scifinery
So that you’re not caught unawares …
According to a quick search of Google.com, the very first depiction of a laser or ray-based weapon took place all the way back in 1914 aboard the Silent Era adventure serial released under the name The Exploits Of Elaine.
IMDB.com reports that it was produced by the Wharton Company, and it was released theatrically by the Eclectic Film Company (1914), Pathé Exchange (1915), Sunrise Silents (2004), and Serial Squadron (date unknown). Directed by Louis J. Gasnier, George B. Seitz, Leopold Wharton, and Theodore Wharton, the script was adapted from the Arthur B. Reeve novel (“The Exploits Of Elaine”) by Charles W. Goddard, George B. Seitz, and Basil Dickey. The project starred Pearl White, Arnold Daly, Creighton Hale, Raymond Owens, Sheldon Lewis, and others.
Also according to our friends at IMDB.com, here’s the plot summary:
“With the help of a private detective, Elaine tries to catch the masked criminal mastermind The Clutching Hand, who has murdered her father.”
According to information available on Wikipedia.org, Exploits worked as your typical motion picture serial, utilizing last-minute cliffhangers to generate audience interest in coming back next week for the latest and greatest installment. However, a great deal of the serial’s science was rather elementary for the time and very quickly outdated as the days and/or months went by. This being Hollywood (after all), the use of a ‘Death Ray’ – dubbed the ‘F-Ray’ in the script – has yet to exactly appear in reality, perhaps making it little more than the invention of a deadly device that would become a genre trope in the years ahead. Indeed, 1916’s The Intrigue featured what writers called an X-ray gun in its action while 1916’s The Iron Claw employed something simply named an electric ray. It wouldn’t be until the 1930’s that ray guns truly became iconic with the weapons’ inclusion in such studio efforts as Flash Gordon (1936) and Buck Rogers (1939); but those are clearly stories for another time and another place if not another generation of viewers entirely.
Actress Pearl White often spoke about her time reigning as the “Queen of the Serials,” most often citing how she performed her own stunts and even grew to the point of being reasonably fearless. Still, it would seem that she was largely unaware of Exploits being the first screen depiction of death rays and the like; so perhaps no great buzz was ever generated about how the flick holds a place of some significance in genre entertainment. Of course, none of this is meant to detract from her contribution to filmdom as she’s definitely remembered as one of the first action heroines capable of dealing with certain jeopardy on the silver screen. Simply put, learning how to fly and drive fast made greater impressions on the actress, so – as they say – to each his own.
Additionally, it’s interesting that Exploits was popular enough with audiences that it inspired not one but two sequels (both of which appear to presently be lost to history). 1915 saw both The New Exploits Of Elaine and The Romance Of Elaine continuing the champion’s story; and this only further established White as the industry choice to serialized content. Who knew that ladies could be so near the center of some big budget affairs more than 100 years ago? Certainly not the class of talent who continues to insist that women have always taken second seat especially in screen thrillers.
It’s also worth noting that, in 1994, the serial was inducted into the U.S.’s National Film Registry, that organization which seeks to preserve projects that had demonstrated a lasting aesthetic contribution to the medium.
-- EZ
According to a quick search of Google.com, the very first depiction of a laser or ray-based weapon took place all the way back in 1914 aboard the Silent Era adventure serial released under the name The Exploits Of Elaine.
IMDB.com reports that it was produced by the Wharton Company, and it was released theatrically by the Eclectic Film Company (1914), Pathé Exchange (1915), Sunrise Silents (2004), and Serial Squadron (date unknown). Directed by Louis J. Gasnier, George B. Seitz, Leopold Wharton, and Theodore Wharton, the script was adapted from the Arthur B. Reeve novel (“The Exploits Of Elaine”) by Charles W. Goddard, George B. Seitz, and Basil Dickey. The project starred Pearl White, Arnold Daly, Creighton Hale, Raymond Owens, Sheldon Lewis, and others.
Also according to our friends at IMDB.com, here’s the plot summary:
“With the help of a private detective, Elaine tries to catch the masked criminal mastermind The Clutching Hand, who has murdered her father.”
According to information available on Wikipedia.org, Exploits worked as your typical motion picture serial, utilizing last-minute cliffhangers to generate audience interest in coming back next week for the latest and greatest installment. However, a great deal of the serial’s science was rather elementary for the time and very quickly outdated as the days and/or months went by. This being Hollywood (after all), the use of a ‘Death Ray’ – dubbed the ‘F-Ray’ in the script – has yet to exactly appear in reality, perhaps making it little more than the invention of a deadly device that would become a genre trope in the years ahead. Indeed, 1916’s The Intrigue featured what writers called an X-ray gun in its action while 1916’s The Iron Claw employed something simply named an electric ray. It wouldn’t be until the 1930’s that ray guns truly became iconic with the weapons’ inclusion in such studio efforts as Flash Gordon (1936) and Buck Rogers (1939); but those are clearly stories for another time and another place if not another generation of viewers entirely.
Actress Pearl White often spoke about her time reigning as the “Queen of the Serials,” most often citing how she performed her own stunts and even grew to the point of being reasonably fearless. Still, it would seem that she was largely unaware of Exploits being the first screen depiction of death rays and the like; so perhaps no great buzz was ever generated about how the flick holds a place of some significance in genre entertainment. Of course, none of this is meant to detract from her contribution to filmdom as she’s definitely remembered as one of the first action heroines capable of dealing with certain jeopardy on the silver screen. Simply put, learning how to fly and drive fast made greater impressions on the actress, so – as they say – to each his own.
Additionally, it’s interesting that Exploits was popular enough with audiences that it inspired not one but two sequels (both of which appear to presently be lost to history). 1915 saw both The New Exploits Of Elaine and The Romance Of Elaine continuing the champion’s story; and this only further established White as the industry choice to serialized content. Who knew that ladies could be so near the center of some big budget affairs more than 100 years ago? Certainly not the class of talent who continues to insist that women have always taken second seat especially in screen thrillers.
It’s also worth noting that, in 1994, the serial was inducted into the U.S.’s National Film Registry, that organization which seeks to preserve projects that had demonstrated a lasting aesthetic contribution to the medium.
-- EZ
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