20 Things You Somehow Missed In The Prestige
17. Chung Ling Soo Was A Real Illusion
The Prestige plays with real world characters interacting with and influencing fictional characters, which is something that has gained popularity in Hollywood in recent years, both in films and on television. The key example in The Prestige is Nikola Tesla, but there is another such character.
Early in the film, Alfred Borden and Robert Angier attend a performance by Chinese illusionist, Chung Ling Soo (Chao Li Chi). Angier is completely taken by the ageing and infirm magician, but Borden has him completely figured out, reasoning that the illusion is actually that the magician is a frail old Chinese man. Angier attempts Chung Ling Soo's most captivating trick - making a goldfish bowl magically appear on a table - and figures that the illusionist must be as strong as an ox, as he must be holding the goldfish bowl between his legs during his performance.
In reality, Chung Ling Soo was a disguise for magician, William Ellsworth Robinson, who lived for years as the Chinese illusionist, given that audiences of the time were intrigued and inspired by the Orient. Indeed, he only broke character once; in March 1918, when a bullet catch trick went wrong, he exclaimed: "My God, I've been shot!" These were his last words before succumbing to his injuries and the first English that he had spoken on stage in 19 years.