My initial impression of Harry Houdini came from the master illusionist's portrayal by Tony Curtis, in 1953's Houdini. Curtis and Janet Leigh, as his wife Bess, explore the realm of Houdini's physical ability to escape from locked confinement. A safe, no problem. A Scotland Yard jail cell, ditto. Straightjacket, got it. His water-related feats of derring-do turned out to be a bit more difficult.
Picking a lock is rather low on my list of mythical superpowers. I'd much rather have invisibility, incredible strength, or the nose to determine a wine's origin simply by sniffing it. Of course, if I could do the latter, I'd probably end up having to wait tables, and I'm not that much of a people person.
As long as we’re serving a bottle of wine for Houdini, we should grab a good one before it disappears. Houdini Wines of Napa Valley certainly has the name right. Why name your wine company after Houdini with no visible reason for doing so? Get 'em before they're gone? Maybe. I'm not going to over think it. Houdini wines are sold in duos, trios, or gift baskets, so a per-bottle price is hard to pin down. That business model is not usually indicative of great wine, either, but if you want Houdini wine, you go where it is.
The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao is a Western comedy from 1964. Tony Randall stars in seven roles, the main one being Dr. Lao, proprietor of an incredible circus which has come to the small desert town of Abalone, AZ. It's a place that needs a little magic, and the good doctor brings enough to fill a tent.
Randall makes the magic as Lao, Merlin the magician, Pan, Medusa, a fortune teller, a monster serpent, and the Abominable Snowman. Seven roles in one film was pretty impressive until last year's Dr. Sander's Sleep Cure had Mart Sander playing 48 roles. Showoff.
The conflict in Dr. Lao comes when a rich rancher wants to buy the whole town cheaply before the railroad comes through. He and his merry band of baddies never counted on confronting the likes of Lao.
I love that nearly all the characters are given descriptions as part of their names. The Crusading Publisher, The Ruthless Tycoon, The Widowed Librarian, and the Stuffy Matron are only a few. Me, I'm The Overbearing Wine Guy.
The German winery, Dr. Loosen, makes a wine called Dr. Lo. However, it is non-alcoholic. So, nah. Try one of their great Rieslings from the steep, slate banks of the Moselle River. A bottle of magic will cost you $20 or less.
Jerry Lewis flies again, in 1958's The Geisha Boy. The title alone makes us expect Lewis to break out his buck-toothed characterization of a Japanese person. Amazingly, he does not. It could be the first time that Lewis exhibited restraint on film.
The story follows a burned-out magician as he goes on a USO tour for GIs stationed in Japan. The giggles come from the standard Lewis brand of slapstick comedy, with the help of a rabbit and a child. That flies in the face of good advice handed out by W.C. Fields, who said "Never work with children or animals." Any child or animal who tries to upstage Jerry has his work cut out for him.
Director Frank Tashlin worked on many Warner Brothers cartoons, both Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. That connection resulted in Lewis doing the "That’s all, folks" bit for the film's finale, in his particular way.
Ver Sacrum makes a really nice wine called Geisha de Jade. The thing is, it's from Argentina. That's a head-scratcher. However, if you can find a blend of single vineyard Roussanne and Marsanne for $40, it's worth a shot.
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