The Great Secret (1917)

Mandrake the Magician

Feature version of the American serial film, produced for export only, never exhibited in the USA, and believed to be a lost film.

The Spider Returns

Feature version of the American serial film of the same name, edited for exhibition overseas only, never exhibited in the USA in any medium, and evidently a lost film.

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.

Treasure Island

Young Jim Hawkins is caught up with the pirate Long John Silver in search of the buried treasure of the buccaneer Captain Flint, in this adaptation of the classic novel by Robert Louis Stevenson.

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 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.

Bride 13

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

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 Ventures of Marguerite

As heiress to a large fortune, Marguerite is able to satisfy her love for beautiful clothes and a taste for adventure, while confronted by a multitude of schemers and gangsters bent on reducing her to poverty.

Mysterious Island

It is 1865 and Union prisoners use a military balloon to escape a Southern prison camp near the end of the Civil War. The balloon drifts for days and finally lands on a mysterious volcanic island with very unusual inhabitants. Also landing, in a better aircraft, is Rulu, a visitor from Mercury. She seeks a radio-active material that will enable her to manufacture an explosive that will destroy the world or, at least, the portion known as Earth in this 15 Chapter Serial from the 1950s.

King of the Rocket Men

Prof. Millard pretends to be dead and helps Jeff King ferret out Vulcan, the evil traitor at the science academy. Donning his Rocket Man costume King goes from one hair raising rescue to the next in order to keep the newly invented Decimator out of the clutches of Vulcan and his minions.

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.

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.

Sea Raiders

A bunch of waterfront youths pursue the Sea Raiders, a gang of saboteurs.

The Phantom Rider

The Phantom Rider helps Mary Grayson thwart a plot to steal her land.

The Wolf Dog

The story of a boy, a dog, and a man. The boy discovers he is heir to a shipping line, and travels to Los Angeles, accompanied by inventor/radio operator Bob Whitlock and Irene Blaine. Their journey is aided by Pal, a wolf dog.

The King of the Kongo

A Secret Service agent seeks his missing brother in Africa, and finds his mission complicated by ivory thieves, a girl with a mysterious past, and a troublesome gorilla.

The Phantom Rider

A new town doctor arrives at the same time as local Indians needprotection from troublemaking looters.

Perils of the Royal Mounted

Sergeant MacLane of the Mounties investigates the disruptive activities of a bunch of troublemakers.

Queen of the Sea

Annette Kellerman, the Australian swimming star of the early 1900s, made a number of films, most of them in the 1910s, which displayed her athletic skills. Most of these films were underwater fantasies, and this one was no exception. Here, Kellerman is Merilla, a mermaid who is the "Queen of the Sea." Not satisfied with being a mermaid, she wants a mortal human body with an immortal soul. She discovers she can achieve this if she saves four human lives.

The Great Air Robbery

A daredevil flyer delivers the night mail despite threats from weather and robbers.

Flirting with Death

When an aviator dies performing in a traveling circus, the circus closes and sideshow con men "Sky-High" Billy Wardell and "Domino" Dominick are arrested for giving out fake watches to wheel of fortune winners. After Domino springs the jail's lock, they jump a freight train and arrive in the next town, where Billy falls in love when Jane Higgenbotham allows them to breakfast on her freshly baked pies.

The Secret of Treasure Island

A variety of people are searching for a long-hidden treasure somewhere on an island. Chapters: 1. The Isle of Fear, 2. The Ghost Talks, 3. The Phantom Duel, 4. Buried Alive, 5. The Girl Who Vanished, 6. Trapped by the Flood, 7. The Cannon Roars, 8. The Circle of Death, 9. The Pirate's Revenge, 10. The Crash, 11. Dynamite, 12. The Bridge of Doom, 13. The Mad Flight, 14. The Jaws of Destruction, 15. Justice

Across the Pacific

Following the Spanish-American War, a soldier is given the assignment of finding the leader of a band of rebels in the Philippines. In order to do this, he must romance Roma, a cabaret spy working for the rebels. This does not please the daughter of his commanding officer, whom he is romancing.

Blake of Scotland Yard

A 15 episode serial in which Blake battles the "Scorpion" over possession of a 'death ray' machine.

Jungle Jim

Two safaris enter the African jungle intent on finding a white girl who is the heiress to a fortune. One safari, led by Jungle Jim, wants to make sure she gets the news that she is now a rich woman. The leaders of the other safari want to kill the girl so they can try to get hold of her inheritance.

The Desert Hawk

Evil Hassan slips back into his native land of Ahad and plots to overthrow his twin bother, Kasim, who has just been crowned the Caliph. Hassan enlists the aid of the chief Chamberlain, Faud and they send several henchmen into the royal palace, who then knock Kasim unconscious. Faud and Hassan dispatch a couple of different hirelings to take Kasim into another part of the town and murder him.Kasin comes to and gets away, but has been wounded. Omar, a beggar, takes Kasim to his home and nurses him back to health. But, it takes a few weeks for Kasin to get healthy and, by that time, Hassan has a firm grip on the duties of a Caliph. In a storeroom, Kasim finds a coat of mail with a great hawk emblazoned across the chest and promptly decides this is the costume he will wear while fighting to get his old job back. Meanwhile, the Emir of Telif shows up with his daughter, Princess Azala, with the intent of marrying her off to the local Caliph.

