An Interesting Connection between Batman and Magic

Batman was a comic book character created by Bob Kane. He has grown and expanded over the years to near mythic proportions. The Batman movies, from the first Michael Keaton version to the latest Christian Bale version gross millions and millions of dollars.

Batman had an origin and it wasn't with a rich kid who witnesses the death of his parents by a street criminal. No, Batman came from somewhere else. Bob Kane, in his autobiography, "Batman & Me" lists three direct inspirations. One was a sketch made by Leonardo DaVinci of a flying machine that looked like a bat. The next was The Mark of Zorro movie starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr.  And the third was a very interesting movie called "The Bat Whispers" and here is the connection to magic.

You see "The Bat Whispers" which was made in 1930, starred actor/magician Chester Morris. This movie was seen by a 14 year old Robert Kane and made such an impression on the young man that years later he would base part of the design of Batman's costume from the BAT character in the movie.
Chester Morris played a dual role, as a detective and the also as the BAT. Though in the movie, the BAT was a criminal. But Chester Morris's portrayal was indeed one of the main inspirations for Bob Kane's creation of The Batman.

Another interesting element from that movie, also became a prominent part of the world of Batman and that is the Bat Signal. In the movie The Bat Whispers, the signal was actually a sign that someone was to be killed by The Bat. But of course, in the world of Batman, the signal alerts the Caped Crusader that his services are needed!

Harry Jansen (Dante) The Escape Artist?

Here is one that really took me by surprise. In the February 1928 issue of The Sphinx, they record that Dante tried his hand at an escape act while performing in South America. To quote the article it says "He failed to put it over." There is no other information regarding this incident.

I know Dante was in fact in South America at this time. Thurston sent him there in 1927 and his tour started in a less than perfect fashion. He was continually plagued by advance men ripping him off and managers not fulfilling there end of agreements. The language difference didn't help matters either. And then of course there was Charles Carter and Grover George who were both in South America and Dante was essentially having to follow them.

But an escape act. That struck me as odd. So I began to dig and I discovered that when Dante was still using his real name Harry Jansen, he co-owned a magic manufacturing company in Chicago called, Halton, Jansen and LeRoy. One of the items from their catalog was a Packing Crate Escape. Hardly a full escape act, but it's something. But the blurb from The Sphinx doesn't say escape show, it says "He tried to stage an escape act." So perhaps he tried to pull in some publicity with a packing crate escape and either it failed, or because he didn't speak the language, he had difficulty in relaying to the audience just what to expect.

The reason I found this whole thing unusual was because of Dante's feelings towards HOUDINI. In the book, The Houdini Code Mystery by William Rauscher, there is a small chapter with Dante's feelings towards Houdini. It came from an article written by Dante and it basically rips Houdini to shreds. Dante starts with "First, he stole his name from the man who originated and made magic possible, Robert-Houdin". He goes on to expose Houdini's act and methods and make the claim that he could cuff Houdini in a way that would leave him bound, or lock him in a packing crate and he would not be able to get out. The way it's written he belittles the idea of an escape act though it's probably just his animosity towards Houdini more than anything. He says "Houdini the escape king? What can he escape from? So far, he has escaped criticism. This is the biggest trick he has ever done." Dante did not like Houdini and made no bones about it.

But it doesn't appear that Dante ventured into performing escapes until after Houdini had died (1926). This South American event happened either in late 1927 or early 1928. I've gone through a couple Dante biographies and can find no mention of an escape act in South America so perhaps it was not something he cared to record for posterity.

One other note, there was an escapologist who used the stage name Dante. This is mentioned in the book DANTE The Devil Himself by Phil Temple and even contains two photos of the escape artist Dante. I don't think however, the fellow who is mentioned in the Sphinx article is that person, it is definitely Harry Jansen, aka Dante.

In the coming months I'll share more with you about this fascinating character Harry Jansen, better known as DANTE.

