''The Exploits of Elaine'' is a 1914 American

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 ...

in the

damsel in distress The damsel in distress is a recurring narrative device in which one or more men must rescue a woman who has either been kidnapped or placed in general peril. Kinship, love, or lust (or a combination of those) gives the male protagonist the motiv ...

genre of '' The Perils of Pauline'' (1914). ''The Exploits of Elaine'' tells the story of a young woman named Elaine who, with the help of a detective, tries to find the man, known only as "The Clutching Hand", who murdered her father. The Clutching Hand was the first

mystery villain A masked villain, also seen as masked mystery villain, is a stock character in genre fiction. It was developed and popularized in movie serials, beginning with The Hooded Terror in ''The House of Hate'', (1918) the first fully-costumed mystery v ...

to appear in a film serial. The concept was widely used for the remainder of the format's existence. The serial stars

Pearl White Pearl Fay White (March 4, 1889 – August 4, 1938) was an American stage and film actress. She began her career on the stage at the age of six, and later moved on to silent films appearing in a number of popular serials. Dubbed the "Queen of ...

(who also starred in ''The Perils of Pauline''),

Arnold Daly Arnold Daly (October 22, 1875 – January 13, 1927) was an American actor, playwright, and producer. He was the father of actress and Algonquin Round Table personality Blyth Daly. Biography He was born Peter Christopher Arnold Daly in Brook ...

Sheldon Lewis Sheldon Lewis (April 20, 1868 – May 7, 1958) was an American actor of the silent era best known for his antagonistic roles. He appeared in more than 90 films between 1914 and 1936. Lewis was married to actress Virginia Pearson, and they were ...

Creighton Hale Creighton Hale (born Patrick Fitzgerald; May 24, 1882 – August 9, 1965) was an Irish-American theatre, film, and television actor whose career extended more than a half-century, from the early 1900s to the end of the 1950s. Career Born in Cou ...

, and Riley Hatch.

Lionel Barrymore Lionel Barrymore (born Lionel Herbert Blythe; April 28, 1878 – November 15, 1954) was an American actor of stage, screen and radio as well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''A Free Soul'' (1931) ...

had a small role. The serial was written by Arthur B. Reeve (novel),

Charles W. Goddard Charles William Goddard (November 26, 1879 – January 11, 1951) was an American playwright and screenwriter. Goddard began writing Broadway theatre, Broadway plays before turning to film, adapting a number of his stage works to film. He wrote the ...

, and George B. Seitz, and directed by

Louis J. Gasnier Louis Joseph Gasnier (September 15, 1875 – February 15, 1963) was a French-American film director, producer, screenwriter and stage actor. A cinema pioneer, Gasnier shepherded the early career of comedian Max Linder, co-directed the enormously ...

, Seitz, and

Leopold Wharton Leopold Wharton (September 1, 1870 – September 27, 1927) was an American film director, producer and writer. He directed 37 films between 1911 and 1922, including the 1915 film ''The New Adventures of J. Rufus Wallingford'', which featur ...

. The film was produced by the Whartons Studios and distributed by

Pathé Exchange Pathé Exchange, commonly known as Pathé, was an American film production and distribution company, largely of Hollywood's silent era. Known for its groundbreaking newsreel and wide array of shorts, it grew out of the American division of the ...

, the American distribution branch of the French company

Pathé Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French people, French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest ...

at that time. Pathé was the largest film equipment and production company in the world during the first part of the 20th century. The film was followed in 1915 by ''

The New Exploits of Elaine ''The New Exploits of Elaine'' is a 1915 American action film serial directed by Louis J. Gasnier, Leopold Wharton and Theodore Wharton. It is presumed to be lost. Cast * Pearl White as Elaine Dodge * Creighton Hale as Walter Jameson * Arn ...

''. The serial, which is extant, was named to the United States

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception i ...

in 1994 for its cultural and historic importance.

Cast

- Elaine Dodge *

- Detective

Craig Kennedy Professor Craig Kennedy is a character created by Arthur B. Reeve. Description Kennedy is a scientist detective at Columbia University similar to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Thorndyke. He uses his knowledge of chemistry and psychoanalysis to s ...

