As Halloween Month swiftly draws to a close here is one of my final seasonal posts. I will examine silent film adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe’s works.
SHERLOCK HOLMES IN THE GREAT MURDER MYSTERY (1908) – Shamelessly, the Crescent Film Company of New York adapted Poe’s Murders in the Rue Morgue but replaced his master detective Auguste Dupin with Sherlock Holmes and the orangutan of the original story with a gorilla.
Actor William Kolle was in the starring role and an unknown actor portrayed Dr. Watson, supposedly the first time the sidekick was depicted on film. No copies of this short movie have survived but promotional materials have.
THE SEALED ROOM (1909) – Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado was adapted by film pioneer D.W. Griffith in this movie. Besides changing the title, Griffith altered the story to feature a philandering man and woman being walled up to die. Showing up in small parts during this 11-minute short were America’s future sweetheart Mary Pickford, and Mack Sennett, future comedy icon. Continue reading
FATTY AND MABEL ADRIFT (1916) – This 34-minute film is not only one of the most popular shorts teaming Mabel with fellow comedy legend Fatty Arbuckle but it’s one of the most popular silent comedies ever. When Fatty wins Mabel’s hand in marriage his jealous rival (Al St. John) sabotages their honeymoon cottage by the sea. 
THE AUTOMATIC MOTORIST (1911) – Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at another silent movie short by England’s Walter R. Booth. It’s a remake of his own 1906 short film The Mad Motorist but taken to the extreme. Running time is 6 1/2 minutes. 
Yes, Happy Easter, ladies and gentlemen! Balladeer’s Blog helps celebrate by combining the holiday with my passion for silent films. I’m providing the following list of silent movies – both shorts and feature films – about Jesus Christ. 
CHRISTUS (1916) – Directed by Giulio Cesare Antamoro, this is a fascinating look at Jesus, from the Angel visiting Mary through his Resurrection and subsequent visit with his Apostles. Christus runs 88 minutes and features some inventive variations on Biblical tableaux. The Star of Bethlehem is depicted as a comet; when Mary finds young Jesus preaching to his teachers His shadow appears as a cross; and Judas gets three visions of the Devil – first urging him on to betray Jesus, then taunting him when he regrets that betrayal, and finally welcoming him into Hell, which opens up under Judas’ swinging corpse. 
MARIE WALCAMP (1894-1936) – Like her fellow silent film icons 
TEMPEST CODY – Marie was already getting above the title billing by the time her two-reel Tempest Cody western shorts came along in 1919. Tempest was a hard-riding, two-fisted, straight-shooting woman of the old west who was always on the side of right. 
FIRE DRILL aka Simulacro de Incendio (1897) – On January 24th of this year, Gabriel Veyre (at left) held the very first exhibition of silent film shorts in Cuban history at a theater in Havana. 
FILM COMMERCIAL FOR LA TROPICAL BEER aka the Missing Sorcerer (1898) – This was the very first film directed by a native Cuban – Jose Esteban Casasús, a noted pioneer of Cuban Cinema. Lasting just under a minute, this short advertised the brewery & product of La Tropical beer and was produced by Cinemataca de Cuba.
CONSTITUTIONAL ASSEMBLY (1901) – A film capturing the 1901 assembly, the equivalent of our Constitutional Convention. Following the defeat of Spain in the Spanish-American War, Cuba produced its first constitution a few years later. That document was openly based on the United States Constitution but had 115 articles instead of America’s 7. 
THE MYSTERY OF DR. FU MANCHU (1923) – One of the earliest, if not THE earliest, big screen adaptations of Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu novels, which launched in 1913. The tales depicted the brilliant Chinese figure Dr. Fu Manchu at most plotting global domination but most often uniting many Far Eastern races against White Colonial nations to drive them out of Asia. 
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 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. 
MABEL NORMAND – Born Amabel Ethelreid Normand on November 9th, 1893 in New York, this silent film comedienne blazed trails for countless subsequent actresses as well as female directors and screenwriters. Like so many silent film stars Normand is largely neglected today except for my fellow silent movie geeks and I. 
INDISCRETION OF BETTY (1910) – Mabel had her first starring role in this short drama but had appeared in an unknown number of previous films in smaller roles. Mabel played Betty, the wife in the marriage of a social-climbing couple. 
HER AWAKENING (1911) – The above-mentioned short in which Mabel caught the eye of Mack Sennett, who then signed her for comedy collaborations. In this short drama, Normand played a young lady trying to snare a successful husband. 
THROUGH HIS WIFE’S PICTURE (1911) – Mabel Normand’s first film short with Mack Sennett. He directed and had a supporting role in this 9-minute comedy about a misunderstanding that threatens a marriage. 
A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1914) – This British production was directed by Harold M. Shaw and runs a bit over 22 minutes. Charles Rock starred as Ebenezer Scrooge and he delivered a very good performance, diminished only by the brief running time. 
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