"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!!
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!!