The Pink Panther is a 1963 American comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and distributed by United Artists. It was written by Maurice Richlin and Blake Edwards. It is the first installment in The Pink Panther franchise. Its story follows inspector Jacques Clouseau as he travels from Rome to Cortina d'Ampezzo to catch a notorious jewel thief known as "The Phantom" before he is able to steal a priceless diamond known as "The Pink Panther". The film stars David Niven, Peter Sellers, Robert Wagner, Capucine and Claudia Cardinale.
A Gentleman of Leisure is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse. The basic plot first appeared in a novella, The Gem Collector, in the December 1909 issue of Ainslee's Magazine.
A masked villain, also seen as masked mystery villain, is a stock character in genre fiction. It was developed and popularized in movie serials, beginning with The Hooded Terror in The House of Hate, (1918) the first fully-costumed mystery villain of the movies, and frequently used in the adventure stories of pulp magazines and sound-era movie serials in the early twentieth century, as well as postmodern horror films where the character "hides in order to claim unsuspecting victims". They can also appear in crime fiction to add to the atmosphere of suspense and suspicion. It is used to engage the readers or viewers by keeping them guessing just as the characters are, and suspension by drawing on the fear of the unknown. The "Mask" need not be literal, referring more to the subterfuge involved.
Federal Operator 99 is a 1945 Republic film serial. It was later edited down into a feature version titled F.B.I. 99 for television. The serial is about an FBI agent named Jerry Blake who battles gentleman thief Jim Belmont, who escapes custody with help of his gang and begins a wave of crimes, beginning with plotting to steal the crown jewels of the Princess Cornelia.
The King of the Kongo (1929) is a Mascot film serial, and was the first serial to have sound, although only partial sound rather than the later "All-Talking" productions with complete sound. The first episode was a "three reeler" with the remaining nine episodes being "two reelers".
Tarzan the Tiger (1929) is a Universal movie serial based on the novel Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It stars Frank Merrill as Tarzan, Natalie Kingston as Jane, and Al Ferguson. It was directed by Henry MacRae.
Detective Lloyd (1931) is a 12-chapter Universal movie serial. A co-production between the American company Universal and the British company General Films, it was filmed entirely in Britain with British and Commonwealth actors. It was the only sound serial ever produced in the UK. Although a print was shown on British and Swedish TV as recently as the 1970s, the film is now considered lost.
The Lost Special is a 1932 American Pre-Code Universal movie serial based on the 1898 short story "The Lost Special" by Arthur Conan Doyle. This adaptation deleted all references to Doyle's Sherlock Holmes character, and moved events to the American Old West.
Pirate Treasure is a 1934 Universal film serial. It was the twenty-first sound serial released by Universal, of the sixty-nine they released in total. It was a rare example of the swashbuckling genre in the film serial medium.
Secret Agent X-9 (1937) is a Universal film serial based on the comic strip Secret Agent X-9 by Dashiell Hammett and Alex Raymond.
Junior G-Men of the Air is a 1942 Universal film serial starring the Dead End Kids and the Little Tough Guys. A group of youthful flying enthusiasts join the "Junior G-Men" to help break up a planned attack on the United States.
Sky Raiders is a 12-episode 1941 Universal film serial. The serial was directed by Ford Beebe and Ray Taylor. Sky Raiders stars Donald Woods, Billy Halop, Robert Armstrong and Eduardo Ciannelli. Sky Raiders has little in common with Universal’s other early-1940s espionage outings like Sea Raiders or Junior G-Men, although the serial is often lumped in together as if it is part of a series.
Don Winslow of the Navy is a 1942 Universal Pictures Serial film based on the comic strip Don Winslow of the Navy by Commander Frank V. Martinek. It was theatrically released in January 1942.
The Green Archer is the 12th serial released by Columbia Pictures. It was based on Edgar Wallace's 1923 novel The Green Archer, which had previously been adapted into the silent serial of the same name in 1925 by Pathé Exchange.
Raffles is a 1930 American pre-Code comedy-mystery film produced by Samuel Goldwyn. It stars Ronald Colman as the title character, a proper English gentleman who moonlights as a notorious jewel thief, and Kay Francis as his love interest. It is based on the play Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman (1906) by E. W. Hornung and Eugene Wiley Presbrey, which was in turn adapted from the 1899 short story collection of the same name by Hornung.
Blake of Scotland Yard is a 1927 American silent action film serial directed and co-written by Robert F. Hill. It starred Hayden Stevenson, Grace Cunard and Monte Montague, plus an uncredited appearance by Walter Brennan. It was followed by a sequel, 1929's The Ace of Scotland Yard.
Tarzan the Mighty is a 1928 American action film serial directed by Jack Nelson and Ray Taylor. It was nominally based on the collection Jungle Tales of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The film is now considered to be lost.
The Lone Wolf in London is a 1947 American crime film directed by Leslie Goodwins and starring Gerald Mohr, Nancy Saunders and Eric Blore. The picture features the fictional Scotland Yard detective the Lone Wolf who travels to London, and solves the mystery of some missing jewels. It was the penultimate Lone Wolf film, followed by The Lone Wolf and His Lady in 1949, and the last for Mohr in the lead role.
The Solitaire Man is a 1933 American pre-Code drama film directed by Jack Conway and starring Herbert Marshall and Mary Boland.
A serial film,film 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, generally advancing weekly, until the series is completed. Usually, each serial involves a single set of characters, protagonistic and antagonistic, involved in a single story, which has been edited into chapters after the fashion of serial fiction and the episodes cannot be shown out of order or as a single or a random collection of short subjects.
