The Great Houdinis

Oct 8, 1976

1h 36m

★ 5.9

A supernatural man. A supernatural love.

Overview

A biography of the renowned escape artist Harry Houdini, examining his fascination with the occult and his promise to his wife on her deathbed that he would speak from the beyond.

Genres

Drama

TV Movie

History

Production Companies

ABC Circle Films

The Great Houdinis Trailers

Cast

Harry Houdini

Paul Michael Glaser

Bess Houdini

Sally Struthers

Cecilia Weiss

Ruth Gordon

Minnie

Vivian Vance

Daisy White

Adrienne Barbeau

Rev. Arthur Ford

Bill Bixby

Theo Weiss

Jack Carter

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Peter Cushing

Reverend Le Veyne

Nina Foch

Superintendent Melville

Wilfrid Hyde-White

Dr. Crandon

Geoffrey Lewis

Lady Conan Doyle

Maureen O'Sullivan

The 1960s was an extraordinary time for the United States. Unburdened by post-war reparations, Americans were preoccupied with other developments like NASA, the game-changing space programme that put Neil Armstrong on the moon. Yet it was astronauts like Eugene Cernan who paved the uneven, perilous path to lunar exploration. A test pilot who lived to court danger, he was recruited along with 14 other men in a secretive process that saw them become the closest of friends and adversaries. In this intensely competitive environment, Cernan was one of only three men who was sent twice to the moon, with his second trip also being NASA’s final lunar mission. As he looks back at what he loved and lost during the eight years in Houston, an incomparably eventful life emerges into view. Director Mark Craig crafts a quietly epic biography that combines the rare insight of the surviving former astronauts with archival footage and otherworldly moonscapes.

3.0

Sisi/Last Minute

Sep 19, 1991

The immature young ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Franz Joseph, was extremely shy around women but (according to this film) was constantly being propositioned, lewdly or otherwise, by ambitious courtesans. When he was finally married to his Empress, the teen-aged Bavarian princess Sisi (Elizabeth), it seems that his relief knew no bounds, for he was now sure that he would never have to think about sex ever again. According to the filmmakers, this is the true history of that marriage. This story is a complete reversal of the romantic legend depicted in the popular 1955 film Sissi, which helped brighten the emerging stardom of Romy Schneider.

6.9

Tolkien

May 3, 2019

England, early 20th century. The future writer and philologist John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) and three of his schoolmates create a strong bond between them as they share the same passion for literature and art, a true fellowship that strengthens as they grow up, but the outbreak of World War I threatens to shatter it.

8.0

The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn

Mar 9, 1986

In this tribute to her frequent co-star and longtime love, Katharine Hepburn hosts a behind-the-scenes look at Spencer Tracy's personal and professional life that features intimate personal accounts, interviews and clips from his most acclaimed work on the silver screen.

1.5

Daniel, the Wizard

Aug 12, 2004

Evil teenager assassins Rike & Tom want to kill and film the execution of the rock star Daniel Küblböck [or Lana Kaiser to be correct], who is spiritually supported by his dead grandfather Johnny, with the support of the mysterious Baltazar! Will our well-intentioned wizard succeed to survive this Christmas related mess and learn to forgive the others while beign kidnapped and almost executed, even if that means stickin' his finger in cakes, rollin' in tha snow like a cat or having psychedelic music dreams? (and singin' some bangers in the meanwhile!)

7.9

Autumn Milk

Jan 19, 1989

With the death of her mother, eight-year-old Anna ends her childhood: From now on, she has to look after the nine-member family. Deprivation-rich years, which also find no end when Anna marries: Her husband Albert must be a soldier in the Second World War, and the pregnant Anna has to work hard in the farm and care sick relatives. Lonely and exposed to the harassment of the tyrannical mother-in-law, she waits for Albert, with no certainty that he will ever return.

7.0

Gorillas in the Mist

Sep 23, 1988

The story of Dian Fossey, a scientist who came to Africa to study the vanishing mountain gorillas, and later fought to protect them.

7.2

Milk

Nov 5, 2008

The true story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man ever elected to public office. In San Francisco in the late 1970s, Harvey Milk becomes an activist for gay rights and inspires others to join him in his fight for equal rights that should be available to all Americans.

7.5

My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown

Apr 7, 1989

No one expects much from Christy Brown, a boy with cerebral palsy born into a working-class Irish family. Though Christy is a spastic quadriplegic and essentially paralyzed, a miraculous event occurs when, at the age of 5, he demonstrates control of his left foot by using chalk to scrawl a word on the floor. With the help of his steely mother — and no shortage of grit and determination — Christy overcomes his infirmity to become a painter, poet and author.

6.1

Diesel

Feb 9, 1943

No overview available.

0.0

Thomas Müntzer

May 16, 1956

In 1523, young Thomas Müntzer arrives with his wife Ottilie in the Thuringian village Allstedt to assume the rectorate. As a follower of Luther′s teachings, he finds in the Bible not only reasons for clerical, but also for secular reforms. But when Luther turns away from the rural population after a discord with Müntzer, it is Müntzer who becomes the peoples′ spokesman. He is forced to go to Southern Germany, where he convenes with revolting farmers. But his way leads him back to Thuringia. In 1525, he and Heinrich Pfeiffer form the centre of the Thuringian peasant uprising in Mühlhausen, but their success is diminished by the fact that peasants and craftsmen don′t seem to be able to work together. In Frankenhausen, Müntzer becomes the leader of a peasants′ army that is set to fighting the ruler′s army – and sustains a devastating loss. Müntzer is arrested and sentenced to death by decapitation for his insurgency.

6.9

Nixon

Dec 22, 1995

A look at President Richard M. Nixon—a man carrying the fate of the world on his shoulders while battling the self-destructive demands from within—spanning his troubled boyhood in California to the shocking Watergate scandal that would end his Presidency.

6.7

Moulin Rouge

Dec 23, 1952

In 1890 Paris, Moulin Rouge is a nightclub where crippled artist Toulouse-Lautrec feels like he fits in. In the following years, he meets two women who provide an opportunity for him to find true love.

6.6

Farinelli

Dec 1, 1994

The life and career of Italian opera singer Farinelli, considered one of the greatest castrato singers of all time.

7.9

Faust

Oct 13, 1926

God and Satan wager on the soul of a learned and prayerful alchemist as part of their eternal war over Earth.