MovieChat Forums > Houdini and Doyle (2016) Discussion > What's that on his head?

What's that on his head?

posted 8 years ago by slackersmom
13 replies | jump to latest

I just flipped over to this show to see what it was about (never really heard of it before) and saw the late Victorian setting, late Victorian clothing, etc. And apparently the main characters are Harry Houdini and Arthur Conan Doyle. Imagine my surprise to see the bizarre--and totally anachronistic--hairstyle on the one guy. (Houdini, I believe, since he was American.) What are these people thinking? And from the titles of some of these threads, I get the feeling this isn't the only bizarre thing about this show.

[–] imKelly 8 years ago

Omg! I thought the same thing lol!

[–] Taylorfirst1 8 years ago

http://www.skepticblog.org/wp-content/uploads/houdini-in-cuffs-flat.jpg

This is a photo of Harry Houdini. As you can see at times his hair was quite unusual for the period.

WE GOT MOVIE SIIIIIGN!

[–] slackersmom 8 years ago

Yes, I'd heard that Houdini had thick black hair. But the cut and style of the actor on the show is definitely way more modern than Houdini's. I just found it... distracting. 

[–] TeaFiend 8 years ago

There's a lot about the show that isn't historically accurate and it generally requires major suspension of disbelief. To be honest, I only started watching it because I didn't have anything to watch until the new episode of Penny Dreadful and after the first episode I thought, "Meh...", but I kept watching it and I ended up really enjoying it. I've finished the whole series now and I ended up being quite invested in the characters and their relationships with each other. It's worth a watch if you just want something to chill out to that's not too heavy.

[–] slackersmom 8 years ago

Yeah, funny how there are shows like that, that you watch, but just barely, because there's nothing better on. I call them Tier 3 shows, because they're not ones that you schedule your time around because you really have to watch them (Tier 1), or shows that you simply look forward to each week (Tier 2). Instead there are shows that are sort of like fast food-- you can easily live without them, but if they happen to be right in front of you, why not indulge.  Honestly, I hadn't even heard of this show until last week, funny how that happens. Some shows you hear so much hype about, long before they even premiere, and others have been on a long time before you become aware of them.

[–] AprilValen 8 years ago

It is hardly a modern style. Houdini's hair was like that. It's one of the reasons Paul Michael Glaser played him in the 70s. He was known for his big curly hair.

It ain't the Ganges, but you go with what you got." ~ Ken Talley, "The Fifth of July"

[–] slackersmom 8 years ago

As I said in my post, I knew Houdini had thick, curly hair. But the CUT this actor sports is, I'm sure, anachronistic. Men at that time didn't wear their hair so closely trimmed on the sides.

[–] AprilValen 8 years ago

In many cases they did. But I'll give Houdini a pass considering the other policeman with the long straight combed back top and the nearly shaved sides? That is anachronistic.

It ain't the Ganges, but you go with what you got." ~ Ken Talley, "The Fifth of July"

[–] suj 8 years ago

Almost everything in the show is anachronistic. It's not a documentary. Houdini & Doyle never went around with a Scotland Yard Policewoman solving crimes. The episode in which Houdini has a flashlight? He says it's a recent invention. And yes, flashlights (torches, if you're a Brit) were invented during this time period. But do you REALLY think they would have burned brighter than an X-Files flashlight? (Remember back in the 90s when the super-bright X-Files flashlights were a topic of conversation?) This show is a FANTASY. It's light fun. It mixes the Sherlock Holmes logic with the supernatural for a FUN show. Not historically accurate -- FUN. If you're big anachronistic complaint is Houdini's haircut, then you're not paying attention to all the other anachronisms. If you ARE paying attention to all the other anachronisms, then you should be so bothered as to never watch the show at all, and the haircut is the least of the problems.

And it's been cancelled, so who cares?

[–] BrainGirl78 8 years ago

Harry Houdini, being from a Jewish family, had very kinky curly hair that was never really tamed, save for posters of his appearances and formal events. Just like Albert Einstein, Houdini cared more about the importance of science, than his general appearance.

My family and his were acquaintances and were in the same social circle during and after his lifetime. His and his family's burial site is in the Jewish cemetery directly over the fence from the Catholic cemetery where my my mother's family is buried in Queens, NYC. From my maternal grandmother's headstone, I have a straight view of Houdini's. When I pay my respects to my ancestors, I always go and put a rock (a Jewish custom) on his family exedra.

[–] Chris12955 8 years ago

saw the late Victorian setting, late Victorian clothing, etc

In the first episode we find out Arthur Conan Doyle has either just released the collected volume of The Hound of the Baskervilles or the first issue of it has been serialized in the magazine. This firmly places the first episode of Houdini and Doyle in the last months of 1901 or 1902, the Edwardian era, not Victorian. The Clothes are also not Victorian, they are late Edwardian at a stretch. More accurately the clothes are Georgian because of the lack of cravats and corsets along with the other fashions I will not get into.

Late 1901 or 1902(let's go with 1902) is backed up as being the year by the fact Arthur Conan Doyle's first wife is still alive, and the ages of his children and himself. The First World War hasn't happened yet. Harry Houdini ran his first European tour from 1900 to 1904. Harry Houdini's mother being alive and single also backs this date.

The historical setting for this is all over the map when we start to delve deeper. Houdini was 28 in 1902(younger than the actor by more then ten years.) Doyle and Houdini met in 1920. There were no women in the police force in 1902. Harry Houdini doesn't introduces his famous Chinese Water Torture Cell act for almost ten years. There are plenty of expressions foreign to people at the time that are used in the show. Some men's haircuts are closer to modern than period. Then there is the aforementioned discontinuity with the clothes for 1902.

Do not get me wrong, I like this show. It is just that I can't help but notice these discrepancies. For the most part they are accurate to a 1902 setting, but the few areas where they are not accurate, THEY ARE NOT ACCURATE.

[–] slackersmom 8 years ago

Ha, yeah, I knew the "late Victorian" thing was probably wrong, but I went with it anyway. Most people have at least heard of the Victorian era... not as many are familiar with the Edwardian. 

[–] Chris12955 8 years ago

It is sad many people have not heard of the Edwardian era. It was a short reign, but many subtle yet important social changes occurred during it. While Victoria's reign was about expanding and solidifying the British Empire's power, and a socially repressive attitude. Edwards reign was a transitionary one that focused on consolidating power, and a greatly changing society. The nobility started losing power, there was an emerging middle class, women's rights truly started coming into the fray, and the concept of the country being for everyone and not just the elite was coming into it's own. Those are some big things to happen in a ten year reign, and I am nowhere near an expert on his reign so there is a lot I don't know.