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The Purple Mask
Also known as Máscara Vermelha in Portugal; La máscara púrpura in Venezuela
(1916-1917) United States of America
B&W : Serial / 16 chapters / 33 reels
Directed by Francis Ford [?] and Grace Cunard?
Cast: Francis Ford [Detective Phil Kelly; and ‘The Sphinx’], Grace Cunard [Patsy Montez], Jean Hathaway [Eleanor Van Nuys], Pete Gerald (Peter Gerald) [Pete Bartlett, Phil’s assistant], Jerry Ash (Jerome Ash) [Phil’s assistant], John Featherstone [Stephen Dupont], John Duffy [Silk Donahue], Mario Bianchi (Monty Banks) [Jacques, Patricia’s butler], Joe Moore [Jack Elliot], Gertrude Short [Mary MacLean], Leonard Clapham (Tom London) [Robert Jackson, an inventor], William White [the king], Phil Ford [Joe Butts], Abe Mundon [Wallace Drew], Duke Worne [Duke Hestor], Juan Aristi Eulate, [?] Jack Ford (John Ford)?
Stern Film Company production; distributed by The Universal Film Manufacturing Company, Incorporated [Universal Prize Serial]. / Scenario by Grace Cunard [?] and Francis Ford? Cinematography by Abe Vallet (A.H. Vallet). / 16 chapters (two reels each): [1] “The Vanished Jewels,” released 31 December 1916 (three reels); [2] “Suspected,” released 7 January 1917; [3] “The Capture,” released 14 January 1917; [4] “Facing Death,” released 21 January 1917; [5] “The Demon of the Sky,” released 28 January 1917; [6] “The Silent Feud,” released 4 February 1917; [7] “The Race for Freedom,” released 11 February 1917; [8] “The Secret Adventure,” released 18 February 1917; [9] “A Strange Discovery,” released 25 February 1917; [10] “House of Mystery,” released 4 March 1917; [11] “The Garden of Surprise,” released 11 March 1917, © 24 February 1917 by The Universal Film Manufacturing Company, Incorporated [LP10259]; [12] “The Vault of Mystery,” released 18 March 1917; [13] “The Leap,” released 25 March 1917; [14] “The Sky Monsters,” released 1 April 1917; [15] “Floating Signal,” released 8 April 1917; [16] “A Prisoner of Love,” released 15 April 1917, © 2 April 1917 by The Universal Film Manufacturing Company, Incorporated [LP10491]. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / The final Ford-Cunard serial. / [?] Website-IMDb lists an unconfirmed report that John Ford acted in the serial. [?] Braff-Universal n. 6424 lists the title of the first chapter as “Vanishing Jewel,” and the release date as 25 December 1916; also the title of chapter 5 as “Ablaze in Mid-Air” (also in Braff-Short n. 9); the title of chapter 14 as “The Sky Monster”; and the title of chapter 16 as “The Prisoner of Love” in error. Dawson City recovery film numbers 456 (chapter 11, reel 1), 512 (chapter 11, reel 2), 374 (chapter 14, reel 1) and 384 (chapter 14, reel 2).
Drama: Crime.
Survival status: Prints exist in the Library of Congress film archive (Public Archives of Canada/Dawson City collection) [fragmentary 35mm fine-grain duplicate negative (chapter 11, 1369 feet, [reel 1] duplicated 1983, FPE 3900, [reel 2] duplicated 1983, FPE 3901; chapter 16, 1451 feet, [reel 1] duplicated 1983, FPE 3904, [reel 2] duplicated 1979, FPE 3905), fragmentary 35mm fine-grain reference positive (chapter 11, 1369 feet, [reel 1] struck 1983, FEB 8901, [reel 2] struck 1983, FEB 8902; chapter 16, 1451 feet, [reel 1] struck 1983, FEB 8905, [reel 2] struck 1979, FEB 8906)].
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Keywords: Apaches - Crime: Theft - Families: Aunts - France: Paris - Jewelry - Law: Enforcement: Police: Detectives - Masks - Serials - USA: New York: New York
Listing updated: 29 April 2020.
References: Braff-Short n. 9; Braff-Universal n. 6424; Edmonds-BigU pp. 89-90, 91; Lahue-Continued pp. 43-44, 172-173, 287; Stedman-Serials pp. 11, 48 : ClasIm-224 p. 44 : Website-IMDb; Website-LoC; Website-SerSq.
Home video: Blu-ray Disc, DVD.
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