TERROR ISLAND (1920)
Article #692 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 2-5-2003
Posting date: 7-5-2003
Directed by James Cruze
Featuring Harry Houdini, Jack Brammall, Lila Lee

An inventor helps a woman to save the life of her father who is stranded among savages.

This is probably the most entertaining of the movies I’ve seen that feature Harry Houdini; it’s not complete, though. My print is missing two of the reels, so there is a gap of action in the middle of the film. Nonetheless, what remains is pretty entertaining, with Houdini doing his own stunts, including a good escape from a trap made by cannibals and some underwater swimming that involved him holding his breath for quite a while. The cannibals are probably the only horror elements in the movie; the science fiction element is a little more striking, as Houdini has a specially designed submarine to help him in his endeavors. The movie also features a very young (and very thin) Eugene Pallette.