- Walter Jameson (Ep. 1, 2, 3) *

Raymond Owens Raymond "Smoky" Owens (1912 – September 7, 1942) was an American baseball pitcher in the Negro leagues. He played from 1939 to 1942 with the Cleveland Bears, St. Louis Stars, and the Cincinnati Clowns. He was selected to the second 1939 East-We ...

- Walter Jameson (Ep. 4-14) *

- Perry Bennett / The Clutching Hand. Sheldon Lewis, as the handsome attorney Perry Bennett and The Clutching Hand, was "the first in the serial genre's long parade of unknown menaces." *

Edwin Arden Edwin Hunter Pendleton Arden (February 4, 1864 – October 2, 1918) was an American actor, theatre manager, and playwright. Biography Arden was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Mary Berkley Hunter and Arden Richard Smith. After a common-school ed ...

- Wu Fang * Leroy Baker - The Butler * Bessie Wharton - Aunt Josephine, Mrs. Dodge * Riley Hatch - President Dodge (as William Riley Hatch) Pearl White and Creighton Hale

* Robin H. Townley - Limpy Red *

Floyd Buckley Floyd Buckley (October 21, 1877 - November 14, 1956) was an American film, stage, and radio actor whose career began with Buffalo Bill and ended with Broadway. Born in Chatham, New York, Buckley attended St. John's Military Academy in Manlius ...

- Michael *

- Undetermined Role * M.W. Rale - Wong Lang Sin. Long Sin is a

Yellow Peril The Yellow Peril (also the Yellow Terror and the Yellow Specter) is a racist, racial color terminology for race, color metaphor that depicts the peoples of East Asia, East and Southeast Asia as an existential danger to the Western world. As a ...

character, who wants the Clutching Hand's treasure map. He became just an agent of Wu Fang in the sequel. Wu Fang appeared in several Pearl White serials. * George B. Seitz * Howard Cody - Undetermined Role *

Paul Panzer Paul Wolfgang Panzerbeiter (November 3, 1872 – August 16, 1958), known professionally as Paul Panzer, was a German-American silent film actor. He appeared in more than 330 films between 1905 and 1952. Biography Panzer was born in Würzburg. ...

- Undetermined Role (unconfirmed)

Production

''The Exploits of Elaine'' was based on a book in the "

, Scientific Detective" series by Arthur B. Reeve. It was a prototype for the scientific mystery serials but has less interest for later audiences. A lot of the technology and science demonstrated in the serial soon became out of date or considered mundane. For example, the serial has to explain the concept of

fingerprinting A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfac ...

in dramatic fashion. Nevertheless, the serial was a success on its release and led to two sequels, ''

'' (1915) and ''

The Romance of Elaine ''The Romance of Elaine'' is a 1915 American silent adventure film serial directed by George B. Seitz, Leopold Wharton and Theodore Wharton, based on the novel by Arthur B. Reeve. The film is considered to be lost. Cast * Pearl White as Elai ...

'' (1915).

Cliffhangers

Similar to other film serials, each chapter typically closed with a

cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhang ...

with Elaine in some physical peril or confronted with a shocking revelation. For example, at the close of Chapter 10 Elaine actually dies. She is then brought back to life in the next chapter by Craig Kennedy.

Critical reception

In the opinion of film critic Stedman, this serial is an improvement on '' The Perils of Pauline'', with better acting, script, and direction.

Chapter titles

# ''The Clutching Hand'' # ''The Twilight Sleep'' # ''The Vanishing Jewels'' # ''The Frozen Safe'' # ''The Poisoned Room'' # ''The Vampire'' # ''The Double Trap'' # ''The Hidden Voice'' # ''The Death Ray'' # ''The Life Current'' # ''The Hour of Three'' # ''The Blood Crystals'' # ''The Devil Worshippers'' # ''The Reckoning''

References

External links

*''The Exploits of Elaine'' essay by Margaret Hennefeld at

br>
*''The Exploits of Elaine'' essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 , pages 39 – 4

* * *Reeve, Arthur B. (1915).
The Exploits of Elaine; a Detective Novel
'. New York: Hearst's International Library Company. (via the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Exploits Of Elaine, The 1914 films United States National Film Registry films American black-and-white films American silent serial films Pathé Exchange film serials Films directed by George B. Seitz Films directed by Louis J. Gasnier Films directed by Leopold Wharton Films directed by Theodore Wharton Films with screenplays by Arthur B. Reeve 1910s American films