We're in the 11th chapter of the serial WHAT HAPPENED TO MARY? Mary Fuller has escaped from the lighthouse her uncle has trapped her in, with the aid of Edna Flugrath. She decides to take the train back to New York City, but her evil uncle Charles and despicable cousin Barry O'Moore get on at the next station!
This episode is a pretty good example of why I don't particularly care for this silent serial: there's lots of people talking for a while, without a word being offered to the audience. There's a lot of Miss Fuller sitting patiently on the train or at the waiting station, and Mr. Ogle angrily argues with a fellow, although we are not sure why. From the movie audience's viewpoint, this serves only to make the serial episode longer without providing any additional detail.
It is true that even as this serial appeared in the theater, it was being serialized in a magazine. Clearly this was an interesting idea of cross-promotion, but the effect might be that the magazine's reader might know what was said, or thought, while the movie audience got to see the performers. I don't consider that a reasonable trade-off.
This episode is a pretty good example of why I don't particularly care for this silent serial: there's lots of people talking for a while, without a word being offered to the audience. There's a lot of Miss Fuller sitting patiently on the train or at the waiting station, and Mr. Ogle angrily argues with a fellow, although we are not sure why. From the movie audience's viewpoint, this serves only to make the serial episode longer without providing any additional detail.
It is true that even as this serial appeared in the theater, it was being serialized in a magazine. Clearly this was an interesting idea of cross-promotion, but the effect might be that the magazine's reader might know what was said, or thought, while the movie audience got to see the performers. I don't consider that a reasonable trade-off.
