The Hazards of Helen (1914) Poster

(1914)

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6/10
Here's A Woman Who Keeps Her Head!
ccthemovieman-119 December 2007
This review is for Episode 26, "The Wild Engine." This was my first look at "Helen," who was played - ironically - by two actresses named Helen although the second one changed her first name to suit the long-running weekly series. She was "Helen" Gibosn, who married the then-famous "Hoot" Gibson. These quarter-hour movies were serials, like "The Perils Of Pauline," and there were 119 of them. This one that I saw was part of the "More Treasures From the American Film Archives, which was released in 2004, and starred Helen Holmes.

Here, Helen goes out to prove that not all women lose their heads in emergencies, as a man states early on in this film. (At the end, she demands an apology.)

Soon, we see a runaway train with a lot of passengers aboard and Helen reads a telegram that has just been sent notify railroad officials of the potential disaster, that someone needs to sidetrack the train before it reaches a bridge.

The serial shows how all are saved. I found it a bit complicated since there are very few title cards and explanation of what is going on. You'd have to be an old-time railroad expert to figure this out! Two trains are involved, which were fun to watch, but this was a confusing story.
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8/10
Helen is a no nonsense, tough as they come heroine queen!
Gblakelii24 March 2007
As of this writing, The Hazards of Helen, is leading in amount of votes on the IMDb over its chief rival, The Perils of Pauline. It perhaps attracts more fans because of its "high camp" appeal today. Although both are of the same age, "Hazzard" in addition seems a bit more crisper and technically superior with Helen Holmes coming across somewhat tougher than Pearl. Even in comparison with other non serials of the time, the Holmes serial looks to be in the forefront with the amount of close-ups and brevity of inter-titles which translates into superior enjoyment. A typical example among the 119 chapters is, In Danger's Path(1914). No doubt to cut down on inter-titles(there are only 2), characters names are not given, so Helen's male friend will have to forego one for this review. The story starts out at Hobart Junction with it's telegraph operator Helen(in close-up). Her pal arrives, and a photograph of the thieves they are to look out for is shown. We transfer to a close-up of the thieves in hiding, then a medium close shot of them throwing the loot off the train. The inspector on top espies them. Switch to Helen at control switch. Then back to the villainous twosome jumping from the train at Hobart Junction. A pursuit follows, Helen and friend run out in different directions with Helen, of course, running right into them! After a brief struggle, they throw her in the refrigerator car. Helen's first hazard was not long in arriving! Not to be overcome, Helen inside at once begins to rub two pieces of wood together to start a fire. The train is on the move again. The wood begins to emit flames. Then the fire gets out of control. The billowing smoke coming out of the train is spotted. The train comes to a halt at the water stop. The refrigerator car and Helen are doused with water, with Helen emerging totally drenched! She at this point is not too dismayed at the events so far, just another day on the job! She is taken away and given a hot drink. Soon after the thieves are on the loose again, and in no time Helen and friend bump into them again! A short-lived struggle ensues and the villains get away. Her friend pursues and catches up to them. Will Helen come to the rescue? This serial remains a definite crowd pleaser! Print quality is fair to good, running time 16 minutes.
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7/10
Most Films in a Movie Series Ever
springfieldrental29 May 2021
Movie serials were all the rage in the mid-1910's, especially with the popularity of "The Perils of Pauline." Kalem Studios embarked on a serial beginning in November 1914, called "The Hazards of Helen." The series was so attractive to the viewing public that it couldn't soak up enough of the twelve-minute short movies. When the series ran out steam in February 1917, "Harzards" became--and still is--the longest running non-feature length movie series--and serial-- ever in cinematic history. No other movie series comes close to the number of films "Hazards" produced.

The serial is not considered in the "cliffhanger" format such as "Pauline. " Each episode was self-contained and concluded with a happy ending to each adventure. The series premise is a telegraph operator for a railroad confronting situations on the railroad tracks requiring her to perform daring exploits. Kalem selected Helen Holmes, a former Keystone Studio actress recently signed by its Los Angeles office. Her athleticism was an enormous asset since she was required to jump onto moving trains to combat villains or stop runaway railcars.

Holmes implied she shaped the character of Helen by inputting her background into the storylines. Her father was a railroad engineer, so she was very familiar with the transit environment.

In all, Kalem produced 119 episodes over a two-year period, issuing each one on a Saturday morning in theaters so viewers had a chance to see a new adventure over the weekend. Holmes, whose stardom shot up exponentially, and her new husband, the director of the series, J. P. McGowan, decided to depart Kalem to be on their own. But stardom faded soon after leaving the series.

