Talk:What Happened to Mary

The question mark
I've removed the following from the article's lead:- "It should be noted that the title of the series was 'What Happened to Mary' -- a statement, not a question; there was no question mark in the original title, and this error should be corrected in the title of this article."

For a start, statements such as this should not be put in the article.

Secondly, I don't think it's true. I do not have any reference books on hand at the moment but online sources all include the question mark: Silent Era, IMDb, All Movie (the latter of which uses both the question mark and non question mark version). Additionally, one of the unique selling points (or gimmick, if you prefer) of the story was that the ending was unwritten. The title is very litterally asking the audience for an answer, with a prize for the best version.

I have not reverted any of the question mark removals yet as I cannot be sure which is correct. However, I will check with written sources as soon as I can and revert or move the article when I have done so. - AdamBMorgan (talk) 04:19, 6 July 2009 (UTC)


 * Response: The question mark does NOT belong and should be removed from the title. All instances of use of it in the title which appear in books are incorrect. The serial is about "what happened" to its lead character, who does not go missing. A question mark does NOT appear on the main title of the film nor in either the play title nor the novelization which you can reference here: http://books.google.com/books?id=pTIhAAAAMAAJ&dq=what+happened+to+mary&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=pMPDA94jpe&sig=ok9gTcRfg6yQ0NYNNBdWJC-0jBo&hl=en&ei=w5J7SoPoHoqBtwfY1-n4AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7#v=onepage&q=&f=false The title simply sounds like a question but is a statement and the question mark error has just been copied and repeated over time. Another reference would be the issue of The Ladies' World where the story first appeared.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by ClarkSavageJr (talk • contribs) 02:40, 7 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Again, there was no question mark in the title of this film, nor was there one on the title of the original play or novel related to it. Regardless of what appears in erroneous articles on the net and off, the title was simply What Happened to Mary, a statement describing the action portrayed and not a question. Here is the title page of the original novel which shows NO question mark. Please correct the title of this article and remove the question mark! http://books.google.com/books?id=pTIhAAAAMAAJ&pg=PP25&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false — Preceding unsigned comment added by ClarkSavageJr (talk • contribs) 07:55, 22 March 2012 (UTC)


 * I've added a scan of an actual frame of a title card from the original film. There's no question mark in the title. Please remove it from the title of this article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by ClarkSavageJr (talk • contribs) 09:45, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Requested move 3 October 2017

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the move request was: Moved &mdash; Amakuru (talk) 16:59, 18 October 2017 (UTC)

What Happened to Mary? → What Happened to Mary – All contemporary sources refer to the serial without the question mark, as seen here. tronvillain (talk) 21:21, 3 October 2017 (UTC) --Relisting. GeoffreyT2000 (talk, contribs) 00:05, 11 October 2017 (UTC)
 * Support - No reason Wikipedia should propagate this error anymore. -- Netoholic @  19:09, 4 October 2017 (UTC)
 * Support per nom.  Lugnuts  Fire Walk with Me 17:09, 11 October 2017 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.