The Hazards of Helen
Long running movie series adventure train films. This thrill-a-minute series was the longest running of the entire silent film era. It was produced between 1914 and 1917, and consisted of 119 almost weekly episodes. The series began with silent serial film queen Helen Holmes as the star - with an occasional actor taking over the lead. Eventually Helen Gibson took over the role of Helen. Unlike the cliffhanger serials of the era, The Hazards of Helen is actually a film series made up of near autonomous single reel twelve-minute melodramas. Most episodes of this series are presumed lost.
Franchise Evolution & Timeline Analysis
The The Hazards of Helen has evolved significantly over a span of 0 years, growing from a singular narrative into a complex cinematic universe. With 120 interconnected entries, tracking the consistency of the franchise reveals fascinating trends in audience sentiment.
The "Series" Benchmark: 0.3/10
The franchise maintains a steady average rating of 0.3. While most series experience "Sequel Fatigue," The Hazards of Helen has managed to keep its narrative quality relatively stable, with The Hazards of Helen Ep26: The Wild Engine standing out as the peak cinematic achievement.
Continuity vs. Commercial Appeal
Our data indicates that while the "Release Order" is preferred for first-time viewers, the "Chronological Order" provides a much deeper understanding of the world-building within the The Hazards of Helen. The timeline highlights a clear three-act structure across all chapters.
Timeline & Watch Order
We recommend watching the The Hazards of Helen franchise in the following order to fully experience the narrative expansion.
Helen's Sacrifice
In the first entry in the popular Hazards of Helen series, Helen, the night telegraph operator at Lone Point, relieves Benton, the day operator, several hours a...
The Plot at the Railroad Cut
In the second entry of the popular Hazards of Helen series, Helen, is temporarily assigned as a telegraph operator at Quarry Depot; bad blood springs up between...
The Girl at the Throttle
Helen, the telegrapher at Downing Junction, receives word that an engineer has been accidentally shot by a partridge hunter, and the runaway train will collide ...
The Stolen Engine
A pair of crooks steal a valuable package, hold up the crew of a freight engine, and compel the engineer to aid their escape. Learning this, Helen climbs into t...
The Flying Freight's Captive
Helen receives a cypher message about a jewel robbery and trails the yeggmen to their lair. Discovered, Helen is bound and gagged and thrown into a box car, but...
The Black Diamond Express
When Dick, an aeronaut is wrongly accused of shooting Dan, a trouble-making, quarrelsome cowboy, Helen aids his escape on the outgoing Black Diamond Express....
The Escape on the Limited
Brandt, a defaulting cashier, hiding in Lone Point in his effort to throw detectives off his track, cuts the wires of Helen's telephone to prevent her from call...
The Girl Telegrapher's Peril
Blake, a quarrelsome lineman, and a widower with two daughters, is in love with Helen, but she rejects his advances. Helen spies Myra, Blake's three year old da...
The Leap from the Water Tower
Rand, a vengeful discharged fireman, tampers with the airbrakes of a large freight locomotive making them useless on the long descent from the summit of Pine Hi...
The Broken Circuit
Attempting to prevent an armed robbery in the paymaster's office, Helen is bound and gagged, and the thieves escape on a hand car. With her feet still bound by ...
The Fast Mail's Danger
Down and out, Bob, an engineer, drifts into town. His condition excites Helen's sympathy. Using her influence, the girl secures him a position with the railroad...
The Little Engineer
While Hastings, the engineer of Freight No. 3205 is at lunch- in the Lone Point station, Bobby Heywood, the son of an engineer, climbs into the cab of the engin...
The Hazards of Helen: Episode13, The Escape on the Fast Freight
Two tramps hold up small-town Ferndale's railway station night operator Helen, lock her in a closet, and escape. Later, standing on a bridge over the freight ya...
The Red Signal
Brent, the night operator has been knocked unconscious by a piece of lumber projecting from a passing freight, and has been rendered temporarily insane. Meantim...
