''The Exploits of Elaine'' is a 1914 American film serial 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 to appear in a film serial. The concept was widely used for the remainder of the format's existence. The serial stars Pearl White (who also starred in ''The Perils of Pauline''), Arnold Daly, Sheldon Lewis, Creighton Hale, and

Riley Hatch William Riley Hatch (September 2, 1862 – September 6, 1925) was an American singer and actor on stage and in silent films. Hatch's Broadway debut came in ''The Burgomaster'' (1900); his final Broadway appearance was in ''The Nervous Wreck'' ...

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 Arthur Benjamin Reeve (October 15, 1880 – August 9, 1936) was an American mystery writer. He is known best for creating the series character Professor Craig Kennedy, sometimes called "The American Sherlock Holmes", and Kennedy's Dr. Watson-lik ...

(novel),

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

, and

George B. Seitz George Brackett Seitz (January 3, 1888 – July 8, 1944) was an American playwright, screenwriter, film actor and director. He was known for his screenplays for action serials, such as '' The Perils of Pauline'' (1914) and ''The Exploits of ...

, and directed by Louis J. Gasnier, 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 in film, 1915 film ''The New Adventures of J. Rufus Wallingford'', ...

. The film was produced by the Whartons Studios and distributed by Pathé Exchange, the American distribution branch of the French company

Pathé Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various 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 film equipment ...

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 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 ...

in 1994 for its cultural and historic importance.

Cast

* Pearl White - Elaine Dodge * Arnold Daly - 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 ...

* Creighton Hale - Walter Jameson (Ep. 1, 2, 3) * Raymond Owens - Walter Jameson (Ep. 4-14) * Sheldon Lewis - 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 - Wu Fang * Leroy Baker - The Butler * Bessie Wharton - Aunt Josephine, Mrs. Dodge *

- President Dodge (as William Riley Hatch) Pearl White and Creighton Hale

* Robin H. Townley - Limpy Red * Floyd Buckley - 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 racial color metaphor that depicts the peoples of East and Southeast Asia as an existential danger to the Western world. As a psychocultural menace from the Eastern world ...

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. *

* Howard Cody - Undetermined Role * Paul Panzer - 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 in dramatic fashion. Nevertheless, the serial was a success on its release and led to two sequels, '' The New Exploits of Elaine'' (1915) and '' The Romance of Elaine'' (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

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*''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