
Acting
Helen Holmes
Born — Died
1892-06-19 — 1950-07-08
Place of birth
USA
Known for
Acting
Credits
64 titles
Helen Holmes (June 19, 1892 – July 8, 1950) was an American silent film actress, producer, director, screenwriter and stuntwoman. She is most notable for starring in the 1914–1917 serial The Hazards of Helen. [biography (excerpted) from Wikipedia]
Known for
6.9It's World War II and there is a severe housing shortage everywhere - especially in Washington, D.C. where Connie Milligan rents an apartment. Believing it to be her patriotic duty, Connie offers to sublet half of her apartment, fully expecting a suitable female tenent. What she gets instead is mischievous, middle-aged Benjamin Dingle. Dingle talks her into subletting to him and then promptly sublets half of his half to young, irreverent Joe Carter - creating a situation tailor-made for comedy and romance.
The More the Merrier
1943
10.0A Spanish-American boy raised by his Mexican servant, Clay Hill, Jr. vows vengeance on the three ranchers who murdered his parents.
Fighting Fury
1924
NRWhispering Smith is a virile, fearless type of the true American whoso theory of life is to give every man a chance to show what is in him. There is nothing of the bully or braggart about him. He is only a man who knows instinctively what is right and never falters in his steps to see that justice is given where it is deserved and crime punished on the same basis. Originally shot as a serial to be called "Whispering Smith", distributor Mutual Films decided to release it as two separate films - this film, which was released first, and Medicine Bend (1916).
Whispering Smith
1916
6.0A Nevada rancher goes undercover for the U. S. Secret Service to help capture a gang of counterfeiters. Director David Howard's 1941 B-western stars Tim Holt, Marjorie Reynolds, Lee White, Eddie Kane, Ray Whitley, Helen Holmes, Glenn Strange, Byron Foulger, Eddie Dew, Tom London and Hank Worden.
Dude Cowboy
1941
NR15-episode serial directed by Paul Hurst and J.P. McGowan.
A Lass of the Lumberlands
1916
7.0A mysterious rider, known as Whitehorse Cactus, steals from the dishonest water company in order to help ranchers who have been cheated out of their water rights by its crooked agents.
The Sign of the Cactus
1925
Film credits
1940s · 2 titles
6.9It's World War II and there is a severe housing shortage everywhere - especially in Washington, D.C. where Connie Milligan rents an apartment. Believing it to be her patriotic duty, Connie offers to sublet half of her apartment, fully expecting a suitable female tenent. What she gets instead is mischievous, middle-aged Benjamin Dingle. Dingle talks her into subletting to him and then promptly sublets half of his half to young, irreverent Joe Carter - creating a situation tailor-made for comedy and romance.
The More the Merrier
1943
6.0A Nevada rancher goes undercover for the U. S. Secret Service to help capture a gang of counterfeiters. Director David Howard's 1941 B-western stars Tim Holt, Marjorie Reynolds, Lee White, Eddie Kane, Ray Whitley, Helen Holmes, Glenn Strange, Byron Foulger, Eddie Dew, Tom London and Hank Worden.
Dude Cowboy
1941
1920s · 15 titles
10.0A Spanish-American boy raised by his Mexican servant, Clay Hill, Jr. vows vengeance on the three ranchers who murdered his parents.
Fighting Fury
1924
7.0A mysterious rider, known as Whitehorse Cactus, steals from the dishonest water company in order to help ranchers who have been cheated out of their water rights by its crooked agents.
The Sign of the Cactus
1925
9.0An action movie serial that premiered in 1924
Battling Brewster
1924
8.0After being captured by T-Man Jack Blaisdell and sentenced to 20 years of hard labor on a counterfeiting rap, Tiger McGuire is sprung from jail by his old gang. Vowing to get even with Jack, Tiger kidnaps the young man's fiancée, Helen (Holmes), bringing the girl to his hideout, a fancy yacht owned by Lucy Carlisle.
Outwitted
1925
9.0Railroad foreman Murray Sinclair is dismissed by George McCloud, division superintendent, for ransacking wrecks. Sinclair along with his henchmen, retire to his ranch and forays against the railroad. "Whispering Smith," engaged by the railroad to restore order, is hesitant in dealing with Sinclair when he falls in love with Marion, Sinclair's wife, who is separated from her husband and operates a small shop in Medicine Bend. Dicksie, McCloud's sweetheart, overhears Sinclair threaten McCloud, and she rides through a storm to warn him; Smith, with the aid of Bill Dancing, tracks down Sinclair and his men, and Bill kills the villain. Dicksie and McCloud marry and take Marion under their protection.
