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Houdini Was the First Person to Fight a Robot on Film
Posted by Jason Chen at 7:00 AM on March 16, 2008
That headline is one of those insane things you never expect to write, or even read, in your lifetime, but newly restored Houdini movies show that he's the first person EVER to fight a robot on film. If you're at all interested in robots, Houdini, or some combination of the two going at it, get a copy of Houdini: The Movie Star on Amazon. Now, who's the first person to have sex with a robot on film? Charlie Chaplin? [Boing Boing]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
strider_mt2k
Posted 10:20 AM 16/3/08
@ dorsc:
He was certainly the first to slip repeatedly on a giant banana peel!
(Love that movie!)
strider_mt2k
dorsc
Posted 10:20 AM 16/3/08
I think Woody Allen was the first to have sex with a robot on a movie..
dorsc
FThorn
Posted 10:20 AM 16/3/08
LOOK at how RESPECTABLE all the guys were dressed.
FThorn
aphex242
Posted 10:20 AM 16/3/08
@92BuickLeSabre: lol that's *exactly* what I was thinking re: Jackie Chan.
aphex242
Marcelo
Posted 10:20 AM 16/3/08
Chaplin, with an i. :)
Marcelo
Mandatory_Field
Posted 10:20 AM 16/3/08
@92BuickLeSabre: I'll second that: It looks like his stardom was based around doing some pretty spectacular stunts (no CGI, no wirework -- and his face could be seen in the stunt shots), that would have difficult for a standard stuntman of the day.
Mandatory_Field
MrBabyMan
Posted 10:20 AM 16/3/08
Houdini vs. Robots! I sense a new meme being born.
MrBabyMan
92BuickLeSabre
Posted 10:20 AM 16/3/08
He was like Jackie Chan, before Jackie Chan.
As for fighting a robot...at least in that clip it looked more like he was the first person EVER to run away from a robot. (Granted, I probably also would have run away from a robot that could shoot lightening from its fingers, but then again, I'm not Houdini.)
92BuickLeSabre
Lorne
Posted 12:04 PM 16/3/08
I believe Thomas Edison was filmed grappling with a coal-fired automaton named Smokey Joe at Menlo Park in 1911, but he had the film destroyed because he thought it would be bad publicity for his planned line of mechanical men.
Lorne
JustThisGuy
Posted 1:42 PM 16/3/08
That's it, Jason. You've reached the apex of your career. There is no going up from here, as journalism obviously cannot get any better than that headline.
So: what are you going to do now?
JustThisGuy
discounteggroll
Posted 8:00 AM 17/3/08
@dorsc:
I was thinking the NSFW version where houdini pulls his signature (and self-named) houdini move while having sex with the robot. that would be one hell of a paradox
[www.urbandictionary.com]
discounteggroll
CaliforniaKid
Posted 11:27 AM 17/3/08
Who's the first to have sex with a robot? Probably the guy that invented the "Judy Doll"; that inflatable doll that I've HEARD about being sold at adult bookstores.
CaliforniaKid
Stacky Botrus
Posted 10:58 PM 17/3/08
I dont see shit.
Stacky Botrus
Way
Posted 5:39 AM 18/3/08
Video removed. =(
Way
Angryrider
Posted 5:39 AM 18/3/08
Houdini is awesome!
Angryrider