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''The Adventures of Kathlyn'' (1913) is an American motion picture serial released on December 29, 1913 by the Selig Polyscope Company. An adventure serial filmed in Chicago, Illinois, its thirteen episodes were directed by Francis J. Grandon from a story by Harold MacGrath and Gilson Willets and starred Kathlyn Williams as the heroine. Harold MacGrath's novel of the same title was released a few days later in January 1914 so as to be in book stores at the same time as the serial was playing in theatres. ''The Adventures of Kathlyn'' was only the second serial ever made by an American film studio and considered the first of the cliffhanger serials that became enormously popular during the next decade. The success of the serial spawned a 1916 feature-length film of the same title with basically the same crew and cast. ==Production== The serial came about due to a newspaper circulation war in Chicago that forced the ''Chicago Tribune'' to use more sensationalism. William Selig, noting the popularity of serial fiction in newspapers and magazines, took the idea of a ''film'' serial to the newspaper. Despite the Tribune being in favour of abolishing nickelodeons only 5 years previously, Tribune editor James Keeley agreed and the serial was released as a promotional project. The chapters of the film were released biweekly and the story was also printed as a newspaper serial in the Tribune and other newspapers including the ''Los Angeles Times''. Although the first American film serial was ''What Happened to Mary'', ''The Adventures of Kathlyn'' is a more important piece of film history, being the first serial to use cliffhangers as the ending of its chapters, and so became the first recognizable film serial.〔 Frank Leon Smith, in a letter to ''Films in Review'' (February 1958), wrote that the cliffhanger ending of chapter one "was a 'situation' ending, but other episodes wound up with sensational action or stunts, broken for holdover suspense...gave the serial both the key to its success and the assurance of its doom."〔 ''The Adventures of Kathlyn'' used animals from the Selig Zoo and had more action than ''What Happened to Mary.''〔 The ''Tribune'' announced a 10% increase in circulation as a result of the film serial's success.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Adventures of Kathlyn」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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