Whispering Smith
1926
8.0New Yorker John Holmes, who has made a fortune on Wall Street, receives an urgent message to go West because a California gold mine in which he has invested may be lost due to the larceny of his foreman. Once in California, he meets Dolores Verdiego, who became an innocent victim of the foreman and his gang when she was coerced into making a false ownership claim on the mine from an old charter.
Duped
1925
Vincent Barton, the son of the vice-president of a railroad company, takes a job as the depot agent at Bynes. He fires one of Tony Sharkey's henchmen, scheming against the railroad, and, as a result, a fight takes place and a switching order is overlooked which nearly results in a major wreck. Realizing the situation at Hynes, Helen Barton, Vincent's sister, dashes to Hynes in her roadster and puts together a severed telegraph wire to put the station back in communications with headquarters. Meanwhile, Helen's sweetheart, Tom Lawson, is fighting with Sharkey in a run-away engine and it is headed for an open bridge over a river.
Mistaken Orders
1925
9.0Helen Webb (Helen Holmes) is willfully wooed by a man with a mysterious past (Bruce Gordon) who joins her father's line as a new engineer. Helen hops aboard his locomotive just as more about his past is uncovered.
Webs of Steel
1925
8.0Two men in love with the same girl race to save her when she is trapped aboard a ship on fire in storm-swept seas.
Stormy Seas
1923
10.0A US Army officer is sent undercover into the hills of Mexico's Baja California region to find and bring down the madman Crando and his group of crazed followers, who are setting up their own criminal empire spreading from Mexico into the United States.
Hills of Missing Men
1922
9.0When a woman who belongs to a bootlegging gang asks the gang for help when her father is arrested, they refuse. She quits the gang, but the gang's leader locks her up in a brothel. She escapes and hides in the apartment of a man who turns out to be the chief of the government agents pursuing her gang. Complications ensue.
Barriers of the Law
1925
7.5A section boss for the railroad sets out to catch a gang of thieves who have been stealing ore shipments from his company's trains.
Perils of the Rail
1926
7.0Wyoming cattleman Laramie Lad takes a vacation by visiting an old friend who runs a summer resort, but before he can relax, he meets Jane Sheridan and her father, Al Sheridan, who are fighting off a group of swindlers who want the old man's mining property.
The Lone Hand
1922
9.0Kidnapping and marital reconciliation drive this action film set on a millionaire's private train.
The Lost Express
1926
1920 American silent serial.
The Tiger Band
1920
1910s · 42 titles
NRWhispering Smith is a virile, fearless type of the true American whoso theory of life is to give every man a chance to show what is in him. There is nothing of the bully or braggart about him. He is only a man who knows instinctively what is right and never falters in his steps to see that justice is given where it is deserved and crime punished on the same basis. Originally shot as a serial to be called "Whispering Smith", distributor Mutual Films decided to release it as two separate films - this film, which was released first, and Medicine Bend (1916).
Whispering Smith
1916
NR15-episode serial directed by Paul Hurst and J.P. McGowan.
A Lass of the Lumberlands
1916
NRDown 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. Rankin, Dalmore and Dougherty escape from prison. The men attempt to enter the Hobart Tower, but Helen, seizing a revolver, baffles them.
The Fast Mail's Danger
1915
NRConfronting 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 getaway, the crooks accidentally upset a lantern and set the tower afire. Helen, by picking the lock in the door with a hairpin, barely escapes death in the flames.
A Test of Courage
1915
10.0With ruin staring him in the face, Manning, of Manning and Company, commits a theft which averts the crash. The scoundrel cleverly contrives to throw suspicion upon Reynolds, an old and faithful employee. Reynolds receives a three-year sentence. Beatrice, the daughter of Manning's victim, believes in her father's innocence. Led to believe Manning the real cause of her father's tribulations, Beatrice vows to wreak vengeance upon the scoundrel.
His Nemesis
1914
NRWhispering Smith, a railroad detective, is sent to Medicine Bend to suppress the looting of cars.
Medicine Bend
1916
8.0When some pranksters pour red pepper on a new groom's bouquet, the wedding becomes a hijinks factory.
On His Wedding Day
1913
NRAfter 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, learns of the robbery. Never suspecting that the crooks are headed for the station, the girl is taken by surprise when Newton and his pal hold her up.
A Girl's Grit
1915
8.0It shows how a scheming bank employee manages to get an alibi and fix the guilt of his theft on the assistant cashier.
The Flaw in the Alibi
1914
NRWhen 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 engine, and pursues the tappers, who are in a gasoline speeder. She eventually rescues Henry and captures Noyes, the head of the gang, who is then placed under arrest.
A Railroader's Bravery
1915
NRIrrepressible Helen Rhinelander, the daughter of a railroad president. A dastardly villain, Segrue, however, desires not only Helen but also the plans for a new railroad. Happily, Helen's childhood sweetheart, Paul Storm, now an engineer, is right there to protect the damsel-in-distress through the serial's 15 exciting chapters.
