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The Mystery Mind

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The Mystery Mind
Magazine advertisement
Directed by
Written by
Starring
Production
company
Supreme Pictures
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent (English intertitles)

The Mystery Mind is a 1921 American silent mystery film serial produced by Supreme Pictures. Conceived by Arthur B. Reeve and John W. Grey, the fifteen-chapter serial starred professional hypnotist J. Robert Pauline and Violet MacMillan. The production was promoted as the "first psychic serial", with hypnotism and psychic phenomena forming central elements of its story.[1][2]

The serial was produced, copyrighted and extensively promoted during 1920, and later film histories have generally dated it to that year. Contemporary release notices, however, place its United States theatrical introduction in 1921, following the acquisition of the American and Canadian rights by the Pioneer Film Corporation.

Plot

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Violet Bronson, the daughter of an explorer, is threatened by a succession of assassins controlled by the Mystery Mind, a disembodied voice capable of commanding others to do its bidding. The conspirators believe that Violet may know the location of the lost treasure of Atlantis. She is protected by her fiancé, Robert Dupont, a hypnotist, and by her adoptive father, whom she calls "Doctor Daddy".

Among the adversaries encountered during the serial are a hunchback, a faceless man known as Phantom Face, Carl "the Wolf" Canfield, Vera "the Snake" Collins, the Fox, and a strangler. The search for the treasure eventually leads to Florida, where Violet and her companions encounter an isolated civilization dominated by a three-eyed witch doctor and discover both the treasure and the identity of the Mystery Mind.

Cast

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J. Robert Pauline and Violet MacMillan in the serial

Production

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The Mystery Mind was conceived by Arthur B. Reeve and John W. Grey, respectively vice-president and president of Supreme Pictures, who wrote and personally supervised the production of the serial.[3] Grey described the production as the "first psychic serial", contrasting its emphasis on hypnotism and psychic phenomena with the scientific themes associated with Reeve's earlier serial The Exploits of Elaine.[1]

Professional hypnotist J. Robert Pauline was cast in the principal role. Reeve and Grey stated that they had selected Pauline for his suitability to the part rather than his acting experience, believing that his familiarity with hypnotism would lend authenticity to the psychic sequences.[4]

Contemporary sources differ in their directing credits. Copyright records credit Fred W. Sittenham and William S. Davis, while an October 1920 account of Pioneer's acquisition of the serial credited John W. Grey, Davis and Sittenham as directors.[2][5]

Sittenham also appeared in the production and performed several stunts. A contemporary report described him jumping from a window to a roof and then to the street for one scene, after a gardener hired for the sequence refused to make the jump.[6]

Reeve maintained close control over the editing. He told Moving Picture World that Supreme Pictures exposed approximately 500 feet of film to obtain 100 feet of finished footage and argued that the cutter needed detailed knowledge of the story to preserve its continuity.[7]

In March 1920, the company traveled to Jacksonville, Florida, for location filming.[8] After approximately two weeks of exterior work under Sittenham's direction, The Florida Metropolis reported on March 20 that the company was returning to New York, where production was to be completed.[9] Later that month, the New York office of the Frohman Amusement Corporation requested additional footage of a vessel at sea and other scenes needed to complete the serial. Jacksonville's Chamber of Commerce motion-picture service department sent motion-picture specialist George B. Massey and a photographer identified as Palmer of the Klutho Studios to Miami to obtain the footage.[10]

The production involved several hazardous stunts. Captain Charles N. Fitzgerald, a former Texas Ranger and aviator, was seriously injured while working before the camera. After falling about forty feet and breaking both feet, he refused medical attention and repeated the stunt, breaking his right leg in the second fall. The same contemporary account reported that another man had been killed during the production.[11]

