The Trail of the Octopus (1919) User Reviews

Now, I love silent films as much as the next film buff, but...

[Mary-18 · 7/10 · 5 April 2005]

I just can't bring myself to call this serial "good" film-making in any way. If you like things that are old and kitschy, as I do, then "Trail of the Octopus" could be worth seeing. I was lucky enough to be one of the lonely dorks in the audience at the Library of Congress screening, and I sat through all 5 hours (is that all it was? seemed a lot longer!) of this film in absolute silence, even though by the end it was pretty painful.

The first few episodes are great! The hero is smart, handsome, and athletic, and the heroine is adorable and spunky. The filmmakers ably dealt with their low budget by making excellent use of real locations, such as the beautiful manor house and some breathtaking California rock cliffs by the ocean. The plot seems clever--there's something about a talisman, murder, an Indiana Jones-like archaeologist--everything you need in a grand adventure! But the story just goes on and on, and the longer it goes on, the less sense it makes. Suddenly there are evil Chinese people, then they're in China, something something about white slavery and international conspiracies. Then, whatever it is that the heroes have accomplished, they're commended for by President Wilson! Hooray! In the final episode, the writers must have realized that they had failed to incorporate the title of the films, "Trail of the Octopus," into the story line in any way whatsoever. So Wilson babbles something about the head Chinese henchman having "tentacles like an octopus," and the story is over. What??? I really wanted to love this serial, but it just became too ridiculous, even for me. But if it were re-released and accompanied by some snappy music, it could be a fun watch--just don't expect it to have a satisfying conclusion or make any sense.

Trail of the Octopus - A Review **WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD**

[Scarletfire-1 · 9/10 · 25 January 2004]

The Trail Of The Octopus is a silent 15 chapter cliffhanger serial starring Ben Wilson and Neva Gerber, released in October of 1919.

The production standards of the sets and the camerawork in this serial were top notch. There were a number of scenes that I would say were filmed with the best use of light and shadow I have ever seen. Visually, Octopus was fantastic, but they seemed to make the story up as they went along, with the plot and locations often changing suddenly in a completely different direction. This is the trail that is the subject of the title.

The storyline was rather complicated compared to the serials made by Republic or Columbia in the 1930?s through 1950?s. The location of the action changes from an unnamed city, to San Francisco, to the orient, to Paris France, back to the original city and then to San Francisco again.

This serial revolves around a group who are trying to obtain a professor's ancient talisman, for some nefarious reason, and the various murders, fights, chases, and cliffhangers that ensue. There are some really fantastic scenes where ghost like hands come out of walls and other creepy stuff - better than the best horror movies you have seen. There is a fight on a balcony in a rainstorm that is just amazing - some of the best camera and lighting work ever. There is another fight that starts in a room and then the lights go out. The combatants begin shooting at each other in the darkened room - and as each gunshot goes off we see where everyone is for an instant before it goes back to black. This is an effect much like a strobe light - but the flashing light from each gunshot only flickers on when triggers are pulled, with the actors seen in different places as they scramble about the room between gunshots. I have never seen anything like it before and thought that a scene like this has probably never been topped yet.

The exotic Mme. Zora Roularde, played by the excellent silent actress Marie Pavis, leads a group of devil worshiping kidnappers. The coven is shown looking rather evil in their satanic costumes. Especially chilling are the scenes that take place in their underground devil-worshiping chamber. I have never seen anything like that in a serial, or any old movie for that matter.

The scene eventually changes from the unnamed city, to San Francisco, and then to the orient (is this supposed to be China?) as hero Carter Holmes follows the trail to get kidnapped Ruth Stanhope and her father the professor back.

Carter manages to free Ruth, and the action then moves on to Paris France where the kidnappers have taken her father. In Paris the storyline takes a science fiction twist all of a sudden, as we encounter a mad scientist who uses a ray gun device to cause asteroids to strike the earth. We see the asteroids falling from the sky and wrecking havoc. Also in Paris, the bad guys try to cut the skin off the arm of the kidnapped professor. They want to do this so they will have the tattoos on his arm that supply further clues to the location of a set of daggers they are all trying to obtain. They fail in their nasty skin removal attempt and the professor is rescued by the Carter and reunited with his daughter Ruth.

The head back to America, where another sci-fi storyline pops up out of nowhere. The heroes battle a villain who has a replicator machine he uses to create numerous zombies that do his bidding. The automatons are shown walking out of his replicator machine, which is a big metal box in his mad scientist laboratory.

The search for that talisman winds down when the heroes finally obtain the complete set of daggers they have been looking for and retrieve the professor?s ancient talisman. When we finally get a chance to see the talisman, it seems like an afterthought.

The story then shifts to showing Carter and Ruth getting an award from the President for their efforts. The President states how thankful he is that they brought about the end of such a far reaching organization - this octopus of crime.

***** 5 Stars!