The Girl and the Game
1915
NRHelen 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 gets loose, and leaps to the ground from the speeding train. The crooks are captured, Helen's pluck wins Billy's heart, but, as usual, she refuses, with an eye on next week's adventure.
The Flying Freight's Captive
1914
NRJim, 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 him inside. Before Helen can sidetrack the runaway, it shoots off the track at Elbow curve, overturning as it topples down the embankment. Helen smashes a hole through the side, braves the flames, crawls into the car, rescues Jim and drags him to safety. But her heroism is too late; Jim dies in her arms.
The Box Car Trap
1915
NRThe Hazards of Helen is an American melodramatic adventure film serial of 119 twelve-minute episodes released between November 7, 1914 and February 24, 1917. Most episodes of this serial are presumed lost.
The Hazards of Helen
1917
5.8Two 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 yards, Helen sees the two bandits aboard an outgoing freight and drops onto the roof of the car from above as it crosses underneath. A chase along the roofs of the speeding cars ensues.
The Hazards of Helen: Episode13, The Escape on the Fast Freight
1915
NRHelen 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 yeggmen escape aboard a passing freight with Helen, who has leaped upon the caboose, in hot pursuit, along with the trainmen.
The Girl at Lone Point
1915
NRTwo rival mountain clans that have been feuding for years begin a new battle over the moonshine whiskey trade. A young man and a girl from each of the different clans try to end the feud, and wind up falling for each other.
Judith of the Cumberlands
1916
NRA 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, climbs aboard a freight car which coasts down a steep grade near the trestle. As it nears the structure, she applies the brakes, leaps to the ground, crawls across the burning trestle
The Girl on the Trestle
1915
6.0Helen, 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 track to warn the passengers of their imminent peril. Nearing a river trestle under repair, she hurtles into the river; undaunted, she swims to the opposite bank and flags down the excursion train in the nick of time, causing the engineer to run his train onto a siding just a few moments before the runaway dashes by.
The Hazards of Helen Ep26: The Wild Engine
1915
7.0Helen is operator at Bells. Jerry McGuire, engineer on the local freight, and Tom Thornton, his fireman, are both rivals for the hand of the girl. Jerry is preferred and Tom tries to get Jerry to take to liquor again, a habit that he has overcome. Tom is unsuccessful.
The Mettle of Jerry McGuire
1915
NRWhen 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 Black Diamond Express
1914
NRDawson, 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 stares, knowing that trouble would instantly result, if she reported the matter to Star. The following day, Dawson approaches the girl telegrapher and, seizing her in his arms, kisses her.
A Matter of Seconds
1915
NRBlake, 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 daughter, who has ventured onto the tracks of the oncoming Elwood Express, and just in the nick of time, grasps the girl off the tracks, but in so doing, must leap off a trestle into a river thirty feet below
The Girl Telegrapher's Peril
1915
NRIn 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 two men who are seeking Helen's favor, but to whom she has remained impartial.
The Plot at the Railroad Cut
1914
NRHelen, the telegrapher at Downing Junction, receives word that an engineer has been accidentally shot by a partridge hunter, and the runaway train will collide with the Eastbound Express. Helen jumps onto a nearby standing locomotive, opens it up full throttle, catches up the Express, warns the engineer of the impending danger
The Girl at the Throttle
1914
Blake, fireman of a light engine, receives a message that his wife is dangerously ill. Benton, his engineer, allows Blake to catch an eastbound passenger train. A hunter shooting as the light engine is passing, wounds Benton who drops unconscious. The sportsman reports the accident. Helen, a telegrapher, receives word of the runaway train. Climbing into the cab of a locomotive in a siding, Helen jerks the throttle wide open. The engine rushes after the endangered express. Discovering his train is being pursued, the conductor of the Eastbound Express gives the signal to stop. Helen slows her engine down and tells of the danger. While the Eastbound locomotive goes to meet the runaway, Helen's engine draws the cars to safety. The runaway is halted in the nick of time. Helen's superb heroism results in her being showered with offers of marriage. But she enjoys her hazardous adventure too much to marry anyone yet. —Moving Picture World synopsis
The Hazards of Helen: Episode 3 - The Girl at the Throttle
1914
The old sheriff dies. In jest, the mountaineers nominate Kaintucky Bill, the worst moonshiner in the state, for the office. Considering it a huge joke, Kaintucky Bill takes the oath of office.
Kaintucky Bill
1914
NRWhen 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. This temporarily blocks the rival road's plan, but only until its force of men has been strengthened.
The Girl on the Engine
1915
NRLockwood, 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 War flashback sequences consist of archive footage from Kalem's Railroad Raiders of '62 (1911), rather than newly filmed footage.
