Moving Picture Weekly (1916)

THE MOVING PICTURE WEEKLY -15 Advance Impressions of "The Voice on the Wire" 0~~| OT since the publication of "The Murders of the Rue Morgue" has there been a series of crimes forming a mystery so baffling I as that which forms the central theme of the new Universal serial, "The Voice on the Murderers, both in fact and in fiction, have before now succeeded in committing their Crimea without leaving a trace for the authorities of justice to work upon. But in this serial photoplay, which is a screen adaptation by J. Grubb Alexander, of the novel of the same name by Eustace Hale Ball, a clue is left each time that a victim is sent to his doom, :i triple clue, which never varies, but which serves only still further to complicate the impenetrable mystery surrounding the fate of each victim. In the first place, there is the voice mi the wire, from which the takes its name, and which I* heard each tragedy, sometimes by the victim himself, sometime! by the investigator) John Shirley, who is trying to solve the problems, sometime* by the dead man's nearest reli Before each of the murders, a warning comes over the telephone, but when the call Is Investigated by the telephone company, it always from BJD unidentified source, from a disconnected wire, or from premise which are known U) have been destroyed by tire. Sometimes central denies that the number ha* been called at all. The second clue Is the appearance in the vicinitv of the deed or a men acing shrouded figure, never clearly seen, but always lurking, a shadow among shadows, near the scene of the crime. In each episode we think that we have identitied the figure, only to find that our identification is a mistake. When the first episodes were run, one after the other, in the Universal projection room, every member of the company had a different explanation to offer of this mysterious figure, and every one of the explanations proved to be wrong. But the greatest novelty of all, is the manner in which the murder is committed. The third clue in each case is the mark of a human thumb over the heart of the victim, sometimes on the bale flesh) sometimes ground deeply into the clothing. John Shirley, the criminologist (played bj Ben Wilson), and bis advisor, Doctor Renolds (played by Joseph Girard), identify this as the Japanese death punch, the "Sen Si Yao," a dovelop ■ ,t of jiu-jitsu( or Japanese wrestling in it verj highest form, a pi -ure strong enough to stop the action Of the hear:, applied by the thumb upon tl II in which it will be ■ dent of jlU-jitsu learn the "Sell Si Yao." for not e\et\ student gains the exact knowledge of enatomj i to find and identify the small area in which the pressure of the thumb will be fatal, < . real expei i< rice in order to find the right -pot unerringly, for a fraction of an inch to the ritfht or to the left, too high or too low, W'll render the i ineffective, and the attack must be without warning in order to give the victim no chance to shift his position and avoid the contact at the fatal point. A moment's pressure induces temporary suspension of the action of the heart, but if it is continued for the requisite number of seconds, the heart action is paralyzed, and death results — a death which, to all but the initiated, leaves no trace of the manner in which it was inflicted. In this unique manner, and surrounded by the baffling circumstance* of the disconnected wire and the muffled figure, and traced each time to the operation of the "Sen Si Y'ao." three men have already met their death, each time in the company of the same chorus girl (played by Neva Gerber), before Captain (ronin, head tin1 detective bureau (played by Howard Crampton) decides that he require* the assistance of some one with more scientific knowledge, and more Imagination than the ordinary official of the machinery of justice ■ B. John Shirley, I student of criminology, is asked to investigate the mystery, and he enlists the co operation of his friend, the scienti.-t Doctor Renolda, All their knowledge, their science, and their precaution* are in vain, however. The mockine. voice warns Shirley each time, y the name of the victim and the hour of the crime, and Shirley, though be tak. ordinary pain to protect the threatened man. I* circumvented in every case by the c\ il force which supernatural in it* powi