The Strange Case of Mary Page (1916)

Hop Harrigan: America's Ace of the Airways

Hop Harrigan, a top Air Corps pilot, leaves the military and he and his mechanic, Tank Tinker, open up a small charter air service. They are hired to fly an inventor, Dr. Tabor, to his secret laboratory, where he is working on a new and powerful energy machine. However, a mysterious villain named The Chief Pilot is determined to have the new energy machine for his own purposes and kidnaps Dr. Tabor.

Fantômas

A French silent film serial which follows the exploits of the archvillain Fantômas, who commits crimes while eluding Inspector Juve's tireless persecution.

Battling Brewster

An action movie serial that premiered in 1924

Batman

Japanese master spy Daka operates a covert espionage-sabotage organization located in Gotham City's now-deserted Little Tokyo, which turns American scientists into pliable zombies. The great crime-fighters Batman and Robin, with the help of their allies, are in pursuit.

Dick Tracy

Dick Tracy's foe for this serial is the crime boss and Masked Mystery Villain The Spider/The Lame One and his Spider Ring. In the process of various crimes, including using his Flying wing and sound weapon to destroy the Bay Bridge in San Francisco and stealing an experimental "Speed Plane", the Spider captures Dick Tracy's brother, Gordon. The Spider's minion, Dr. Moloch, performs a brain operation on Gordon Tracy to turn him evil, making him secretly part of the Spider Ring and so turning brother against brother.

Batman and Robin

This 15-chapter serial pits Batman and Robin against The Wizard, who uses a device that allows him to control machinery to hold the city hostage.

Tailspin Tommy

A young mechanic gets a job with a small airline, which he helps win a mail contract. A rival airline plots to destroy it in order to get the contracts for itself.

Brenda Starr, Reporter

Reporter Brenda Starr and her photographer Chuck Allen get involved in a search for the loot from a payroll robbery. Cliffhanging action and adventure and a fair amount of comic relief follow them at every turn.

Bride 13

A gang of Tripolitan pirates swooped down and kidnapped 13 wealthy brides, whom they held for ransom.

The Lost Jungle

12 part movie serial where Clyde Beatty encounters obstacles and adventure on his way to rescue his damsel in distress.

What Happened to Mary

The forerunner of all serials, What Happened to Mary was a series of twelve monthly one reel episodes, each a complete entity in itself, revolving its immediate dramatic and melodramatic problems within the framework of a single episode and designed more for story and suspense situations than action.

The Vampires or, The Arch Criminals of Paris

Paris is prey to an invisible terror against which the police can do nothing: a sinister organization that sows chaos and death. The intrepid journalist Philippe Guérande and his partner embark on a long crusade to put an end to the crimes of the Great Vampire and Irma Vep, his dangerous accomplice. (A ten episode movie serial.)

Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler

Dr. Mabuse and his organization of criminals are in the process of completing their latest scheme, a theft of information that will allow Mabuse to make huge profits on the stock exchange. Afterwards, Mabuse disguises himself and attends the Folies Bergères show, where Cara Carozza, the main attraction of the show, passes him information on Mabuse's next intended victim, the young millionaire Edgar Hull. Mabuse then uses psychic manipulation to lure Hull into a card game where he loses heavily. When Police Commissioner von Wenk begins an investigation of this mysterious crime spree, he has little to go on, and he needs to find someone who can help him.

The Girl Detective

A series of 2-reel thrillers in which a society girl has a position as a special investigator for the police and works on various cases where her unique talents can help to solve crimes. Each episode is complete in itself.

The Red Glove

On the American frontier in the last decades of the 19th century, Billie is a female cowboy who fights a series of bad men in this film serial.

The Portrait

A man is increasingly unnerved by a mysterious portrait. Based on a story by Nikolai Gogol, the film is thought to have run about 45 minutes long, but only an 8 minute fragment is known to have survived.

The Third Eye

A pretty movie star is stalked by a strange gang whose leader is infatuated with her in this superior Pathé serial written by genre specialist H.H. van Loan. Released in 15 chapters between May and August of 1920, the serial offered a glimpse into the still mysterious world of movie-making

El ladrón de los guantes blancos

When wealthy banker David Henrry receives a disturbing letter, he turns to Tom Carter, an intrepid British lawyer and detective, for help. (Partially lost film.)

Pearl of the Army

A 1916 movie serial.

The Timber Queen

The Timber Queen follows Ruth Rowland as the inheritor of a wealthy timber business who tries to stay independent of a cruel man who wants to marry her and steal her wealth. The UCLA Film and Television Archive has preserved episodes one, four, eight and nine, and distributor Harpodeon has preserved episode twelve.

Perils of the Wilderness

In the 56th (and next-to-last serial) made by Columbia Pictures, Montana Deputy Dan Lawson, posing as an outlaw called Laramie, goes to the Canadian northwest on the trail of Bart Randall who is wanted for murder and bank robbery in the states. In Canada, Randall is a little more upscale and uses a hydra-plane and a fake totem to over-awe the Indians. Laramie is aided in his search by RCMP Sergeant Gray and by Donna Blane, who is suspected at first of giving information to Randall, but who is actually a Canadian secret agent investigating Randall's gun-trading with the Indians.

