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Haldane of
the Secret Service

(1923)

 

Famous escape artist Harry Houdini is Haldane in this tale of spies and government agents. Houdini is supported by Gladys Leslie, William Humphrey, Richard Carlyle and Charles Fang.

coverKino International
2008 DVD edition

Houdini: The Movie Star (1918-1923), black & white, color-toned black & white, color-tinted and color-toned black & white, 450 minutes total, not rated, including Haldane of the Secret Service (1923), black & white, color-tinted black & white and color-toned black & white, 84 minutes, not rated.

Kino International, K563, UPC 7-38329-05632-2.
Three single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD discs, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), 7.0 Mbps average video bit rate, 192 Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 8-bit 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; 12 chapter stops; three slimline DVD keepcases in cardboard slipcase; $39.95.
Release date: 8 April 2008.
Country of origin: USA

This DVD collection contains Haldane of the Secret Service (1923), mastered from a very-good 35mm print held by Cinema Arts.

The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on synthesizer by Ben Model.

Also included in this collection are the serial The Master Mystery (1918-1919), an incomplete but reconstructed version from 35mm footage once held by Douris UK Ltd. (now held by the Cohen Media Group); the surviving 35mm footage from The Grim Game (1919) held by George Eastman Museum (5 minutes); Terror Island (1920) from an excellent but incomplete 35mm print (missing reels three and four) held by the Library of Congress; and the best available edition (of several) of The Man from Beyond (1922), having been mastered from the Library of Congress preservation version prepared from surviving 16mm print materials. The supplemental material includes documentary footage of Houdini escapes (circa 1907 through 1923), an audio recording of Houdini introducing his “Water Torture Cell” (1914), Slippery Jim (1910) a Houdini-inspired comedy, an examination of film scenes censored by the New York State Censor Board with correspondence, Houdini’s illusion “Metamorphosis” performed by Houdini’s brother Hardeen (4 minutes), image galleries, and film notes.

 
USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
 
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
coverAlpha Video
2013 DVD edition

Haldane of the Secret Service (1923), black & white, 84 minutes, not rated.

Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 6925D, UPC 0-89218-69259-7.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), 7.0 Mbps average video bit rate, 384 Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 8-bit 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, 6 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $7.98 (raised to $8.98).
Release date: 26 February 2013.
Country of origin: USA

This DVD-R edition has been mastered from an analog video master that was transferred from a good to very-good 16mm reduction print. While the print is OK, the video master features a drastic double line to the right of transitions dark areas to light areas (see Houdini’s shirt and forehead, and the edge of the couch arm in the frame above).

The film is accompanied by a soundtrack of preexisting recordings.

It should be no surprise that we recommend the Kino edition noted above instead of this cheap, hard-to-watch disc.

 
USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
 
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Other HARRY HOUDINI films available on home video.
 
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