What happened to Mary is considered the first American serial. Charles Dwyer, editor of The Ladies World magazine, and Horace G. Plimpton, then manager of the Edison Company, came up with the idea for what may have been one of the first multimedia actions in history, combining the publication of the serial story in The Ladies World, the episodes on cinema screens, and later, a stage play in addition to a book release in 1913, written by Robert Carlton Brown and published by Grosset & Dunlap Publishers.

The magazine launched a contest as early as the publication of the first chapter, offering a 100-dollar prize to the reader who correctly guessed Mary's fate. The winner was Lucy Proctor from California, who guessed that Mary would be rescued by a handsome young man in his car.

The theatrical version was written by Owen Davis, with Olive Wyndham portraying Mary. It premiered at the Lyric Theatre in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on March 4, 1913, later moving to the Fulton Theatre in New York on March 24, 1913.

The Plot

In the first episode, only a few weeks old, Mary ─ played by Mary Fuller ─ is left in a basket at Billy Peart's shop. The accompanying note promises Billy that if he supports her and eventually marries her off to a village lad, he will receive a thousand dollars, in addition to the five hundred left with the child. The note is unsigned, leaving Mary's parentage uncertain.

After the prologue, the plot jumps to Mary at age 18, pressured by Billy Peart to marry Tuck Wintergreen, a local youth. A dreamer, she prefers sailing with an old fisherman, who tells her stories of the world and gives her a twenty-dollar gold piece for her future journey.

A luxury yacht arrives at the harbor, sparking her admiration for the wealthy. At Billy's ice cream parlor, while holding her coin, she argues with him; he takes it by force and drives the visitors away. Furious, Mary goes to her room, pries open a drawer, and finds a roll of cash with a revealing note: she does not belong to Billy and is free to run away.

Defying him, she runs to the pier and asks the fisherman to take her to the mainland. Her friend holds Billy back, and Mary sets sail toward freedom, with more adventures to come.

The Scripts

There is conflicting information regarding direction and writing. Some sources indicate the scripts were written by Horace G. Plympton. Others credit only Bannister Merwin and James Oppenheim. A likely explanation, based on texts covering both the magazine serial and the film series, is that Plympton wrote only the periodical text, while Merwin and Oppenheim wrote the episode scripts. Regarding direction, some sources mention only Charles Brabin; however, when searching each episode separately, his name appears in only three episodes.

The Legacy

Some of the artists involved in the serial became great actors and/or directors, such as Harry Beaumont, Barry O’Moore, Charles Ogle, William Wadsworth, Augustus Phillips, among others. As for Mary Fuller herself, she already had a established career and continued acting until 1917, when she chose to retire.

A sequel was released in 1913 titled Who will marry Mary? also starring Mary Fuller.

EPISODES Note: as of this writing, only two episodes were available on YouTube. There are reports of other episodes being screened at festivals and American film museum exhibits.
No.	Original Title	Date	Direction
01	The escape from bondage	07/26/1912	Ashley Miller
02	Alone in New York	08/27/1912	Ashley Miller
03	Mary in stageland	09/27/1912	Harold M. Shaw
04	The affair at Raynor's	10/25/1912	Charles Brabin
05	A letter to the princess	11/22/1912	Ashley Miller
06	A clue to her parentage	12/27/1912	J. Searle Dawley
07	False to their trust	01/24/1913	J. Searle Dawley and Walter Edwin
08	A will and a way	02/28/1913	Charles Brabin
09	A way to underworld (Watch)	03/28/1913	J. Searle Dawley and Walter Edwin
10	The high tide of misfortune	04/25/1913	-
11	A race to New York (Watch)	05/1913	Charles Brabin
12	Fortune smiles	06/27/1913	George Lessey