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Clip description
Mary McGarvie (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and her daughter Benji (Saoirse Ronan) watch a silent black-and-white newsreel about Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce). They learn that he has offered USD $10,000 to anyone who can contact his dead mother in the afterlife, thereby proving that spirits return. They also learn from the newsreel that he makes a habit of uncovering fake psychics and that he is coming to their home town of Edinburgh.
Curator’s notes
Cutting between Mary and Benji, and a newsreel made in the style of the 1920s, is a very effective way of succinctly revealing crucial information about the real-life figure of Houdini, who audiences have probably heard of but know little about. It also neatly sets up the story because we already know that Mary earns money pretending to be a psychic.
The film is a UK-Australian co-production but there is little evidence of Australia aside from a mention of Sydney in the newsreel as one of Houdini’s upcoming destinations.
