Spanish cromo card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, no. 9. Photo: Distr. J. Verdaguer / Universal. Marie Walcamp as Liberty Horton and Neil Hart as Captain Winston in Liberty (Henry MacRae, Jacques Jaccard, 1916).
Spanish cromo card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, no. 10. Photo: Distr. J. Verdaguer / Universal. Marie Walcamp as Liberty and Neil Hart as Captain Winston in Liberty (Henry MacRae, Jacques Jaccard, 1916).
Spanish cromo card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, no. 11. Photo: Distr. J. Verdaguer / Universal. Probably Bertram Grassby as Manuel Leon and Maude Emory as Teresa in Liberty (Henry MacRae, Jacques Jaccard, 1916).
Spanish cromo card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, no. 15. Photo: Distr. J. Verdaguer / Universal. Marie Walcamp in Liberty (Henry MacRae, Jacques Jaccard, 1916). Here, Walcamp's Liberty is kidnapped.
Spanish cromo card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, no. 16. Photo: Distr. J. Verdaguer / Universal. Jack Holt on the left as Captain Rutledge in Liberty (Henry MacRae, Jacques Jaccard, 1916).
Spanish cromo card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, no. 17. Photo: Distr. J. Verdaguer / Universal. On the left probably Bertram Grassby as Manuel Leon and right probably Raymond Nye as Pancho Lopez in Liberty (Henry MacRae, Jacques Jaccard, 1916).
The first purely Western serial ever made
Liberty aka Liberty, A Daughter of the USA, is considered the first purely Western serial ever made, although Western elements were included in earlier serials such as The Perils of Pauline (Louis J. Gasnier, Donald MacKenzie, 1914). The American serial was released in 20 episodes, directed by Jacques Jaccard and Henry MacRae, and scripted by Jacques Jaccard and W.B. Pearson. The assistant director was George Marshall. When Jaccard fell ill during the shooting of the twelfth episode, MacRae immediately took over. MacRae worked fast: in 38 working days, he managed to shoot the remaining seven episodes.
The chapter titles are 1. The Fangs of the Wolf (premiere on 10 August 1916) 2. Riding with Death (16-08-27) 3. American Blood (16-09-03) 4. Dead or Alive (16-09-10) 5. Love and War (16-09-17) 6. The Desert of Lost Souls (16-09-24) 7. Liberty's Sacrifice (16-10-01) 8. Clipped Wings (16-10-08), 9. A Daughter of Mars (16-10-15) 10. The Buzzard's Prey (16-10-22) 11. The Devil's Triumph (16-10-29) 12. For the Flag (16-11-05) 13. Strife and Sorrow (16-11-12) 14. A Modern Joan of Arc (16-11-19) 15. The Flag of Truce (16-11-26) 16. Court-Martialled (16-12-03) 17. A Trail of Blood (16-12-10) 18. The Wolf's Nemesis (16-12-17) 19. An Avenging Angel (16-12-24), and 20. A Daughter of the U.S.A. (16-12-31).
Marie Walcamp starred as Liberty Horton in Liberty (Henry MacRae, Jacques Jaccard, 1916) opposite Jack Holt and Eddie Polo. Liberty is an American heiress, who is kidnapped by a Mexican rebel and ransomed to fund his rebellion. You can find the full description of all twenty episodes on IMDb.
Already in its own time, people protested against the anti-Mexican tendency of the serial. A US Cavalry major named Barton protested to the manager of a cinema in Calexico, CA, about the insulting content of this movie against Mexicans, according to a report published by the Spanish-language newspaper Evolución. Despite this, Liberty was an extremely popular serial at the time and raised stardom not only for Marie Walcamp but also for Eddie Polo, even if he had a supporting part.
Marie Walcamp was famous for doing her own dangerous stunts, which earned her nicknames like "The Daredevil of the Films" and "The Dare-Devil Girl of the Movies". In her second chapterplay, Walcamp battled a lion in the appropriately titled The Lion's Claws (Harry Harvey, Jacques Jaccard, 1918). She wore a deep scar for the rest of her life. She also starred in such adventure serials as The Red Ace and The Red Robe. In Europe, Universal distributed the serial via its London branch, called The Trans-Atlantic Film Company Ltd. A print of Liberty was one of the primary footage sources used for the compilation film The Revenge of Pancho Villa (1930–1936). The serial is now considered a lost film.
Spanish cromo card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, no. 20. Photo: Distr. J. Verdaguer / Universal. Scene from the Western serial Liberty (Henry MacRae, Jacques Jaccard, Universal 1916). The tortured man in the middle on our card is probably Eddie Polo as Pedro. The woman at the right may be Maude Emory playing Teresa.
Spanish cromo card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, no. 21. Photo: Distr. J. Verdaguer / Universal. Marie Walcamp and Eddie Polo, here visible behind the bars, in Liberty (Henry MacRae, Jacques Jaccard, 1916). The rotund man before them may be Raymond Nye as Pancho Lopez.
Spanish cromo card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, no. 30. Photo: Distr. J. Verdaguer / Universal. Neil Hart as Captain Winston and Jack Holt as Captain Bob Rutledge in Liberty (Henry MacRae, Jacques Jaccard, 1916).
Spanish cromo card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, no. 32. Photo: Distr. J. Verdaguer / Universal. Eddie Polo is probably on the left, and on the right is probably Raymond Nye as Pancho Lopez in Liberty (Henry MacRae, Jacques Jaccard, 1916).
Spanish cromo card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, no. 33. Photo: Distr. J. Verdaguer / Universal. Neil Hart as Capt. Winston in Liberty (Henry MacRae, Jacques Jaccard, 1916).
Spanish cromo card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, no. 34. Photo: Distr. J. Verdaguer / Universal. Marie Walcamp as Liberty and probably Bertram Grassby as Manuel Leon Liberty (Henry MacRae, Jacques Jaccard, 1916).
Spanish cromo card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, no. 36. Photo: Distr. J. Verdaguer / Universal. Marie Walcamp with probably Raymond Nye as Pancho Lopez in Liberty (Henry MacRae, Jacques Jaccard, 1916).
Spanish cromo card by Chocolate Pi, Barcelona, no. 38. Photo: Distr. J. Verdaguer / Universal. Marie Walcamp and Eddie Polo in Liberty (Henry MacRae, Jacques Jaccard, 1916). Pedro (Polo) saves Liberty (Walcamp) from the evil Pancho Lopez (Raymond Nye).
Sources: Kalton Lahue (Bound and Gagged), Wikipedia and IMDb.
No comments:
Post a Comment