''The Purple Cipher'' is a 1920 American silent

mystery film A mystery film is a film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, ...

directed by

Chester Bennett Chester Bennett (1892 - 1943) was an American silent film director. He was executed by the Japanese during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, Occupation of Hong Kong in 1943. Filmography * ''When a Man Loves (1919 film), When a Man Loves'' ( ...

and starring

Earle Williams Earle Williams (born Earle Raphael Williams; February 28, 1880 – April 25, 1927) was an American stage actor and film star in the silent era."EARLE WILLIAMS EXPIRES: Bronchial Pneumonia Ends Brilliant Career of Pioneer Filmland Favorite", ''L ...

Vola Vale Vola Vale (born Vola Smith; February 12, 1897 – October 17, 1970) was a silent film actress. Early career Vale was born in Buffalo, New York and educated in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Her high school friends in Rochester, New York, where she wa ...

and

Ernest Shields Ernest Shields (August 5, 1884 – December 13, 1944) was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 110 films between 1914 and 1944. He was born in Chicago, Illinois and died in Los Angeles, California. Selected filmogr ...

. Shot by

Vitagraph Vitagraph Studios, also known as the Vitagraph Company of America, was a United States motion picture studio. It was founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York, as the American Vitagraph Company. By 1907 ...

at the company's

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

studios, it was based on the short story ''The Purple Hieroglyph'' by

Murray Leinster Murray Leinster () was a pen name of William Fitzgerald Jenkins (June 16, 1896 – June 8, 1975), an American writer of genre fiction, particularly of List of science fiction authors, science fiction. He wrote and published more than 1,500 ...

.Stallings & Jo-an J. Evans p.41 The story was adapted twice more in the

sound era A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed befo ...

as '' Murder Will Out'' (1930) and '' Torchy Blane in Chinatown '' (1939).

Plot

Cast

as Leonard Staunton *

as Jeanne Baldwin *

as Jack Baldwin *

Allan Forrest Allan Forrest Fisher (September 1, 1885 – July 25, 1941) was an American silent film actor. Life and career Allan Forrest Fisher starred in 119 films, mostly silent, between 1913 and 1932. He appeared in films such as '' The Torch Bearer'', ...

as Alan Fitzhugh * Henry A. Barrows as Frank Condon *

Goro Kino Goro Kino (sometimes credited as Gordo Keeno) was a Japanese actor who worked in Hollywood during the silent era. Like many of his Japanese contemporaries, in Hollywood, he was often cast as a villain. Biography According to contemporaneous repor ...

as Hop Lee * Frank M. Seki as Wong Foo

References

Bibliography

* Billee J. Stallings & Jo-an J. Evans. ''Murray Leinster: The Life and Works''. McFarland, 2011.

External links

* 1920 films 1920 mystery films American silent feature films English-language mystery films American black-and-white films Films directed by Chester Bennett Vitagraph Studios films 1920s English-language films 1920s American films Silent American mystery films {{1920s-US-film-stub