What Happened to Mary

What Happened to Mary (sometimes erroneously referred to as What Happened to Mary?) is the first serial film made in the United States. Produced by Edison Studios, with screenplays by Horace G. Plympton, and directed by Charles Brabin, the action films starred Mary Fuller.

Twelve one-reel episodes were released monthly beginning July 1912, coinciding with the literary serial of the same name published in McClure's The Ladies' World magazine. In addition to the motion pictures and regular magazine installments, What Happened to Mary was also adapted as a stage play, followed by a novelization, making it an early precursor of the multimedia franchise.

Episode Titles (q.v.): #1: The Escape from Bondage; #2: Alone in New York; #3: Mary in Stage Land; #4: The Affair at Raynor's; #5: A Letter to the Princess; #6: A Clue to Her Parentage; #7: False to Their Trust; #8: A Will and a Way; #9: A Way to the Underworld; #10: The High Tide of Misfortune; #11: A Race to New York; #12: Fortune Smiles.