''The Perils of Pauline'' is a 1914 American

melodrama A melodrama is a Drama, dramatic work in which plot, typically sensationalized for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodrama is "an exaggerated version of drama". Melodramas typically concentrate on ...

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, ge ...

produced by

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His extravagant methods of yellow jou ...

and released by the Eclectic film company, shown in bi-weekly installments, featuring

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 age 6, and later moved on to silent films appearing in a number of popular serial film, serials. Dubbed the "Queen ...

as the title character, an ambitious young heiress with an independent nature and a desire for adventure. Despite popular associations, Pauline was never tied to a railroad track in the series, an image that was added to popular mythology by scenes in stage melodramas of the 1800s, in serials featuring the resourceful "railroad girl" Helen Holmes in her long-running series '' The Hazards of Helen'', and in other railroad-themed Holmes cliffhangers such as ''The Girl and the Game''. The images of Holmes' railroad adventures were blended in the public mind with Pearl White's cliffhanging adventures, probably because White became the bigger celebrity. The serial had 20 episodes, the first being three reels (30 minutes), and the rest two reels (20 minutes) each. After the original run, it was reshown in theaters a number of times, sometimes in re-edited versions, through the 1920s. Today, ''The Perils of Pauline'' is known to exist only in a condensed, reformatted 9-chapter version (approximately 214 minutes), released in Europe in 1916 by Pathé Freres. In 2008, ''The Perils of Pauline'' was selected by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

for 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 (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...

, as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Plot

Before Pauline (Pearl White) will agree to marry Harry (Crane Wilbur), who proposes marriage to her on the tennis court, she says that she wishes to be allowed to embark upon activities of her choice for a year and then write about them afterward. She proceeds then to plan to ride in a balloon, fly an airplane, drive a racing car, ride in a horse race, go on a treasure hunt, act in a motion picture, and tour a submarine, among other things, and frequently ends up in trouble after being assaulted by henchmen of Raymond Owen (Paul Panzer), her adoptive father's scheming secretary, who wants to dispose of Pauline and gain her inheritance for himself. Owen hires the disreputable Hicks (Francis Carlyle) who owes Owen money, and later a Gypsy king called Balthazar to sabotage Pauline's plans, or kidnap or murder her, and often Harry ends up coming to her rescue when she is trapped on a cliff or tied up in a house set afire, but as the series goes on she is also shown to be able to extricate herself from various predicaments as well. Finally, after she ends up trapped on an abandoned ship being used for target practice by the Navy and is genuinely terrified by the experience, Pauline decides she has had enough of adventuring and agrees to marry Harry. Owen is drowned by a sailor he has refused to allow to blackmail him, and all is well.

Cast

as Pauline Marvin *

Crane Wilbur Crane Wilbur (November 17, 1886 – October 18, 1973) was an American writer, actor and director for stage, radio and screen. He was born in Athens, New York. Wilbur is best remembered for playing Harry Marvin in ''The Perils of Pauline (1914 s ...

as Harry Marvin * Paul Panzer as Raymond Owen (Called Koerner in the European release) * Edward José as Sanford Marvin * Francis Carlyle as Owen's Henchman, Montgomery Hicks * Clifford Bruce as Gypsy Leader Balthazar * Donald MacKenzie as Blinky Bill * Jack Standing as Lieutenant Summers * Eleanor Woodruff as Lucille

Chapter titles

The original serial episodes had no titles, only episode numbers. Titles for episodes have been applied to them from the condensed Pathé release of the serial or sometimes as derived from novelizations of the serial. The original 20 episodes contained the following story elements: # MUMMY CASE/WILL Pauline's ambition to have adventures and write about them before marrying, Egyptian mummy speaks to Mr. Marvin, Death of Marvin and Owen's plot to kill Pauline and gain her inheritance # AIRFIELD Owen tampers with an airplane he thinks Pauline will fly and causes it to crash # OLD SAILOR'S STORY Blinky Bill the sailor tells a story of mutiny and treasure # TREASURE ISLAND Expedition to an island to recover lost treasure; bomb on board ship # RECEPTION/ABDUCTION BY CHINESE Pearl charms Signor Baskinelli, seized by Chinamen, imprisoned in a Joss House # BALLOON/CLIFF Owen and Hicks conspire to set Pauline aloft in a balloon, rescue from cliff's edge # HOUSE FIRE/WESTERN ACTION Pauline trapped in abandoned house set afire, Harry rescues her, she travels West and is kidnapped # INDIANS Pauline is believed to be a goddess and tested by an Indian tribe # DEVIL'S ISLAND Pauline acts in a movie for director Louis Gasnier # SMUGGLERS Lighthouse, rocket gun # SOPHIE MACALLEN'S WEDDING Escaped lions, auto crash # CAPTURED BY GYPSIES Pauline abducted, Harry fights Balthazar # SERPENT IN THE GARDEN Snake in basket, Steeplechase, house party in Adirondacks, cliff's edge # TRAPPED IN RUINED MILL Trapped by rising water, escape on high telegraph wire # DUEL/AUTO RACE Ferrari challenges Harry to duel, Auto race, car sabotaged by Owen # THE GERM "Drowning disease" caused by germ # DOG AND COUNTERFEITERS Pauline's dog abducted by counterfeiters # SUBMARINE Spy sabotages submarine, Pauline is on board # FAKE PUBLISHER Hotel trap, circus car, escaped ape # FLOATING COFFIN: Pauline takes motorboat to abandoned ship used for target practice by Navy men Titles of the Pathé 9-episode condensed and re-edited re-release stories which have been used subsequently were: # "Par le Vertige et Par le Feu" (Trial by Fire (US), Vertigo and Fire, or From Cloud to Cliff) # "La Deesse du Far-West" (Goddess of the Far West) # "La Tresor du Pirate" (The Pirate Treasure) # "Le Virage Mortel" (The Deadly Turning (US), The Deadly Curve) # "La Fil Aerien" (A Watery Doom (US), The Aerial Wire) # "L'Aile Brisee" (The Shattered Plane (US), The Broken Wing) # "La Plongee Tragique" (The Tragic Plunge) # "Le Reptile Sous les Fleurs" (The Snake in the Flowers (US), The Serpent in the Flowers) # "Le Cercueil Flottant" (The Floating Coffin)