The Engineer's Peril
Helen, the operator at Hobart, warns her friend Anna, the operator at Montville, that Tim Hudson, a notorious swindler, is headed for Montville. Anna later brin...
The Open Drawbridge
Benton, railroad detective, is assigned to run down the crooks who have been breaking into freight cars near Hobart. Helen, the telegraph operator at Hobart, su...
The Death Train
The smashed corner of a trunk containing counterfeiting paraphernalia reveals to Helen that there is treachery afoot at Lone Point. Detectives capture two of th...
The Night Operator at Buxton
Bob's daughter is sick, so Helen volunteers to take his place on the night run, unaware that the Blackhall gang intends to rob the train which carries a valuabl...
The Railroad Raiders of '62
Lockwood, the old, one-armed flagman at Lone Point, tells Helen and a young soldier of his experiences during the Civil War, and how he lost his arm. The Civil...
The Girl at Lone Point
Helen catches two yeggmen who have broken into a freight car which has been detached from a train because of a hot box and are attempting to rifle the safe. The...
A Life in the Balance
King attempts to tighten the brake of a freight car standing near the summit of a steep grade at Lone Point. Suddenly, the brake chain snaps and the train comme...
The Girl on the Trestle
A wagon load of powder explodes, destroying the railroad trestle under which it is passing; Helen, knowing that a passenger train is due within a few minutes, c...
The Girl Engineer
A crooked mine owner attempts to hijack his rival's shipment of ore, but Helen foils his plot by jumping onto the engine and pulling the throttle wide open, eve...
A Race for a Crossing
Sharky, a rival road agent, plots to spoil a trial run to be made on Helen's road that will win a mail contract. He opens a waste valve on the tank of the engin...
The Box Car Trap
Jim, determined to ruin a box car brake test, hides inside, removes the flooring, and ruins the brake apparatus. As a result, the box car runs wild, trapping hi...
The Hazards of Helen Ep26: The Wild Engine
Helen, informed of the danger which menaces an excursion train because another engine on the same track is running wild, mounts a motorcycle and speeds down the...
The Fiend at the Throttle
Rita, a telegraph operator, informed that a freight train which is due to pass her station filled with high explosives is about to be overtaken by a passenger t...
The Broken Train
Helen spotting two jewel robbers sever the telegraph wires and hop onto a passing freight, jumps into a racing auto and takes off in pursuit. In the meantime, t...
A Railroader's Bravery
When Helen learns that wiretappers have make a prisoner of Henry, the relief operator, she severs the wire being tapped, boards a freight train, uncouples the e...
The Human Chain
Deering and his gang rifle the station safe and gain possession of some valuable gems; Helen seizes the package and throws it into the river. In order to recove...
The Pay Train
Helen, overhearing Tony and his accomplices plotting to derail the pay train and steal its money, is thrown into a cattle car; grabbing a revolver which one of ...
Near Eternity
A quarryman, dismissed because of intoxication, blames Billy, the mail clerk, and seeks revenge. He steals several sticks of dynamite, climbs to the top of the ...
In Danger's Path
Helen is captured by two yeggmen who throw her into a refrigerator car; finding a meat hook, she chops her way into the ice chamber and reaches the top of the t...
The Midnight Limited
Under the influence of liquor, Griffin foolishly displays a roll of bills. Wheeler and Walter, yeggmen, see the money and trail the traveler to the station. The...
A Wild Ride
The bad blood existing between Reardon and Haley results in a fight in which Reardon is worsted. Reardon, vowing vengeance, climbs back aboard his engine while ...
The Fate of Number One
Their demand for money having gone unheeded, Garibaldi and his gang wreck Number One. Howard, who attempts to interfere, is battered into insensibility. The cri...
A Deed of Daring
Upon learning that a gang of smugglers are using freight cars to bring Chinamen across the border, the railroad officials order all employees to keep a strict w...
The Girl on the Engine
When informed by Helen that the rival railroad proposes to cross the Salt Lake's tracks, McKay, Division Superintendent, rushes a guard of men to Lone Point. Th...
