J. Gunnis Davis

The spunky Helen (Helen Holmes) is our hero as a telegraph operator at a remote location along a railroad. She dashes to the rescue when a train engine goes out of control. (archive.org)

"The Open Track" is a short action film from a serial by the name of "The Hazards of Helen", featuring Helen Gibson. This is episode 63 from a total of 119 weekly one reel films produced by Kalem, showing just how popular this serial was in 1914-1917. The film is directed by James Davis from a story by Edward T. Matlack.

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-brake of the engine damaged, the engine itself full of steam and inaccessible, and the train speeding ahead on the wrong track.

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 how dangerous it was to act for silent film pioneers, especially for stuntmen and stuntwomen. There is a twist to the plot, and Helen Gibson not only has to save her governor from mortal danger, but also the life of somebody close to her, who has been sentenced to die without guilt.