The Black Pearl | |
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Directed by | Scott Pembroke |
Written by | |
Produced by | Trem Carr |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Hap Depew |
Edited by | J.S. Harrington |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Rayart Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 58 minutes |
Country | United States |
Languages |
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The Black Pearl is a 1928 American silent mystery film directed by Scott Pembroke and starring Lila Lee, Ray Hallor and Carl Stockdale. It is based on a 1912 novel titled The Black Pearl by Nancy Mann Waddel Woodrow, with a plot very similar to that of Wilkie Collins' 1868 novel The Moonstone . Both novels involved a mystery around a jewel stolen from an Indian idol that carries a horrible curse. [1]
Reviews from the time suggest this "old dark house" mystery had less humor and more suspense than most, but the film is today considered lost, so it all remains conjecture. Actress Lila Lee went on to star in the 1930 sound remake of The Unholy Three, starring Lon Chaney. Carl Stockdale, who plays the detective/hero of the film, had a long and varied career, appearing in The Vampire Bat (1933), Mad Love (1935) and Revenge of the Zombies (1936), among many other films. [2]
A black pearl stolen from an Indian idol is reputedly cursed. After Silas Lathrop inherits it, he receives threatening messages and is marked for death. He gathers around him all of the members of his family for the reading of his will. There follows a mystery much in the "old dark house" genre. After several murders, a detective named Bertram Chisholm solves the case.
A mystery film is a film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, investigation, and clever deduction. Mystery films include, but are not limited to, films in the genre of detective fiction.
Louis Joseph Vance was an American novelist, screenwriter and film producer. He created the popular character Michael Lanyard, a criminal-turned-detective known as the Lone Wolf.
Frederick J. Jackson, also known professionally as Fred Jackson and Frederick Jackson and under the pseudonym Victor Thorne, was an American author, playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and producer for both stage and film. A prolific writer of short stories and serialized novels, most of his non-theatre works were published in pulp magazines such as Detective Story Magazine and Argosy. Many of these stories were adapted into films by other writers.
The Golden Web is a lost 1926 American silent mystery film directed by Walter Lang and starring Lillian Rich, Huntley Gordon and Lawford Davidson. The cast also features Boris Karloff before he established himself as a horror star. It is based on the 1910 novel The Golden Web by the British writer E. Phillips Oppenheim. A previous British film adaptation of the novel was produced in 1920.
The Leavenworth Case is a 1936 American mystery film directed by Lewis D. Collins and written by Albert DeMond and Sidney Sutherland. It is based on the 1878 novel The Leavenworth Case by Anna Katharine Green. The film stars Donald Cook, Jean Rouverol, Norman Foster, Erin O'Brien-Moore, Maude Eburne and Warren Hymer. The film was released on January 20, 1936, by Republic Pictures.
A Voice in the Dark is a 1921 American black-and-white silent mystery film directed by Frank Lloyd and starring Ramsey Wallace, Irene Rich, and Alec B. Francis. The film is based on the play A Voice in the Dark by Ralph E. Dyar.
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The Howling Wolf is a 1919 German silent crime film directed by Léo Lasko and starring Carl Auen, Meinhart Maur and Victor Janson. It was part of a series of films featuring the detective character Joe Deebs.
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Jack Drumier (1867–1929) was an American film actor of the silent era.
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The Blue Pearl is a 1920 American silent mystery film directed by George Irving and starring Edith Hallor, Lumsden Hare and Earl Schenck. It is based on the 1918 play of the same title by Anne Crawford Flexner.
Edith Hallor was an American stage and film actress. She starred in a number of films during the silent era. She later appeared in a handful of minor, uncredited roles during the sound era.
The Golden Web is a 1910 mystery novel by the British writer E. Phillips Oppenheim, written using the pen name Anthony Partridge. It was first serialised in Ainslee's Magazine before being published in book form the following year in Britain and America respectively.
The Lady from Long Acre is a 1918 romance novel by the British writer Victor Bridges. It was published in the United States the following year.
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The Mystery of the Yellow Room is a 1913 French silent mystery film directed by Emile Chautard and Maurice Tourneur and starring Marcel Simon as the amateur detective Joseph Rouletabille. It was the first film adaptation of the 1908 novel The Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux. Chautard remade the film in the United States in 1919.