#The Perils of Pauline

[citizenscreen]

April 4, 1914: The popular serial THE PERILS OF PAULINE was shown for the first time in Los Angeles. #OnThisDay

[abuddyforeveryseason]

More manipulated images! With this one, I managed to do what I wanted last time, with Little Red and the B. B. Wolf. I used this french poster as base:

I've got a reproduction hanging in my apartment.

With Microsoft Photo Editor, I removed the blue background. I could've removed the green border too, but I was lazy, and it's pretty much a solid color, I could've changed it manually if I felt like it. (I'm only realizing that now, though).

On FireAlpaca, I separated the image into the blue part and the rest with two layers. I applied the Ben-Day process I figured out on the blue layer, and changed the rest of the image to a red tint. Then I converted the red tinted version to a two-color vector on Inkscape (the colors being pink and brown).

I repeated the process for the red tinted layer, separating it into two layers, then applying the Ben-Day process on both, one being black over a red background (dark red) and the other being red over a white background (light red).

I'm pretty pleased with the result, the other versions of the image I tried to modify, a long honking time ago, don't look nearly as good, see:

Lame!

As for the movie itself - or rather, the serial: It's an adaptation of three American serials (made by a French studio, however), starring Pearl White. You know, she was the inspiration for the Penelope Pitstop cartoons, always getting tied up and chained to a railway by bad guys. In the movies, however, she often got out of those traps without help.

The dude in the poster is the villain from one of those serials, Exploits of Elaine. His name is "The Clutching Hand", and he's one of the first movie supervillains - although Fantômas came first. He's also the first hidden villain, which is why he's got the bandana covering his face. Filmgoers had to go see every episode of the serial to narrow down his secret identity. It was kind of like a superhero franchise, you gotta watch them all.

See, he's got a mask under his mask.

Of course, one of Pearl White's movies, The Perils of Pauline, was produced by William Randolph Hearst, a real-life supervillain, so, let's not give the era that much credit.

[oldshowbiz]

The Perils of Pauline (1967)

[blistering-typhoons]

wonder how it feels being the most beautiful woman ever

[templeofgloom]

so if you were to cast any actresses as fem! Indy and fem!Belloq, who would it be?

TBH I think about Lucy Lawless a lot when writing fem!Indy. She has a similar body type (useful muscle, does action)

(Also gay. This series was very important to me as a kid)

For fem!Renee tbh Pearl White? I love her work in The perils of Pauline and she's so cute <3 For GB Renee give her a slicked back hairstyle and she'd be good. (Pauline was important in the development of the adventure genre so she fits <3 She is really one of the progenitors of Indiana Jones)

I don't know many current actors really sorry. TBH if something like that happened I think some unknowns would be the best call.

[renewablesystems]

The Perils of Pauline (1947)

[sohannabarberaesque]

Headcannon, Penelope Pitstop

So imagine our glamour gal, formerly driver of the Wacky Races' #5 Compact Pussycat, standing on the railing of the US 9 bridge over the Ausable River in upstate New York near the legendary Ausable Chasm, looking down upon Perils of Pauline Gorge (as made famous by a potboiler-type scene from the storied silent-era film serial The Perils of Pauline as was filmed there) ... and throwing a modest floral tribute into the Ausable with the notation "To Pauline--whoever you are!"

[rmsqueenmaryonthisday]

Pearl White, Passenger

From the Palm Beach Post on this day in 1937: IN LIGHTER VEIN New York World-Telegram: When the Great Garbo comes back to look us over 20 or 30 years from now, doubtless it will be an event, but we feel quite sure it won’t be so stirring as the return of Pearl White on the Queen Mary the other day. For when Pearl White was giving us her “Perils of Pauline” in the ancient, silent flickers, and…

[pardonmybunion]

So this @laurenillustrated artwork and all the vintage-dream-casting at @hotvintagepoll got me thinking: if Scooby Doo were a thing in the 1890s, then a few years later it would be a NATURAL for silent Hollywood. So who do we cast in Hal Roach’s hit 1915-1919 series of Scooby Doo live-action comedy shorts?

Shaggy and Scoob are both easy, because look, here’s Charley Bowers! He always plays chaotic pottering-around-with-machinery types, which is exactly the vibe that 1890s Shaggy gives, and he does so with a surrealist slapstick edge that’s perfect for the material. On top of that, Bowers is a pioneering stop-motion special effects artist—so he can also be our lead animator, and the rapport between live-action Shaggy and his animated Scooby will be delightful.

