Haldane of the Secret Service (1923)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Harry Houdini

Release Date:

30 September 1923 (USA)

Genre:

Crime

Plot:

Heath Haldane (Houdini) tracks down a vicious gang of counterfeiters, narrowly missing death several times. He must rescue Adele Ormsby, whom he loves despite her pending marriage. |

Plot Keywords:

Melodrama

Cast

Harry Houdini	...	Heath Haldane
Gladys Leslie	...	Adele Ormsby
William Humphrey	...	Edward Ormsby / Fuh Wong / Dr. Yu
Richard Carlyle	...	Joe Ivors
Edward Boulden	...	Raoul Usher (as Edward Bouldin)
Jane Jennings	...	Mrs. Clara Usher
Charles Fang	...	Ah Sing
Myrtle Morse	...	Andrea Dayton
Irving Brooks	...	Bruce Dayton

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Company:

Houdini Picture Corporation

Trivia:

A print of this film survives in the UCLA Film and Television Archives.

A curio...a very, very dull curio!

Most people probably don't know that magician Harry Houdini made a few movies during the latter part of his life. The last of these was was HALDANE OF THE SECRET SERVICE. Well, I haven't yet seen his earlier ones, but you might assume this could be his best because he had so much experience with his earlier films. If that is the case, then the earlier ones were REAAALLLY bad! That's because HALDANE was a very dull film whose only strength were its location shots in Paris and the UK--something quite amazing for a 1920s film.

The plot is about Haldane (Houdini) investigating a ring of counterfeiters led by a mysterious Chinese baddie. Along the way, Haldane meets a young lady (who seemed rather dim) and despite having very little reason, he falls for her by the end of the film--even though her family is deeply involved with the criminal empire.

As for what I didn't like about the film, there was quite a bit. First, this was about the talkiest silent film ever made. Having a talky film may not be bad, but with a silent, it's a huge problem. Too often, you read and read and read and there isn't all that much action despite it being an action film. Second, while Houdini was an amazing magician, he was no great actor actor AND there is only one minor magic trick (of sorts) in the film. It just doesn't play to his strengths. In addition, the film just seemed uninspired and unexceptional.

Overall, it's worth seeing as a curio--you can see Houdini doing something other than acting in old archival footage. But, for the average viewer, it's eminently skipable.