The Eagle's Eye is a 1918 American serial film consisting of 20 episodes that dramatizes German espionage in the United States during World War I. The stories are based on the experiences of William J. Flynn during his career as chief of the United States Secret Service from 1912 to 1917.
It features King Baggot as the president of the Criminology Club and Marguerite Snow as a Secret Service agent who investigate spies. Among the events depicted are the sending of the Zimmermann Telegram, Franz von Rintelen's attempts to sabotage cargo loading in San Francisco Harbor, and the capture of the German espionage plans. It was directed by George Lessey, Wellington A. Playter, Leopold Wharton, and Theodore Wharton, and produced by the Whartons Studio. The serial is now considered lost. Because this serial was a commercial failure, it was the last one made by Whartons due to the studio being forced to declare bankruptcy.
Contents
Background
After Flynn's retirement from the Secret Service his work investigating sabotage during the war were interwoven with fictitious characters and events by Courtney Ryley Cooper into a 20-part spy thriller. These were also published as weekly installments in The Atlanta Constitution's magazine section during 1918 under the title The Eagle's Eye: A True Story of the Imperial German Government's Spies and Intrigues in America. Fifteen of the episodes were republished as chapters in a book the following year.
Cast
King Baggot as Harrison Grant
Marguerite Snow as Dixie Mason
William Bailey as Heinrich von Lertz
Florence Short as Madame Augusta Stephan
Bertram Marburgh as Count Johann von Bernstorff
Paul Everton as Captain Franz von Papen
John P. Wade as Captain Karl Boy-Ed
Fred C. Jones as Dr. Heinrich Albert
Wellington A. Playter as Franz von Rintelen
Louise Hotaling
Louis C. Bement as Uncle Sam
Allan Murnane
F.W. Stewart
Robin H. Townley
Bessie Wharton as Mrs. Blank
Chapter titles
Hidden Death
The Naval Ball Conspiracy
The Plot Against the Fleet
Von Rintelen, the Destroyer
The Strike Breeders
The Plot Against Organized Labor
Brown Port Folio
The Kaiser's Death Messenger
The Munitions Campaign
The Invasion of Canada
The Burning of Hopewell
The Canal Conspirators
The Reign of Terror
The Infantile Paralysis Epidemic
The Campaign Against Cotton
The Raid of the U-53
Germany's U-Base in America
The Great Hindu Conspiracy
The Menace of the I.W.W.
The Great Decision