The Eagleès Eye (Lost Motion Picture Serial, 1918)

The Eagleès Eye is a lost silent serial from 1918 that featured King Baggot and Marguerite Snow in the lead roles of an espionage agent and a criminologist. It is the only known serial to be based on a real life case, and to feature a real-life villain (Franz von Rintelen) as the lead antagonist.

Plot Description
The story is based around the labour riots caused by Captain Franz von Rintelen, a master linguist and secret German agent who could speak English without a trace of an accent. Von Rintelen was sent to America so as to disrupt the production of munitions long enough for Germany to win the war. He succeeded in his mission for several years, but was eventually captured as he boarded a ship bound for England. Other events that are incorporated into the plot of this serial are the sending of the Zimmermann Telegram, the capturing of the vital documents that exposed the secret German presence in America, and of course the entry of America into the First Wirld War at the very end of the serial.