Line #28 Film/TheMasterMystery

Context Film / TheMasterMystery

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1	This American movie serial from January 1919 starred Creator/HarryHoudini in his first major screen role. He played Quentin Locke, who worked for a patent company while secretly investigating it for the government. The company bought up inventions and refused to market them. Brent, the president of the company, has started to repent, but Balcom, the vice-president, vies for control of the company.
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3	After a mysterious threat, Brent is poisoned by gas that induces madness, and the company is menaced by an automaton with a human brain inside, created by the mysterious "Q". Much of it is an excuse for the hero to get captured and escape a lot, showcasing Houdini's talents.
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5	The existing parts of the serial were released on DVD in 2008 by Kino Video, along with all of Houdini's other existing films.
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7	!!This serial has examples of:
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9	%%* CliffHanger
10	%%* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Balcom
11	%%* HeelFaceTurn: Zita
12	%%* JamesBondage
13	%%* KillerRobot [[spoiler:(that turns out to be PoweredArmor)]]
14	* LukeIAmYourFather: Q, of both Zita and Locke.
15	* MadScientist: Q, though he became a scientist before he was driven mad by the loss of his family. Also subverted in that his Automaton doesn't actually work.
16	* MeaningfulName: Houdini's character is named ''Locke''.
17	%%* MysteriousBenefactor
18	%%* MysteriousParent
19	%%* NonActorVehicle
20	* NotUsingTheZedWord: Sort of -- the Automaton was called that because this serial appeared ''before the invention of the word "robot"'' in 1921.
21	* {{Novelization}}: So old it's in the public domain, so you can [[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16168/16168-h/16168-h.htm get it at Project Gutenberg]].
22	%%* PublicDomainCharacter: All of 'em.
23	* SecretIdentity: Balcom in the automaton.
24	* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: Houdini was constantly put into situations which required escape artist skills to survive.
25	%%* YellowPeril: Long Fang
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Context Film / TheMasterMystery