Wednesday, November 2, 2011

The Exploits of Elaine - 1914 (Chapter 3)



Country: USA
Language: English (intertitles)
Directors: Louis J. Gasnier, George B. Seitz, Leopold Wharton
Writers: Charles W. Goddard (screenplay), Arthur B. Reeve (novel), Basil Dickey (screenplay) uncredited, George B. Seitz
Stars: Pearl White, Arnold Daly and Creighton Hale
Release Date: 29 December 1914 (USA)
Also known as: Las peripecias de Elena (Argentina)
Les mystères de New York (France)
Production Co: Wharton
Plot Keywords: Serial | Character Name In Title
Genres: Action
This film was selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, in 1994.
The Pathé Frères US company took over the Eclectic Film Company and renamed it Pathé Exchange Inc. in early 1915. This is why both the old Eclectic and Pathé Exchange Inc. are listed as original theatrical distributors for this title.
The novel of the same name by Arthur B. Reeve was published serially in newspapers while the film was playing in theaters. It was later published in book form.
Basil Dickey claimed to have written the screenplay with his brother in law Charles W. Goddard
The titles of the fourteen chapters are: 1. The Clutching Hand2. The Twilight Sleep3. The Vanishing Jewels4. The Frozen Safe5. The Poisoned Room6. The Vampire7. The Double Trap8. The Hidden Voice9. The Death Ray10. The Life Current11. The Hour of Three12. The Blood Crystals13. The Devil Worshippers14. The Reckoning
Favorite film of Tsar Nicholas II.
Elaine Dodge (White) is the beautiful young daughter of Taylor Dodge, president of the Consolidated Insurance Company. When Mr Dodge is murdered by a mysterious cloaked figure known only as the Clutching Hand, Elaine enlists the aid of Craig Kennedy to unmask the killer ... who is obviously an entrusted figure in the insurance company. The two sleuths get some help (of a sort) from Jameson, Taylor Dodge's bumbling but faithful secretary. Along the way, they have some hair's-breadth escapes and some bizarre adventures ... including a seance at which Elaine encounters a bodiless voice claiming to be Iko, the spirit of Taylor Dodge.

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