Story of movie What Happened To Mary : What Happened to Mary (sometimes erroneously referred to as What Happened to Mary?) is the first motion picture serial made in the United States. Made by Edison Studios, the action serial starred Mary Fuller in twelve one-reel episodes released monthly beginning July 26, 1912 to coincide with the serial story of the same name published in McClure's The Ladies' World magazine. What Happened to Mary was performed as a stage play and published as a single-volume print novel. Therefore, it is an early example of a multiple-media marketing campaign. The scripts were written by Horace G. Plympton and directed by Charles Brabin.
| What Happened to Mary | |
|---|---|
Still with Miriam Nesbitt, Mary Fuller, and Marc McDermott | |
| Directed by | Ashley Miller Charles Brabin |
| Screenplay by | Bannister Merwin |
| Story by | Edwin Bliss |
| Starring | Mary Fuller Marc McDermott |
Production company | Thomas A. Edison, Inc. |
| Distributed by | General Film Company |
Release date |
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Running time | 12 1 reel episodes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
Screenplay
- Mary Fuller as Mary
- Marc McDermott as Lieutenant Strakey
- Charles Ogle as Richard Craig, Mary's uncle
- Herbert Yost as Henry, Craig's son
- Miriam Nesbitt as Madame Jolatsy, a spy
- Barry O'Moore as Henry-Craig's Son
- Bliss Milford as Daisy
- Bigelow Cooper as Mr. Foster, the Lawyer
- William Wadsworth as Billy Peart
- Harold M. Shaw as Rev. Cooper
- Harry Eytinge as Secretary, Occidental Trust Company
- Walter Edwin as Manager of the Society Queen
- Yale Benner as John Chase
- James Smith as Stage Manager
- Carey Lee as Leading Lady
- Arthur Housman as Principal Comedian
This serial came to be after the editor of The Ladies' World, Charles Dwyer, met Horace G. Plimpton, manager of Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope Company. He was interested in the concept of the story and the plan for an installment each issue. A few days after the meeting he suggested making a film version of each installment. The parallel release of magazine and serial installments should support each other.
The cover of The Ladies' World (1912) advertised "One Hundred Dollars For You IF You Can Tell 'What Happened to Mary" The first chapter of the story was printed in that issue with a competition. The closest correct guess at the events of the next twenty minutes of the story, in 300 words or less, would win $100. This was won by Lucy Proctor of Armstrong, California with the answer that Mary is rescued by a young man in his car. This solution was printed in the September 1912 issue.
Although they would later become synonymous with the medium, and though the heroine did participate in perilous action sequences, no chapter-ending cliffhangers were employed in this production. A sequel (which did include a question mark in its title) was released in 1913 called Who Will Marry Mary?
The serial consisted of twelve one-reel episodes released from July 26, 1912 to June 27, 1913:
A stage version written by Owen Davis and featuring Olive Wyndham as Mary premiered the Lyric Theatre in Allentown, Pennsylvania on March 4, 1913 before opening at the Fulton Theatre in New York on March 24, 1913. The 1913 novelization by Bob Brown incorporated material from the play, the film, and the Ladies' World stories.
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