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Smashing Barriers
(1919) United States of America
B&W : Serial / 15 chapters
Directed by William Duncan
Cast: William Duncan [Dick Daring], Edith Johnson [Bella Manners], Joe Ryan [‘Bullhead’ Bulger], Walter Rodgers [Wiggins], Vincent Howard (Vincente Howard) [‘Squinty’ Mullan], Slim Cole [‘Long’ Tom Brown], Pietro Sosso [Henry Manners], Fred Darnton [?] [Benjamin Cole]?, William McCall [?] [Henry Marlin]?, George Stanley, Dorothea Wolbert
The Vitagraph Company of America production; distributed by [?] V-L-S-E, Incorporated, or The Vitagraph Company of America? / Scenario by Graham Baker (C. Graham Baker) and R. Cecil Smith, from a screen story by Albert E. Smith and Cyrus Townsend Brady. Presented by Albert E. Smith. / 15 chapters: [1] “Test of Courage,” released 1 September 1919; [2] “The Plunge of Death,” released 8 September 1919; [3] “The Tree Hut of Torture,” released 15 September 1919; [4] “The Deed of a Devil,” released 22 September 1919; [5] “The Living Grave,” released 29 September 1919; [6] “Downward to Doom,” released 6 October 1919; [7] “The Fatal Plight,” released 13 October 1919; [8] “The Murder Car,” released 20 October 1919; [9] “The Dynamite Tree,” released 27 October 1919; [10] “Overpowered,” released 3 November 1919; [11] “The Den of Deviltry,” released 10 November 1919; [12] “Explosive Bullets,” released 17 November 1919; [13] “The Deadfall,” released 24 November 1919; [14] “Trapped Like Rats,” released 1 December 1919; and [15] [?] “The Human Chain” and/or “The Final Barrier”?, released 8 December 1919. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / The serial was edited down to six reels and released in the USA as a feature film by [?] The Vitagraph Company of America? in September 1923; some or all character names were changed in this version: Dick Daring > Dan Stevens, Bella Manners > Helen Cole, ‘Bullhead’ Bulger > ‘Wirenail’ Hedges, Wiggins > ‘Slicker’ Williams, with George Stanley’s unknown original character name changed to John Stevens.
Drama.
Survival status: The film is presumed lost : the 1932 one-reel abridgment version exists.
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Keywords: Serials
Listing updated: 26 January 2025.
References: Film credits : Lahue-Continued pp. 199, 288 : ClasIm-224 pp. 54, 55; The Minneapolis Journal, 5 October 1919, p. ? : Website-IMDb; Website-SerSq : with additional information provded by Clark Holloway.
Home video: Blu-ray Disc, DVD.
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