Talk:The Perils of Pauline (1914 serial)

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[edit] Are railroad and sawmill scenes a myth?

I've come across suggestions that the 1914 version of this title never actually featured scenes where Pearl White was tied to a railroad or sent heading for a buzzsaw. At first I was skeptical because I've often seen this movie cited as the origin of those particular plot devices. But after a bit of initial research into sources that describe the episodes it seems such scenes are conspicuous by their absence.

I've come across various references to "Pauline's trestle" on the New Hope and Ivyland Railroad as the site of a scene with Pearl White, but on further investigation it seems that references which describe her being tied to the track could be due to people leaping to conclusions. References which mention her tied to the track tend to be vague and none are specific about which episode it was supposedly in. On the other hand I've come across several descriptions of a scene with Pauline running along the top of a moving train as it crosses the trestle (see for example [1]). I find these latter descriptions more convincing as they are more specific and detailed.

Apart from the fact that there was a train scene (albeit without Pauline tied to the track), there are a number of other reasons why confusion might have arisen. At least one of the later remakes of Perils of Pauline had a scene with Pauline tied to the track as well as a scene with a buzssaw. I also think Pearl White may have done such a scene in one of her other films (It seems that if you're looking for the original model for things like The Perils of Penelope Pitstop then The Exploits of Elaine is a closer match than Perils of Pauline). Also, there were a number of other serials around that time that had damsel in distress scenes on railroads (The Hazards of Helen is among the candidates)

I guess it's possible there was something in one of the reels that has been lost (ie. something in the original 20-chapter release that isn't in the surviving 9-chapter version). Can anyone provide more conclusive evidence?

Circusandmagicfan (talk) 22:56, 11 February 2008 (UTC)Circusandmagicfan