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chung ling soo...the MOVIE

kittynh

Penultimate Amazing
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Dec 18, 2002
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Why isn't this man's life a movie?

I am still reading the history of magic book, and I never knew that his wife (Dot, so called because she was so small) was suspected of murdering her husband because he was living with another woman!

A Western man who dressed and "speaks" like a native of China to find success. Marries one of his first assistants, but later drops her for the OTHER WOMAN. Mysterious death, suspicions....

Has anyone written a book just on this man?
 
I don't know about him, but if this kind of thing interests you, I recommend Carter Beats the Devil which is a fictionalized story about a real magician (Chris Carter). It doesn't pretend to be true, but it is simultaneously:

1. Very well written
2. Very engaging
3. Enlightening regarding the old world of great illusionists
4. A little bit of a mystery
5. Something of a love story
 
I wanted to get a copy of "Twelve have Died" by Ben Robinson about the bullet trick. Yeah, a used copy is going for over $200! I sure hope our library has it!
 
Just published last year : "The Glorious Deception" by Jim Steinmeyer ... a biography of Chung Ling Soo
 
now if he can only sell the movie rights! I've read other works by Jim Steinmeyer, and I've very much enjoyed them!

I'm going to look it up!
 
now if he can only sell the movie rights! I've read other works by Jim Steinmeyer, and I've very much enjoyed them!

I'm going to look it up!
 
Another book kitty is A gift from the Gods by....Todd Karr(I think) this is quite rare also The Riddle of Chung Ling Soo by William Dexter.
;)

ETA:Sorry Ive mixed my authors Todd Karr wrote The Silence Of Chung Ling Soo,Virginia Andrews wrote Gift from the Gods.
 
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Many years ago, I think in the Sixties, there was a TV series here in England which dealt with court cases involving firearms - robberies, murders, accidents etc. One episode focussed on Chung Ling Soo's gun trick in which he died onstage, here in London. The trick was re-enacted, Soo being portrayed by magician Billy McComb. The programme dealt in detail with the mechanics of the trick and the gun, and how it went wrong. I found the whole series fascinating, even though I have no particular interest in ballistics or weapons. The book on which the series was based was called "The Other Mr.Churchill" by Macdonald Hastings if you're interested, and includes the chapter on the Gun Trick. Looking forward to reading Soo's full story...
 
kittynh said:
now if he can only sell the movie rights! I've read other works by Jim Steinmeyer, and I've very much enjoyed them!

I'm going to look it up!
Click to expand...

Actually, if the facts presented in the book are true (i.e. non-fiction) and have been determined from other sources (like newspapers, other books, trial transcripts, etc.), then ANYONE can write a screenplay and submit it. Just because you wrote a book on a historical subject doesn't mean you own all rights to the subject. That only works for fiction.

I think Dale Brown will win the suit against him for just that fact, because his work is presented as pure fiction, while the two authors sueing him wrote their work as a legitimate historical fact or possibility.

Beanbag.
 
well.....

FRANKLY MY DEAR I DON'T GIVE A DAM!

and you know, Dorothy ended up back in KANSAS!!!!
 
Yeah, there should be a movie about Robert-Houdin too. After all, he stopped a rebellion!

There should be a lot more movies about magic. It’s a vastly underrepresented genre in films.

At least The Illusionist is coming out this August. Hope it’s good.
 
Who should play Houdin? Someone with grace,an air of mystery about them..
Anthony Hopkins? Suggestions?
 
maybe that ghandi guy. I think he could pull it off. Houdin wasn't a big dude.
 
well I just read the book. Really good. But the story is so complex, I'm not sure it can be less than a mini series.

And I still didn't get a good feel about the man. I am prone to like him, but the author was NOT. Not getting along with Houdini is rather a common problem many magicians had.
 
Coincidentally, I just finished a library book "The Bullet Trick" by Louise Welsh. I picked it up because I was familiar with the trick - saw P & T do it.
Further coincdence, one character does the trick in the video in the thread below this.
 
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