The Perils of Pauline (1914)

Directors:

Louis J. Gasnier
Donald MacKenzie

Writers:

Charles W. Goddard (screenplay) and
Basil Dickey (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

31 March 1914 (USA)

Genre:

Action

Tagline:

The Eclectic Film Company's Great $25,000 Prize Photo-Play

Plot:

Young Pauline is left a lot of money when her wealthy uncle dies. However, her uncle's secretary has been named as her guardian until she marries...

Plot Keywords:

Guardian | Secretary | Inheritance | Horse | Chimney

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Pearl White	...	Pauline
Crane Wilbur	...	Harry Marvin
Paul Panzer	...	Koerner / Raymond Owen
Edward José	...	Sanford Marvin
Francis Carlyle	...	Owen's Henchman, Hicks
Clifford Bruce	...	Gypsy Leader
Donald MacKenzie	...	Blinky Bill
Jack Standing	...	Ensign Summers
Eleanor Woodruff	...	Lucille
Leroy Baker
Louise Du Pre
Oscar Nye
Sam Ryan	...	Baskinelli
Louis J. Gasnier	...	Himself
Joe Cuny

Runtime:

(20 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Filming Locations:

Ausable Chasm, Keeseville, New York, USA

Company:

Pathé Frères

Trivia:

The storyline in most of the 20 chapters was self contained. Chapters 3 and 4 and 6 through 8 are the only ones where the story continued directly from one chapter to the next.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Archie's Fun House: Really Big Caesar/Acrobats (#1.16)" (????)

The Silent Serial You Must See

If you have to see only one silent serial, then this is the one you have to see. Not because it is clearly the best one -- although it's a lot of fun, there are others, such as Feuillade's LES VAMPIRES with as good or even better claims -- but simply because it is a ripsnorting bunch of fun, and, more importantly, the wellspring from which all other movie serials, that cinematic art more fully lost to its makers than the movie musical -- the spring from which all serials sprang. It has all the usual stuff of serials -- scary cliffhanging chapter ends, the intrepid hero and heroine, the awful, hissable villain, tearful deathbed scenes and a host of storied names: Pearl White, Crane Wilbur, Louis Gassnier, George Seitz..... who has not heard of The Perils of Pauline? And I will repeat in case you missed it: it's a lot of fun. In the original version it might not play well in one evening, but the only surviving version is the 9-chapter version that Pathe released in Europe in 1916, now available on DVD from Grapevine. The print they located is a bit battered, but complete and in a lovely colored print. Go to their website and order one. Watch it with some friends. You won't regret it.