''The Clue'' is a

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

1915 American

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

directed by James Neill and

Frank Reicher Frank Reicher (born Franz Reicher; December 2, 1875 – January 19, 1965) was a German-born American actor, director and producer. He is best known for playing Captain Englehorn in the 1933 film ''King Kong''. Early life Reicher was born in Mu ...

and written by

Margaret Turnbull Margaret Carol "Maggie" Turnbull (born 1975) is an American astronomer and astrobiologist. She received her PhD in Astronomy from the University of Arizona in 2004. Turnbull is an authority on star systems which may have habitable planets, sol ...

. The film stars

Blanche Sweet Sarah Blanche Sweet (June 18, 1896 – September 6, 1986) was an American silent film actress who began her career in the earliest days of the Hollywood motion picture film industry. Early life Born Sarah Blanche Sweet (though her first na ...

, Gertrude Kellar, Edward MacKay,

Sessue Hayakawa , known professionally as , was a Japanese actor and a matinée idol. He was a popular star in Hollywood during the silent film era of the 1910s and early 1920s. Hayakawa was the first actor of Asian descent to achieve stardom as a leading man i ...

, Page Peters and

Ernest Joy Ernest C. Joy (January 20, 1878 – February 12, 1924) was an American stage and film actor of the silent era. He appeared in 76 films between 1911 and 1920. Selected filmography * ''Article 47, L (1913) * ''Salomy Jane'' (1914) * ''Mig ...

. The film was released on July 8, 1915, by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

Plot

Two Russian brothers, Count Boris and Alexis Rabourdin, get their hands on the Japanese coastal defense plan and plan to sell the documents to German agents in London. In the US, Alexis plans to marry rich Eve Bertram, who is in love with him. Boris, meanwhile, falls in love with Christine Lesley, a neighbor of Eve, who is also courted by Guy, the brother of the neighbor, an amateur inventor who experiments with explosives. Guy's valet is actually a Japanese spy who wants to get hold of the explosives and destroy the lost documents. Boris, leaving for London, gives Christine an ancient Russian coin as a souvenir. To show the jealous Guy that she is indifferent to Boris's attentions, Christine attaches the coin to her lover's watch chain. That night, Alexis' body is discovered. To find the killer, Eve hires an investigator, Williams, who discovers the ancient Russian currency next to the body. Guy actually wrestled with Alexis and is now convinced that he killed him. Christine, to save Guy, agrees to marry Boris in exchange for his silence. Guy plans to commit suicide, but — during a fight — Nogi causes an explosion that kills Boris. The Japanese, seriously injured, confesses that he was the author of Alexis' murder. Christine destroys the documents on the coastal defense plan and Nogi can die, reassured for having completed his mission.

Cast

as Christine Lesley *Gertrude Kellar as Eve Bertram *Edward MacKay as Guy Bertram *

as Nogi *Page Peters as Alexis Ruloff *

as Count Boris Ruloff *

William Elmer William Elmer (April 25, 1869 – February 24, 1945) was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1913 and 1942. He was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa and died in Hollywood, California. Elmer acted in ...

as Detective Williams

References

External links

* * 1915 films 1910s English-language films Silent American drama films 1915 drama films Paramount Pictures films American black-and-white films Lost American drama films American silent feature films 1915 lost films English-language drama films Films directed by Frank Reicher 1910s American films {{1910s-drama-film-stub