The Fiend at the Throttle

The Fiend at the Throttle

Part of The Hazards of Helen

1915

Thriller

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 train on the same track with a madman at the controls, leaps onto a handcar, which she crashes into the passenger train and thus stops it; she jumps onto the cowcatcher, and into the cab of the engine, where, after a hard struggle with the fiend, she manages to overcome him and sidetrack the passenger train thus preventing disaster.

Open in PickFlick

Production

Kalem Company

Language

EN

Status

Released

Release Date

Cast

Elsie MacLeod

Elsie MacLeod

Rita - a Telegraph Operator

John Burden

Hopkins - the Engineer

DeVore Palmer

Logan - Operator at Hobart

Philip Robson

A Substitute Engineer

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One Chance in a Hundred

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 celebrating in riotous fashion, and Brent in a crazed moment breaks into the station and attacks Helen. Her cries bring Warren, who trounces the bully.

One Chance in a Hundred

1916

The Capture of Red Stanley

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 the woods. The girls are set upon but they succeed by desperate riding in making their escape temporarily and, when danger seems near again, are saved by the approaching railroad detectives searching for the Stanley band. A running fight results in the capture of one of the band, but Stanley and his chief aide escape. Under cover of darkness, as Helen is working alone in the desolate station, the two enter and bind and gag her.

The Capture of Red Stanley

1916

The Spiked Switch

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 fireman, is suddenly taken with a weak spell and when the fireman becomes panic-stricken there is a scuffle which ends with the fireman thrown to the ground while the fast freight speeds on.

The Spiked Switch

1916

The Treasure Train

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 operator at Helen's station and tamper with the signals so that the treasure train stops, while the crew runs ahead to investigate, leaving Spencer alone to guard the treasure.

The Treasure Train

1916

A Race Through the Air

A Race Through the Air

The 84th film in the Hazards of Helen series

A Race Through the Air

1916

In Death's Pathway

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-worker, Guy Warren. Warren succeeds in putting through a scheme which results in Dick's discharge. The lovers plan to elope and enlist the aid of Helen. But Eleanor's father learns of the move and wires ahead to police officials to board her train and arrest her while he follows in his special. By a daring leap from a handcar to the train Helen succeeds in warning Eleanor of her peril, but is too late, and Helen and Dick are forced to stand idly by while Burkett starts on the return trip in his special, carefully guarding Eleanor.

In Death's Pathway

1916

The Mysterious Cipher

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 with a valuation of $40,000 on it. Blanding, the tool of Chilton and his partner, awaits at Lone Point a telegram giving the number of the car.

The Mysterious Cipher

1916

The Engineer's Honor

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 her accounts. Gypsy Joe, the real thief, gathers his followers to seek vengeance on the train crew for having thrown him off the train.

The Engineer's Honor

1916

To Save the Road

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 a liner quarantined in the bay, to the Capitol the day will be saved. The road superintendent takes a daring chance and aboard a motorboat succeeds in smuggling the Senator ashore and to a Western special which speeds off towards the Capitol of the neighboring State.

To Save the Road

1916

The Broken Brake

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 explosion that severely injures many of the men.

The Broken Brake

1916

A Plunge from the Sky

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 their scheme and are escaping in their automobile when it plunges over an embankment near Lone Point.

A Plunge from the Sky

1916

A Mystery of the Rails

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 rivals for the favor of Helen, with Tom in the lead. The latter, an engineer, is about to take his train out when he finds Gypsy Joe hiding in a boxcar.

A Mystery of the Rails

1916

Hurled Through the Drawbridge

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 Gordon, the owner of the Comet car, meets Naroche, a celebrated French driver, and engages him to pilot the racer.

Hurled Through the Drawbridge

1916

With the Aid of the Wrecker

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, but they follow him aboard the train the when he is alone on the observation platform they attack him, and a struggle ensues in which Greggs is finally thrown to the ground from the speeding train. Helen, riding through the hills in an auto, comes upon him before Joe and his pal can alight from the train, Greggs gives her the diamonds and tells her to speed away and rush help back to take care of his injuries.

With the Aid of the Wrecker

1916

At Danger's Call

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 grade, bearing the mischievous son of the superintendent.

At Danger's Call

1916

The Secret of the Box Car

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 warning has been sent down the line, they secrete their loot in a box car, and, after noting its number, alight and seek cover until after the pursuit has cooled.

The Secret of the Box Car

1916

Ablaze on the Rails

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 bring it to a stop and save them from almost certain death.

Ablaze on the Rails

1916

The Hoodoo of Division B

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, refuses to take the throttle and is discharged. Dick Benton, a young engineer, is induced to take the engine out and "kill this talk of a hoodoo."

The Hoodoo of Division B

1916

Defying Death

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 railroad over a franchise. At Lone Point he learns that by leaving the package to be picked up by the express it will reach the Governor sooner than he can bring it on the local.

Defying Death

1916

The Death Swing

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 wild down the tracks. Helen saves the day by climbing out on a wire stretching across the tracks and dropping to the speeding engine.

The Death Swing

1916

The Blocked Track

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 who had been wrongfully convicted on circumstantial evidence. Butler is soon to be released and Helen promises to aid him.

