The Mysterious X/Det Hemmelighedsfulde X/Orders Under Seal/Sealed Orders (1914) - Pioneer Christensen's spectacular spy thriller debut

♥♥♥♥

In lieu of a poster, which is not to be found, here's one splendid still from Benjamin Christensen's The Mysterious X

QUICK REVIEW:

We are - probably - around the time of the Battle at Dybbøl Mill (1864), as admiral Van Hauen is called to war and since accused of treason, because his wife's flirt, the miscreant count Spinelli, has passed on the admiral's secret information to the enemy for money.

SPOILER In the last second, Van Hauen is rescued by her wife and son's heroic interference, meanwhile Spinelli is found starving with rats below ship's deck. - The escape from prison is wildly impressive as an early action sequence.
Technically and in terms of the image compositions, X is a milestone in Danish and I daresay in international filmmaking. Despite some too lengthy scenes due to chastity concerning title cards, X is a commanding story and impressive, especially considering that pioneer filmmaker Benjamin Christensen (Blind Justice/Hævnens Nat (1916)) both co-wrote, directed, played the lead, produced and edited the film himself!
He wrote it with Laurids Skands (Skildpadden (1915)), who according to himself just helped some during the shooting.
This early spy thriller, which is also Christensen's debut film, is widely considered among the most important Danish films of all time.

You can see the entire film here, however, only in its original version with Danish texts, - and you can choose only Russian subtitles

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Unknown - but likely a huge hit
[The film was a success at its Danish premiere, - and it was reissued at home in 1968, - but its international distribution was more or less disrupted by the offset of World War I around the same time. Entrepreneur Christensen has himself stated that he traveled around and sold hundreds of copies of the film, and in America alone for more than 0.6 mil. $, - which undoubtedly makes The Mysterious X a huge hit commercially, if true. It is known that the film was shown in a range of European countries as well as in the US and Japan in 1914.]

What do you think of The Mysterious X?
Other incredible, little-known silent films that you would like to throw some attention on?