The Green Archer (1925 serial)
The Green Archer is a ten part 1925 American mystery film serial directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet. It is based on Edgar Wallace's bestselling 1923 novel of the same name. The filmmakers moved the setting of the novel from England to the United States. The story was remade in the sound era as another serial "The Green Archer" by Columbia Pictures. The first episode is titled "The Ghost of Bellamy Castle" (released in the U.S. December 6, 1925), and the final one is "The Smoke Clears Away" (released in the U.S. February 27, 1926 ). The serial was released in the United Kingdom by Pathé Pictures International beginning on October 4, 1926. Cinematographer Stanley Cortez had one of his earliest jobs as assistant cameraman on the serial. Actress Allene Ray went on to star in a number of other serials such as "The Terrible People" (1928), "Hawk of the Hills" (1929) and "The Indians Are Coming" (1930). Director Bennett also went on to direct many sound serials over the next several decades. The poster had the tagline "The foreboding shadow of the grim Archer - the twang of the bow - and green feathered Death speeds to  its mark!" Most of the books of Edgar Wallace have been adapted into films many times over the years in both England in the 1930s, and in Germany in the 1960s in a series known as the "crimis". (See Films based on works by Edgar Wallace) Plot. A mysterious green archer prowls the grounds of a medieval Castle, helping a reporter to expose the criminal secrets of Abel Bellamy, the castle's reclusive millionaire owner. The mansion had been moved stone by stone from its original location in England to the United States. Preservation. The film no longer exists in  complete form. Only the third, fourth and fifth chapters still exist of the original ten-part serial, preserved in the UCLA Film and Television Archive.