Son of Houdini
Script Breakdown
Son of Houdini
GROUP SCENES
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EXT. / MAIN STREET – ‘The Pinch’ – Dusk
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Townspeople strolling toward the Idle Hour Cinema
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INT. / IDLE HOUR CINEMA – Night
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Townspeople jostling for seats.
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Enjoying newsreels of Houdini’s exploits.
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Reacting to news of Houdini’s death.
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INT. / IDLE HOUR CINEMA – Night
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Audience assembled for Amateur Hour
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INT. / IDLE HOUR CINEMA – Night
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Hyman’s second attempt at the Amateur Hour
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EXT. / MARKET SQUARE – Day
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Packed with curiosity seekers – Scene of Hyman’s third disaster
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EXT. / BLOCKMAN’S SALVAGE YARD - Day
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Cordelle & Rufus collecting one thin dime from each audience member for Hyman’s Fourth Escape
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EXT. / HARAHAN BRIDGE – Night
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Scene of Hyman’s fifth disaster
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INT. / HOSPITAL – Charity Ward
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Miriam & Stuart, Aunt Frieda & Uncle Sharkey come to visit
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INT. / Synogogue
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Stuart’s lackluster Bar Mitzvah
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Miriam’s Wedding
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Flashback: Mrs. Pinsky expiring
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Entire congregation, including those from the other side, dancing a joyous wedding hora.
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EXTERIORS: DAY
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North Main Street - ‘The Pinch’ – Memphis, Tennessee ca 1926
- everyone in town walking toward the Idle Hour Cinema
- Hyman & Stuart walking along
- Hyman being shunned by Shopkeepers
- Stuart following Hyman to Market Square
- Hyman looking around, lost at a street corner
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Idle Hour Cinema
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Hyman & Stuart emerge
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Sign outside Box Office announcing “Idle Hour Amateur Show”
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Sign outside Box Office announcing “The Tortures of the Procrusteon Bed”
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Back of Nussbaum’s Emporium
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Hyman working on the ‘Procrusteon Bed’ w/ Stuart
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Front of Rosen’s Deli​
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Bernie Saperstein approaches
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Market Square
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Hyman putting up sign for the “Universal Symbol of Liberation”
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Blockman’s Salvage
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Auction Street
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Stuart finds Hyman on the cart w/ Cordelle & Rufus being drawn by Queen Esther
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Cochran Hotel
EXTERIORS: NIGHT
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Miriam’s bedroom window
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Mickey Graber reciting sonnet
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Mickey Graber reciting sonnet on stilts
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Mr. Klotwog’s house
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Hyman getting straightjacket
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North Main Street – ‘The Pinch’ – Memphis, Tennessee ca 1926
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Hyman in Queen Esther’s cart w/ Cordelle & Rufus distributing flyers
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Hyman & Stuart walking toward the Catfish Bayou
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Hyman leaving Catfish Bayou, trailed by Stuart
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Deck of the Enchanted Isle – Miriam & Bernie dancing
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Harahan Bridge
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Hyman being rescued by crew members of the Enchanted Isle
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Miriam’s Roof
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Miriam confiding in Stuart
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Stuart’s House
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Stuart wearing a skeleton costume trying to sneak out of his house on Halloween Eve
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Catfish Bayou Cemetery
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Hyman & Stuart preparing for the trick: “Buried Alive”
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Shanties and old cemetery
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INTERIORS: DAY
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Hyman’s Bedroom over Nussbaum’s Emporium
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Hyman cutting out clippings
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Stuart & Miriam have come to visit the injured Hyman
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Rosen’s Deli
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Miriam waiting tables
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establishing Miriam's friend Rachel and her sister Clara
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Herman with his pet snake
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Hyman arrives
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Hyman & Stuart walk to back corner booth
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Miriam & Hyman exchange glances
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Back corner booth w/ Hyman & Stuart
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Stuart bussing tables
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Bernie courting Miriam
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Kitchen – Miriam & Stuart
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Rosen’s Deli – storage room
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Miriam confronted by her mother
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Nussbaum’s Dry Goods Emporium
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Hyman inattentive to customer
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Aunt Frieda & Uncle Sharkey observe and comment on Hyman’s shortcomings
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Hyman, Stuart & Miriam at the fabric counter
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Hyman arranging bolts of fabric, trying to sing Jerome Kern’s “They Didn’t Believe Me”
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Hyman waiting on Mrs. Altfelder
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Hyman being visited by Miriam & Stuart
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Uncle Sharkey banishes Hyman from Nussbaum’s
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Idle Hour Cinema
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Mr. Forbitz’ Office
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Rabbi Fein’s Study
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Stuart studying for his Bar Miztvah w/ Rabbi
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Miriam & Bernie premaritial counseling w/ Rabbi
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Blockman’s Salvage
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Mr. Blockman takes in Hyman
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Hyman sorting junk with Cordelle & Rufus Loft
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Hotel Peabody
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Hyman & Stuart check out the “lavish” lobby
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Cochran Hotel
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Stuart visits Hyman in his room
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Hospital Charity Ward
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Hyman visited by Miriam & Stuart, Aunt Frieda & Uncle Sharkey
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INTERIORS: NIGHT
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Rosen’s Deli
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Bernie waiting to take Miriam for a walk
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Dreamland Gardens
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Bernie dancing with Miriam
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Idle Hour Cinema (Houdini Clips)
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Idle Hour Cinema – Stage - Amateur Hour Acts
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Blockman’s Salvage
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Hyman talking with Stuart
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Hyman working on “Escape from the Milk Can”
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Cordelle & Rufus in the Loft
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FILM CLIPS:
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Newsreel footage of Houdini
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Houdini’s cliff-hanger “The Master Mystery”
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Houdini’s “The Man from Beyond”
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John Barrymore’s “The Beloved Rogue”
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Locations Breakdown
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SYNAGOGUE - Dobbs Ferry, NY
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IDLE HOUR CINEMA - Port Chester, NY
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ROSEN'S DELI - Middlesex, NY
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NUSSBAUMS'S EMPORIUM - Middletown, NY
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MARKET SQUARE - Yonkers, NY
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CATFISH BAYOU - Yonkers, NY
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INTERIORS - Yonkers, NY
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EXTERIORS - NORTH MAIN, 'THE PINCH' (tbd)
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ENCHANTED ISLE - Lake George, NY
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DREAMLAND GARDENS - (tbd)
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HOTEL PEABODY - Saratoga, NY
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COCHRAN HOTEL - (tbd)
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HARAHAN BRIDGE - Middlesex, NY
All locations contingent upon funding, agreements, and scheduling.
Screenplay(c) Written by Barbara Glasser
Registered: Writer’s Guild of America East
Based on the novella “Hyman the Magnificent,”
from A PLAGUE OF DREAMERS (Scribner)
with permission of the author Steve Stern
​