The Million Dollar Mystery

Infobox Film
name = The Million Dollar Mystery


image_size =
caption =
director = Howell Hansel
producer = Edwin Thanhouser
writer = Lloyd Lonergan
Harold McGrath
narrator =
starring = Florence La Badie
Marguerite Snow
James Cruze
Frank Farrington
Sidney Bracey
Lila Chester
music =
cinematography = George Webber
editing =
distributor = Thanhouser Company
released = Flagicon|USA 22 June 1914
runtime = 23 chapters
country = USA
language = English
budget = $125,000 approx.cite book
last = Stedman
first = Raymond William
authorlink =
title = Serials: Suspense and Drama By Installment
origyear = 1977
publisher = University of Oklahoma Press
isbn = 978-0806116952
pages = pp. 14 & 22
chapter = Drama by Installment ]
gross = $1,500,000
preceded_by =
followed_by = "Zudora" (1914)
website =
amg_id = 1:153348
imdb_id = 0004336

"The Million Dollar Mystery" was a twenty three chapter film serial released on June 22nd, 1914. It was directed by Howell Hansel, and starred Florence La Badie. It was produced by Thanhouser Film Corporation, and was their biggest success, much due to the popularity of La Badie. During the filming, La Badie performed her owns stunts. Publicity gimmicks, including a prize the member of the public who sent int the best idea for a conclusion to the serial, were used to boost the serial's success. The film is presumed to be lost.cite web |url=http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/M/MillionDollarMystery1914.html |title=Progressive Silent Film List: The Million Dollar Mystery |accessdate=2008-02-18 |work=Silent Era ]

Plot

The serial follows a secret society called "The Black Hundred" as they go on a trek in an attempt to obtain a lost one million dollars.

Cast

*Florence La Badie as Florence Hargreaves
*Marguerite Snow as Countess Olga Petroff
*James Cruze as Jim Norton
*Frank Farrington as Braine
*Sidney Bracey as John Hargreaves / The Butler
*Lila Chester as Susan Farlow

Production

"The Million Dollar Mystery" was the new serial project from the Chicago Tribune following the success of "The Adventures of Kathlyn".

The serial was released with the gimmick that the last chapter was unwritten. Twenty two chapters were written based only on the title, while the serial was left purposefully unfinished with no final chapter. A prize of $10,000 was offered for the best suggestion (advertised as "$10,000 for 100 words"). Thousands of letters were received in response to this and Ida Damon, a secretary from St. Louis. [cite book
last = Lahue
first = Kalten C.
title = Continued Next Week
year =
publisher =
isbn =
pages = pp. 6
chapter = 1. A Bolt From The Blue ] In a further publicity stunt, the character Florence Hargreaves was actually reported missing. Details of the plot were fed to newspapers and the police as if they were real events. It took seven days before this was exposed as fiction.

Release

Theatrical

The serial was highly successful and the stockholders received a return of 700% on their investment, receiving $1.5M at the box office for a cost of $125,000 "or so." As a result, another serial already in production was changed to become a sequel to "The Million Dollar Mystery". "Zudora" was renamed "The Twenty Million Dollar Mystery" and changes were made to the plot half way through its release. It was not, however, as successful as its predecessor.

Chapter titles

#The Airship in the Night
#The False Friend
#A Leap in the Dark
#The Top Floor Flat
#At the Bottom of the Sea
#The Coaching Party of the Countess
#The Doom of the Auto Bandits
#The Wiles of a Woman
#The Leap from an Ocean Liner
#"(Unknown)"
#In the Path of the Fast Express
#"(Unknown)"
#"(Unknown)"
#"(Unknown)"
#The Borrowed Hydroplane
#Drawn Into the Quicksand
#A Battle of Wits
#"(Unknown)"
#"(Unknown)"
#"(Unknown)"
#"(Unknown)"
#The Million Dollar Mystery
#The Mystery Solved_SOURCE:

ee also

* List of film serials
* List of film serials by studio

References

External links

*
*