BESS THE DETECTRESS: SILENT FILM HEROINE

BESS THE DETECTRESS – Bess Meredyth was a silent film starlet, writer and director. This particular blog post will focus on her Bess the Detectress character at Universal Studios but in the future Balladeer’s Blog will cover other aspects of her life and career.

Bess was married to Casablanca director Michael Curtiz and was the mother of writer-director John Meredyth Lucas, famous for his work on Star Trek and other programs. 

BESS THE DETECTRESS IN THE OLD MILL AT MIDNIGHT (Jun 1914) – The first short in the Bess the Detectress series. When the stage show she was performing in closes as a flop, Bess is left scrambling for her next meal. She spots a Wanted poster offering a reward of $200.00 (equal to $6,300 in 2025) for the capture of the male outlaw Honey Hall.

Bess determines to get that reward money and turns sleuth, wielding a toy gun which she uses to bluff criminals. She follows a few wrong leads but ultimately gets the bandit and the reward money.

BESS THE DETECTRESS IN TICK! TICK! TICK! (Jul 1914) – Our ex-chorus girl Bess has opened an office for herself. Under the alias Bessie Pinkerton Holmes she works as a private investigator.

Bess is leaned on for the office rent, so she aggressively sets out to solve the very public Black Hand bombings that have been occurring. Once again, her light-hearted adventures find her on the wrong track at first but after going undercover as an Italian man our heroine solves her case and makes enough money to pay her office’s rent. 

BESS THE DETECTRESS IN THE DOG WATCH (Jul 1914) – Our detective Bess gets called in when the wanted thief Blackie Crow steals a gold watch from an old man. Bess and other parties are interested in the reward money and her investigation leads her to a ship where Blackie is holed up.

Bess impersonates a sailor to get on board, and with the help of a dog that she befriends manages to nab the crook and get the reward money.   

*** After these three Bess the Detectress shorts, Bess continued starring in comedy films while writing on the side. I’ll cover more of her silent film work down the road.

FOR MY LOOK AT THE SILENT FILMS OF ACTRESS THEDA BARA CLICK HERE.

FOR PART ONE OF MY LOOK AT THE SILENT COMEDIES OF MABEL NORMAND CLICK HERE.

FOR MY LOOK AT THE GREAT SARAH BERNHARDT’S SILENT FILMS CLICK HERE.