JUDEX (1916) B/W "silent" serial in 12 episodes; total running time: 5h 15m; dir: Louis Feuillade

w/René Cresté, Musidora, Yvette Andreyor, Louis Leubas, Marcel Lévesque, Edouard Mathé

A French "silent" serial, consisting of a prologue followed by 11 episodes:

• 1. L'Ombre Mystérieuse
• 2. L'expiation
• 3. La meute fantastique
• 4. Le secret de la tombe
• 5. Le moulin tragique
• 6. Le mome Reglisse
• 7. La femme en noir
• 8. Les souterrains du chateau rouge
• 9. Lorsque l'enfant parut
• 10. Le coeur de Jacqueline
• 11. L'Ondine
• 12. Le pardon d'amour

From Georges Sadoul's Dictionary of Films: "Judex (Cresté) destroys the evil banker, Favreau (Leubas), falls in love with his daughter (Andreyor), and battles with a crook, Diane Monti (Musidora), and her cohorts.

"Feuillade's preceding film series, Les Vampires, had been extremely successful, but Minister of the Interior Malvy had complained about the criminal character of the film, which he felt was 'demoralizing' while the country was at war. Judex is not a criminal but a kind of Robin Hood character, a righter-of-wrongs. He is played by René Cresté in a black cloak, a wide-brimmed black hat, and a fatalistic air. Though it doesn't match Les Vampires ... or Fantomas ..., this is a remarkable film, especially for its inventiveness, its acting, its sense of landscape and environment, and its blend of fantasy and realism."