"Barney Oldfield's Race for a Life" (1913)

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OUR DOCUMENTARY

We are proud to present to all silent film lovers our multiple award-winning documentary! In March 2015 it won the distinction "Award of Merit" at the San Francisco Film Awards. In May it won the Silver Award at the 2015 International Independent Film Awards. In September 2015 it won the Award of Recognition at the Accolade Global Film Competition. Of equal merit is the inclusion of the documentary in the Official Selection of the San Jose International Short Film Festival in October 2015. In December the documentary won the extremely prestigious Diamond Award at the 2015 California Film Awards. The amazing run of recognition for our documentary continued in 2016. In February it was included in the Official Selection of the Buffalo Niagara International Film Festival.

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Helen Holmes

Directed by            Mack Sennett
Produced by    Keystone Film Company
Starring Mack Sennett, Mabel Normand, Ford Sterling, Barney Oldfield, Helen Holmes
Cinematography    Lee Bartholomew, Walter Wright
Distributed by Mutual Film Corporation
Release date         June 3, 1913
Running time 13 min.
Country          United States
Language    Silent film, English intertitles

"Barney Oldfield's Race for a Life" is a short comedy directed by Mack Sennett. The film is included in our program to illustrate the contributions of our star Helen Holmes.

Barney Oldfield was the fastest auto racer in his time. In the film he chases an engine to rescue a girl chained to the tracks by an evil unsuccessful suitor.

The way Ford Sterling overplays the role of the villain makes one think that the film was conceived as a parody of contemporary melodramas.

This is one of the first roles of Helen Holmes, in which she plays a village beauty. She became the audacious star of "The Hazards of Helen" a year and a half later, acting as the heroine of numerous railroad adventures. She may have gotten inspiration from "Barney Oldfield's Race for a Life" and the race to save Mabel Normand.

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