The late Janet Leigh plays Bess Houdini in this classic film based on the life of the legendary escape artist and magician. In the opening bit, Bess assists her husband in his latest illusion The Transformation. She is handcuffed, stuffed into a canvas bag which is tied and locked in a steamer trunk, which is then tied shut. Behind a screen of fan-bearing showgirls, the Houdinis switch places. Later in the film, with her husband sidelined by being locked in the town's "escape-proof" jail on a dare, Bess is forced to masquerade as him onstage, but a man forces his way onstage and locks her in a pair of unopenable manacles. Fortunately the great magician arrives unbeknownst to the audience and together they perform a switch with no one the wiser.
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