The Dark Knight and Houdini

Let me state for the record, it's doubtful I would ever have been interested in Houdini if it had not been for Batman. And, for me, there is only one Batman and that is Adam West. Sure Michael Keaton was pretty good, Christian Bale offers some unique twists to the character, but Adam West was the man.

When you're a kid, the 60s TV series BATMAN is not campy. It's cool! It's got action, it's got super heroes, it's got villians, it has it all. It's not until you're an adult that you see how campy the show is and frankly it's like a gift within a gift. It was an awesome show as a kid and it's a hilarious show as an adult!

Often the episodes ended in a cliff hanger with Batman & Robin in some sort of diabolical trap in which they had to escape from. When I saw the Tony Curtis Movie on Houdini for the first time, I only saw the scene with Houdini under the ice of Lake Michigan. It totally reminded me of an episode of BATMAN. Here was someone trying to escape. I had no idea Houdini did it first!

I've heard that Bob Kane was a fan of Houdini. I can tell you this, IF Batman were a real character, I can guarantee HE would be a devotee of Houdini as well. Houdini after-all made the escape act popular, he even wrote books on handcuff escapes and escapes in general. On top of that he wrote a book called "The Right Way To Do Wrong" which surely would have been in the Batcave Library, or at least in stately Wayne Manor's Library! And he'd probably have to go to Houdini's craftsman to have the Batcuffs made.


Perhaps instead of the bust of William Shakespeare, the creators should have put Houdini's bust there. I mean, come on, it makes more sense to hide a button to a secret panel inside the bust of the world's most famous magician MORE than it does to hide it inside the bust of Shakespeare!

Margery the Medium's Grave

Long before the Long Island Medium got her own TV show, there was Margery The Medium. I've written about Margery before, but I wanted to show  you this wonderful picture of Margery's grave. The man in the photo is famed escape artist Norman Bigelow and he graciously has allowed me to post the photo here.

Margery was kind of Houdini's arch nemesis. She had everyone at the Scientific American Magazine fooled into believing she was a legitimate medium. Houdini got wind of that and said "NO WAY!" and forced himself into the investigation and proved that she was using trickery. The battles between Houdini and Margery were priceless, though all these years later I can't help but wonder how much of that was for show.

An interesting note on the grave stone itself is the name above Margery's. By the way, Margery's real name was Mina Stinson Crandon. The name above hers on the tombstone is WALTER Stuart Stinson.
If you're familiar with the story of the seances that she put on before the Scientific American Committee and Houdini, Walter was her brother and spirit guide. Walter was also known to use some rather politically incorrect language. But he was dead, so no one cared, lol.

George-Supreme Master of Magic

I received an email the other day from a reader who made the suggestion that I cover GEORGE-The Supreme Master of Magic in a future column. As I have never mentioned George in the past I thought it was a wonderful idea. The very first vintage magic poster I ever purchased was a George so I have an interest in finding out more. There is not a lot written about George in magic literature, but I was able to dig up a few things. Here is what I discovered...

GROVER G. GEORGE - SUPREME MASTER OF MAGIC

Grover G. George was born in Zanesville Ohio on August 18 1887. His parents were Arthur Alexander and Margaret Elizabeth George. He had one younger brother Emerson, and two younger sisters Flossie and Mary. His father was an Attorney for the firm George & Leasure. His interest in magic began at a young age and when he was 10 years old he presented his first magic show at the Old South Zanesville School in his home town.

His career started slowly, like many performers of the time. He learned his craft by doing a lot of shows in small towns. Along the way, Grover married Ruth Cornell and in 1910 they had their first child together, Mildred. He continued to work small time venues and then in the 1920s he started to expand his business. He wanted to take his show to the bigger theatres.  In 1922 he purchased the equipment and rights to Doc Nixon's 'Hong Kong Mysteries' and started a venture called "The Mysteries Production Company." A review of the show that appeared in the Sphinx Magazine in October 1922 says "George is very clever and has arranged an entertaining program in four parts and dressed with beautiful & costly settings." The review also goes on to say "George ranks among the best manipulators," in referring to his card and billiard ball manipulations. In 1923 George hired a young Paul Rosini to work as one of his assistants.


