The Green Archer (1925 serial)

Last updated

The Green Archer
The Green Archer (1925) - 1.jpg
Directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet
Written byFrank Leon Smith
Based on The Green Archer
by Edgar Wallace
Starring Allene Ray
Walter Miller
Cinematography Linwood G. Dunn
Distributed by Pathé Exchange
Release date
  • December 6, 1925 (1925-12-06)
Running time
10 episodes
CountryUnited States
Language Silent (English intertitles)

The Green Archer is a ten part 1925 American mystery film serial directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet. [1] [2] It is based on Edgar Wallace's bestselling 1923 novel of the same name. [3] The filmmakers moved the setting of the novel from England to the United States. The story was remade in the sound era as another serial The Green Archer by Columbia Pictures.

Contents

The first episode is titled "The Ghost of Bellamy Castle" (released in the U.S. December 6, 1925), and the final one is "The Smoke Clears Away" (released in the U.S. February 27, 1926). The serial was released in the United Kingdom by Pathé Pictures International beginning on October 4, 1926. [4] [5]

Cinematographer Stanley Cortez had one of his earliest jobs as assistant cameraman on the serial. [6] Actress Allene Ray went on to star in a number of other serials such as The Terrible People (1928), Hawk of the Hills (1929) and The Indians Are Coming (1930). Director Bennett also went on to direct many sound serials over the next several decades.

The poster had the tagline "The foreboding shadow of the grim Archer - the twang of the bow - and green feathered Death speeds to its mark!" [7]

Most of the books of Edgar Wallace have been adapted into films many times over the years in both England in the 1930s, and in Germany in the 1960s in a series known as the crimis (see Films based on works by Edgar Wallace).

Plot

As described in a film magazine review, [8] a young woman who believes Abel Bellamy, a recluse millionaire, has kidnaped and for eighteen years has held prisoner another young woman, tries to prove her suspicion by searching the grounds of a medieval castle on the millionaire's estate. The mansion had been moved stone by stone from its original location in England to the United States. Her quest leads her into numerous hazardous adventures and into a romance with a young officer of the state troops. During the hunt several persons are killed by a mysterious archer, whose identity is not learned until the millionaire's castle is finally besieged. The young woman's romance leads to her marriage with the troop officer.

Cast

Preservation

The film no longer exists in complete form. Only the third, fourth and fifth chapters still exist of the original ten-part serial, preserved in the UCLA Film and Television Archive. [9]

Chapter titles

  1. The Ghost of Bellamy Castle
  2. The Midnight Warning
  3. In the Enemy's Stronghold
  4. On the Storm King Road
  5. The Affair at the River
  6. The Mystery Ship
  7. Bellamy Baits a Trap
  8. The Cottage in the Woods
  9. The Battle Starts
  10. The Smoke Clears Away

See also

Related Research Articles

This is an overview of 1925 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

Edgar Wallace (1875–1932) was a British novelist and playwright and screenwriter whose works have been adapted for the screen on many occasions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Film Booking Offices of America</span> American film studio of the silent era

Film Booking Offices of America (FBO), registered as FBO Pictures Corp., was an American film studio of the silent era, a midsize producer and distributor of mostly low-budget films. The business began in 1918 as Robertson-Cole, an Anglo-American import-export company. Robertson-Cole began distributing films in the United States that December and opened a Los Angeles production facility in 1920. Late that year, R-C entered into a working relationship with East Coast financier Joseph P. Kennedy. A business reorganization in 1922 led to its assumption of the FBO name, first for all its distribution operations and ultimately for its own productions as well. Through Kennedy, the studio contracted with Western leading man Fred Thomson, who grew by 1925 into one of Hollywood's most popular stars. Thomson was just one of several silent screen cowboys with whom FBO became identified.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucille Ricksen</span> American child actress (1910-1925)

Lucille Ricksen was an American motion picture actress during the silent film era. She died of tuberculosis on March 13, 1925, at the age of 14.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allene Ray</span> American actress

Allene Ray was an American film actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Miller (actor)</span> American actor

Walter Miller was an American actor of the silent era and the early sound era. He appeared in nearly 250 films between 1911 and 1940.

<i>The Green Archer</i> (1940 serial) 1940 film by James W. Horne

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.

<i>The Woman God Forgot</i> 1917 film

The Woman God Forgot is a 1917 American silent romance film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. A copy of the film is in the George Eastman House Motion Picture Collection.