The Runaway Boxcar
Disguised as car repairmen, Mealius and Denney get aboard the express car, overpower the express messenger and steal a valuable package being forwarded to Arlin...
The Substitute Fireman
A warm friendship springs up between Quirkly and Helen, when the fireman saves the girl's life. In his desire to be near Helen, Quirkly obtains a room in the ho...
The Limited's Peril
Wharton, trailing Red Leary and his gang, learns that the men intend to wreck the Limited. Curley, a fireman, is implicated. The crooks become aware of Wharton'...
A Perilous Chance
Bull, Reno and Red make a getaway after holding up the Limited. Helen later sees the men and summons the detectives. The convicts escape from the trap and board...
Train Order Number Forty-Five
Borden, who nurses a secret grievance against Helen, awaits an opportunity for revenge. The girl telegrapher receives a message which informs her that the freig...
The Broken Rail
Spang, a tramp telegrapher, is knocked down by a freight car while walking up the siding near Lone Point. Helen witnesses the accident and by quick work saves h...
Nerves of Steel
Detective Strong is warned that an attempt will be made to free the crooks he is taking to the penitentiary. In spite of his vigilance, the prisoners escape whe...
A Girl's Grit
After robbing the bank at Orlock, Cherry and Newton make their getaway. When on the outskirts of Lone Point, the men cut the telephone wires. Helen, however, le...
A Matter of Seconds
Dawson, a newcomer to the division, meets Helen while the girl is riding in the freight engine with Star, his engineer. Helen ignores the fireman's offensive st...
The Watertank Plot
Fearing lest Cameron's horse beat the pony he has plunged on, Tony Dorgan orders one of his men to bribe the stableman to drug the animal. Saratoga Johnny tries...
A Test of Courage
Confronting Helen at the Lone Point Switch Tower, Denning and his pal imprison the girl in a clothes closet and then steal everything of value. In making their ...
A Mile a Minute
Hume and Frintz, while riding in a boxcar, see a trunk in the unguarded baggage car of a passenger train. By a daring leap from the freight to the passenger, Hu...
The Rescue of the Brakeman's Children
Discharged for drinking, Coleman attempts to get even by releasing the brakes on an empty boxcar, to which is coupled a flatcar, allowing them to run wild down ...
Danger Ahead!
Sterling and Ella steal a jewelry salesman's sample bag and make their getaway by boarding a passenger train. Word is flashed ahead to Helen, who in turn notifi...
The Girl and the Special
Disguised as baggage man, Burgess and Whelan board the train to which is coupled the special carrying Nina Mallotte and her theatrical troupe. The thieves plan ...
The Girl on the Bridge
Communicating with his pals outside, Daly informs them as to the date upon which he is to be taken from the jail to State's prison. Kling, the head of the gang,...
The Dynamite Train
The shifting of the dynamite contained in a boxcar causes the latter to be cut from the freight and set out as unsafe. While this is being done, the Jones gang ...
The Tramp Telegrapher
Beaten by Dun and Corson, Trent is hurled unconscious to the tracks. Helen, who witnesses the attack, drags Trent from the rails just in time to save him from d...
Crossed Wires
Crossed telephone wires enable Helen to overhear a plot between Joe and Bill, escaped convicts, to join a number of Chinese who are being smuggled into the coun...
The Wrong Train Order
In this episode everything goes wrong. Helen ends up on the rear observation deck of a runaway express train with the door to the inside closed, with the air-br...
A Boy at the Throttle
Climbing into a cab of a freight engine, Bobbie Layson, the son of a station pulls the throttle open. The alarm goes out and Helen, stationed at Lone Point, is ...
At the Risk of Her Life
Tony, a half-breed Mexican is kicked from pillar to post, but he grasps a chance for revenge on society when he peers through the station window and sees Helen,...
The Haunted Station
A fall from a semaphore weakens Wood's mind and when he later disappears circumstances point to suicide. His ghostly appearances make the post known as the "Hau...