Grover George had one problem, Howard Thurston.* Howard was the preeminent illusionist in the United States and he did not want George moving into what he felt was his territory. At first, Thurston contacted theatres and told them if they booked George then he would cancel his contracts with them.

George ended up loosing a great deal of work because of this stunt. Then Thurston sent his lawyers after George and he also sent Harry Jansen (Dante) after George. The idea was that Jansen would persuade George to drop all the Thurston tricks and routines and eventually leave show business.

The lawsuits had no merit as Thurston didn't own the rights to any of the material that George had been doing. All of it  had been printed up in books or was available through magic dealers. George however didn't have the money to fight Thurston and eventually was forced to stop his 'Triumphant American Tour.' I think this was also about the time his marriage with Ruth ended in divorce.

But all was not lost. In 1924, Grover George teamed up with entertainment manager Felix Blei and turned his attention from the United States to a tour which began in Cuba and moved to Central and South America. There is a mention in the Sept 1927 issue of The Sphinx Magazine that George had won a lottery and this money enabled him to take the South American Tour. This is an unusual statement and makes me wonder if perhaps George was paid off by Thurston to leave. I have no proof of that, I'm only speculating. The article goes on to say that the tour did not start well because he did not speak the language and training assistants in that region of the world was very difficult due to the language barrier.

The Tour began in Cuba and covered many of the major Central and South American Cities. At one point, George and his company had to sail up the Amazon River to get to a location. His destination was Manaus Brazil which turned out to be a very contemporary city. One humorous note, Thurston sent Dante to South America in 1927 and Dante had a hard time with business there because George had such a strong hold on the territory.

In 1929 the tour was over, Grover George had a new wife Anita Sosa, and he returned to the sad news that his mother passed away after an illness that lasted 8 years. He was back in the U.S. and working but not the best venues.  He eventually gave up his hopes of America and returned to South America. Because he was out of the country there isn't a lot of mention of George in the magic periodicals of the time.

He left the magic business and went into Brazilian TV. He also started a business manufacturing projection machines for theatres. He had a ranch in Sao Paulo Brazil and was doing quite well. But the call of the road was always lingering and in the 1950s he returned to performing briefly.

In 1955, Robert Patterson of Zanesville Ohio, George's hometown, purchased George's Sword Box Illusion. By 1956, Grover George was retired from the magic business for good. He died in 1958 and was buried in Sao Paulo Brazil.

But the story is not quite finished. Let me get back to 1924 for a moment**. Charles Carter, another globe trotting illusionist was interested in purchasing a series of lithographs from the Otis Lithograph Company. They told Carter that they had a huge stock of posters that were printed for George the Magician but he never picked them up and they were available. Carter passed on them and had his own posters designed and created. That huge lot of posters was purchased by magic dealer Gerald Heaney and he stored them in his barn in Wisconsin.

Fast forward to the 1980s when those posters were rediscovered! Thousands of pristine, never used George posters in all shapes and sizes. So if you are wondering how so many of them survived for so long, now you know!



















*There seems to be some dispute in magic literature as to when this clash with Howard Thurston  took place. David Price's book MAGIC A Pictorial History of Conjurers in the Theatre lists it as happening after George's 1929 return from South America. Similarly and article which appeared in Genii Magazine in May 1996 by Gary R. Brown, also lists his South American Tour beginning in 1924 and then upon his return in 1929 George had problems with Thurston at that point.

However, in the book The Complete Life of Howard Franklin Thurston by Robert Olsen, he shows in chapter 29 that the problem between Thurston and George took place in 1922 and he sites court documents as his proof.

** This part about the George Lithographs being pitched to Charles Carter in 1924 appears in The CARTER Book by Mike Caveney, pages 207-208. It's clear that Otis Litho Company had all the George Posters for an American Tour, NOT a South American Tour, yet in 1924 George left to go on a South American Tour after a failed tour in American, thanks to Howard Thurston.