''The Green Archer'' is a ten part 1925 American

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

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

Spencer Gordon Bennet Spencer Gordon Bennet (January 5, 1893 – October 8, 1987) was an American film producer and director. Known as the "King of Serial Directors", he directed more film serials than any other director. Biography Born in Brooklyn, New York, Benne ...

. It is based on

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was a war correspondent during th ...

's bestselling 1923 novel of the same name. The filmmakers moved the setting of the novel from England to the United States. The story was remade in the

sound era A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

as another serial '' The Green Archer'' by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

. The first episode is titled "The Ghost of Bellamy Castle" (released in the U.S. December 6, 1925), and the final one is "The Smoke Clears Away" (released in the U.S. February 27, 1926). The serial was released in the United Kingdom by Pathé Pictures International beginning on October 4, 1926. Cinematographer

Stanley Cortez Stanley Cortez, A.S.C. (November 4, 1908 – December 23, 1997) was an American cinematographer. He worked on over seventy films, including Orson Welles' ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' (1942), Charles Laughton's '' The Night of the Hunter'' ...

had one of his earliest jobs as assistant cameraman on the serial. Actress

Allene Ray Allene Ray (born Allene Ray Burch; January 2, 1901 – May 5, 1979) was an American film actress. Early years Born in Devine, Texas, Ray grew up on her father's ranch with her four sisters and two brothers. She was learning to ride by age 3, and ...

went on to star in a number of other serials such as '' The Terrible People'' (1928), '' Hawk of the Hills'' (1929) and ''

The Indians Are Coming ''The Indians Are Coming'' is a 1930 American Pre-Code Universal movie serial based on ''The Great West That Was'' by William "Buffalo Bill" Cody. The serial was the first "all-talking" (complete sound rather than a silent movie with occasiona ...

'' (1930). Director Bennett also went on to direct many sound serials over the next several decades. The poster had the tagline "The foreboding shadow of the grim Archer - the twang of the bow - and green feathered Death speeds to its mark!" Most of the books of

have been adapted into films many times over the years in both England in the 1930s, and in Germany in the 1960s in a series known as the ''crimis'' (see

Films based on works by Edgar Wallace Edgar Wallace (1875–1932) was a British novelist and playwright and screenwriter whose works have been adapted for the screen on many occasions. British adaptations His works were adapted for the silent screen as early as 1916, and continued ...

Plot

As described in a film magazine review, a young woman who believes Abel Bellamy, a recluse millionaire, has kidnaped and for eighteen years has held prisoner another young woman, tries to prove her suspicion by searching the grounds of a medieval castle on the millionaire’s estate. The mansion had been moved stone by stone from its original location in England to the United States. Her quest leads her into numerous hazardous adventures and into a romance with a young officer of the state troops. During the hunt several persons are killed by a mysterious archer, whose identity is not learned until the millionaire’s castle is finally besieged. The young woman’s romance leads to her marriage with the troop officer.

Cast

Preservation

The film no longer exists in complete form. Only the third, fourth and fifth chapters still exist of the original ten-part serial, preserved in the

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the archiv ...

.Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 284. .

Chapter titles

# The Ghost of Bellamy Castle # The Midnight Warning # In the Enemy’s Stronghold # On the Storm King Road # The Affair at the River # The Mystery Ship # Bellamy Baits a Trap # The Cottage in the Woods # The Battle Starts # The Smoke Clears Away

References

External links