Alicia I love this movie so much

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

classicsoncall Do you really need a recommendation to watch this restored film from 1919? Come on - the real Harry Houdini is in it! A couple of other reviewers here go into the film's discovery and restoration with the cooperation of the Turner Classic Movie channel so there's no need to go into that. What's rather extraordinary is the fact that there's actually a real story here, a murder mystery that evolves from a rather shady plan orchestrated by newspaper reporter Harvey Hanford (Houdini himself!) in order to save the financially struggling Daily Call. It involved faking the owner's death, with Hanford setting himself up to be incriminated for murder, and then after a time, the owner Dudley Cameron (Thomas Jefferson) would simply show up none the worse for wear. In the mean time, the newspaper capitalizes on the publicity, saving itself via a news hungry public buying it's coverage of the story.This picture is considered the first and best of five movies Harry Houdini participated in. I haven't seen the others so there's no way to judge for my part. What I can say with this one viewing is that Houdini himself presents a very versatile, athletic and highly physical dimension to the role portraying his character Hanford. The movie itself is a forum for capturing some of his most famous escape routines on film, including a prison break where he extracts himself from a series of chains, along with a daring upside down escape from a straight jacket hanging a few stories in the air. I was also impressed by a maneuver that stunt man Yakima Canutt eventually made as one of his trademarks. Following the prison escape, Houdini scrambles underneath a moving vehicle and hangs on to the undercarriage to make a clean getaway. Quite impressive.As for the main story, a trio of individuals that are part of Dudley Cameron's circle agree to participate in Hanford's ruse, but then operate independently, each for their own benefit. With Hanford on the run from the now very real murder of Cameron, it will take all of his cunning to flush out the real killer and save his fiancée Mary (Ann Forrest), ward and heiress to the Cameron fortune. The picture ends with a thrilling airplane chase leading to a mid-air collision and plane crash, though the two planes involved in the original stunt actually landed safely.The quality of the restoration is laudable and the movie itself looks to be reasonably complete. At about the one hour mark there are significant imperfections that apparently could not be improved upon at both outer margins, and the effect appears almost psychedelic, like something you might have seen musical groups of the Sixties use during appearances on variety shows of that era. At least that's the way it struck this viewer. Otherwise, the quality of the picture is rather exceptional, no mean feat for a film approaching the century mark.

HallmarkMovieBuff With financing from TCM, the only known print of Houdini's first film was restored to near-perfect condition (except for some deterioration damage toward the end) and found its television premiere on TCM on Sunday, October 18, 2015. A recap of the finding and restoring of the film can be found in ellebrennan's review here of October 20. Although Brennan's recap (excerpted from Houdini.org) credits renowned composer Brane Živković with having created a new score for the restoration, what neither hers nor any other review here to date of the restored film mentions is that TCM showed the film twice that night, first with Živković's score, then again later with a more traditional silent film score by Steve Sterner. Unfortunately, I missed what host Robert Osborne may or may not have said about the Sterner score, but in my estimation, although less innovative, it may in some way be preferable. Živković's score is thematically more operatic in that characters have their own themes assigned to them. Since Houdini (and his character) is on the screen so much throughout the film, his theme eventually becomes monotonous. Variations of his theme would be highly appreciated. Sterner's score, being more traditional as silent film scores go, does not vary with the characters, per se, but if with anything, the action. Let the discussion begin.

sosuttle I was skeptical of this film and prepared not to like it, However, I was pleasantly surprised by the TCM 'television premier' last Sunday of a nicely completed full-length restoration. I find most films from the 1916-1920 era to be horribly dated with that era's overdone style of acting. There are notable exceptions like Pickford, Chaplin, and Fairbanks, of course, but these older silents are sometimes hard to watch and even absurdly clumsy. The Grim Game has some of that chewed-scenery aspect, but overall it is well done. The story is a bit far fetched, but nonetheless entertaining. And many of our later favorites - Tully Marshall, Mae Busch, and Arthur Hoyt - appear. As for Houdini, he performs as expected in several escape scenes which naturally is what one expects. I had never seen him before and considering that his name is still legendary after 100 years, the film is worth a look if only for that. The Grim Game also has some really interesting 'snapshots' of the era including an incredible (in the sense of 'not believable') aeroplane (sic) chase. All of that having been said, kudos to preservationists and restorers for their tedious and painstaking work on films like these. It is greatly appreciated by me and legions of movie buffs.

ellebrennan From Houdini.org:Magicians Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz, from the Houdini Museum in Scranton, PA, tell the story of the finding and restoration of the long lost Houdini silent movie from 1919, "The Grim Game". Dorothy Dietrich and Dick Brookz from The Houdini Museum in Scranton, PA revealed, "The film has not been shown to the general public for 96 years. This was one of the most sought after items in Houdini History. It has been considered the Holy Grail of Houdini history!" Houdini's movie "The Grim Game" made in 1919, has been unavailable until now and has been considered lost by film historians. Brookz commented, "The only complete copy of the film was hidden in the collection of juggler, magician, Houdini collector Larry Weeks. Dorothy and Dick had kept a friendly relationship with Larry Weeks and that is what helped to make this happen. Larry Weeks called himself "Houdini's biggest fan" and amassed a Houdini collection. He had the only known print of Houdini's lost film, "The Grim Game." He was known to show it at various occasions in his life time. It is the best of Houdini's five films. Dick Brookz commented "Over the years Larry invited us to see the film on two occasions. He found it odd and incomprehensible when I, Dick Brookz, told him that some magicians berated him for hoarding the movie that he preserved over the years at great personal cost." We called Larry Weeks on his private number and told him about our desire to have the film restored. It took several calls and over two weeks to convince Larry to meet with a go-between. Larry finally agreed and gave us permission to pass along Larry's number. A meeting was set up and he arranged to acquire the film for Turner Classic Movies who he done a job for. He then put the pieces together to pick up the film, have a company restore it and Turner Classic paid to also add an original movie score. The wonderful thing is that the film content is complete, although it required a lot of work by the restoration company. Just prior to this time we had spoken with Larry several times and he informed us of his rapidly diminishing health so time was of the essence. The deal was made!" The last time we spoke to Larry after the deal he said to us "Thanks, enjoy the film. The next time you will see me I will be in a box!" Larry Weeks died October 13, 2014, before the public would get news of the acquisition on January 23, 2015. Many years ago Larry Weeks had bought a plot in the same cemetery as close as possible to Houdini and is buried there. The restored film has a musical score composed by Brane Zivkovic an award winning film, television, and theatre composer. This was all done with financial help from Turner Classic Movies, who premiered it as the climax at the 2015 4 day TCM Classic Film Festival Sunday, March 29, 2015, in Hollywood to resounding praise and approval. It was the finale of the event.