on, Notaro also shares the cast, synopsis, words of Houdini, history, advertising campaign, and missing footage information.A 1924 newspaper article, ‘Houdini Breaks into Playwrighting’ describing a new previously unknown stage play that reads like the plot summary from ‘The Grim Game’ is also featured in the book, along with tidbits about each of his known stage plays: Challenged or Houdini Upside Down (1911), Walking Through a Brick Wall (1914), and Buried Alive (1914).And as a bonus, Notaro shares the ‘Out of the Shadows’ Film Treatment from his personal collection that has never been published until now. Along with that, he summarizes and shares tidbits about each of Houdini’s other film treatments: The Marvelous Adventures of Houdini (1917), The Far North or The Man From Beyond (1921), Haldane of the Secret Service or Mysterious Mr. Yu (1921), Yar, the Primeval Man (1921), Il Mistero de Osiris or The Mystery of the Jewel (1921), The Great Tontine (1992), The Monster (1992), The Vulture (1992), Floating Through Space (1992), and Blood Brothers (unpublished). Read more