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Abstract
From episode one to the final credits, whether the audience saw threatened heroes and heroines, or impossible villains, serials of the 1910s were episodic cinematic entertainment known as ‘cliffhangers.’ Born of sensational melodrama and dime novels, the film serial and the ‘thrills’ it attempted to inspire was a complicated genre, a convergence of narrative forms. Such serials include The Exploits of Elaine (1914), Lucille Love, the Girl of Mystery (1914), The Perils of Pauline (1914), Zudora (1914), The Black Box (1915), The Crimson Stain Mystery (1916), The Iron Claw (1916), The Mysteries of Myra (1916), The House of Hate (1918), and The Trail of the Octopus (1919), among many others. Drawing upon trade publications and industry discourse, this essay explores the extensive influence of these serials on the horror film genre of the 1930s and beyond, examining codes and conventions that range from the supernatural to mad science/scientist, uncanny paintings to secret panels, poisonous concoctions to torture devices.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank James Chapman, Robert Singer, Tony Williams, and Kristopher Woofter for their kind help and assistance with this essay.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 “The Wizard,” Variety, 30 November 1927, 19.
2 “Seven Footprints to Satan,” Film Daily, 14 April 1929, 13.
3 For more information, see Gary D. Rhodes, The Birth of the American Horror Film (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2018), and Gary D. Rhodes, “’Horror Film’: How the Term Came to Be,” Monstrum, Volume 1, Number 1 (April 2018), 90–115. On the subject of terminology and the Hollywood film genre, see also Steve Neale Genre and Hollywood (London: Routledge, 2000), as well as Mark Jancovich and Shane Brown’s “’More Stories of this Type’: Genre, Horror and Mystery in Silent Cinema,” Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, DOI 10.1080/01439685.2021.1922036.
4 Rhodes, “Horror Film,” 90, 97.
5 Ibid., 96.
6 Ibid., 97.
7 “The Black Box,” Moving Picture World, 27 March 1915, 2006.
8 “The Picture Oracle,” Picture-Play Magazine, October 1918, 304.
9 Advertisement, Exhibitors Herald, 4 September 1920, unpaginated.
10 Clarence J. Caine, “The New Universal Serial Starts,” Motography, 20 February 1915, 275.
11 Marina Dahlquist, “Introduction: Why Pearl”, in Exporting Perilous Pauline: Pearl White and the Serial Film Craze, ed. Marina Dahlquist (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2013), 3.
12 Guy Barefoot, The Lost Jungle: Cliffhanger Action and Hollywood Serials of the 1930s and 1940s (Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 2017), 3.
13 Advertisement, San Francisco Chronicle, 3 March 1915, 18.
14 “The Crimson Stain Mystery,” Moving Picture World, 9 December 1916, 1551.
15 Margaret I. MacDonald, “The Crimson Stain Mystery,” Moving Picture World, 2 September 1916, 1529.
16 “The Crimson Stain Mystery,” Exhibitors Herald, 2 September 1916, 23.
17 “The Mysteries of Myra,” Exhibitors Herald, 6 May 1916, 21.
18 “Universal Film Manufacturing Company,” Moving Picture World, 1 September 1917, 1390.
19 The Trail of the Octopus. DVD. Serial Squadron, 2012.
20 Barefoot, 26.
21 “American People Demand Thrills and Action in Their Photoplays,” Exhibitors Herald and Motography, 22 August 1919, 53.
22 Margaret Cassidy, “’Pernicious Stuff’: Nineteenth Century Media, The Children Who Loved Them and the Adults Who Worried about Them,” ETC: A Journal of General Semantics (July 2011), 306.
23 Ibid., 310.
24 Erin Smith, Hard-Boiled: Working Class Readers and Pulp Magazines (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2000), 19.
25 Ben Singer, Melodrama and Modernity: Early Sensational Cinema and Its Contexts (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2001), 198.
26 “Serials Upheld by Krellberg,” Motion Picture News, 16 August 1919, unpaginated.
27 “Plenty of Thrills in This Serial,” Motion Picture Mail, 2 September 1916, 13.
28 Advertisement, Moving Picture Weekly, 29 December 1917, 31.
29 “Serial Shows Power of Mind,” Motion Picture News, 27 December 1919, 246.
30 “Putting Together The Broken Coin,” Universal Weekly, 24 April 1915, 10.
31 “Pathe’s Iron Claw to be in Twenty Episodes,” Moving Picture World, 6 May 1916, 994.
32 “Antonio Moreno in The Veiled Mystery,” Exhibitors Herald, 18 September 1920, 90.
