As depicted in the film, after their marriage, Bess became part of Houdini's act, traveling around the country with him. In 1894, Houdini met and married Wilhelmina Beatrice 'Bess' Rahner, a singer-dancer with the Floral Sisters act. His early act included card and handcuff tricks, which he performed with his younger brother Theo at amusement parks and the Chicago 1893 World's Fair.

After reading the autobiography of influential magician Robert Houdin, Houdini then changed his name. Houdini began his magic career as a teenager, calling himself Eric the Great. He and his family eventually settled in New York, where Houdini worked as a messenger and a tie cutter, and won awards in swimming and track. To help his impoverished family, Houdini, the son of a rabbi, began working when he was eight and left home at twelve, sending money home from various jobs. Born in Budapest, Hungary in 1874, Houdini, whose real name was Ehrich Weiss, emigrated with his family to Appleton, WI, at the age of four. As noted by Milbourne Christopher, the editor of Magazine of the Society of American Magicians, in a Jan 1954 Var item, Houdini contains many inaccuracies about the magician's life.

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