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The Perils of Pauline was a silent movie serial which debuted in 1914. A second serial of this name ran in the 1930s. There is also a 1947 feature movie which makes reference to the earlier serial.
The silent serial
The very popular silent Perils of Pauline was a cliffhanger serial shown in weekly installments featuring Pearl White as the title character, a perpetual damsel in distress. She was menaced by assorted villains, including pirates and Native Americans. At the end of each installment she was generally placed in a situation that looked sure to result in her imminent death. The start of the next episode showed how she was rescued or otherwise escaped the danger, only to face fresh peril again.
The serial had twenty episodes. After the original ran, it was reshown in theaters a number of times, sometimes in edited, shortened versions, through the 1920s.
One of the more famous scenes in the serial was filmed on a trestle in New Hope, Pennsylvania along the New Hope and Ivyland Railroad line. The trestle still stands, just off Ferry Street, and is now referred to as "Pauline's Trestle." The railroad also remains (as a tourist attraction), and offers rides from New Hope to Lahaska, crossing over the original trestle.
The term cliffhanger originated with the series, owing to a number of episodes filmed on or around the New Jersey Palisades.
It was also the first film appearance of Milton Berle, who plays the character of a young boy.
This successful serial was quickly followed by The Exploits of Elaine, also starring White. Many imitations and parodies followed.
References to Perils appear in 1960s animated cartoon television shows Dudley Do-Right (where the villain often tied Nell to a railroad track), and The Perils of Penelope Pitstop.
The 1930s serial
A sound film remake of the famous silent serial appeared in 1934, starring Evalyn Knapp as Pauline. It was made by Universal Studios.
The 1947 feature film
The 1947 feature is a fictionalized Hollywood account of silent star Pearl White's rise to fame, starring Betty Hutton as White.
The film also stars William Demarest, Frank Faylen, Constance Collier, Billy De Wolf, and John Lund. It was directed by George Marshall, and featured songs by Frank Loesser.
The 1967 film
A 1967 comedy The Perils of Pauline starring Pat Boone and Pamela Austin enjoyed neither the commercial or critical success of earlier films of this title. There were also plans for a TV series based on this film, but it was scrapped.
External links
On the Internet Movie Database site:
"The Perils of Pauline"