The Blocked Track

1916

To Save the Special

To Save the Special

Film 101 in the Hazards of Helen series

To Save the Special

1916

A Daring Chance

A Daring Chance

Film 102 in the Hazards of Helen series.

A Daring Chance

1916

The Lost Messenger

The Lost Messenger

Film 103 in the Hazards of Helen series

The Lost Messenger

1916

The Gate of Death

The Gate of Death

Film 104 in the Hazards of Helen series

The Gate of Death

1916

The Lone Point Mystery

The Lone Point Mystery

Film 105 in the Hazards of Helen series

The Lone Point Mystery

1916

The Runaway Sleeper

The Runaway Sleeper

Film 106 in the Hazards of Helen series

The Runaway Sleeper

1916

The Forgotten Train Order

The Forgotten Train Order

107th film in the Hazards of Helen series

The Forgotten Train Order

1916

The Trial Run

The Trial Run

Film 108 in the Hazards of Helen series

The Trial Run

1916

The Lineman's Peril

The Lineman's Peril

Film #109 in the Hazards of Helen series

The Lineman's Peril

1916

The Midnight Express

The Midnight Express

Film #110 in the Hazards of Helen series.

The Midnight Express

1916

The Vanishing Box Car

The Vanishing Box Car

Film 111 of the Hazards of Helen film series

The Vanishing Box Car

1916

A Race with Death

A Race with Death

Film #112 in the Hazards of Helen series.

A Race with Death

1916

The Mogul Mountain Mystery

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 mine. The contract finally falls to the road employing Morgan upon his promise to have cars in operation over an abandoned spur track within three weeks' time.

The Mogul Mountain Mystery

1917

The Fireman's Nemesis

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 freight. On his way home he stops at the station to tell Helen, the operator, of his good fortune. As Joe starts down the track towards home, Scarlotta, a member of a notorious vendetta that has marked Joe for death, shoots him from ambush. Helen sees Joe fall in the middle of the track and barely succeeds in dragging him to safety out of the path of the limited. Joe's wound is not serious and that night he takes his place as fireman on the freight. Determined to "get" Joe, Scarlotta visits the station where Helen is still at her key and after binding her and locking her in a closet, throws the switch so that the freight will collide with the cars on the siding.

The Fireman's Nemesis

1917

The Wrecked Station

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 changed ownership and that Stanton Grey accompanied by his daughter Edith, is on his way to Lone Point to inspect the property. Wayne is startled because he has gambled away the company's money and realizes that his books will not balance. Fortune appears to favor him when Grey is carried into the station unconscious as the result of an automobile accident. He extracts Grey's wallet from his pocket but Cole, the gambler, who has trailed Wayne gets a photograph of him in the act. With the photographic evidence, the gambler tries to blackmail Wayne.

The Wrecked Station

1917

The Railroad Claim Intrigue

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 his machines is hit by the train and the flagman is discharged because it appears that he has been negligent. Helen, the telegraph operatic, gets a day off and starts for the hills on horseback. She meets Duncan, a railroad detective sent to investigate the increasing number of crossing accidents.

The Railroad Claim Intrigue

1917

The Death Siding

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 caught.

The Death Siding

1917

The Prima Donna's Special

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 it for her. Recognizing in him a man whose skill points back to happier days, Helen encourages him to tell her his story, promising to get him the position of relief operator if he cares to accept it. Morley's story takes him back several years to the time when he gave up his position as an operator following the death of his wife. He has never seen his little daughter since turning her over to the care of a rich brother.

The Prima Donna's Special

1917

The Sidetracked Sleeper

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 be on the midnight express. He calls in Summers, a veteran brakeman on the passenger run and instructs him to watch over Mrs. Winslow and to sidetrack her sleeper if she requires medical attention.

The Sidetracked Sleeper

1917

The Hazards of Helen

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. Most episodes of this serial are presumed lost.

The Hazards of Helen

1917

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Black Widow

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The Lady Vanishes

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No Name on the Bullet

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When hired killer John Gant rides into Lordsburg, the town's folk become paranoid as each leading citizen has enemies capable of using the services of a professional killer for personal revenge.

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1959

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The Apology

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The Truth About Emanuel

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A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.

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Race with the Devil

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Two couples vacationing together in an R.V. from Texas to Colorado are terrorized after they witness a murder during a Satanic ritual.

Race with the Devil

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Indemnity

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A member of British Intelligence assumes a fictitious criminal identity and allows himself to be caught, imprisoned, and freed in order to infiltrate a spy organization and expose a traitor; only, someone finds him out and exposes him to the gang...

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The Shed

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The Quiller Memorandum

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After two British Secret Intelligence Service agents are murdered at the hands of a cryptic neo-Nazi group known as Phoenix, the suave agent Quiller is sent to Berlin to investigate.

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In this twisty thriller, a tennis coach at a tropical resort finds himself at the center of a missing persons mystery. Tom teaches tennis during the day and parties at night. When an enigmatic tourist arrives, Tom is unable to shake the feeling he has met her before. Tension and attraction grow, until her husband disappears, and the police suspect Tom.

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