Behind the scenes

Pearl White was hesitant to accept the title role, but signed up for $250/week (equal to $ today) and a large amount of publicity.

was involved in plot development. He was also present at the premiere at Loew's Broadway Theatre, on March 23, 1914. According to "The Truth About Pearl White" by Wallace E. Davis, the general release was approximately April 1, 1914. E. A. McManus, head of the Hearst-Vitagraph service organization, was the person who proved how successful a serial could be. He co-operated with the largest film equipment and production company in the world at that time, a France-based company named

Pathé Pathé SAS (; styled as PATHÉ!) is a French major film production and distribution company, owning a number of cinema chains through its subsidiary Pathé Cinémas and television networks across Europe. It is the name of a network of Fren ...

, to produce this serial, which was Pathé's first entry into the medium. George B. Seitz tried to follow the cliffhanging pattern of '' The Adventures of Kathlyn'' but each chapter was mostly self-contained. After retiring from law enforcement, William J. Flynn, former director of the

Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. An agency of the United States Department of Justice, the FBI is a member of ...

(forerunner of the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

), became a scenario writer for the motion picture industry through his acquaintance with the actor

King Baggot William King Baggot (November 7, 1879 – July 11, 1948) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. He was an internationally famous movie star of the silent film era. The first individually publicized leading man in America, Baggo ...

, who was considered the greatest film star in the country at that time in 1912. Producers Theodore and Leopold Wharton commissioned him to write story lines for their films, including ''Pauline''. The Whartons also eventually adapted Flynn's experiences into a 20-part spy thriller titled ''The Eagle's Eye'' (1918), starring Baggot. Surviving chapters of the French condensation of ''Pauline'' are noteworthy for their unintentionally funny re-translations of their title cards and dialogue captions in the English version, filled with misspellings, poor punctuation, terrible grammar, and odd expressions. The film was recut and adapted for home-movie use, and all of the printed captions were translated into French. Later, when the American home-movie industry beckoned, the original English titles had been scrapped, so the French technicians tried to translate the titles back into English. These errors have also been blamed on Louis J. Gasnier, director and supervisor of the production. Gasnier, as explained by

, made linguistic mistakes that confused the French-speaking crew. The new title cards also renamed the villain's character: Raymond Owen as "Koerner," in reference to German "villainy" during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Much of the film was shot in

Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a Borough (New Jersey), borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop The Palisades (Hudson River), The Palisades. As of the 2020 Uni ...

, where many early

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company that makes films. Today, studios are mostly financing and distribution entities. In addition, they may have their own studio facility or facilities; how ...

s in America's first motion picture industry were based at the beginning of the 20th century. Scenes were also filmed in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. The term "

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

" may have originated with the series, owing to a number of episodes filmed on or around the New Jersey Palisades—though it is also likely to refer to situations in stories of this type where the hero or heroine is hanging from a cliff, seemingly with no way out, until the next episode or last-minute resolution. Pearl White performed most of her own stunts for the serial, but also was stunt doubled by a man. Filmed in the

Adirondacks The Adirondack Mountains ( ) are a massif of mountains in Northeastern New York (state), New York which form a circular dome approximately wide and covering about . The region contains more than 100 peaks, including Mount Marcy, which is the hi ...

in New York, the stunt double rode a horse off a cliff into the lake below. Considerable risk was involved. In one incident, a balloon carrying White escaped and carried her across the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

into a storm, before landing miles away. In another incident her back was permanently injured in a fall. One of the more famous scenes in the serial which depicted a curved railroad bridge was supposedly the Ingham Creek trestle in

New Hope, Pennsylvania New Hope is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,612 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. New Hope is located approximately north of Philadelphia, and lies on the west b ...

on the Reading Company's New Hope Branch (now the New Hope and Ivyland Railroad line). The railroad is a tourist attraction today. Other supposed locations for the railroad scenes include the Belvidere-Delaware Railroad in Lambertville and Raven Rock, New Jersey and the Long Island Rail Road in the Hamptons on Long Island. These stories are likely legends since there were no major scenes involving action with trains in the serial.