33 “Warner Oland and Juanita Hansen in The Phantom Foe,” Exhibitors Herald, 23 October 1920, 89.
34 Pearl White, Just Me (New York, NY: George H. Doran, 1919), 159–160.
35 Ethel Rosemon, “Out Classic Extra Girl Plays with Pearl White,” Motion Picture Classic, October 1917, 57.
36 “Independent Specials,” Moving Picture World, 13 June 1914, 1542.
37 “A Black Blox Interview with Rawlinson,” Universal Weekly, 6 March 1915, 13.
38 “Harvey a Stunt Coordinator,” Moving Picture Weekly, 24 November 1917, 27.
39 “Arline Pretty Serial Is Called a ‘Thriller of Thrillers,’” Motion Picture News, 13 December 1919, 4279.
40 Advertisement, Moving Picture World, 28 March 1914, unpaginated.
41 “New Thrill Added to Thanhouser Serial,” Motography, 25 July 1914, 124.
42 “Manufacturers’ Advance Notes,” Moving Picture World, 18 March 1916, 1856.
43 “Claim Lost City Is a Thriller,” Motion Picture News, 22 November 1919, 3752.
44 “Hazards of Helen Series,” Moving Picture World, 31 July 1915, 841. Emphasis mine.
45 Samuel S. Hutchinson, “Producer of ‘Thriller’ Answers Critic,” Motography, 25 September 1915, 609.
46 “The Mystery Ship,” Moving Picture World, 17 November 1917, 1038.
47 Neil G. Caward, “The Serpent Sign,” Motography, 17 April 1915, 607-608.
48 “The Crimson Stain Mystery (Consolidated),” Moving Picture World, 19 August 1916, 1270.
49 Advertisement, Moving Picture World, 12 June 1920, unpaginated.
50 “The Perils of Pauline,” New York Dramatic Mirror, 23 September 1914, 32.
51 “Gray Ghost News,” Moving Picture Weekly, 22 September 1917,14.
52 “Burton King, Who Unearths the Thrills,” Motion Picture News, 4 October 1919, 2831.
53 “The Moon Riders,” Moving Picture Weekly, 22 May 1920, 38.
54 “13 Is a Thriller in Every Sense,” Motion Picture News, 19 July 1919, 712.
55 “Some Short Reels,” Wid’s Daily, 23 November 1919, 21.
56 “Serials,” Exhibitors Herald, 17 April 1920,75.
57 Peter Milne, “The House of Hate,” Motion Picture News, 2 March 1918, 1318.
58 Advertisement, Moving Picture World, 2 January 1915, 3.
59 Rhodes, The Birth of the American Horror Film, 51–52.
60 Advertisement, Moving Picture World, 22 July 1916, 600.
61 Advertisement, New York Dramatic Mirror, 16 December 1914, 45.
62 “The Voice on the Wire, No. 9,” Moving Picture Weekly, 28; “Who Is ‘Number One?’”, Variety, 2 October 1917, 33.
63 “Sixth Episode of The Master Key,” Universal Weekly, 19 December 1914, 30; “The Romance of Elaine,” Moving Picture World, 24 July 1915, 728; “Ben Wilson and Neva Gerber in The Mystery Ship,” Moving Picture Weekly, 9 March 1918, 30.
64 Peter Milne, “The House of Hate,” Motion Picture News, 2 March 1918, 1318.
65 “Thrills in Shielding Shadow,” Moving Picture World, 9 September 1916, 1715.
66 Robert C. McElravy, “The Hidden Hand,” Moving Picture World, 1 December 1917, 1333–1334.
67 “The Fatal Ring,” Moving Picture World, 22 September 1917,1901; “Universal Special Feature,” Moving Picture World, 12 January 1918, 281; “The Rope of Death,” Moving Picture Weekly, 5 July 1919, 40.
68 “Publicity for The Lion Man Serial,” Moving Picture Weekly, 20 December 1919, 7.
69 Peter Milne, “Lucille Love, the Girl of Mystery,” Motion Picture News, 25 April 1914, 41.
70 “Scene from The Mystery Ship,” Moving Picture Weekly, 22 December 1917, unpaginated.
71 “The Lion’s Claws,” Moving Picture Weekly, 22 June 1918, 38.
72 “Kathlyn Made a Temple Goddess,” Motography, 24 January 1914, 43; “Episode Twelve of The Master Key,” Universal Weekly, 30 January 1915, 13; “The Oriental’s Plot,” Moving Picture World, 11 December 1915, 2063.
73 “The Mystic Message of the Spotted Collar,” Reel Life, 17 October 1914, 5.
