MovieChat Forums > Houdini and Doyle (2016) Discussion > was doyle really a celebrity? i dont thi...

was doyle really a celebrity? i dont think of him as one....

posted 9 years ago by yeshewa
13 replies | jump to latest

maybe is because i am an american, but houdinis name is waaaay more famous and when the show was called "houdini and doyle" i didnt even realize that it was supposed to be him

[–] Insomniac_Jack 9 years ago

He created Sherlock Holmes. Yes, he was famous at the time.

[–] natalieanne71 9 years ago

Way back before tv and movies , authors were the celebrities that pop culture revolved around . So remember this is a historical mystery/drama series .

[–] hansenmv2002 9 years ago

radio

[–] Insomniac_Jack 9 years ago

Radios didn't become common in homes as entertainment until the 1920's. This show takes place in 1901. KNOW SOME HISTORY, SON!

[–] Cobb05 9 years ago

He was the Stephen King of his time. His books were hugely popular.

[–] TheOnlyVindicator 9 years ago

Right now there is one series in America and one in the UK based on Doyle's characters. Will people sing Justin Bieber songs in a hundred years?

[–] laughdavid-869-988586 9 years ago

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was knighted for his work. He was hugely popular in his time. You have to remember that, like Charles Dickens years earlier, his writings we serialized and were published in the papers of the time. So they were readily available to anyone with a penny or so to buy a paper. It was a way for publishers to get people to buy their papers every day

[–] Chris12955 9 years ago

I know Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was immensely popular in the UK at the time this is set, but he also was popular here in America then as well. How have you not heard of the author of Sherlock Holmes? I knew of Doyle before I had ever heard of Houdini.

[–] hansenmv2002 9 years ago

Oddly - he also popularized skiing in the Alps of Switzerland.

[–] Chris12955 9 years ago

Exactly, Arthur Conan Doyle was by far the bigger celebrity of the two for the period and he still is. Whether internationally or within their own country(I am aware Harry Houdini immigrated to America as a young boy.)

[–] hansenmv2002 9 years ago

Short answer: he was a BFD in his day - also he and houdini were buds - they had a common interest in the occult - back when that was some weird thing that might be real - god knows they had the money to pursue it.

[–] Chris12955 9 years ago

BFD?

he and houdini were buds

That really is what is so interesting about this. They were polar opposites in personality and outlook, the widest ocean in the world separated them for much of their lives, they held vastly different occupations, and yet they were very close for two years. It is just so hard to believe they would get along, let alone strike up a tight knit friendship. Yet that is exactly what happened. At least until Arthur Conan Doyle insisted his wife perform a seance for Harry Houdini. His response to it rather infuriated Doyle.

[–] hansenmv2002 9 years ago

I heard this comment recently - about early 30s - the 2 most famous guys on the planet met --- and Chaplin said "Everyone knows what I do - why I'm famous - and no one knows what you do Doctor Einstein - why you are famous. "

I think Chaplin followed that up with some variant of "what's with that" - and Herr Albert said "I have no clue" .