Ultus 3: The Grey Lady

In this episode of the British silent crime serial, Ultus makes an alliance with the Grey Lady, who is a fellow victim of villain Eugene Lester. She initially gets Ultus' attention by seizing him at a meeting of a fake secret society, giving director George Pearson the opportunity to stage some lovely overhead shots through secret panels. She and Ultus then plot to trick Lester out of hiding using the hapless detective Conway Bass. Some nice location work on the Thames and well-appointed interiors give the production a polished look.

Perhaps as much a series as a true serial, in which the story is contiguous, Ultus, the Man from the Dead was inspired by the popular French serials of the early teens (such as Fantomas, Les Vampires, and Judex), a specialty of the Gaumont company who also made this British story. The Ultus story begins with a prologue in the Australian desert in which the villain steals his partner's diamonds and leaves him to die. Five years later the wronged man appears as 'Ultus the Avenger', traces his now prospering partner, Eugene Lester, and plans an elaborate revenge, helped - or more often hindered - by master detective Conway Bass.