Milton Berle Milton Berle (born Mendel Berlinger; ; July 12, 1908 – March 27, 2002) was an American actor and comedian. His career as an entertainer spanned over eight decades, first in silent films and on stage as a child actor, then in radio, movies and ...

claimed ''The Perils of Pauline'' as his first film appearance, playing the character of a young boy, though this has never been independently verified and is unlikely as no child characters appear in the serial. The serial did mark one of the early credits for the cinematographer Arthur C. Miller, who was transferred to the project from the Pathé News department. Pathé established an American factory and studio facility in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

in 1910, and also established the Eclectic Film Company as a subsidiary distribution company for both its American and European products. Although the Jersey City plant produced moderately popular comedies, dramas, and newsreels largely directed at the US market, ''Pauline'' was the first American-made Pathé effort to achieve worldwide success under the Eclectic banner. The final peril has Pauline sitting in a target boat as the Navy opens fire. The idea was also used in '' To the Shores of Tripoli'' (1942).

Sequels and remakes

This successful serial was quickly followed by ''

The Exploits of Elaine ''The Exploits of Elaine'' is a 1914 American Serial (film), film serial in the damsel in distress genre of ''The Perils of Pauline (1914 serial), The Perils of Pauline'' (1914). ''The Exploits of Elaine'' tells the story of a young woman named ...

'', also starring White. Many imitations and parodies followed, heralding the first golden age of the American film serial. The title ''The Perils of Pauline'' was reused by

Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

for a 1933 sound serial with a different plot, by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

as the

Betty Hutton Betty Hutton (born Elizabeth June Thornburg; February 26, 1921 – March 12, 2007) was an American stage, film, and television actress, comedian, dancer, and singer. She rose to fame in the 1940s as a contract player for Paramount Pictures, appea ...

vehicle '' The Perils of Pauline'' (1947), and by Universal again in 1967 as an updated comedy. An abortive mixed-media musical was planned to be based on the film, called ''Who's That Girl?'', meant to be premiered by ''

The Boys from Syracuse ''The Boys from Syracuse'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, based on William Shakespeare's play '' The Comedy of Errors'', as adapted by librettist George Abbott. The score includes swing and other contemp ...

'' producer Richard York on Broadway in 1970, with a book written by Lewis Banchi and Milburn Smith, and with the planned participation of the songwriting duo

Ray Evans Raymond Bernard Evans (February 4, 1915 – February 15, 2007) was an American songwriter best known for being a half of a composing-songwriting duo with Jay Livingston, specializing himself in writing lyrics for film songs. On music Livingston ...

and

Jay Livingston Jay Livingston (born Jacob Harold Levison; March 28, 1915 – October 17, 2001) was an American composer best known as half of a composing-songwriting duo with Ray Evans, with whom he specialized in composing film scores and original soundtrack ...

Legacy

''The Perils of Pauline'' is the prime example of what scholar Ben Singer has called the "serial-queen

". There has been a recent reassessment of Singer's model in light of broader film forms.Shane Denson.
Rethinking the Serial-Queen Melodrama: Serial Narration and Medial Self-Reflexivity in Transitional-Era Cinema
The film's style was later subject to nostalgic caricature in many forms (e.g. '' Dudley Do-Right''), but the original heroine was neither as helpless as the caricatures, nor did the original series include the much-parodied "tied to railroad tracks" or "tied to buzzsaw" scenarios which appeared in later films in this vein. Even the title phrase "Perils of" was often adopted by later serials, for example, in Universal's '' Perils of the Secret Service'', '' Perils of the Wild'', and '' Perils of the Yukon''. and Republic Pictures' '' Perils of Nyoka''. The 1969–70 cartoon series '' The Perils of Penelope Pitstop'' was patterned after this serial, and included the plot point of the villain trying to eliminate the heroine so he can keep her inheritance. The '' Thunderbirds'' episode " The Perils of Penelope" was inspired by ''The Perils of Pauline''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perils of Pauline (1914 serial), The 1914 films 1914 drama films 1910s action drama films 1910s American films 1910s English-language films 1910s melodrama films American black-and-white films American silent serial films Articles containing video clips Damsels in distress English-language action drama films Films directed by Louis J. Gasnier Films shot in Fort Lee, New Jersey Films shot in New Jersey Films shot in Pennsylvania Pathé Exchange film serials Silent American action drama films United States National Film Registry films