THE MASTER MYSTERY (1918-1919}--sepiatoned and tinted

The Master Mystery is a 1918 American mystery silent serial film told in 15 installments. The film was directed by Harry Grossman and Burton L. King and written by Arthur B. Reeve and Charles Logue. The film stars Harry Houdini, Marguerite Marsh, Ruth Stonehouse, Edna Britton, William Pike, and Charles Graham. Episode 1 was released on November 18, 1918, by Octagon Films.[1][2] It is one of the first films to feature a robot and powered exoskeleton.

Plot
Justice Department agent Quentin Locke is investigating a powerful cartel that is protected by The Automaton, a robot. However, it uses a gas weapon known as The Madagascan Madness.

Cast
Harry Houdini as Quentin Locke
Marguerite Marsh as Eva Brent
Ruth Stonehouse as Zita Dane
Edna Britton as De Luxe Dora
William Pike as Paul Balcom
Charles Graham as Herbert Balcom
Floyd Buckley as Q the Automaton
Jack Burns as Peter Brent
Episodes
Living Death
The Iron Terror
The Water Peril
The Test
The Chemist’s Shop
The Mad Genius
Barbed Wire
The Challenge
The Madagascan Madness
The Binding Ring
The Net
The Death Noose
The Flash of Death
The Tangled Web
Bound at Last; or, Unmasking of the Automaton