74 Zudora. DVD. Serial Squadron, 2016.
75 “Pathe Exchange, Inc., Specials,” Moving Picture World, 15 May 1915, 1073.
76 Neil G. Caward, “New Villain Appears in Elaine Serial,” Motography, 27 March 1915, 473; “Stories of the Films,” Moving Picture World, 17 July 1915, 537; “Elmo Lincoln in Victims of the Sea,” Moving Picture World, 9 August 1919, 28; “Mystery Plays an Important Part in The Dragon’s Net,” Moving Picture Weekly, 2 October 1920, 26; “The Flaming Disk,” Moving Picture World, 6 November 1920, 36; “The Lion Man,” Moving Picture Weekly, 14 February 1920, 40; “Pathe Serial Due June 19th,” Motion Picture News, 18 June 1921, 3708;.
77 “What Our Critics Thought of Them,” Motion Picture Mail, 12 August 1916, 14.
78 “Fourth Episode of The Yellow Menace This Week,” Moving Picture World, 14 October 1916, 263.
79 “The Yellow Menace–14th Episode,” Moving Picture World, 23 December 1916, 1828.
80 Peter Milne, “The Hidden Hand,” Motion Picture News, 26 January 1918, 596.
81 Photo Caption, Moving Picture Weekly, 24 August 1918, unpaginated.
82 Peter Milne, “The House of Hate,” Motion Picture News, 9 March 1918, 1469.
83 “The Great Radium Mystery,” Moving Picture Weekly, 27 December 1919, 29.
84 “Gold Seal,” Moving Picture World, 23 May 1914, 1168.
85 “Pictures Reviewed in Advance,” Motion Picture News, 7 December 1918, 3429-3430.
86 “The Vanishing Dagger,” Moving Picture Weekly, 18 September 1916, 32.
87 Eric Steadman, editor, Hidden Dangers: The Lost 1920 Vitagraph Serial (Serial Squadron, 1920), 86–87.
88 The Lost Serial Collection. DVD. Serial Squadron, 2013.
89 Rhodes, The Birth of the American Horror Film, 239-244.
90 Neil G. Caward, “The Black Box Grows More Interesting,” Motography, 27 March 1915, 486.
91 “Universal Special Feature,” Moving Picture World, 15 December 1917, 1676.
92 Photo Caption, Moving Picture Weekly, 29 June 1918, unpaginated.
93 “Thanhouser Mystery Deepens,” Motography, 14 November 1914, 654.
94 “Pictures Reviewed in Advance,” 3430
95 Clarence J. Caine, “Episode 5 The Black Box,” Motography, 17 April 1915, 610.
96 “The Black Box,” Moving Picture World, 1 May 1915, 798.
97 “Universal Special,” Motography, 27 March 1915, 468; Neil G. Caward, “Universal’s The Black Box,” Motography, 12 June 1915, 977.
98 “The Vanishing Dagger,” Moving Picture Weekly, 25 September 1920, 30; “The Vanishing Dagger,” Moving Picture Weekly, 2 October 1920, 36.
99 Peter Milne, “Lucille Love, the Girl of Mystery,” Motion Picture News, 27 June 1914, 49; “Unity Sales Corp.,” Moving Picture World, 28 October 1916, 604; Zudora. DVD. Serial Squadron, 2016.
100 Eric Steadman, editor, The Mysteries of Myra: The Astounding 1916 Film Series Reconstructed with Over 200 Photos (Serial Squadron, 2010), 397.
101 Lynde Denig, “The Mysteries of Myra,” Moving Picture World, 3 June 1916, 1708.
102 Ibid, 1708.
103 “Miscellaneous Subjects,” Moving Picture World, 6 May 1916, 1044.
104 “The Mysteries of Myra,” Exhibitors Herald, 3 June 1916, 19, “Miscellaneous Subjects,” Moving Picture World, 3 June 1916, 1762.
105 “Mysteries of Myra,” Moving Picture World, 15 July 1916, 534; “Mysteries of Myra,” Moving Picture World, 5 August 1916, 1000.
106 The Mysteries of Myra: The Restored Episodes. DVD. The Serial Squadron, 2012.
107 “The Screaming Shadow,” Wid’s Daily, 18 January 1920, 31.
108 See Rhodes, The Birth of the American Horror Film, 1-8.
109 “Pauline Makes Bow to Film Patrons,” Motography, 4 April 1914, 217.
110 “Pathe,” Motography, 3 April 1915, 549.
111 “Beatrice Fairfax,” Moving Picture World, 25 November 1916, 1229.
