The Invisible Ray | |
---|---|
Directed by | Harry A. Pollard |
Written by | Guy McConnell |
Starring | Ruth Clifford Jack Sherrill |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Joan Film Sales |
Release date |
|
Running time | 15 episodes |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
The Invisible Ray is a 1920 American science fiction film serial directed by Harry A. Pollard.
Early press accounts cited the "scientific foundation of the plot. In this respect the production differs from other serials. Fact and not fancy governs the action throughout. The plot is based on a scientific investigation made by the author of the serial, Guy McConnell, investigation for several research institutions and for the Chemical Division of the United States Department of the Interior." [1]
The film was also lauded for its special effects. According to a report in The Moving Picture World, "Mighty buildings, rocks and forests are set afire and exploded. The expert application of clever photographic devices makes the picture appear strikingly realistic." [1] The serial is now considered to be lost. [2]
After a mineralogist discovers a ray with extraordinary powers, a group of scientists seek to use it for a criminal scheme. [3] The serial begins, as described in a film magazine, [4] with the two keys to a box that contains the source of the rays which, if concentrated, are powerful enough to destroy the world. One of the keys is hung around the neck of Mystery (Clifford), a foundling girl who is the daughter of the mineralogist. The second key and the box are in unknown hands at the beginning of the serial. Jack Stone (Sherrill) loves her, but on the night of their planned elopement Mystery is kidnapped for the key she wears, which falls at the door of the minister. She is taken to an underground chamber where she is tortured in an attempt to force her to give up her key. Jack and a friend visit a Crystal Gazer who reveals the whereabouts of Mystery. In a thrilling chase through underground chambers the young woman is rescued, only then to fall back into the hands of her enemies. Mystery is swung from a derrick and falls into the water. Later serial chapters reveal Marianna, the Crystal Gazer (Uzzell), as the mother of Mystery, and her father turns out to be her pursuer, attempting to gain possession of the box and its key.
Ruth Roland was an American stage and film actress and film producer.
The Phantom Empire is a 1935 American Western serial film directed by Otto Brower and B. Reeves Eason and starring Gene Autry, Frankie Darro, and Betsy King Ross. This 12-chapter Mascot Pictures serial combined the Western, musical and fantasy genres. The first episode is 30 minutes, the rest about 20 minutes. The serial film is about a singing cowboy who stumbles upon an ancient subterranean civilization living beneath his own ranch that becomes corrupted by unscrupulous greedy speculators from the surface. In 1940, a 70-minute feature film edited from the serial was released under the titles Radio Ranch or Men with Steel Faces. This was Gene Autry's first starring role, playing himself as a singing cowboy.
The Frohman brothers were American theatre owners, including on Broadway, and theatrical producers who also owned and operated motion picture production companies.
Ruth Clifford was an American actress of leading roles in silent films, whose career lasted from that era into the television era.
The Shadow (1940) was the ninth serial released by Columbia Pictures. It was based upon the classic radio series and pulp magazine superhero character of the same name.
Who's Guilty? is a 1945 American film serial. It was the 28th of 57 serials released by Columbia Pictures. Who's Guilty? was a rare attempt at a whodunit mystery film in serial form. The serial's villain was designed to look like The Shadow on the poster. The film co-starred some well-known actors, such as Charles Middleton, Wheeler Oakman and Minerva Urecal. Robert Kent played the lead role of Detective Bob Stewart.
The Trail of Hate is a 1917 American silent drama film that portrayed the military exploits and personal rivalries of two United States Army officers stationed in the American West and later in the Philippines. The production starred John Ford, who at that time was credited as "Jack Ford". Currently classified as a lost film, this two-reel short is identified by some biographers of John Ford and in many filmographies, both in print and online, to be his second release as a director. He is also credited in various sources for writing the film's screenplay or "scenario". Other Ford biographers, however, most notably American director and film historian Peter Bogdanovich, credit this production's screenplay and its direction to John's older brother Francis Ford.
The Girl in Number 29 is a 1920 American silent drama film directed by John Ford based on the novel The Girl in the Mirror (1919) by Elizabeth Jordan. The film is presumed to be lost.
The Million Dollar Mystery is a 23-chapter film serial released in 1914, directed by Howell Hansel, and starring Florence La Badie and James Cruze. It is presumed lost.
The Adventures of Ruth is a 1919 American film serial directed by George Marshall. It is now considered to be a lost film. The serial was advertised as written, produced and directed by Ruth Roland. Roland was the producer, but it was written by Gilson Willets and directed by George Marshall.
Daredevil Jack is a 1920 American silent 15-chapter action film serial directed by W. S. Van Dyke and starring heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey and featuring Lon Chaney as a villain. The chapters were shown weekly between February and May 1920. The serial's working titles were Daredevil Durant or Dead or Alive. An incomplete copy of the film is housed in the UCLA Film and Television Archive.
The Phantom Foe is a 1920 American fifteen-chapter adventure film serial directed by Bertram Millhauser and starring Warner Oland. A partial print of 14 episodes is in the George Eastman House Motion Picture Collection while the 15th episode is stored in the Library of Congress. The plot involves a villainous mesmerist played by Harry Semels.
Ruth of the Rockies is a 1920 American silent Western film serial directed by George Marshall. Two of the 15 episodes survive in the UCLA Film and Television Archive.
Thunderbolt Jack is a 1920 American silent Western film serial directed by Francis Ford and Murdock MacQuarrie, produced by Berwilla Film Corp., and released on the states-rights market by Arrow Film Corp. The serial is considered to be lost.
Go Get 'Em Hutch is a 1922 American drama film serial directed by George B. Seitz. The story concerns a crooked lawyer who is the head of a crime syndicate. He seeks to prevent the operation of the ships owned by the heroine, played by Marguerite Clayton. Hutch, the title character played by Charles Hutchison, comes to her rescue.
Remodeling Her Husband is a 1920 American silent comedy film that marked the only time Lillian Gish directed a film.
Seven Keys to Baldpate is a 1917 American silent mystery/thriller film produced by George M. Cohan and distributed by Artcraft Pictures, an affiliate of Paramount. The film is based on Cohan's 1913 play of the 1913 novel by Earl Derr Biggers. Cohan himself stars in this silent version along with Anna Q. Nilsson and Hedda Hopper, billed under her real name Elda Furry. One version of the play preceded this movie in 1916 and numerous versions followed in the succeeding decades such as the early RKO talkie starring Richard Dix.
Pegeen is a 1920 American silent drama film based on the 1915 novel of the same name by Eleanor Hoyt Brainerd. It was produced by Vitagraph Studios and directed by David Smith. It stars Bessie Love in the title role. The film is presumed lost.
Mary of the Movies is a 1923 American silent semi-autobiographical comedy film based on the career of Marion Mack. It was written by Mack and her husband Louis Lewyn, and stars Mack and Creighton Hale. Hale and director John McDermott play fictionalized versions of themselves in the film, which was also directed by McDermott.
Breakers Ahead is a 1918 American silent drama film, directed by Charles Brabin. It stars Viola Dana, Clifford Bruce, and Mabel Van Buren, and was released on March 25, 1918.