The Man from Beyond

A very odd film indeed, which completely mystified me on the first run. I couldn't make sense of the story at all, let alone follow the complicated plot. It wasn't until a second viewing that it all came together. The reason, of course, is that it's edited in a very peculiar manner. This is not your standard Hollywood grammar of 1922 at all. It's the editorial grammar of "Caligari" and other German expressionist films of the period. Mind you, this is pretty identical to the editorial grammar in use in 2008—which is one reason I don't watch contemporary movies. I can't follow them. When I see a close-up, for example, I immediately conclude the director is going to special pains to draw this particular character to my attention, so in my mind I file away this player for further reference. Five minutes and fifteen close-ups later, I'm totally lost.

When "Grand Hotel" received its New York premiere, many critics (including Mordaunt Hall of The New York Times) walked out, claiming that director Goulding had used so many close-ups, they couldn't follow the story. But "Grand Hotel" is poverty indeed compared to the plethora of odd close-ups in "The Man from Beyond". True, it makes sense the second time through, but who wants to watch a melodrama like this twice? Even to see Houdini brave the rapids of Niagara Falls, "Niagara" fashion? And even to eye Nita Naldi at her slinkiest?

Mind you, the tinted print offered by Kino in their "Houdini" box is much easier on the eyes than both the black-and-white DVD versions available from Alpha and Grapevine. This said, however, I cannot recommend the Kino print unreservedly as it is missing the key sequence of Houdini's first recorded glimpse of his savior's home. This sequence features the most effective close-up in the whole movie.

On the other hand, although there seem to be other bits and pieces missing from here and there, the Kino copy does restore at least one important sequence that was presumably censored from the black-and-white prints.

Most peculiarly, none of the three current versions feature an actual brought-back-to-life sequence, although we do receive a tantalizing glimpse of it in a flashback. Presumably it was removed from the movie at an early stage.

Which brings me back to the very odd way in which the movie is edited. Another feature of German expressionism is that shots often don't match, a deliberately contrived device to startle the audience. The same device is used here. For example, in medium shot a character may be smiling placidly. In close-up, however, his features are contorted with rage. In long shot, his arm may be raised. In close-up, his arm is by his side. This device is used neither too often nor too sparingly so that I wonder if it was the result of a deliberate intent or merely due to either the director's or the film editor's incompetence. Fortunately, it is in dialogue (or sub-titled) scenes that this often occurs. The action sequences on the other hand are very astutely and effectively edited.

To enjoy the action highlights at their best—particularly the extended climax which culminates at Niagara Falls—it's essential to view the Kino edition. The tinting is not only so realistic that it immeasurably adds to the thrills, but the print is so sharp that it's obviously Houdini himself performing these dangerous stunts (and not Bob Rose as some critics have claimed).

Although Houdini had a much-publicized interest in life after death, his story is pure melodrama of the most ridiculous caliber imaginable. Even on its own puerile level (and disregarding its supernatural elements), the gaslight plot makes no sense whatever. (Of course, Bela Lugosi could have given the villain a good run, but Arthur Maude is far too conventional). Its purpose, however, is primarily to showcase Houdini's various escapist stunts and thrills; and this it does quite well. As an actor, however, his powers are somewhat limited, but these limitations are cleverly disguised by the role he plays here. He has seen to it that he is given plenty of close-ups and it's fascinating to watch this somewhat odd-looking, yet undoubtedly charismatic little man, go through his paces.

Granted, that only the grandest of silent films ever rises from the flailing ruins of those stuttering sentimental gestures, so mechanically struck by it's insubstantial shadow-marionnettes, faithful to the chattering death of the stilted society which rattled their bones like beads, only to shatter in the moonlight that drains any human warmth, just as night without a candle stiffly draws the blizzard of mothy ashes into the lime-light, light falling, frozen, dusty, over scenes that vision forgets - - - yet, at their best, these ghosts can demonstrate how to die with style.

Alas! not here the preposterous glories of a Phantom of the Opera.

Here, au contraire, a fitfully animated corpse rapidly freezes our living interest. The Man from Beyond, even as Houdini's alter ego, never succeeds in escaping his writer's block of ice. A notion not necessarily more preposterous than the gibbering of many a later entertainment, that has dabbled in the matter of Death, is quickly doomed by the unseeing eye of the director, and the shambling course of the plot.

The only escapade in which Houdini at last, though briefly, sloughs off his bonds of frozen celluloid is during the Niagra rescue sequence, when rapid cutting almost renders the drama fluid. But the trickle of inspiration issuing from the love-lorn block of ice, through the cold shower and restraint put on passion (in the cell where a heart was supposed to beat), gathering to an irresistible torrent of overwhelming passion above the Falls, just never gathers force. Perhaps Houdini's Freudian slipperiness was just too much for director Julian's imagination to hold on to?

