The Million Dollar Mystery
(1914) American
B&W : Serial / 46 reels
Directed by Howell Hansell

Cast: Florence La Badie, Marguerite Snow, James Cruze, Frank Farrington, Sidney Bracy, Creighton Hale, Mitchell Lewis, Irving Cummings, Lila Chester, Donald Gallaher

Thanhouser Film Corporation production; distributed by Syndicate Film Corporation (Mutual Film Corporation). / Scenario by Lloyd F. Lonergan, from a story by Harold MacGrath. / 23 chapters (two reels each): [1] “The Airship in the Night,” © 8 May 1914 by Thanhouser Film Corporation [LU2654], released 22 June 1914; [2] “The False Friend,” © 9 June 1914 by Thanhouser Film Corporation [LU2908]; [3] “A Leap in the Dark,” © 9 June 1914 by Thanhouser Film Corporation [LU2909]; [4] “The Top Floor Flat,” © 9 June 1914 by Thanhouser Film Corporation [LU2910]; [5] “At the Bottom of the Sea,” no copyright registration; [6] “The Coaching Party of the Countess,” no copyright registration; [7] “The Doom of the Auto Bandits,” no copyright registration; [8] “The Wiles of a Woman,” no copyright registration; [9] “The Leap from an Ocean Liner,” no copyright registration; [10] no copyright registration; [11] “In the Path of the Fast Express,” no copyright registration; [12] no copyright registration; [13] no copyright registration; [14] no copyright registration; [15] “The Borrowed Hydroplane,” no copyright registration; [16] “Drawn Into the Quicksand,” no copyright registration; [17] “A Battle of Wits,” no copyright registration; [18] no copyright registration; [19] no copyright registration; [20] no copyright registration; [21] no copyright registration; [22] “The Million Dollar Mystery,” no copyright registration; [23] “The Mystery Solved,” no copyright registration. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.37:1 format. / Audiences were invited to solve the mystery and win $10,000. The serial was edited to six reels and rereleased as a feature film by the Randolph Film Corporation in 1918.

Drama: Mystery.

Survival Status: The film is presumed lost.

Keywords: Serials

Listing updated: 3 May 2007.

References: Ball-Shakespeare pp. 316, 388; Bardèche-History p. 69; Everson-Detective pp. 23, 25; Lahue-Bound pp. 58, 89; Lahue-Continued pp. 6, 15-16, 62c, 158-159, 286; LoC-MoPic-2 p. 543; Slide-Aspects p. 73; Stedman-Serials pp. 14, 15, 22, 47; Tarbox-Lost p. 155, 169-171 : Website-SerSq.