Barney Oldfield's Race for a Life

The scene is iconic in silent movies: a villain ties the heroine to rail tracks so an oncoming train can run over her. The first film to use the Victorian stage nail biter sequence was Keystone Studio's June 1913 "Barney Oldfield's Race For Life." The Keystone Cops try to save the woman, but not with the expected results.

There's a raging debate how often such a scene appeared in movies. Some say the track suspense sequence was a common occurrence, showing up in a number of silent films--many of them which are lost today. Others say it was rare, that the "woman-tied-to-tracks" thriller was hardly used at all.

The idea of such a dastardly act emerged from Victorian, late 1800's stage dramas, especially traveling troupe acts which used simple sound and light effects offstage to heighten the tension of a train approaching. Back then, however, it was usually the male hero of the play who was tied to the rails while the heroine would arrive breathlessly just in time to save the day.

One common comedic act that appears to be a first in ""Barney Oldfield's Race For Life" is the jealous villain, played by Keystone's Ford Sterling, dropping a huge object, this time a big hammer, accidentally on his foot, eliciting a howling scene of pain. Sterling was one of Keystone's "Big 4" comedians, which included Charlie Chaplin. When Chaplin was signed to Keystone by the end of 1913, he was asked to act just like Sterling, which irked the young stage comedian. They did both appeared together in two films in 1914. Sterling's movie career stretched throughout the talkies until 1936. He was an expert photographer, with some of his work exhibited in Paris' Louvre Museum.

And Barry Oldfield was a celebrity himself. He was the speed king of the early 1900's, holding several race car records, including the first to drive over 60 mph on a circular race track.

I'm sure most silent comedy buffs are familiar with this beloved chestnut, now available in Kino's "Slapstick Encyclopedia" collection, but even viewers unfamiliar with Keystone comedies are likely to get a kick out of it. 'Oldfield' pokes fun at conventions of stage melodrama that were considered hokey even in 1913, and the actors overplay with great vigor. Legendary producer Mack Sennett portrays the lovesick rube, and Mabel Normand flashes her big brown eyes at the camera, but it's Ford Sterling who makes the strongest impression. This may well have been Sterling's most memorably hammy performance, and he looks like he's having the time of his life: he struts, grimaces, and twirls his mustache, then summons his henchmen with a snap of his fingers, and they instantly appear. Sterling was the biggest male star on the Keystone lot before Chaplin arrived, usually in villainous or unsympathetic roles, and he gives this one everything's he's got. Our hero Barney Oldfield is the only one who underplays; he was a celebrity when this movie was made, a real-life race track star, back when those guys still wore goggles and scarves. Mr. Oldfield comes off as a rather bland, good-natured fellow surrounded by lunatics.

This is the kind of movie (much parodied in later days) where the villain, jilted by the girl, seeks vengeance by having her tied to the railroad tracks. The suspenseful finale features the frenetic Keystone Cops, a last minute rescue, and a surprise closing gag that is genuinely funny. As noted above, the melodramatic plotting would have been familiar to audiences of the time from stage plays, but the cinema itself was still such a novelty it all must have seemed new again, what with the added bonus of verisimilitude, i.e. real train tracks and a real train, enhanced with a bit of rudimentary cinematic trickery in the shot where Mabel is rescued, right in the nick of time. No wonder the actors threw themselves into the project with such gusto: it must have been thrilling to participate in something so new and exciting. That sense of exhilaration still comes across when we view this film today.

If you think you know silent comedy, this movie is probably what you're thinking of. Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand are in love, so villainous Ford Sterling abducts her and ties her to the railroad track, then steals a train to run her over. Fortunately, famed auto racer Barney Oldfield turns up. Mack and he race to save Mabel.

It's typical and atypical, a burlesque of stage melodrama and D. W. Griffith shorts that had a lot of resonance with contemporary audiences, with a great example of Keystone's superior editing -- look at the shot where Sennett and Oldfield drag Mabel from the tracks -- and Sterling, as usual, is hilarious, particularly with his final gag.

Barney Oldfield was like the Mario Andretti, Ricky Bobby or Dale Earnhardt of his day--a racing legend. However, today he's mostly forgotten despite his being the first man to achieve the amazingly fast speed of 60 miles per hour (fine...but at that time it WAS quite the achievement). As a result of his fame, he later went on to appear in a few films--and "Barney Oldfield's Race for Life" is one of them. It's a short comedy from Keystone starring Barney as well as the prolific Mabel Normand and Ford Sterling. Mabel is, as usual, the lady in distress and Sterling, as usual, is the Snidely Whiplash sort who kidnaps her and chains her to the railroad tracks. So, it's up to Oldfield and his partner to race to the rescue and get her before the train can cut her into pieces. Unfortunately, at the end the director had no idea what to do so Sterling just starts killing cops!! None of this (particularly the cop massacre) is funny but at least it had a couple nice stunts and driving sequences. Mostly of historical interest.

It was fun seeing the stars at work but the plot is a little ho-hum. The story is about a bad guy (Ford Sterling) who literally ties poor Mabel Normand to the railroad track and whether Mack Sennett and Barney Oldfield will reach her and rescue her before the speeding train hits her.

One scene with the train was pretty impressive and the audience reacted loudly. I just thought that the bad guy didn't have enough motivation for doing such a rotten thing to Mabel.