American Cinematographer - August 1993 - 66

The (Continued) Adventures
of Francis Ford and Grace Cunard
The real-life
is

an

story of the star serial-making team

adventure in itself. Part 2 of 2.
by Robert S. Birchard

What has gone before (see AC July '93):
Francis Ford and Grace Cunard, known to their

fans as the "Masters ofMystery," have produced and starred
in two super serials for Universal.
Injured during production of The Broken Coin,
Grace Cunard's health is still fragile.
Francis Ford promotes stuntman Eddie Polo to
"featured player" status.
Despite the success of the Ford-Cunard team,
trouble is brezving at Universal City, and Eddie Polo may
take over Ford's role as the star of the latest Universal chap¬
ter play.
Soon after the completion of The Broken Coin,
Grace Cunard was back in the hospital. The demands
of making movies and meeting unrelenting release
schedules forced the star to return
to work before she was fully recov¬

ered, and Cunard paid dearly for
her dedication to her art. While she
was laid up, Francis Ford worked
with Universal contract player
Edna Maison as his leading lady,
but there was never any serious
consideration that Maison could
become a permanent replacement
for Cunard.
When Cunard returned to

work, the team embarked

watching over her with tenderness and devotion. Hip
dearly loves La Belle, but she has told him that they
can never be more than
good 'pals' - because she has
been married. While La Belle is slowly recovering from
her injuries, she brings into the world a little daugh¬
ter. She calls Hip to her bedside and entrusts him with
the care of her baby, Peg.
"Then La Belle writes a letter that proves the
baby's parentage and relates the story of her marriage
to the rich Dr.

Lund, who has now deserted her in her
greatest hour of need. Having given the letter to Hip,
the circus woman resigns herself to fate, and soon dies.

"Hip rears Peg as a circus rider, and the years
pass. Dr. Lund has effaced from his memory all recol¬
lections of La Belle, and has married again to a beauti¬
ful though intensely avaricious woman, who presents
him with a son.
That the boy is
the natural out¬
come
of Dr.
Lund's second
marriage
never

although later
the question of
his parentage
works a marvel¬
ous effect
upon
the life of the cir¬

on a se¬

ries of stories with British

settings,
including Brennon O' The Moor and
His Majesty Dick Turpin. In March
of 1916, however, Universal an¬
nounced the third annual Ford-Cunard

cus

girl.
"After

chapter play.

Cunard's first treatment for the serial was
titled Circus Sal, and the film went into production
under that title. But by the time of the official an¬

nouncement, the name was changed to The Adventures
of Peg O' The Ring. The basic plot was similar to the
previous Ford-Cunard efforts, and involved finding a
letter that disclosed important information. But the
letter in Peg O' The Ring did not disclose a diplomatic

64

is

doubted,

twenty years,
Dr. Lund, Jr.,
meeting Peg, falls in love with the beautiful circus rider.
His father plots to obtain from Hip the incriminating
letter, but the conspiracy is overheard by Mrs. Lund,
who plans to kidnap the girl..."
Once

again, Grace Cunard injected a bizarre
story, as the hero falls
in love with Peg without realizing she is his own halfnote of sexual tension into the

sister! She also added another curious element
madness. For Peg is subject to fits of temporary insan¬

-

secret or the clue to a lost treasure. As with Eucille Eove,
the story begins with a prologue:

ity during which she rips and tears at everything in

"La Belle Le Sieur (Grace Cunard),
trainer of tigers, is attacked by her own wild

After attracting attention in The Broken Coin,
Eddie Polo was given a featured role in Peg O' The Ring.

fearless

animals

sight!

during a circus performance and is frightfully injured.
For weeks she lies in the hospital, her faithful friend
and companion, Hip (Pete Gerald), the circus clown,

Polo's circus

American

August 1993

Cinematographer

training made him an ideal choice for the

role, but Polo
own.

While

was

ambitious and he had ideas of his

working on The Broken Coin, Polo was so
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