The Adventures of Kathlyn

The Adventures of Kathlyn 1913 is an American motion picture serial released on December 29, 1913 by the Selig Polyscope Company. An adventure serial filmed in Chicago, Illinois, its thirteen episodes were directed by Francis J. Grandon from a story by Harold MacGrath and Gilson Willets and starred Kathlyn Williams as the heroine. Harold MacGraths novel of the same title was released a few days later in January 1914 so as to be in book stores at the same time as the serial was playing in theatres.

The serial came about due to a newspaper circulation war in Chicago that forced the Chicago Tribune to use more sensationalism. William Selig, noting the popularity of serial fiction in newspapers and magazines, took the idea of a film serial to the newspaper. Despite the Tribune being in favour of abolishing nickelodeons onlyyears previously, Tribune editor James Keeley agreed and the serial was released as a promotional project. The chapters of the film were released biweekly and the story was also printed as a newspaper serial in the Tribune and other newspapers including the Los Angeles Times. Although the first American film serial was What Happened to Mary, The Adventures of Kathlyn is a more important piece of film history, being the first serial to use cliffhangers as the ending of its chapters, and so became the first recognizable film serial. Frank Leon Smith, in a letter to Films in Review February 1958, wrote that the cliffhanger ending of chapter one was a situation ending, but other episodes wound up with sensational action or stunts, broken for holdover suspense...gave the serial both the key to its success and the assurance of its doom. ........

Source: Wikipedia