Kalem cast other substitute actresses for the next 25 episodes before selecting a permanent Helen, a former rodeo rider, Helen Gibson. As did Holmes, Gibson performed all her stunts in the 70 episodes, making the duo the first women to be stunt movie daredevils. Her movie career lasted well into the early 1960's, mostly in bit parts, with her last film as a townswoman in John Ford's 1962 "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance."

A great majority of "The Hazards of Helen" films are lost. The earliest existing one is "The Leap From The Water Tower" starring Holmes. The last surviving film is "The Governor's Special" with Gibson.

The series has been cited as the first movie to be shot in Las Vegas when the producers selected the town for a 1915 episode with Holmes dodging danger in the desert near and in the fledging town of Vegas.
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10/10
A must see for all Railroad Enthusiasts
laurencejohnson22 January 2008
The Wild Engine is a marvelous example of Early cinematography. The plot is a little hard to follow but basically It is about an excursion train of vacationers on a train pulling out of the station .Unbeknown to them back at the rail yard an engineer was knocked out of his locomotive by a wire that fell off of a yard light and his train is going down the track merrily by itself BEHIND the excursion train so the potential for a rear end accident is very real. Helen the new telegrapher who was just hired by the railroad receives word of this runaway train and gets orders to sidetrack the excursion train so the runaway does not plow into it then sidetrack the runaway before it gets to the drawbridge. how it ends ? Watch it at internet archives and find out
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8/10
Fascinating Railroad Tales!!
kidboots22 November 2016
Warning: Spoilers
"The Hazards of Helen" was huge in popularity as well as in length. At almost 24 hours it went through a couple of directors as well as stars. It made the original star Helen Holmes a national celebrity as it was well known that she did her own stunts - in fact when Rose Wenger Gibson (she was married to Hoot Gibson at the time) took over the role Kalem changed her name to Helen as well and she found popularity equal to the original star!! The serial ran from 1914 to February 1917 and wasn't like the usual cliff hanger serials of the time but a series of 12 minute fully contained melo-dramas.

At the time when the women's suffrage movement was in the news Pathe released "The Perils of Pauline" which created a sensation and saw emerge a new type of heroine in the plucky Pearl White. Kalem wanted to jump on the band wagon and quickly started their own adventure series "The Hazards of Helen". They chose Helen Holmes, who had arrived in films due to her friend Mabel Normand and, like Mabel, was athletic and game.

A few of the episode's plots - "The Leap From the Water Tower" - Helen plays a telegraph operator who has to contend with a brutish engine driver (you know he's a brute because he mistreats Helen's dog!!) whose drinking on the job gets him sacked. He's happy because now he can sabotage the train!! Helen to the rescue with a leap from the water tower!!

"The Pay Train" - Gun toting Helen thinks she has frightened off a gang of railroad hobos from robbing the station but that has only fuelled their ambition for a pay train robbery!!

"In Danger's Path" - Telegraphist Helen is kidnapped before she can send word that the toughs who have been pinching boxes from the baggage car have been located near Hobart Junction!!

"The Wrong Train Order" - Helen returns from vacation a new woman - she is now played by Helen Gibson who took over the role when Holmes left the series to set up her own production company with her husband J.P. McGowan who not only directed but doubled as hero, villain and assorted engine drivers as well. In this one a late train causes mayhem as a little boy's sick mother needs urgent help but the messages are misplaced.

"The Open Track" - This time counterfeiters have chosen busy Hynes Station to pass bad notes. The detectives are handcuffed to the runaway engine and quick thinking Helen grabs a motor- cycle to save the day!!

"The Governor's Special" - Helen's brother has been sentenced to hang for the murder of her husband. Will she be in time to save him and what makes her convinced of his innocence?

Kalem specialised in outdoor films and had a few soon to be stars on it's roster including Alice Joyce and Ruth Roland but it's lack of interest in feature films caused a lot of it's up and coming talent to depart and the studio was sold to Vitagraph in 1916 for a reputed $100,000!!
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8/10
Inventive and energetic productions on real locations
filmart-217 May 2019
WARNING: the picture illustrating this title is not, repeat not, from The Hazards of Helen series. Yes, it does feature several of the actors who were to appear in Hazards episodes, but this is from 'The Conductor's Courtship' which preceded the series. Misleading by IMDb to keep featuring this image! Producing one episode a week, yes one per week, over 119 eps, what an achievement the Hazards was, no wonder that Helen Holmes and J.P. McGowan went on to found their own studio (Signal Corp, devoted to railroad melodramas) after ep 49!
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