"Perils of Pauline", 1914 -- cliff-hanger or not?

[Jocelyn Limpert]

comment as an aside to this from Tom Shales, former Washington Post TV
critic and NPR movie critic:

There was a talkie with Betty Hutton in the late 40s I think that was
supposedly the life story of whoever made "The
Perils of Pauline" back in the silent era. Forgive me if this has nothing
to do with what you are discussing. !



On Sat, Feb 8, 2014 at 2:17 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      "Perils of Pauline", 1914 -- cliff-hanger or not?
>
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>
> Where might I find information (some movie email list?) documenting
> whether the 1914 "Perils of Pauline" film serial was or was not a
> "cliff-hanger" -- that is, ended episodes with Pauline in peril, or
> resolved the peril before the end of the episode?
>
> Wikipedia's "Perils of Pauline (1914 serial)" article says it was not
> a cliff-hanger (no reference given).  But its "Cliff-hanger" article
> says yes, specifically for an episode filmed around the Palisades
> where Pauline was literally left dangling (one source cited, which I
> am following up).
>
> Jon wrote on Jan 21 "Word to wise: just because Pearl White dangled
> from a cliff around 1915 doesn't mean the phrase was coined at that
> time," so perhaps he knows the answer.  (The original episodes may no
> longer be extant.)
>
> Joel
>
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