The cliche being the epitome of villainy - man in black top hat tying a damsel-in-distress to a train track to be run over by the oncoming train.
That image is definitely familiar in my mind, but I have no idea how far back it dates…it would be even more interesting to know if it referred to any real-life event. (i.e., some criminal who killed someone this way, never mind the black top hat)
Great…now I have cheesy “villain” piano music running through my head.
Also, remember: your villain has to run his moustache between his index finger and thumb while sneering, before leaving the damsel to her fate.
Methinks a film named The Perils of Pauline comes to mind.
But the perils of a having a slwo computer and a lousy ISP mean I have no link for you just yet. Fear not!! I shall return! And when I return, I shall come back" (from some fillm I cannot recall name of) 
For some reason, this reminds me of Simon Legree from Uncle Tom’s Cabin which, of course, dates to before the Civil War.
The first occurence of a heroine being tied to the railroad tracks occurs in the Augustin Daly play Under the Gaslight.
Is there any connection to the “You must pay the rent!” “But I can’t pay the rent!” routine?
From what I remember hearing, h.sapiens has the answer. I think that Simon Lagree was the prototype, although I don’t know about the railroad track thing.
Foiled by Nocturne, who answered the question before I could! But I’ll have me revenge . . .
The hero/heroine tied to the railroad tracks or the buzz-saw was already old hat by the time the movies came in—the most famous old clip of it is Gloria Swanson being tied to the tracks by Wally Beery in Mack Sennett’s Teddy at the Throttle. It’s always shown as an example of the genre, but was actually a parody.
The famous Uncle Tom’s Cabin chase was Eliza crossing the ice floe, chased by yapping bloodhounds. A staple of the hundreds of* Tom* companies touring the US in the late 19th-century, along with the scene of Little Eva ascending into heaven. “Ah hears the angels singing, Uncle Tom! I’m a’comin’”
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Doghouse Reilly *
**Is there any connection to the “You must pay the rent!” “But I can’t pay the rent!” routine? **
[/QUOTE
Nah. That one comes with the villian telling Poor Nell, “Marry me or you and your aging mother will be living in a refrigerator box” routine. (or whatever the 19th century equivalent of a 'fridge box was)]
You mean this, right? (RealAudio stream) http://mfile.akamai.com/3171/rm/muze.download.akamai.com/2890/us/usrm/396/453396_1_01.ram?obj=v20801
If that doesn’t work, go here and listen to track 1.
The Mack Sennett comedy Barney Oldfield’s Race for a Life (1913) was already parodying the tied-to-the-tracks scene, four years before Teddy at the Throttle did.
Very interesting. When did the clueless Mountie cliche originate? 