The Exploits of Elaine (acquired through trading). [Category: Early Film & TV]

This early serial is pretty hard to follow, since it's missing several chapters and though it's a U.S. production, some of the chapters are in French. The French chapters have lousy film quality to boot. It's about pretty Elaine Dodge and her attempts to track down her father's killer, mysterious supervillian The Clutching Hand. Helping her is Craig Dodge who appears to be a combination detective, newspaper reporter, and scientist (though I could be wrong about this––it’s kind of hard to tell). It is full of all the action and intrigue you'd expect in a serial, and one episode even includes a death ray. Still, I'm not much of a fan of the form, as you've probably guessed by now. A 1914 Pathe serial.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: **.