The Open Track
"The Open Track" is a short action film from the action series of short films "The Hazards of Helen". This is episode 63 from a total of 119 weekly one reel fi...
Tapped Wires
After binding Helen to prevent her from stopping the express train to have it await an armed guard, crooks board the train, disable the messenger and dynamite t...
The Broken Wire
When the Limited is forced to stop because of an obstruction on the tracks, the passengers alight for a stroll. In the excitement of boarding again one of the p...
The Peril of the Rails
Apparent carelessness causes Conductor Lawton and his train crew to be laid off for thirty days. A gang of car thieves, pursued by police, jump aboard a freight...
The Perilous Swing
Helen is enjoying a ride on her horse, "Hazard," after her day's work, when news comes that "Red" Purdy and his aides are escaping after making a big haul. When...
The Girl Telegrapher's Nerve
Steve Nelson, a clever crook, arrives at the little station where Helen is operator. He lives quietly at the village's little boarding house preparing for a cou...
A Race for a Life
A college boy's prank imperils the life of the railroad president's son who has worked his way up to engineer in his course that starts "from the bottom." Tied ...
The Girl Who Dared
The smugglers seem in a fair way to escape on a stolen engine when Helen, unhitching a team from a nearby wagon, races down the road towards the railroad bridge...
The Detective's Peril
Hanging from a rope over the track, the detective seems certain to plunge to death when the oncoming train splits the knot of the rope which has been tied to a ...
The Trapping of 'Peeler' White
Dick Benton is making a game attempt to start life all over again, after escaping from prison where he was confined for a crime he did not commit. "Peeler" Whit...
The Record Run
The story is built around the rivalry of two railroads, and the record run that is to decide the awarding of large mail contracts....
The Race for a Siding
Through an accomplice the band of conspirators preying on railroads succeed in having the boxcar loaded with auto tires sidetracked at Lone Point instead of bei...
The Governor's Special
The film is directed by James Davis from a story by Edward T. Matlack. In this episode Helen Gibson performs one absolutely breathtaking stunt, which just shows...
The Trail of Danger
Following the wreck of the pay-car, it is rifled by a band of conspirators. All but one of the band later succeed in making their escape from the town by automo...
The Human Telegram
To prevent a three mile journey around the mountain the telegraph wires at the construction camp have been strung over the precipice from the station on the mou...
The Bridge of Danger
The new superintendent's first order on taking the post eliminates the men whom he terms old, which costs "Pop" Bates his job as Helen's relief operator. His ne...
One Chance in a Hundred
Billy Warren, timekeeper on the construction job, arouses the enmity of Brent and Easton when he resents their bullying of the other men. Pay day finds the men ...
The Capture of Red Stanley
Red Stanley's band has successfully robbed the express car and the members are making good their escape when they come upon Helen and her girl chum riding in th...
The Spiked Switch
Trent returns to the throttle too soon after his recovery from illness. On the following day Ruth, his daughter, and Hume plan to elope. Trent, with a new firem...
The Treasure Train
"Red" Byrd and his aides succeed in learning that a large treasure is being shipped on a certain freight car under special guard. They overpower the relief oper...
In Death's Pathway
Burkett, superintendent of the Western Railway, opposes his daughter's friendship for Dick Benton, one of the company's lawyers, favoring the latter's fellow-wo...
The Mysterious Cipher
Chilton, a crooked dealer in antiques, decides on a daring scheme to recoup his finances by defrauding the railroad. A car-load of cheap furniture is shipped wi...
The Engineer's Honor
Circumstances make Helen think that Jack, the engineer and son of the road's auditor, is guilty of the theft of $50 that comes to light through a shortage in he...
To Save the Road
The vote stands a tie on the railroad bill that will mean ruin to the Western line should it pass the State Legislature. By getting Senator Brown, who is aboard...
The Broken Brake
In a scuffle between the assistant foreman and a discharged employee at the mountain construction camp the latter's revolver is fired, bringing about a dynamite...
