The Magic of David Copperfield V (1983)

A voice offstage reveals: «This is the Statue of Liberty. Tonight, the illusion of the century. David Copperfield will attempt to make the Statue of Liberty disappear». So it begins the 5th CBS Copperfield TV special, and for the first time David Copperfield presents a special without a host, and is also co-director. It is officially titled "THE MAGIC OF David COPPERFIELD V" but is better known as "The Magic of David Copperfield V: The Statue of Liberty Disappears", in which "The Statue of Liberty Disappears" is a reference to the last illusion, which, shortly before the performance, filmed in September 1982 in long take, the actress Michele Lee describes in front of the camera as the largest one ever performed by an illusionist (this statue is 93 meters, or 305 feet, high), and this record has been confirmed by the 2006 edition of Guinness World Records. So, the illusions performed are: "Shrinking Comedian" (aka "Shrinking Man In Bag"), "Linking Cards", "Dancing Cane", "Levitating A Lady", "Room Key", "Story Of Emily" and then "Statue Of Liberty Disappears", that is one of the few illusions no more repeated, but especially the one that made Copperfield famous worldwide. It cost him about $ 500,000 and involved 300 technicians. It was seen live by 20 tourists seated in front of a curtain attached to 2 lateral scaffolding built on Liberty Island at 61 meters (or 200 feet) away from the statue. The home television audience was estimated at over 50 million. Previously, the record of the world's largest illusion belonged to Copperfield's "Lear Jet Vanish" illusion, the last one performed in his 1981's special, but by now widely surpassed because, as pointed out by William B. Williams, «the statue's arm alone is longer than an airplane». Before making the statue reappear, Copperfield explains why he wanted to perform this illusion, saying that his mother Rebecca Kotkin, an immigrant, has been the first person to talk him about the Statue of Liberty, when he was still a child: «She impressed upon me how precious our liberty is and how easily it can be lost. And then one day it occurred to me that I could show with magic how we take our freedom for granted. Sometimes we don't realize how important something is until it's gone». So he asked the government for permission to let him make this statue disappear, just for a few minutes. Then he also explains: «I thought that if we faced emptiness where, for as long as we can remember, that great lady is, lifted up our land, why then... we might imagine what the world would be like without liberty and we realize how precious our freedom really is». Copperfield also adds: «Freedom is the true magic. It's beyond the power of any magician».