Hands Up
Film poster
Directed byLouis J. Gasnier
James W. Horne
Written byJack Cunningham
Story byGilson Willets
StarringRuth Roland
George Larkin
Distributed byPathé Exchange
Astra Film Company
Release date
  • August 18, 1918 (1918-08-18)
Running time
15 episodes
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent (English intertitles)

Hands Up is a lost 1918 American adventure film serial directed by Louis J. Gasnier and James W. Horne. The serial was Ruth Roland's breakthrough role.[1]

Plot

Movie still of Ruth Roland holding an axe

A newspaperwoman finds trouble aplenty when an Inca tribe believes her to be the reincarnation of their long-lost princess.

Cast

Lobby card for episode 1-"The Bride of the Sun"

Chapter titles

The serial consisted of fifteen episodes, released from August 18 to November 24, 1918:

  1. Bride of the Sun
  2. The Missing Prince
  3. The Phantom and the Girl
  4. The Phantom's Trail
  5. The Runaway Bride
  6. Flames of Vengeance
  7. Tossed Into the Torrent
  8. The Fatal Jewels
  9. A Leap Through Space
  10. The Sun Message
  11. Stranger from the Sea
  12. The Silver Book
  13. The Last Warning
  14. The Oracle's Decree
  15. The Celestial Messenger

Censorship

Like many American films of the time, the film serial Hands Up was subject to restrictions and cuts by city and state film censorship boards. The Chicago Board of Censors required a cut in Chapter 1, Reel 3, of the slugging of a man;[2] in Chapter 2, Reel 4, slugging man; in Chapter 3, Reel 1, Indian slugging man, masked man shooting Indian at barred window, Reel 2, shooting scene in which man falls, taking belt from ground, near view of man aiming gun at horseman and his falling off horse;[3] Chapter 5, Reel 1, the two intertitles "I won her fair. She belongs to me now" and "She's mine again", the stabbing of the man, two scenes of Indian bending young woman back on table, Reel 2, slugging the engineer;[4] Chapter 6, Reel 1, binding an Indian woman to telegraph pole and the young woman sitting on a bar;[5] Chapter 8, Reel 1, slugging the man in the cabin, Reel 2, stabbing the man, binding the young woman, two scenes of tying the woman to the horse, and two scenes of dragging the woman;[6] Chapter 9, Reel 1, first hula dance scene, young woman sitting at bar, young woman at table with arm around Mexican man's neck, four saloon fight scenes, Reel 2, first and third scene of man choking woman in bedroom; Chapter 11, Reel 1, the shooting of the old man and, Reel 2, binding of the young woman and old man; Chapter 12, Reel 2, two scenes of shooting and men falling;[7] Chapter 13, Reel 1, the slugging of the guard at the door, and, Reel 2, the slugging of the man on the coach; and, Chapter 14, Reel 2, the shooting by Killman, the shooting of Killman, and the closeup of a choking scene.[8]

References

  1. ^ Stedman, Raymond William (1971). "2. The Perils of Success". Serials: Suspense and Drama By Installment. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-8061-0927-5.
  2. ^ "Official Cut-Outs by the Chicago Board of Censors". Exhibitors Herald. 7 (10). New York City: Exhibitors Herald Company: 36. August 31, 1918. (cut in Chapter 1)
  3. ^ "Official Cut-Outs by the Chicago Board of Censors". Exhibitors Herald. 7 (11): 44. September 14, 1918. (cuts in Chapters 2 and 3)
  4. ^ "Official Cut-Outs by the Chicago Board of Censors". Exhibitors Herald. 7 (18): 43. October 26, 1918. (cuts in Chapter 5)
  5. ^ "Official Cut-Outs by the Chicago Board of Censors". Exhibitors Herald. 7 (16): 48. October 12, 1918. (cuts in Chapter 6)
  6. ^ "Official Cut-Outs by the Chicago Board of Censors". Exhibitors Herald. 7 (22): 28. November 23, 1918. (cuts in Chapter 8)
  7. ^ "Official Cut-Outs by the Chicago Board of Censors". Exhibitors Herald. 7 (23): 26. November 30, 1918. (cuts in Chapters 9, 11, and 12)
  8. ^ "Official Cut-Outs by the Chicago Board of Censors". Exhibitors Herald. 7 (24): 42. December 7, 1918. (cuts in Chapters 13 and 14)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hands Up! (serial).
Pathé Exchange serials
Films directed by Louis J. Gasnier
Films directed by James W. Horne
Categories