Promotion and release

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Supreme Pictures began promoting The Mystery Mind while the serial was still in production. A full-page advertisement in the New York Dramatic Mirror on February 5, 1920, called it "The Aristocrat of Serials" and a "million dollar serial", warning exhibitors, "If you don't book it your competitor will".[12] Film historian Kalton C. Lahue later described the serial as having been preceded by a "barrage of syndicated publicity", including articles by Pauline about autosuggestion, hypnotism and psychic phenomena intended to generate interest in both the subject and Pauline.[13]

Supreme was also preparing the serial for state-rights distribution during this period. On March 27, 1920, Motion Picture News included The Mystery Mind, identifying Supreme Pictures as its producer, among the miscellaneous state-rights productions in its advance release listings. No release date was given.[14]

At the end of October 1920, the Pioneer Film Corporation acquired the United States and Canadian rights from Supreme Pictures. The agreement was concluded by M. H. Hoffman for Pioneer and George William Beynon for Supreme. Pioneer announced a "country-wide campaign of a broad nature" for the fifteen-chapter serial and appointed a special staff to handle its promotion.[5] In November, Moving Picture World reported that Pioneer had established a department devoted to serials and short subjects following its acquisition of three serials, including The Mystery Mind, which the magazine identified as a Supreme Pictures production.[15]

Despite the extensive publicity during 1920, contemporary notices continued to describe the serial as forthcoming in early 1921. On January 2, the New-York Tribune reported that Pioneer planned to release The Mystery Mind the following month.[16] Four days later, the Harrisburg Telegraph reported that Pioneer was arranging newspaper syndication of the story "in connection with its release".[17] On January 17, the Buffalo Enquirer, responding to a reader's question, stated that the serial "has not yet been released, but will be shortly", adding that it had already been extensively advertised by Pioneer.[18]

The serial nevertheless became available at different times in different territories under the state-rights system. By February 1921 it was playing in some American theaters; the Goldfield Theatre in Baltimore advertised the second chapter that month.[19] Other territories did not receive it until March. On January 22, Exhibitors Herald reported that Pioneer's Chicago exchange had acquired The Mystery Mind and would release the serial on March 15.[20] This is corroborated by an advertisement in the St. Louis Argus, which announced the first episode for March 15.[21] The surviving evidence therefore indicates a gradual territorial rollout, with the serial available in some markets by February and becoming more widely available through Pioneer's exchanges in March 1921.

Later film histories have nevertheless dated The Mystery Mind to 1920. Lahue's 1964 filmography gives September 6, 1920, as its release date, identifies it as a state-rights release, and lists Supreme Pictures and Pioneer Film Corporation in connection with its distribution.[22] That date conflicts with the contemporary chronology, including Pioneer's acquisition of the American and Canadian rights in late October 1920 and contemporary reports in January and February 1921 describing the serial as not yet released or forthcoming.[5][18][23]

Serialization and novelization

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Pioneer coordinated the film's release with publication of its story in newspapers. In January 1921, the company announced that arrangements were being made with a large newspaper syndicate to publish the story, with a book edition to follow from Grosset & Dunlap using illustrations taken from the serial.[17] Newspaper serialization was underway by March. The Evening News of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, advertised the story by Reeve and Grey for daily publication beginning March 21,[24] and The Brooklyn Daily Times announced that its first installment would appear on March 28.[25]

A book edition was issued by Grosset & Dunlap at approximately the same time as the theatrical rollout. A Publishers' Weekly advertisement listed The Mystery Mind, by Reeve and Grey, among the publisher's detective and mystery stories advertised as "New February 1, 1921".[26]

Episodes

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Contemporary copyright records identify The Mystery Mind as a fifteen-chapter serial:[2]

  1. The Hypnotic Clue
  2. The Fires of Fury
  3. The War of Wills
  4. The Fumes of Fear
  5. Thought Waves
  6. A Halo of Help
  7. The Nether World
  8. The Mystery Mind
  9. Dual Personality
  10. Hounds of Hate
  11. The Sleepwalker
  12. The Temple of the Occult
  13. The Binding Ray
  14. The Water Cure
  15. The Gold of the Gods

Several chapter titles had previously been used in Reeve's earlier occult serial The Mysteries of Myra (1916), including The Hypnotic Clue, The Fumes of Fear, The Nether World and The Mystery Mind.