112 Advertisement, Moving Picture Weekly, 29 September 1917, 3.
113 “Introducing The Vampires,” Moving Picture World, 25 November 1916, 1190.
114 “The Vampire,” Motography, 13 February 1915, 266.
115 Neil G. Caward, “Dog Actor Displays Wonderful Skill,” Motography, 13 February 1915, 243.
116 “Publicity for The Lion Man Serial,” 7.
117 “Diando’s Larkin-Compson Serial Due February 2,” Moving Picture World, 1 February 1919, 658.
118 Rhodes, The Birth of the American Horror Film, 21–33.
119 Neil G. Caward, “The Exploits of Elaine,” 3 April 1915, 526.
120 “General Film Program,” Motion Picture News, 15 January 1916, 262.
121 “Thanhouser Syndicate,” Motography, 19 December 1914, 870.
122 “Independent Specials,” Moving Picture World, 19 December 1914, 1681.
123 “Short Reels,” Wid’s Daily, 10 October 1920, 30.
124 Clarence J. Caine, “Episode Seven The Black Box,” Motography, 1 May 1915, 707; “Unity Sales Corp.,” Moving Picture World, 30 September 1916, 2170.
125 A Woman in Grey. DVD. Grapevine Video, 2019.
126 “Kalem Mystery Series,” Moving Picture World, 19 December 1914, 1691; “Universal Special Feature,” Moving Picture World, 18 August 1917, 1116; “The House of Doom,” Moving Picture Weekly, 7 June 1919, 35; “Elmo the Fearless,” Moving Picture Weekly, 20 March 1920, 31; “Comments on the Short Subjects,” Moving Picture World, 31 July 1920, 633.
127 Rhodes, The Birth of the American Horror Film, 104.
128 “Consolidated Film Corp.,” Moving Picture World, 14 October 1916, 296.
129 “The Great Radium Mystery,” Moving Picture Weekly, 27 November 1919, 29.
130 “Pathe Exchange, Inc.,” Moving Picture World, 27 May 1916, 1581.
131 “Seven Pearls,” Moving Picture World, 15 September 1917, 1748.
132 Neil G. Caward, “The Twenty Million Dollar Mystery,” Motography, 30 January 1915, 155.
133 “Independent Specials,” Moving Picture World, 13 June 1914, 1542.
134 Neil G. Caward, “Vocaphone Saves Elaine from Harm,” Motography, 27 February 1915, 313.
135 “Universal Special Feature,” Moving Picture World, 3 July 1915, 134.
136 The Lost Serial Collection. DVD. The Serial Squadron, 2017.
137 “Consolidated Film Corp.,” Moving Picture World, 16 December 1916, 1697.
138 “The Gray Ghost, Episode 13,” Moving Picture Weekly, 8 September 1917, 38.
139 A Woman in Grey, DVD.
140 “The House of a Thousand Traps,” Moving Picture Weekly, 2 August 1919, 36.
141 “The Romance of Elaine,” Moving Picture World, 10 July 1915, 398; “The Oriental’s Plot,” Moving Picture World, 11 December 1915, 2063; “The Mystery Ship,” Moving Picture Weekly, 29 December 1917, 33; “The Ghost City,” Universal Weekly, 22 December 1923, 40.
142 “Some Short Reels,” Wid’s Daily, 3 October 1920, 29.
143 The House of Hate. DVD. Serial Squadron, 2015.
144 Hypnotism was a narrative device in numerous serials, including The Black Box, The Gray Ghost, and The Vanishing Dagger. See “The Flaming Meteor,” Moving Picture World, 15 September 1917, 1709; “First Installment of The Black Box,” Universal Weekly, 6 March 1915, 9; “The Vanishing Dagger,” Moving Picture Weekly, 12 June 1920, 38.
145 Margaret I. MacDonald, “The Crimson Stain Mystery,” Moving Picture World, 2 September 1916, 1529.
146 Patrick Kearney, “The Shielding Shadow,” Motion Picture Mail, 2 September 2, 1916, 16.
147 The House of Hate. DVD. The Serial Squadron, 2025.
148 The Hope Diamond Mystery. DVD. The Serial Squadron, 2014.
149 “Short Reels,” Wid’s Daily, 21 March 1920, 28.
150 “Thanhouser Syndicate Corp.,” Moving Picture World, 16 January 1915, 434.
151 Advertisement, Motion Picture News, 29 April 1916, 2474.
152 “Strange Accident Thrills Director,” Moving Picture World, 13 May 1916, 1185.
153 “Hypnotism in Crimson Stain,” Moving Picture World, 7 October 1916, 99.
