Lieutenant Daring emerged in 1911, produced by British and Colonial Kinematograph, to rival the success of Lieutenant Rose (by Clarendon Films) — clearly a blatant copy. Although they shared the same naval rank, Daring set himself apart through physical vigor and acrobatic action sequences, while Lieutenant Rose was more cerebral and focused on mysteries.
The series consisted of approximately 13 short films produced until 1914, facing hiatuses and cast changes, with Percy Moran being the most memorable face according to researchers. They note that Moran was a real-life boxer, which likely gave him greater agility and realism in the action scenes.
A narrative high point of the series — specifically in the 1911 episode — involves the search for military plans tattooed on a woman's body by a spy, a bold espionage element for the time, considered by many to be the best episode of the series.
It is worth noting that this is an example of a procedural production series — which we mentioned in the opening text of this article series. In other words, everything is resolved in one episode; there are no sequels. Generally, only the main character is repeated, and occasionally the sets and locations. In the specific case of Lieutenant Daring, we see another characteristic: gaps, sometimes of months, between one 'episode' and the next. This reinforces the idea that the producers' goal was not to give the public a serial to motivate them to return to the cinema more frequently, as happened with most serials of the time. However, due to the production's characteristics, I chose to include it in our list.
| TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS | |
|---|---|
| Title: Lieutenant Daring | |
| Genre: Action, Adventure | |
| No. of Episodes: 13 | |
| Production Company: British and Colonial Kinematograph | |
| First Release: September 1911 (UK); September 29, 1914 (Brazil)1 | |
| Color and Sound: Black and white; Silent (English intertitles) | |
| Main Cast: Percy Moran, Harry Lorraine, and James Russel played Lieutenant Daring in different episodes. | |
| Click to view on iMDB | |
| EPISODES Note: Based on researched sources, there is some discrepancy between production dates and release dates. |
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|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Original Title | Date | Direction |
| 01 | The adventures of Lieutenant Daring R. N.: in a south american port | 09/1911 | David Aylott |
| 02 | Lieutenant Daring R.N. and the secret service agents | 12/1911 | David Aylott |
| 03 | Lieutenant Daring avenges an insult to the Union Jack | 02/1912 | David Aylott |
| 04 | Lieutenant Daring defeats the middleweight champion | 1912 | Charles Raymond |
| 05 | Lieutenant Daring and the photographing pigeon | 1912 | Charles Raymond |
| 06 | Lieutenant Daring and the ship's mascot | 1912 | H. O. Martinek |
| 07 | Lieutenant Daring quells a rebellion | 09/1912 | David Aylott |
| 08 | Lieutenant Daring and the plans of the mine fields | 11/1912 | H. O. Martinek |
| 09 | Lieutenant Daring and the labour riots | 03/1913 | Charles Raymond |
| 10 | Lieutenant Daring and the dancing girl | 06/1913 | Charles Raymond |
| 11 | Lieutenant Daring and the mystery of room 41 | 09/1913 | Charles Weston |
| 12 | Lieutenant Daring, aerial scout | 01/1914 | Ernest G. Batley |
| 13 | Lieutenant Daring and the stolen invention | 01/1914 | Ernest G. Batley |
Research sources: iMDB, British Railway Movie Database, BFI Screen online