Sir Arne's Treasure

Three Scottish officers, including Sir Archi, murder Sir Arne and his household for a coffin filled with gold. The only survivor is Elsalill, who moves to relatives in Marstrand. There she meets a charming young officer- Sir Archi- and she soon understands that he was one of the murderers.

The Law Decides

Mere years could not kill the overwhelming love which lay dormant in Lorenz's heart, though Florence was now the wife of another.

G-men vs. the Black Dragon

Japanese spies attempt to subvert America's war effort; G-Men attempt to thwart their plot.

Mysterious Doctor Satan

A mad scientist named Dr. Satan plots to steal key pieces of technology to enable him to build an army of robots based on his prototype to conquer America. The only one standing in his way is Bob Wayne, who fights Satan as the enigmatic Copperhead. Mysterious Doctor Satan is a 1940 film serial named after its chief villain. Doctor Satan's main opponent is the masked mystery man, "The Copperhead", whose secret identity is Bob Wayne, a man searching for justice and revenge on Satan for the death of his step-father. The serial charts the conflict between the two as Bob Wayne pursues Doctor Satan, while the latter completes his plans for world domination.

The Roaring West

A 15-episode serial involving the land rush, gold mines, stolen maps, etc.

King of the Wild

Richard Grant, imprisoned in India for a crime he did not commit, escapes and makes his way to Africa.

The Lightning Raider

A beautiful young woman is a daring master thief. She meets the young millionaire Thomas Babbington Norton, while fleeing from the scene of her latest theft.

Perils of Nyoka

Professor Campbell's expedition into the hills of Libya obtains a papyrus which might reveal the hiding place of the Golden Tablets of Hippocrates, containing lost medical secrets. Also in the region is intrepid Nyoka Gordon, still seeking her father, lost on a previous expedition. She alone can translate the papyrus, which directs our heroes through deadly perils (including the Tunnel of Bubbling Death) into the land of the Tuaregs. Opposing them are Vultura, Queen of the Desert, and her Arab ally Cassib, both greedy for the treasure...

Go Get 'Em Hutch

Movie serial directed by George B. Seitz.

Elmo the Fearless

Elmo finds himself in 18 different hair raising and dangerous adventures always escaping in the nick of time!

Elmo, the Mighty

Mr. Lincoln's tremendous physique fits him especially for serial work, where strength and daring are all important! An 18-episode adventure movie serial where Elmo saves the day through derring-do.

The Story of the Kelly Gang

Just as Galeen and Wegener's Der Golem (1915) can be seen as a testament to early German film artistry, The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906) symbolizes both the birth of the Australian film industry and the emergence of an Australian cinema identity. Even more significantly, it heralds the emergence of the feature film format. However, only fragments of the original production of more than one hour are known to exist, preserved at the National Film and Sound Archive, Canberra; Efforts at reconstruction have made the film available to modern audiences.

The Million Dollar Mystery

This twenty-three episode serial told the story of a secret society called The Black Hundred and its attempts to gain control of a lost million dollars.

The Brass Bullet

Rosalind Joy is a constantly imperiled heiress to a fortune in gold. An 18 part adventure serial

Gunfighters of the Northwest

Constable Ward is assigned to track down a mysterious villain known only as The Leader. Trying to locate a secret gold mine, The Leader pits the Indians against the Mounties, whom he blames for creating trouble.

The Girl and the Game

Irrepressible Helen Rhinelander, the daughter of a railroad president. A dastardly villain, Segrue, however, desires not only Helen but also the plans for a new railroad. Happily, Helen's childhood sweetheart, Paul Storm, now an engineer, is right there to protect the damsel-in-distress through the serial's 15 exciting chapters.

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages

The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.

A Star Is Born

A movie star helps a young singer-actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.

The Adventures of Kathlyn

The serial detailed the experiences of Kathlyn Hare, the pretty daughter of an explorer. Kathlyn resided in a mythical India, fighting off unwanted advances from a handsome native, Umballah, when not battling an endless array of ferocious jungle fauna.

Drums of Fu Manchu

The nefarious Dr. Fu Manchu searches for the keys to the tomb of Genghis Khan, in order to fulfill a prophecy that will enable him to conquer the world. His nemesi, Dr. Nayland Smith and his associates fight to keep the evil doctor from getting his hands on the keys. In 1943 the serial was edited together into a feature movie also called Drums of Fu Manchu.

The Adventures of Smilin' Jack

A movie serial in 12 chapters: The famous comic strip character is on a mission to protect a secret tunnel passage between China and India.

The New Adventures of Tarzan

A serial in 12 chapters. Tarzan goes to Guatemala to find his lost friend, D'Arnot. On the way he helps Major Matling search Mayan ruins for hidden jewels and an idol containing the formula for a powerful explosive. D'Arnot and the idol are rescued, but the idol falls into the clutches of the explorer Raglan.

Tuk-Tuk and His Friend Zhuk

A boy named Tuk and his dog Zhuk have a vegetable garden, but their harvest is in danger from Pig and Fox who are looking for a quick profit.