''The Diamond from the Sky'' is a 1915 American silent

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

film serial A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, gene ...

directed by

Jacques Jaccard Jacques Jaccard (September 11, 1886 – July 24, 1960) was an American film director, writer and actor whose achievements in cinema were mostly in silent film. He directed 86 films and wrote scripts for 80 films. The best-known of his films as ...

and

William Desmond Taylor William Desmond Taylor (born William Cunningham Deane-Tanner, 26 April 1872 – 1 February 1922) was an Anglo-Irish-American film director and actor. A popular figure in the growing Hollywood motion picture colony of the 1910s and early 1920s, ...

and starring

Lottie Pickford Charlotte Smith (June 9, 1893 – December 9, 1936), known professionally as Lottie Pickford, was a Canadian-American silent film actress and socialite. She was the younger sister of fellow actress Mary Pickford and elder sister of actor Jack ...

Irving Cummings Irving Caminsky (October 9, 1888 – April 18, 1959) was an American movie actor and director. Career Born in New York City, Cummings started his acting career at age 16 in ''Diplomacy''. His Broadway, performances included ''In the Long ...

, and William Russell. No copies of this serial’s “chapters” have been found, so the overall production is currently classified as a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

Plot

The prologue in the serial's first episode, "A Heritage of Hate", depicts the discovery of a spectacular diamond inside a

meteorite A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the ...

, a gem that later becomes the property of the Stanley family, who call their heirloom “The Diamond From the Sky”. The remainder of the first chapter portrays the intense rivalry between Colonel Arthur Stanley and Judge Lamar Stanley,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

aristocrats and descendants of Lord Arthur Stanley, 200 years later. When a girl is born to the young wife of Colonel Arthur Stanley, the latter, to retain an

earldom Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant " chieftain", particula ...

and “The Diamond From the Sky,” buys a new born

Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

baby boy and substitutes it for his own babe. Judge Lamar Stanley visits Colonel Arthur Stanley’s home to see the child just as Hagar, the

gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

woman, bursts into the room to demand her boy, and the

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

falls unconscious across the

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

table.

Cast

Chapter titles

# A Heritage of Hate # An Eye For An Eye # The Silent Witness # The Prodigal's Progress # For The Sake of A False Friend # Shadows at Sunrise # The Fox and The Pig # A Mind In The Past # A Runaway Match # Old Foes With New Faces # The Web of Destiny # To The Highest Bidder # The Man In The Mask # For Love And Money # Desperate Chances # The Path of Peril # The King of Diamonds and the Queen of Hearts # The Charm Against Harm # Fire, Fury And Confusion # The Soul Stranglers # The Lion's Bride # The Rose In The Dust # The Double Cross # The Mad Millionaire # A House of Cards # The Garden of The Gods # Mine Own People # On the Wings of the Morning # A Deal With Destiny # The American Earl

Production notes

*The serial’s overall storyline was purposely left unfinished in the same manner as ''

The Million Dollar Mystery ''The Million Dollar Mystery'' is a 23-chapter film serial released in 1914, directed by Howell Hansel, and starring Florence La Badie and James Cruze. It is presumed lost. Plot A prologue for ''The Million Dollar Mystery'' introduced the chara ...

''. A prize of $5,000 was offered for its completion, which was won by Terry Ramsaye. *While on location during the production of the “continued photoplay”, director William Desmond Taylor was nearly electrocuted by an exposed power line. The

trade magazine A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular trade or industry. The collective term for thi ...

Motion Picture News The ''Motion Picture News'' was an American film industry trade paper published from 1913 to 1930. History The publication was created through the 1913 merger of the ''Moving Picture News'' founded in 1908 and ''The Exhibitors' Times'', founded ...

'' reported the near tragedy in its August 7, 1915, issue:

References

External links