Ron (The Monster and the Stripper) Ormond’s son, Tim directed this hour-long oddity which is more or less a fluff piece on magician John Calvert. After a brief (and very ‘80s) title sequence, there’s a montage of images of Houdini. Then Calvert shows up in a museum of magic performing escape artist tricks for two cops. Later, he drives a speedboat and even flies a plane with his eyes duct taped shut.
Halfway through, it switches gears and becomes a filmed performance of one of Calvert’s stage shows. The best part is a Frankenstein-inspired gag where Calvert cuts a guy’s head off with a buzzsaw! For the most part though, the tricks are kind of lame. At least he has a bevy of beautiful magician assistants who are all easy on the eyes, which helps a bit.
If you like dated magic acts, you may enjoy it. The title is a bit misleading though as its focus is on Calvert and Houdini is mostly just mentioned in passing. The film does suffer from a sharp drop in picture quality as it goes from being shot on film to shot on video for some sequences. The filmed bits are more fun, even if they look phony and staged. (The scene where he hypnotizes a cop looks like something out of a horror movie.) You also have to sit through long archival footage of Calvert performing magic on the Red Skelton Show where he saws Red in half.
While this may seem at first like an odd thing for Tim to make, it makes sense when you realize Ormond is merely continuing the family legacy of filming stage acts like Varieties on Parade and Forty Acre Feud. Not to mention the family’s long-running interest in hypnotism, as seen in Please Don’t Touch Me. Also, Calvert appeared in a couple of the Ormond’s films, so Tim was probably helping out a family pal when he agreed to direct this. (Ormond family friend Lash La Rue also appears for a filmed segment.)
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