Houdini

In the 1890s, Harry Houdini performs as Bruto the Wild Man on a Coney Island carnival. A naive onlooker named Bess tries to help him and they quickly form a connection. They marry and begin touring together, with Bess serving as his onstage assistant and partner.

Bess tires of the low pay and grueling schedule, convincing Harry to take a job as a lock tester in a locksmith factory. He nurtures a fantasy of escaping from one of the factory safes, hinting at the feats that will define his career. The move places financial pressure on the couple while feeding his ambition.

At a Magician Society dinner on Halloween, Fante offers a prize to anyone who can free themselves from a straitjacket. Houdini concentrates intensely and escapes, stunning the audience and gaining recognition. The feat convinces him to push beyond conventional magic toward escape artistry.

Fante advises Houdini to abandon the idea of quitting while ahead, and Bess persuades him to cash in a single, round-trip ticket to Europe to save for a house. The plan shifts their ambitions outward, setting the stage for international stardom. The European tour becomes a key turning point in Houdini's career.

Back at the factory, Houdini locks himself inside a large safe to test his escape, but the foreman orders the safe blown open before he can exit. The humiliation ends with him being fired, deepening his resolve to seek larger stages. This setback acts as a catalyst for his later rise.

A contrite Bess finds Houdini performing with a carnival and hands him two one-way tickets to Europe. They decide to chase the dream overseas, hoping for improved prospects and greater fame. The European journey becomes the foundation of Houdini's ascent.

During a London theatre engagement, a reporter challenges Houdini to escape from Scotland Yard's notoriously secure jail cells. He accepts and, despite the design, successfully picks the lock. From that moment, he is billed as the man who escaped Scotland Yard and embarks on a broader European tour.

In Berlin, Houdini searches for Von Schweger, but is arrested on fraud charges. At his trial, he denies supernatural powers and demonstrates that his tricks are physical. To prove his point, he locks himself inside a safe in the courtroom and escapes, vindicating his approach and earning renewed attention.

Von Schweger dies two days before Houdini arrives for answers. Otto reveals the secret of dematerialization and chooses to become Houdini's new assistant, traveling with him to New York. The partnership marks a shift toward grander collaborations and demonstrations.

Back in America, Houdini is relatively unknown but starts building fame with daring publicity stunts. He hangs upside down from a skyscraper flagpole in a straitjacket and escapes, capturing public imagination. This marks the start of his ascent to becoming a legendary escapologist.

Houdini prepares to be submerged in a box in the cold Detroit River as part of a stunt. The chain breaks, the box sinks, and he is dragged under the icy water. He finds a way to breathe, escapes, and returns to air, though the audience fears he has drowned.

Two years later in New York, Houdini investigates his mother's spirit via seances and exposes a fake medium. He plans to return to the stage with a dangerous water-torture act, against Bess's wishes. After a perilous performance where he nearly dies, Otto helps awaken him, and Houdini vows to return to Bess.