Lahue lists an additional prologue, The Road to Yesterday, preceding the fifteen numbered chapters.[22] The Library of Congress copyright record, however, describes The Mystery Mind as a fifteen-chapter production beginning with The Hypnotic Clue and does not list a prologue.[2]

Preservation

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No surviving print of The Mystery Mind is known to have been located, and the serial is believed to be lost.[27]

References

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  1. 1 2 "Grey Tells of Making First Psychic Serial". Moving Picture World. February 21, 1920. p. 1251.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Motion Pictures, 1912–1939. Library of Congress. 1951. p. 574.
  3. ↑ "Arthur B. Reeve Takes Up Cudgels for Authors in Serial Production". Moving Picture World. February 14, 1920. p. 1055.
  4. ↑ "Pauline in "Mystery Mind" Makes Debut as an Actor". Moving Picture World. March 6, 1920. p. 1641.
  5. 1 2 3 "Pioneer Company Will Produce Daring Serial". Tacoma Daily Ledger. October 31, 1920. p. 52.
  6. ↑ "Director Doubles for "Stunt" Man". Moving Picture World. February 7, 1920. p. 148.
  7. ↑ ""Why Let Poor Cutting Ruin a Good Production?" Says Arthur B. Reeve". Moving Picture World. February 28, 1920. p. 1471.
  8. ↑ "In Personal Touch". Moving Picture World. March 13, 1920. p. 1766.
  9. ↑ "Supreme Players Leave for Gotham". The Florida Metropolis. March 20, 1920. p. 2.
  10. ↑ "Jax Helps Make Picture Needed to Finish Film". The Florida Metropolis. March 26, 1920. p. 17.
  11. ↑ "Capt. Fitzgerald and His Death-Defying Feats Will Be Seen at the Fairs This Summer". The Billboard. May 1, 1920. p. 63.
  12. ↑ "The Mystery Mind advertisement". New York Dramatic Mirror. February 5, 1920. p. 28.
  13. ↑ Lahue, Kalton C. (1964). Continued Next Week: A History of the Moving Picture Serial. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 87.
  14. ↑ "Advance Information on All Film Releases". Motion Picture News. March 27, 1920. p. 2997.
  15. ↑ "The Eternal Mother to Be Distributed As a "Pioneer Master Special" Picture". Moving Picture World. November 6, 1920. p. 97.
  16. ↑ "New Pioneer Pictures". New-York Tribune. January 2, 1921. p. 42.
  17. 1 2 "[Pioneer Film Corporation publicity notice]". Harrisburg Telegraph. January 6, 1921. p. 14.
  18. 1 2 "Questions and Answers". Buffalo Enquirer. January 17, 1921. p. 6.
  19. ↑ "Goldfield Theatre advertisement". The Afro-American. February 18, 1921. p. 8.
  20. ↑ "Sign Fay Tincher to Appear in Theatres". Exhibitors Herald. January 22, 1921. p. 66.
  21. ↑ "The Mystery Mind advertisement". St. Louis Argus. March 11, 1921. p. 4.
  22. 1 2 Lahue, Kalton C. (1964). Continued Next Week: A History of the Moving Picture Serial. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 208.
  23. ↑ "[Pioneer Film Corporation serial announcement]". The Brooklyn Daily Times. February 2, 1921. p. 6.
  24. ↑ "The Mystery Mind advertisement". The Evening News. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. March 17, 1921. p. 10.
  25. ↑ "The Mystery Mind advertisement". The Brooklyn Daily Times. March 22, 1921. p. 6.
  26. ↑ "Detective and Mystery Stories—New February 1, 1921". Publishers' Weekly. February 12, 1921. p. 477.
  27. ↑ "Progressive Silent Film List: The Mystery Mind". Silent Era. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
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