| The Eagle's Eye | |
| Director: | George Lessey Wellington A. Playter Leopold Wharton Theodore Wharton |
| Based On: | William J. Flynn |
| Starring: | King Baggot Marguerite Snow William Bailey |
| Cinematography: | Levi Bacon John K. Holbrook Ray June |
| Studio: | The Whartons Studio |
| Distributor: | Foursquare Pictures |
| Runtime: | 20 2 reel episodes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | Silent (English intertitles) |
The Eagle's Eye is a 1918 American serial film consisting of 20 episodes that dramatizes German espionage in the United States during World War I.[1] The stories are based on the experiences of William J. Flynn during his career as chief of the United States Secret Service from 1912–1917.[2]
It features King Baggot as the president of the Criminology Club and Marguerite Snow as a Secret Service agent who investigate spies. Among the events depicted are the sending of the Zimmermann Telegram, Franz von Rintelen's attempts to sabotage cargo loading in San Francisco Harbor, and the capture of the German espionage plans. It was directed by George Lessey, Wellington A. Playter, Leopold Wharton, and Theodore Wharton, and produced by the Whartons Studio. The serial is now considered lost.[3] Because this serial was a commercial failure, it was the last one made by Whartons due to the studio being forced to declare bankruptcy.
After Flynn's retirement from the Secret Service his work investigating sabotage during the war were interwoven with fictitious characters and events by Courtney Ryley Cooper into a 20-part spy thriller.[4] These were also published as weekly installments in The Atlanta Constitution's magazine section during 1918 under the title The Eagle's Eye: A True Story of the Imperial German Government's Spies and Intrigues in America.[5] Fifteen of the episodes were republished as chapters in a book the following year.[6]