The House Without a Key (serial)

{{Short description|1926 film}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2018}} {{Infobox film | name = The House Without a Key | image = The House Without a Key (1926) - 1.jpg | caption = Advertisement | director = [[Spencer Gordon Bennet]] | producer = | writer = Frank Leon Smith | based_on = {{basedon|''[[The House Without a Key]]''|[[Earl Derr Biggers]]}} | starring = [[Allene Ray]]<br>[[Walter Miller (actor)|Walter Miller]] | cinematography = | editing = | distributor = [[Pathé|Pathé Exchange]] | released = {{film date|1926|11|21}} | runtime = 10 episodes | country = United States | language = [[Silent film|Silent]] (English [[intertitle]]s) }}

'''''The House Without a Key''''' is a 1926 American [[mystery film|mystery]] [[serial film]] directed by [[Spencer Gordon Bennet]]. It is based on the 1925 [[The House Without a Key|novel of the same name]] and is the first onscreen appearance of the fictional detective [[Charlie Chan]], although the main stars are [[Allene Ray]] and [[Walter Miller (actor)|Walter Miller]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harmon |first=Jim |author-link=Jim Harmon |author2=Donald F. Glut |author2-link=Donald F. Glut |title=The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury |year=1973 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-7130-0097-9 |pages=181 |chapter=8. The Detectives "Gangbusters!" }}</ref> The serial film is now considered to be [[lost film|lost]].<ref name="silentera">{{Cite web|url=http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/H/HouseWithoutAKey1926.html |title=Progressive Silent Film List: ''The House Without a Key'' |accessdate=February 16, 2008|work=silentera.com}}</ref>

==Cast== * [[Allene Ray]] as Carry Egan * [[Walter Miller (actor)|Walter Miller]] as John Quincy Winterclip * [[E. H. Calvert]] as Dan Winterclip * Betty Caldwell as Barbara Winterclip * Natalie Warfield as Minerva Winterclip * Jack Pratt as James Egan * [[William Bailey (actor)|William Bailey]] as Harry Jennison (credited as William Norton Bailey) * [[Frank Lackteen]] as Kaohla * [[George Kuwa]] as [[Charlie Chan]] * [[Harry Semels]] as Saladine * [[Charles West (actor)|Charles West]] as Bowker (credited as Charles H. West) * [[John Cossar]] as District Attorney * Scott Seaton as Detective * Cliff Saum as Kennedy * [[John Webb Dillion]] * [[Shia Jung]] as The young Chinese girl (uncredited)

==Chapter titles== {{div col}} # The Spite Fence # The Mystery Box # The Missing Numeral # Suspicion # The Death Buoy # Sinister Shadows # The Mystery Man # The Spotted Menace # The Wrist Watch # The Culprit {{div col end}}

==See also== * [[List of film serials]] * [[List of film serials by studio]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb title|id=0015930|title=The House Without a Key}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:House Without a Key (serial), The}} [[Category:1926 films]] [[Category:1926 American films]] [[Category:1926 lost films]] [[Category:1926 mystery films]] [[Category:1926 English-language films]] [[Category:American black-and-white films]] [[Category:American silent mystery thriller films]] [[Category:American silent serial films]] [[Category:Charlie Chan films]] [[Category:English-language mystery thriller films]] [[Category:Films based on American novels]] [[Category:Films based on mystery novels]] [[Category:Films directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet]] [[Category:Lost American silent mystery films]] [[Category:Pathé Exchange film serials]]