''Smashing Barriers'' is a lost

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the ...

15-part 1919 American

film serial A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, gene ...

directed by and starring William Duncan. It was produced and distributed by the

Vitagraph Company of America Vitagraph Studios, also known as the Vitagraph Company of America, was a United States motion picture studio. It was founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York, as the American Vitagraph Company. By 1907 ...

. This serial was condensed down to a 6-reel feature and rereleased by Vitagraph in 1923 under the same title.

Cast

*William Duncan as Dan Stevens * Edith Johnson as Helen Cole *Walter Rodgers as Slicker Williams *George Stanley as John Stevens *Fred Darnton as Benjamin Cole *

Slim Cole Slim Cole (born Nathan Cole Hebert, and sometimes credited as King Cole) was an American actor and stuntman who appeared in a string of B-movie westerns during Hollywood's silent era. Biography Early years Slim was born in St. Louis, Miss ...

as Long Tom Brown * William McCall as Henry Marlin *Joe Ryan as Wirenail Hedges *Vincente Howard *

Dorothea Wolbert Dorothea Wolbert (April 12, 1874 – September 15, 1958) was an American film actress. She appeared in more than 140 films between 1916 and 1957. She appeared on the television series ''I Love Lucy'' (with her character named Dorothea Wolbe ...

Chapters

#The Test of Courage #The Plunge of Death #The Tree Hut of Torture #The Deed of a Devil #The Living Grave #Downward to Doom #The Fatal Plight #The Murder Car #The Dynamite Tree #Overpowered #The Den of Deviltry #Explosive Bullets #The Deadfall #Trapped Like Rats #The Human Chain (alternate title: "The Final Barrier")

Preservation status

*The complete original chapter serial is lost. An incomplete abridgement of the 1923 feature version survives with a private collector...Library of Congress Catalog

References

External links

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Lobby poster, color
*Better resolution version o
poster
1919 films Vitagraph Studios film serials Lost American adventure films American silent serial films American black-and-white films Silent American adventure films 1919 adventure films 1919 lost films English-language adventure films Films directed by William Duncan 1910s American films 1910s English-language films {{silent-adventure-film-stub