<i>The House Without a Key</i> (serial) 1926 film

The House Without a Key is a 1926 American mystery film serial directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet. It is based on the 1925 novel of the same name and is the first onscreen appearance of the fictional detective Charlie Chan, although the main stars are Allene Ray and Walter Miller. The film is now considered to be lost.

<i>Sunken Silver</i> 1925 film

Sunken Silver is a 1925 American film serial directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet and George B. Seitz. The serial is preserved at the UCLA Film and Television Archive.

<i>The Terrible People</i> (serial) 1928 film

The Terrible People is a 1928 American adventure silent film serial directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet, based on the 1926 novel of the same name by Edgar Wallace. It was released as a 10-chapter serial. The film is now considered to be lost.

The Yellow Cameo is a 1928 American adventure film serial directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet. The film is now considered to be lost.

<i>The Green Archer</i> (1961 film) 1961 film

The Green Archer is a 1961 West German black and white crime film directed by Jürgen Roland and starring Gert Fröbe, Klausjürgen Wussow, Karin Dor and Eddi Arent. It is based on the 1923 novel The Green Archer by Edgar Wallace.

<i>The Masked Woman</i> 1927 film

The Masked Woman is a 1927 American silent melodrama film produced and distributed by First National Pictures. Filmed in France, it was the last screenwriting effort of famed June Mathis, who died in 1927, and was directed by her husband Silvano Balboni, usually a cinematographer. The film stars Anna Q. Nilsson, Holbrook Blinn, and serial veteran Ruth Roland.

<i>The Spaniard</i> (film) 1925 film

The Spaniard is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Raoul Walsh, written by Juanita Savage and James T. O'Donohoe, and starring Ricardo Cortez, Jetta Goudal, Noah Beery, Sr., Mathilde Brundage, Renzo De Gardi, and Emily Fitzroy. It was released on May 4, 1925, by Paramount Pictures.

<i>In the Name of Love</i> (1925 film) 1925 film

In the Name of Love is a 1925 American silent comedy film directed by Howard Higgin and written by Sada Cowan. It is based on the play The Lady of Lyons by Edward Bulwer-Lytton. It stars Ricardo Cortez, Greta Nissen, Wallace Beery, Raymond Hatton, Lillian Leighton, Edythe Chapman, and Richard Arlen. It was released on August 10, 1925 by Paramount Pictures.

Just a Woman is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Irving Cummings and starring Claire Windsor. It is based on the 1916 Broadway play by Eugene Walter and is a remake of a 1918 silent version starring Walter's wife, Charlotte Walker. The film and play was remade in the pre-Code sound era in 1933 as No Other Woman.

<i>Havoc</i> (1925 film) 1925 film

Havoc is a 1925 American silent war drama film directed by Rowland V. Lee and starring Madge Bellamy, George O'Brien, and Walter McGrail.

<i>The Green Archer</i> (novel) 1923 novel by Edgar Wallace

The Green Archer is a 1923 thriller novel by the British writer Edgar Wallace. The novel was serialized in The Detective Magazine, Amalgamated Press, London, July 20, 1923-Oct 1, 1924, in 14 parts. The first UK book edition was published by Hodder & Stoughton in London in 1923. The first US book editions were by Small, Maynard & Co, New York, 1924 and by A.L. Burt Co., New York, 1924. Hodder & Stoughton reprinted the book in 1940 and in 1953.

<i>Heads Up</i> (1925 film) American silent comedy adventure film

Heads Up is a 1925 American silent comedy adventure film directed by Harry Garson and starring Maurice 'Lefty' Flynn, Kathleen Myers, and Kalla Pasha.

References

  1. "Progressive Silent Film List: The Green Archer". Silent Era. Retrieved August 27, 2008.
  2. "The Green Archer". BFI. Archived from the original on July 25, 2012.
  3. "Full text of "Exhibitor's Trade Review (Aug-Nov 1925)"". archive.org.
  4. "Silent Era : Progressive Silent Film List". www.silentera.com.
  5. Kabatchnik, Amnon (October 18, 2012). Blood on the Stage, 1975-2000. ISBN   9780810883550.
  6. "STANLEY CORTEZ". cinematographers.nl.
  7. "Lovecraft is Missing » Archive » green-archer-1925". Lovecraft is Missing.
  8. "New Pictures: The Green Archer". Exhibitors Herald. Chicago: Exhibitors Herald Co. 24 (2): 67. December 26, 1925. Retrieved January 17, 2023.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  9. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 284. ISBN   978-1936168-68-2.