[1][2] Produced by Edison Studios, with screenplays by Horace G. Plympton, and directed by Charles Brabin, the action films starred Mary Fuller.

Twelve one-reel episodes were released monthly beginning July 1912, coinciding with the literary serial of the same name published in McClure's The Ladies' World magazine.

In addition to the motion pictures and regular magazine installments, What Happened to Mary was also adapted as a stage play, followed by a novelization, making it an early example of the multimedia franchise.

This serial came to be after the editor of The Ladies' World, Charles Dwyer, met Horace G. Plympton, manager of Thomas Edison's New York motion picture studio on Decatur Avenue and Oliver Place in the Bronx.

A few days after the meeting he suggested making a film version of each installment: the parallel release of magazine and movie episodes supporting each other.