The First On-Set Movie Death Was From Quicksand

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BogDog
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The First On-Set Movie Death Was From Quicksand

Postby BogDog » Tue Nov 08, 2022 5:58 pm

The First On-Set Movie Death Was From Quicksand
Feb 1, 2022 Madeline Hiltz
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2022/02/ ... ?firefox=1

Surprisingly, there is a good reason why so many movies showcase the dangers of quicksand. In 1914, the first on-set movie death occurred when actress Grace McHugh and camera operator Owen Carter drowned in quicksand. Since this accident occurred, quicksand has been presented as a significant threat in Hollywood movies.

Aspiring actress Grace McHugh was 26 years old when she was cast in the silent film, Across the Border. Today, the movie is best remembered for the two tragic deaths that occurred while filming was underway.

McHugh and Owen Carter drowned in the Arkansas River at Canon City, Colorado, on July 1, 1914, while filming Across the Border. According to an article in The Colorado Transcript on July 2, 1914, McHugh was filming a scene in a boat when suddenly the boat capsized. Carter jumped into the river and brought her to a sandbar without hesitation.

All seemed to be okay until the pair suddenly sank from view, getting sucked down by quicksand. The rest of the crew watched in horror as the two disappeared from their sight. Owen Carter’s body was found five days after the tragedy. Grace McHugh’s body was missing for a total of 12 days and was eventually found nine miles away from the scene.
The movie was released one month later

After the accident, Owen Carter posthumously received the Carnegie Hero Award for his rescue efforts. Movie director Otis B. Thayer told investigators that Carter swam out to help McHugh “of his own free will and without any suggestion from myself or anyone else.”

Despite the deaths of two individuals working on the film, the movie was released in August 1914. Instead of being respectful to those who lost their lives while filming the movie, articles and advertisements emphasized the film’s real-life drama. They attempted to capitalize on McHugh’s death while not even mentioning Carter. For example, one paper described the movie as “the greatest of Mexican War features in which Miss Grace McHugh the beautiful and daring leading lady lost her life.”



Some sites just say she drowned, but here is a newspaper clipping also mentioning QS: https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers. ... ---0------
"Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid." - John Wayne

jagfiles
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Re: The First On-Set Movie Death Was From Quicksand

Postby jagfiles » Wed Nov 09, 2022 3:47 am

Good article. I've heard about the incident before.
I've seen reference that she was younger than what was said according to the IMDB. (just passive observation)

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BogDog
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Re: The First On-Set Movie Death Was From Quicksand

Postby BogDog » Wed Nov 09, 2022 5:10 am

I've also seen mention that she was crossing on a horse, but if there is quicksand there then I kind of doubt it. The boat is mentioned more often.
"Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid." - John Wayne

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mudxdresser
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Re: The First On-Set Movie Death Was From Quicksand

Postby mudxdresser » Wed Nov 09, 2022 3:59 pm

Note that what is most likely to have happened is simply that when being swept down river, she reached a sandbar that was quicksand and wouldn't support weight sufficiently to be of use in pulling one's self out of the water. The Arkansas River would be flowing rather fast near Canon City and so all that happened is that the river simply washed away the disturbed quicksand which in turn provided nothing to hold on to and so she simply continued to be swept down river. I've seen more than a few quicksand bars while boating on rivers that behave this way.,,

Whenever this event is mentioned, it is usually not long before the locomotive that supposedly sank in quicksand out on the flats east of the Front Range of Colorado is brought up. Supposedly the locomotive sank and was never seen again. Once again, nice story but that is not what happened. Steam locomotives are really large carefully controlled rolling bombs and when they crash into water, they tend to blow up and unless a large object like a drive wheel survives intact, well, newspaper reporters know a good story when they see one and, yep, dear readers, that there locomotive just plumb vanished! A very similar train wreck happened back in the late 1880's or so near where I lived and supposedly was buried in the quicksands of the creek but a hundred years later, an intact drive wheel was found at least a quarter of a mile away when they were putting in a golf course...


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