The first American serial was the groundbreaking 12-reel What Happened to Mary? (1912), a production of Thomas A. Edison's Company, that starred Mary Fuller (the first true serial queen), and was released concurrently with the serial story "What Happened to Mary?" in McClure's Ladies' World Magazine. Each film chapter was released simultaneously with the corresponding story in the magazine, one story per month, beginning July 26th, 1912. The series was followed with the six-episode Who Will Marry Mary? (1913), and with another twelve episode series, The Active Life of Dolly of the Dailies (1914).

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Greatest War Films: War films acknowledge the horror and heartbreak of war, letting the actual combat fighting or conflict (against nations or humankind) provide the primary plot or background for the action of the film. There are a significant number of influential, important, and milestone war films throughout cinematic history, outlined here.

Typical elements in the action-oriented war plots include POW camp experiences and escapes, historical recreations of major battles or war-related events, submarine warfare, spy or espionage tales, personal heroism, biopics of important war figures, "war is hell" brutalities, air dogfights, tough trench/infantry experiences, resistance movements, pre-war intrigue, veterans returning to the homeland, male-bonding buddy adventures during wartime - even black comedies about warfare. Themes explored in these war films include combat, survivor and escape stories, tales of gallant sacrifice and struggle, studies of the futility and inhumanity of battle, the effects of war on society, and intelligent and profound explorations of the moral and human issues.

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The Gold Rush (1925) is the quintessential Chaplin/Little Tramp film, with a balance of slapstick comedy and pantomime, social satire, and emotional and dramatic moments of tenderness. It was Chaplin's own personal favorite film, that showcases the classic Tramp character (referred to as "The Little Fellow" in the re-release version) as a romantic idealist and lone gold prospector at the turn of the century, with his cane, derby, distinctive walk, tight shabby suit, and mustache.

Classic scenes include the starvation scene of two cabin-marooned prospectors boiling and fastidiously eating a stewed shoe, the Tramp's cabin-mate deliriously imagining his companion as a large chicken, the teetering cabin on the edge of a cliff, and Chaplin's lonely fantasized New Year's Eve party (with the dancing dinner rolls routine) when he waits for a girl who never comes.

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The General (1927) is an imaginative masterpiece of dead-pan "Stone-Face" Buster Keaton comedy, generally regarded as one of the greatest of all silent comedies (and Keaton's own favorite) - and undoubtedly the best train film ever made. The Civil War adventure-epic classic was made toward the end of the silent era. Posters describing the slapstick film heralded: "Love, Locomotives and Laughs." However, Keaton's greatest picture (arguably) received both poor reviews by critics (it was considered tedious and disappointing) and weak box-office results (about a half million dollars domestically, and approximately one million worldwide) when initially released in the late 20s, and it led to Keaton's loss of independence as a film-maker and a restrictive deal with MGM. It would take many decades for the film to be hailed as one of the best ever made.

Filled with hilarious sight gags and perfectly timed stunt work, the chase comedy was written and directed by Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman, and filmed with a huge budget for its time ($750,000 supplied by Metro chief Joseph Schenck). It is memorable for its strong story-line of a single, brave, but foolish Southern Confederate train engineer doggedly in pursuit of his passionately-loved locomotive ("The General") AND the woman he loves. His stoic, unflappable reactions to fateful calamities, his ingenious and resourceful uses of machines and various objects (water tanks, a large piece of timber, a cowcatcher, a rolling artillery cannon on wheels, and unattached railroad cars), and the unpredictable forces of Nature, provide much of the plot.And now begins the bulk of the film, the sustained chase scenes - first with Johnnie chasing the spies, and then back again, with the spies chasing Johnnie. The film is consistently suspenseful and thrilling, with a series of complicated, dangerous stunts and sight gags all over the moving train in the sustained chase sequences (both in the pursuit and on the return journey.)


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Columbia Pictures presented thirteen low-budget installments of another detective series (from 1941 to 1949) titled Boston Blackie, starring square-jawed Chester Morris in the lead role as a former jewel thief/con artist who reformed himself and turned detective. The series was based on the 1910 book by Jack Boyle, and the wise-cracking character first appeared in various silent era versions:

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Although technically a series of 28 films stretching over a period of twelve years (1938-1950), the series of Blondie films somewhat qualifies as a feature-film serial. Columbia Pictures produced this popular and wholesome series of low-budget situation comedies with a blonde character named Blondie Bumstead, after acquiring the film rights to the story.

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the mid-1930s, three honored Warner Bros. historical/biographical films (all by director William Dieterle) starred Paul Muni - the archetypal portrayer of "Great Men" in engrossing character studies:
The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936) about the famous French scientist who attempted to find a cure for anthrax and hydrophobia, with Muni honored as Best Actor
the fictionalized Best Picture-winning The Life of Emile Zola (1937) about the famous French writer and court defender
Juarez (1939) with Muni as Mexican President Benito Pablo Juarez opposite Bette Davis as Empress Carlotta von Habsburg

Download Paul Muni as "Great Men" in Warner Bros. Prestige Pictures in the 30s

Poltergeist (1982) is a memorable supernatural horror film from co-producer/co-writer Steven Spielberg who teamed with director Tobe Hopper (known for his cult horror classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)). It was Spielberg's first smash hit as a co-producer, who was paired with Frank Marshall (who later produced Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)).

This classic 'haunted house ghost story' is fascinating to watch, with its extraordinary special effects created by George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic team, and a screenplay by Spielberg, Michael Grais, and Mark Victor. However, in the early 80s, it was criticized for only receiving a PG rating, given its intense scenes of horror - accentuated by the new Dolby sound system technology. In reaction (in part), the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) in 1984 created a new ratings category - PG-13.

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Director D.W. Griffith's expensive, most ambitious silent film masterpiece Intolerance (1916) is one of the milestones and landmarks in cinematic history. Many reviewers and film historians consider it the greatest film of the silent era. The mammoth film was also subtitled: "A Sun-Play of the Ages" and "Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages." Griffith was inspired to make this film after watching the revolutionary Italian silent film epic Cabiria (1914) by director Giovanni Pastrone.

After the widespread controversy surrounding his racist masterpiece The Birth of a Nation (1915), Griffith attempted to defensively answer his critics with this work. He took a smaller feature film that he was working on about the contemporary, Progressive Era struggle between capital and labor [titled "The Mother and the Law"] and the theme of social injustice and combined it with three new stories to create a more spectacular, monumental, dramatic epic. All of the stories, spanning several hundreds of years and cultures, are held together by themes of intolerance, man's inhumanity to man, hypocrisy, bigotry, religious hatred, persecution, discrimination and injustice achieved in all eras by entrenched political, social and religious systems.

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We went ape for a chance to have a chat with the extremely talented Andy Serkis, frequent collaborator with Peter Jackson as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and now starring as the ape Caesar alongside James Franco.

Download Comic-Con 2011 - RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES Press Conference Images with Andy Serkis and Director Rupert Wyatt