Like Shaggy, Velma has to have a certain slapstick quality (“Where are my glasses? I can’t see without my glasses”), so it’s lucky we have Alice Howell—nicknamed “the female Charlie Chaplin” by the tiresome people who use that type of comparison. The point is, she can give Velma the bookish self-possession suggested in the 1890s look, AND also run through a gajillion doors in a wacky hallway chase culminating in a spectacular pratfall.

(Mabel Normand is another contender, but her acting style seems a couple notches too naturalistic for Scooby Doo. I definitely see her directing a bunch of the shorts though.)

Fred needs to be both a conventionally hot manly-hero type and a bit of an idiot, so hello Reginald Denny! This British actor emigrated to Hollywood in the early 1910s, became a comedy star, and played himbos so well that he was still playing them into the 1960s. He’s even in the Adam West Batman movie as the naval hero Commodore Schmidlapp, who’s so ditzy he doesn’t realize he’s been kidnapped by the Penguin.

Daphne is a fun one—let’s assume that by this point, Pearl White is tired of all those straight-up action serials like The Perils of Pauline, and wants to do a spoof for a change. With silent comedy shorts there’s always a chance the plot will wander away and leave the individual gags running the store, and White brings enough tension and gravitas to prevent that situation and keep things moving. At the same time, since she favors action roles, she can easily match the dynamism of Bowers, Howell, and Denny.

And that’s to say nothing of all the silent actors who could appear in bit parts on their way to fame. Maybe the gang tears the mask off the ghost, and discovers it’s an early-career Buster Keaton?

[cinemaastimegoesby]

In 1963 photographer Bert Stern photographed some of the top actors/actresses at the height of their fame playing their dream roles for a photo series in LIFE magazine's December 20, 1963 issue.

Cary Grant as Charlie Chaplin's Tramp / Audrey Hepburn as Pearl White in 'Perils of Pauline' / Tony Curtis & Natalie Wood as Rudolph Valentino and Vilma Bánky in 'The Sheik' / Paul Newman as a Douglas Fairbanks Sr. swashbuckler / Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin as Judah Ben-Hur and Messala from 'Ben-Hur' / Bing Crosby & Bob Hope as 1930s gangsters / Jack Lemmon as a war pilot / Shirley MacLaine as one of Busby Berkeley's showgirls / Rock Hudson as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

[pulpsandcomics2]

Perils of Prehistoric Pauline

[dangermousie]

I feel like I've fallen through to a 1990s Cinemax late night movie (those of us of certain age used to call it Skinemax.)

This is a minidrama so it doesn't have many mins per ep but it spends a significant chunk of its first ep running time on ML slomo pouring booze on his naked chest, demonstrating it knows what's important in life.

Heroine, I know you don't want to be forced into sex in a brothel by a dude marrying another woman (the amount of STDs from that bed alone!) but well...at this particular red flag is hotter than August in the Sahara and minidramas' main theme seems to be "abandon morals for horniness" so I am enjoying your perils of Pauline moment a LOT.

Look at the manly tear sliding down the perfect manly face. Not the secretions that are supposed to be involved in this scene!

This man has a choking kink the size of Brazil.

No bodice left unripped should the tagline of this drama!

I know this is supposed to come across as angsty jealousy but all I can think of is asking a woman to recount sex with another man as you bang her is...well, suffice it to say I never thought I'd see cuckold fetish in a cdrama!

Excuse MEEEEE

He bit her lip holy god!

And then she stabs him and peaces out...

[tomorrowusa]

« Fact-checking and verification is a critical due diligence process that responsible journalists and newsrooms go through each time we publish stories to protect the welfare of audiences. 

This methodology ensures that citizens are equipped with accurate information they need to live their lives better and make informed decisions. 

Allowing manipulative and harmful content to flourish and gain eyeballs in platforms under the guise of “free speech” is opportunistic and puts people’s health, well-being, and safety at risk. 

[ ... ]

What has happened in the US is just the beginning. It is an ominous sign of more perilous times in the fight to preserve and protect our individual agency and shared reality. »

— An editorial comment at Rappler, a reality-based news source founded by Nobel laureate Maria Ressa, on multibillionare Mark Zuckerberg's decision to end fact checking at Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and other Meta platforms.