Despite Julian's habitual Big White Hunter impersonation on set, with jackboots, johdpurs, and solar topee, this film is definitively the One That Got Away. Julian was himself the original and quintessential parody of the silent, Stroheim-fixated, movie director, and this film is the essential guide to everything we feared was true about Film before the sanity of sound came, and filled up the booming emptiness of those trackless wastes, where stranded, phosphorescent phantoms open and shut their useless mouths under the empty glare of the sand-filled lens of other days.

Let us restore these ashes to that Vault, from which no light escapes. This thing is a parody of light - a jerking, staggering, Dance of Death. Lock it away - the Horror!

A man (Harry Houdini) who has been frozen in the Arctic ice for 100 years returns to civilization to find his lost love.

I was drawn to this film because it was written by and stars Harry Houdini, the master magician. Appleton, Wisconsin has claimed Houdini as their own, and it is within this community that I have lived for over thirty years. So it seemed like I owed it to myself to watch the film.

Unlike many silent films, it has lots of written words. I would not even call them intertitles, because so much of it is long sections of spiritual quotation or philosophy. It is quite unlike what I have seen in other silent films.

The plot is general is odd, as on the surface it seems to be a man who is unfrozen after 100 years only to find someone who reminds him of the woman he loved. But there is a deeper story of reincarnation, and the role of science and religion in the modern world. In many ways, this film is not only outstanding for its creativity and originality, but is also far enough outside the box to be otherworldly...

...where he plays Howard Hillary, who has been frozen aboard a ship in the arctic for a hundred years. Some explorers find him, thaw him out and wake him up, and try to reintroduce him to society. Howard is obsessively in love with Felicia (Jane Connelly), but she's been dead for a century. He becomes convinced that she has been reincarnated in the modern age, and he's determined to find her and reignite their love. He also gets entangled with people trying to swindle a fortune. Also featuring Arthur Maude, Albert Tavernier, Erwin Connelly, Frank Montgomery, Luis Alberni, Yale Benner, and Nita Naldi.

Frozen suspended animation and reincarnation are strange topics to blend together, but with Houdini's interest in fringe theories it makes more sense. This is the first of the great performer's films that I've seen, and it is rather flatly filmed by director Burton L. King. The big finale at Niagara Falls is good, though. Houdini had appeared in two other films and a serial before this, and would make one more film this same year, before his tragic death in 1926.

The Man from Beyond (1922)

Houdini has such legend around him, I went ahead with this fairly creaky silent film anyway. And it has some great aspects if you can go with the style.

The premise is simple—two men stuck in the arctic ice go looking for shelter and by a miracle stumble on an abandoned ship stuck in the ice for a century. And they find a man frozen in ice for the same 100 years—and wake him! Yes, and they by some snap of the fingers find their way back to New York, where the two men want to present their revived fellow to the world.

All of this is great fantasy stuff, almost like time-travel, with some action adventure tossed in. One of the two original lost men is a crazed scientist, the other a "half breed," and so things have to percolate of course. And the frozen man, now quite normal if a bit confused to be in 1920 instead of 1820, has to grapple with all the problems of being out of place. The theme that is forced on the film is reincarnation, and it's a bit stiff for modern tastes.

The filming is fairly straight forward, even compared to some better films from earlier (like, yes, "Birth of a Nation" which is 1915). The plot is often told with intertitles instead of action, out of necessity, but it slows it down. (One of the arts of silent films is how they learn to make clear the plot visually.)

Houdini plays the frozen man (no surprise there) and he falls in love with the wrong woman and generally makes a mess of things. Yet, love being what it is, things are not all bleak. It's a curious contrivance of events. And there are even flashbacks (some going back 100 years to when the man was last conscious). There are also different tints to different sections of the film, which is common for the time and effective.

Of course, the bottom line is whether to see this movie, and why. First of all, if you haven't seen silent films before, start with something great so you'll see what they are capable of. The terrific comics (Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd) are dependable. If you stretch back to 1922, there are more elegantly made movies from this time, for sure—check out D.W. Griffith.

But if you are Houdini fan, or you already know what silent movies are all about, this is a decent but not spectacular film. It feels too stiff too often, is wordy, and lacks a consistent trajectory for the plot. The storytelling is fairly complex, so you have to keep on your toes—which is good. It won't bore you for that reason.

You might get tired of the middle half, where the sparring for the woman in question is sometimes dull stuff. The Houdini part? Well, you'll see. There is one major "escape" shown, and there is a wonderful final long scene at Niagara falls, without intertitles, dramatic and fast paced.