The Railroad Raiders of '62
1915
5.0Helen 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 train in time to avert a collision of two trains.
In Danger's Path
1915
NRBorden, who nurses a secret grievance against Helen, awaits an opportunity for revenge. The girl telegrapher receives a message which informs her that the freight of which Easton is conductor, is to wait at Workman until the Fast Mail passes.
Train Order Number Forty-Five
1915
NRBrandt, 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 calling for help, binds and gags her, and boards the outgoing Limited. Freed by Detective Sheridan, the two of them get into a gasoline speeder standing on the sidetrack and pursue the Limited.
The Escape on the Limited
1914
NRRand, 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 Hill to Lone Point the following day. Learning of the impending peril, Helen dashes to a water tower under which the train must pass, climbs out on the spout, leaps onto the roof of one of the cars, and warns the engineer in time. Helen's heroism wins her another offer of marriage, this time from Wadsworth, the freight engineer, but once again she opts for next weeks hazards instead.
The Leap from the Water Tower
1915
NRA train that is carrying the formula for a valuable form of granulated gasoline disappears before it reaches its destination. Railroad investigators and the authorities try to determine where it is and who took it.
The Lost Express
1917
NRDan Oakley becomes a railroad manager and his attempt to slash expenses by layoffs and lengthening hours incurs the workers' wrath. With the help of Griffith Ryder, labor leader and newspaper editor, they call a strike. The water main which supplies the railroad yards is cut, and a hot engine starts a fire. With water unavailable, the fire spreads to town, but through his superhuman efforts, Oakley gets it under control. His heroic moves win favor with the workers, and the strike is history.
The Manager of the B & A
1916
NRUpon 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 watch for traffic of this nature.
A Deed of Daring
1915
In this film Helen Holmes was clearly rehearsing for the role that brought to her fame and recognition in a serial that started getting released two months later. She became the audacious star of "The Hazards of Helen", acting as the heroine of numerous railroad adventures.
The Car of Death
1914
NRThe smashed corner of a trunk containing counterfeiting paraphernalia reveals to Helen that there is treachery afoot at Lone Point. Detectives capture two of the trio, but one of them gets away, pursued by Helen, across a high railroad trestle. Seventh of the "Hazards of Helen" Railroad Series.
The Death Train
1915
7.0A piece of lumber projecting from the side of a freight car picks up the mail sack hanging from the crane at Bell Station. Two hobos find the sack and rifle the contents. Morrison, postmaster at Bell, has been systematically robbing the mails and benefits by the mail sack's disappearance. Mary Gates, daughter of an engineer, supplies the Post Office inspectors with the first clue. The detectives blunder, however, and arrest Billy, Mary's sweetheart. Chance leads them on the trail of the tramps. The hobos are arrested after a desperate battle. Later, as the result of Mary's clever work, Morrison is brought to bay, while Billy wins his freedom.
The Lost Mail Sack
1914
NRA 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, eventually exposing the unscrupulous villain.
The Girl Engineer
1915
NRSharky, 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 engine, and, when nearing Lone Point, the water tank runs dry. Helen comes to the rescue by mounting the new gasoline speeder and starting off with the mail for the end of the run.
A Race for a Crossing
1915
NRA 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 the cab of a locomotive standing on a siding and takes up the chase.
The Stolen Engine
1914
Behind the camera
6.0Helen, 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 track to warn the passengers of their imminent peril. Nearing a river trestle under repair, she hurtles into the river; undaunted, she swims to the opposite bank and flags down the excursion train in the nick of time, causing the engineer to run his train onto a siding just a few moments before the runaway dashes by.
The Hazards of Helen Ep26: The Wild Engine
1915
NRRand, 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 Hill to Lone Point the following day. Learning of the impending peril, Helen dashes to a water tower under which the train must pass, climbs out on the spout, leaps onto the roof of one of the cars, and warns the engineer in time. Helen's heroism wins her another offer of marriage, this time from Wadsworth, the freight engineer, but once again she opts for next weeks hazards instead.
The Leap from the Water Tower
1915
1920 American silent serial.
The Tiger Band
1920
NRA silent movie serial now lost. CHAPTER TITLES: 1. Circumstantial Evidence; 2. A Double Steal; 3. Inside Treachery; 4. A Race for a Fortune; 5. A Woman's Wit; 6. The Overland Disaster; 7. Mistaken Identity; 8. A Knotted Cord; 9. A Leap for Life; 10. A Watery Grave; 11. A Desperate Deed; 12. A Fight for a Franchise; 13. The Road Wrecker; 14. The Trap; 15. The Mystery of the Counterfeit Tickets.
The Railroad Raiders
1917