Dick Tracy Returns

Dick Tracy battles spies and saboteurs in his efforts to bring to justice the Stark gang, a criminal family led by the vicious Pa Stark.

The Fighting Devil Dogs

Two marine lieutenants battle a masked would-be world conqueror who uses electricity as a weapon.

Jungle Girl

Dr. John Meredith has been driven from civilization by the criminal activities of his twin brother Bradley Meredith. With his infant daughter, he settles in the African jungle, where his ability to cure the native ills has resulted in his virtual control of the Masamba tribes, who possess vast diamond mines coveted by a gang of crooks.

The Broken Coin

A movie serial directed by Francis Ford.

Pearl of the Army

A 1916 movie serial.

The Spider Returns

The evil and masked "Gargoyle" is sabotaging all of America's industrial plants. It is up to the Spider to save the country.

Kismet

Hajj, a rascally beggar on the periphery of the court of Baghdad, schemes to marry his daughter to royalty and to win the heart of the queen of the castle himself. This film is believed lost.

The Leopard's Foundling

The scene opens on the road to Kingsley as Peter Herman and his wife, Anna, are trekking slowly along, she holding the baby in her arms while Balu, their idolized seven-year-old daughter, is on the seat beside her father, holding a line.

Daughter of Don Q

When the unscrupulous Carlos Manning discovers that an old Spanish land grant recently unearthed will leave a huge section of California real estate to the heirs of Don Quantero, he employs Mel Donovan and his killer henchmen to murder them all. That will leave Manning as the sole heir to millions. However, Delores Quantero tumbles to this plot and enlists the aide of two-fisted reporter, Cliff Roberts to save all her relatives

The Black Secret

Adventures of an American Secret Service-girl in search of an important German secret during the war. Chapters: [1] “The Great Secret,”; [2] “Marked for Death,”; [3] “The Gas Chamber,”; [4] “Below the Waterline,”; [5] “The Acid Bath,”; [6] “The Unknown,”; [7] “The Betrayal,”; [8] “A Crippled Hand,”; [9] “Woes of Deceit,”; [10] “The Inn of Dread,”; [11] “The Death Studio,”; [12] “The Chance Trail,"; [13] “Wings of Mystery,”; [14] “The Hidden Way,”; [15] “The Secret Host"

Zorro's Fighting Legion

The mysterious Don Del Oro ("Lord of Gold"), an idol of the Yaqui Indians, plans to take over the gold and become Emperor. Francisco was put in charge of a legion to combat the Yaqui tribe and protect the land, but when attacked Zorro came to his rescue. Francisco's partner recognized Zorro as the hidalgo Don Diego Vega, then ask him to take over the fighting legion as his alter-ego Zorro.

Bertha the Sewing Machine Girl

Bertha Sloan loses her job as a sewing-machine girl and subsequently is employed as telephone girl with a lingerie manufacturing company. She soon falls in love with the assistant shipping clerk, Roy Davis, and is promoted to chief model for the firm, owing to the patronage of Morton, the wealthy and wicked manager. Bertha is about to take a position in Paris as designer when Morton lures her to his home.

Scouts to the Rescue

Filmed in the Sierra Nevada mountains near Sonora, California, this Universal serial is Universal's 40th sound-era serial. Eagle Scout Bruce Scott, leader of Martinsville Troop Number One, and his pack sets off in search of lost treasure and finds adventure

The Valley of Vanishing Men

Prospector Henry Tolliver disappears and his son "Wild Bill" Tolliver comes looking for him.

Flash Gordon

Disaster seems imminent when scientists discover that the planet Mongo is about to crash into Earth. Luckily, heroic young Flash Gordon is on hand to lead an investigative mission into outer space and onto the speedily approaching planet. There, he and his best girl, Dale, who is along for the ride, learn that Ming, the devious ruler of Mongo, has purposely put the planet on a collision course with Earth, and only Flash can stop him.

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.

King of the Mounties

King of the Candian riding police is up against Japs and Nazis who are about to invade Canada. They just want to clear the way with a new futuristic plane called "The Falcon" first, but that's not gonna happen if Kig has his way.

The Adventure of the Torture Cage

Lieutenant Commander John Byrne of the Naval Secret Service and his partner Pvt. Bill Riggers chase criminal Dr. Sin Fang, who is desperate to find a lost sacred seal. (The fifth and only surviving episode of a six-part serial about an evil mastermind inspired on Sax Rohmer's Dr. Fu Manchu.)

A Son of the Sahara

As a boy, Raoul is reared by an Arab tribe in Algerian Sahara. Years later, as a refined Europeanized gentleman, he falls in love with Barbara, an officer's daughter, who rejects him when she discovers his background. Affecting a raid, he captures her and then secretly buys her at a slave auction. When she is rescued by French troops, however, his ancestry is established and they find happiness together.

The Tiger's Trail

A cult of Hindu tiger worshippers and a gang of Western outlaws try to cheat a young woman out of rich mines that belong to her.