A Plunge from the Sky
Agents of a foreign power are seeking to get possession of the plans of a new aeroplane motor invented by Dick Benton. Under cover of darkness they succeed in t...
A Mystery of the Rails
Jud Hendricks, foreman of the construction camp, is being blackmailed by Gypsy Joe, who knows of a dark page in the Hendricks' past. Hendricks and Tom Rasom are...
Hurled Through the Drawbridge
Learning that the driver of the Comet car has been disabled on the eve of the big race, Sinton, a gambler, bets heavily on its rival. But his plans go awry when...
With the Aid of the Wrecker
Greggs, returning from abroad with a large consignment of precious stones, thwarts the first attempt of Gentleman Joe and his accomplice to rob him at his hotel...
At Danger's Call
Helen, discharged by the superintendent without justification, comes to the rescue when a flat car, loaded with dynamite, is tearing to certain destruction down...
The Secret of the Box Car
Escaping after an early morning bank robbery, Gentleman Joe and his pal succeed in boarding a freight train headed toward Lone Point. Fearing rightly that a war...
Ablaze on the Rails
Helen, by a courageous leap from a motorcycle, reaches the burning boxcar in which the detectives are imprisoned and succeeds in applying the brakes in time to ...
The Hoodoo of Division B
The new superintendent scoffs at the men's fear of Engine 3615, and declares that it must be put into service at once. Engineer Kent, a veteran of the road, ref...
Defying Death
Dick Benton, a young attorney of the railroad, is on his way to the Capitol to deliver evidence involving Riggs in a conspiracy arising out of a fight with the ...
The Death Swing
Stallings' plot to spoil the demonstration of Dick Benton's newly invented safety stop for trains seems certain of success when the locomotive is sent running w...
The Blocked Track
On a visit to the State Prison with Superintendent Melvin of the construction camp near Lone Point. Helen gains the friendship of Butler, a former telegrapher w...
The Mogul Mountain Mystery
Bert Morgan and "Squint" Booth are freight agents for rival railroads concerned in getting the contract for hauling the gold ore produced by the Mogul Mountain ...
The Fireman's Nemesis
Joe, the Wop, employed in the roundhouse near Lone Point is notified that he has been promoted and will take his place that night as a fireman on the local frei...
The Wrecked Station
Helen, the telegraph operator at Lone Point, receives a telegram for Sydney Wayne, superintendent of the Graham Gravel plant, advising him that the plant has ch...
The Railroad Claim Intrigue
Barstow, a crook, conceives the idea of buying old automobiles, staging "accidents" with them, and settling with the railroad. At the Lone Point crossing one of...
The Death Siding
Helen, the telegraph operator at the Lone Point Station, shields Miguel, a greaser, under suspicion of having stolen some horses, until the real thieves are cau...
The Prima Donna's Special
Helen, station agent and telegraph operator at Lone Point, is in despair over a broken sounder when Morley, who has dropped off a passing freight, offers to fix...
The Sidetracked Sleeper
Rupert Winslow, traffic superintendent of the railroad that employs Helen as operator at Lone Point, receives a telegram stating that his wife, who is ill, will...
The Hazards of Helen
The Hazards of Helen is an American melodramatic adventure film serial of 119 twelve-minute episodes released between November 7, 1914 and February 24, 1917. M...
Common Questions about The Hazards of Helen
How many movies are in the The Hazards of Helen?
There are currently 120 movies in the The Hazards of Helen, starting from The Hazards of Helen to the latest release, The Death Siding.
What is the best order to watch the The Hazards of Helen?
The best way to watch the The Hazards of Helen is usually in release order: starting with The Hazards of Helen and ending with The Death Siding. Check our timeline for the full chronological breakdown.
Which is the highest-rated movie in the The Hazards of Helen?
According to movieMx ratings, the fans have a strong preference for The Hazards of Helen Ep26: The Wild Engine in this franchise.