Mortmain is a five-part 1915 Vitagraph mystery drama film, directed bye Theodore Marston. Reviewer Lynde Denig said it was a mystery drama with a scientific background that "comes pretty close to being a model of motion picture craftsmanship." The film was adapted from a story by Arthur Train. The New York Clipper called it remindful of the stories of Edgar Allan Poe. It stars Robert Edeson. Marguerite Bertsch wrote the screenplay. The story involves the grafting of one man's hand to replace a man's who had his crushed. The consequences are haunting. The film is presumed lost.

It was advertised as a "Medical Mystery". An image used in advertising material features a creepy black and white hand with the word "MORT" but on it. Censors blocked the film from being shown in Philadelphia and Chicago.

Mortmain (film)

Cast

Robert Edeson as Mortmain

Donald Hall as Gordon Russell

Edward Elkas as Flaggs

Joseph Weber as Flynt

Muriel Ostriche as Bella Forsythe

Karin Norman as Miss Fickles

James Morrison as Tom Forsythe

J. Herbert Frank as Doctor Pennison Crisp

Gladden James as Scalscope

Roland Osborne as Mortmain’s butler

Helen Pillsbury as a society lady

See also

Mortmain

List of Vitagraph Studios films

References

American mystery drama films

1910s mystery drama films

Vitagraph Studios films

Films directed by Theodore Marston

Mortmain (film)