After Chay Hofileña read Rappler's statement, Ms. Ressa held a conversation with Rappler researcher Pauline Macaraeg to discuss Zuck's media surrender to Trump and to emphasize the importance of reality in information and journalism.

Maria Ressa won the Nobel Peace Prize for standing up to Philippines authoritarian President Rodrigo Duterte who is famous for operating death squads. Her wisdom and courage would serve us well in these times.

Meta is going the way of Twitter/X. Everybody who favors democracy and reality-based information needs to leave Meta platforms ASAP.

In case anybody needs a reminder, these are Meta platforms...

Facebook

Instagram

Messenger

Threads

WhatsApp

Meta Quest

Horizon Worlds

Ray-Ban Meta

Mapillary

Workplace

They can no longer be trusted for factual reality. Leave now before getting Zucked over.

[gatutor]

Pearl White-Crane Wilbur "The perils of Pauline" 1914, de Louis J. Gasnier, Donald MacKenzie.

[bluestrawberrybunny]

Garth from @ask-marios-apprentice asks

I don't think we have the same idea to what we are talking about.

I'm taking Mario's mantel of SUPER. Like the protector of the Mushroom Kingdom.

Mario is not the avatar of this world. I don't think our world works that way. Mario is going to die eventually from old age or something. And the universe certainly didn't begin with him.

The world didn't begin when the stork delivered him.

I think I'm just going to talk to SMG4 and SMG3 about the romance stuff though. Looks like I'm going to have to put my verbal abilities to use.

Also what's your Mario like even.

It looks like he's hanging out with some television headed guy. I've never seen that person before.

Let's see if our Mario's matchup

Mario was delivered with his brother by the stork on March 11th 1962.

His parents are Alejandro Alexander "JumpMan" Jupmin and Polly Anna "Pauline" Brickle.

He was delivered in the Mushroom Kingdom. But moved to New York to live closer to his dad's family. And to avoid perilous situations like the invasion of the Shroobs.

He graduated from the his University of plumbing in 1983. And was able to pay tuition with the contract they made with Kopai to make those Donkey Kong and Mario Bros arcade machines

In 1984. He and Luigi got warped to the Mushroom Kingdom by getting flushed down a tub drain.

He saved Princess Peach from Bowser.

Merida relinquished the title of SUPER to Mario for his heroic deed.

Then after Miyamoto flushed himself down the toilet to follow him and Luigi. Then they decided to make Super Mario Brothers for the Kopai Entertainment System.

Then a bunch of stuff happens.

In 2007. After the Peace treaty with Bowsers Kingdom. Mario and Peach get married.

In 2009. They adopt an inkling named Meggy after she escaped from a facility under Port Aurora.

They also meet SMG4 after he takes a USB looking spaceship from Australia to the Mushroom Kingdom.

The electro magnet scrambles everyone's minds for a while. Then the first war of the fats Italians happen so everyone turns back to normal.

Then in 2016 Mario meets me (I brought this up already)

Then in 2018 we had the whole Warp Point fiasco where Earth found out about the Mushroom Kingdom the rest of panko. Mario pretended to brake his leg so I can prove myself that I was capable to my mother. But then he broke his leg for real after he was eaten by Pipe Lion.

How much of this matches up with your Mario.

SMG4: Um... not a lot, from what I know?

SMG4: Mario is still dumber than a box of rocks. And he definitely wasn't delivered around that time. If I renember right... Mario was delivered more-so around 1998? Cuz he's 26 here. We don't know too much about his childhood though, either. He and Luigi don't talk about it much.

SMG4: He and Princess Peach had dated for a bit, but broke up. Meggy is actually closer to our age. She's just 3 years younger than me and 5 years younger than Mario and Luigi.

SMG4: He's definitely... something... he and Mr. Puzzles have been together for awhile now and they did get married recently too. They definitely have a lot of differences by the look of it too...

SMG3: Why Australia??

SMG4: Hm?

SMG3: Why did you come from Australia??

SMG4: I don't know man. Ask that other me.

[templeofgloom]

The original (1914)Perils of Pauline is great tbh and Pauline there has way more agency than you might expect. That Genre of 'women doing stuff' is often framed, unfairly so in lot of cases, as 'damsel in distress' genre with the idea of women being tied to train tracks dominating that discussion. But what I have seen of things like Perils of Pauline or like Hazards of Helen that is really unfair. That is not to say some of these serials had misogynistic narratives but there are lot of interesting female characters with agency to be found there