154 The Mystery Mind was originally titled The Master Mind. The title change might have occurred due to the release of a First National feature film entitled The Master Mind (1920).
155 “Serial Shows Power of Mind,” Motion Picture News, 27 December 1919, 246.
156 “Produce First Psychic Serial,” Exhibitors Herald, 6 March 1920, 62.
157 Rhodes, The Birth of the American Horror Film, 312.
158 Neil G. Caward, “Kennedy Faces Clutching Hand at Last,” Motography, 20 March 1915, 447.
159 “Pathe’s Opium Smugglers,” Motography, 5 June1915, 931.
160 “Exploits of Elaine,” Moving Picture World, March 20, 1915, 1766; “Romance of Elaine,” Moving Picture World, 26 June 1915, 2178.
161 “Invisible Ray Embodies Sir Oliver Lodge’s Theory,” Moving Picture World, 28 February 1920, 1470.
162 “First Crimson Stain Mystery Episode Released September 4,” Exhibitors Herald, 16 September 1916, 28.
163 Steadman, Hidden Dangers, 9, 11.
164 Clarence J. Caine, “Episodes Seven and Eight of Zudora,” Motography, 9 January 1915, 53.
165 Robert C. McElravy, “The Hidden Hand,” Moving Picture World, 1 December 1917, 1333-4.
166 Neil G. Caward, “Clutching Hand Threatens Kennedy’s Life,” Motography, 30 January 1915, 161; Neil G. Caward, “Kennedy Faces Clutching Hand at Last,” Motography, 20 March 1915, 447.
167 “Universal Special Feature,” Moving Picture World, 3 July 1915, 134, 136.
168 “Pathe Exchange, Inc.,” Moving Picture World, 13 February 1915, 1052; “The Exploits of Elaine,” Motography, 23 January 1915, 112.
169 Neil G. Caward, “Pathe’s New Exploits of Elaine,” Motography, 22 May 1915, 837.
170 “Big Explosion in Zudora,” Moving Picture World, 19 December 1914, 1704
171 “The Ray of Death (Unity),” Moving Picture World, 30 December 1916, 1980.
172 Lynde Denig, “The Iron Claw,” Moving Picture World, 4 March 1916, 1491.
173 “The Hidden Hand,” Moving Picture World, 12 January 1918, 282.
174 “The Hidden Hand,” Motion Picture News, 9 February 1918, 888.
175 “The Lion’s Claws, No. 6,” Moving Picture Weekly, 27 April 1918, 35.
176 “Gold Seal,” Moving Picture World, 27 June 1914, 1876.
177 “Independent Specials,” Moving Picture World, 5 December 1914, 1385.
178 “Walls of Doom,” Moving Picture Weekly, 11 September 1920, 30.
179 “The Vanishing Dagger,” Moving Picture Weekly, 11 September 1920, 40.
180 Neil G. Caward, “Pathe’s Exploits of Elaine,” Motography, 8 May 1915, 748.
181 Edward Weitzel, “The Yellow Menace,” Moving Picture World, 19 August 1916, 1235.
182 “The Dragon’s Net,” Moving Picture Weekly, 28 August 1920, 22.
183 Neil G. Caward, “Clutching Hand Hatches Crafty Scheme,” Motography, 6 February 1915, 191.
184 “The New Exploits of Elaine,” Moving Picture World, 15 May 1915, 1168.
185 Margaret I. MacDonald, “The Iron Claw,” Moving Picture World, 20 May 1916, 1351.
186 Lynde Denig, “The Mysteries of Myra,” Moving Picture World, 6 May 1916, 984.
187 “Reviews of Current Productions,” Moving Picture World, 27 May 1916, 1529.
188 The Trail of the Octopus. DVD. The Serial Squadron, 2012.
189 H.P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature, ed. E. F. Bleiler (New York, NY: Dover Publications, 1973).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Gary D. Rhodes
Gary D. Rhodes, Ph.D. currently serves as Full Professor of Media Production at Oklahoma Baptist University. He is the author of The Perils of Moviegoing in America (Bloomsbury, 2012), Emerald Illusions: The Irish in Early American Cinema (IAP, 2012), and The Birth of the American Horror Film (Edinburgh UP, 2018), as well as seven books on Bela Lugosi. He is a founding editor of the Edinburgh University Press book series ReFocus American and ReFocus International. He is also the writer-director of such documentary films as Lugosi: Hollywood's Dracula (1997) and Banned in Oklahoma (2004). His most recent book is Consuming Images: Film Art and the American Television Commercial (Edinburgh UP, 2020), co-authored with Robert Singer.