The early days of film were a wild frontier of experimentation, and with that came a string of terrible accidents that would later push the industry toward stricter safety standards.
Terrible Accidents in Early Film
10 Across The Border
One of the first recorded calamities on a movie set happened during the 1914 silent Western Across the Border. The picture starred Edmund Cobb, but it’s remembered for a tragic loss. Grace McHugh, a 26‑year‑old local actress from Golden, Colorado, was filming a river‑ford scene on the Arkansas River when her horse slipped and hurled her into the current.
Cinematographer Owen Carter dove in after her, hauling both to what seemed like a safe sandbar. Unfortunately, the sandbar was a quicksand pit, and the two quickly drowned. The production had already wrapped, so their work appeared in the final cut.
9 Such Men Are Dangerous
The 1930 drama Such Men Are Dangerous required aerial stunts over the Pacific, and the result was a deadly mid‑air collision. While filming a parachute jump off the Southern California coast, the wingtips of two Stinson Detroiter aircraft brushed together, sending both planes spiraling into each other.
The crash exploded, killing everyone aboard—including director Kenneth Hawks and two military pilots. Only five bodies were recovered out of the ten victims. The tragedy didn’t halt the movie’s release, but it underscored a grim fact: cameramen were dying at a rate four times higher than stunt performers.
8 The Warrens Of Virginia
The 1924 adaptation of The Warrens Of Virginia turned fatal when lead actress Martha Mansfield, only 24, was burned alive. During a break, she sat in the back seat of a car; a lit match tossed nearby ignited her ruffled hoop skirt.
Wilfred Lytell rushed to her aid, covering her with his overcoat, but the flames had already caused severe burns. Her chauffeur also suffered burns while trying to free her from the dress. Mansfield died less than a day later from her injuries and general toxemia.
7 The Valley Of The Giants
Wallace Reid’s brush with danger came while shooting the 1919 epic The Valley Of The Giants. A train crash in Oregon left him with a broken arm, a wounded back, and a head laceration that required six stitches.
To keep him working, the studio administered increasing doses of morphine for pain relief. Over time, Reid became addicted, and with no rehabilitation programs available, his health spiraled. He died in a sanitarium in 1923 at just 31.
That same year, actress Barbara La Marr suffered a similar fate after an ankle injury on Souls for Sale. Prescribed morphine and cocaine, she later battled nephritis, tuberculosis, and alcohol abuse, passing away three years later.
6 Haunted Spooks
Harold Lloyd, famed for his daring physical comedy, faced a real‑life explosion on the set of the 1920 comedy Haunted Spooks. While posing for a publicity shot, he believed he was handling a prop bomb with a lit fuse—only to discover it was live.
The bomb detonated in his hand, scorching his face, temporarily blinding him, and costing him the thumb and index finger of his right hand. Lloyd shrugged off the pain, calling it “considerable but trivial compared with my mental state,” and returned to filming in early 1920, sporting a glove fitted with artificial fingers.
5 The Charge Of The Light Brigade
When the 1936 epic The Charge Of The Light Brigade needed a dramatic cavalry charge, the filmmakers resorted to a “running W” trip‑wire that forced horses to stumble and fall. Filmed in Mexico to skirt animal‑rights scrutiny, the stunt caused a litany of injuries—broken legs, broken necks, and outright deaths.
Out of 125 horses tripped, at least 25 required euthanasia. The cruelty sparked the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to ban trip‑wire usage in movies, paving the way for the American Humane Association’s later oversight.
Even a human extra met a grisly end when he fell onto an upward‑bent prop sword that pierced his side.
4 The Viking
The 1931 production The Viking is remembered more for its catastrophic loss of life than its nautical footage. Director Varick Frissell, after a screening, decided the film needed sweeping shots of the Newfoundland Grand Banks, so he boarded the SS Viking with a small crew for a seal‑hunting expedition.
While trapped in ice near the Horse Islands on March 15, 1931, an explosion ripped through the vessel’s rear, killing at least 27 men. Survivors either trekked across the ice or were rescued by other ships. The tragedy didn’t stop the film’s release; an introductory segment with interviews turned the final product into both a visual record of the Labrador area and a tribute to those lost.
3 Noah’s Ark
Michael Curtiz’s ambitious 1928 biblical epic Noah’s Ark demanded an enormous flood scene that poured over 2.3 million liters (600,000 gallons) of water onto the set. The deluge proved disastrous for the crew.
Three extras drowned in the chaos, one extra suffered a leg injury so severe it required amputation, and 35 ambulances were dispatched to tend to broken limbs and other serious ailments. The incident helped spur the first wave of film‑safety legislation, echoing the earlier animal‑rights push sparked by The Charge Of The Light Brigade.
2 The General
Buster Keaton, the “Great Stone Face,” loved doing his own stunts, and the 1926 Civil‑War drama The General was his most hazardous playground. Real muskets and live explosives were used, injuring several National Guard extras.
Keaton himself was knocked unconscious when he stood too close to a live cannon. Assistant director Harry Barnes was grazed by a blank round, and train brakeman Fred A. Lowry had his foot crushed by a moving car wheel. Lowry sued Keaton for $2,900, blaming the altered, unsafe rolling stock.
1 The Wizard Of Oz
The 1939 classic The Wizard Of Oz dazzled audiences with Technicolor and special effects, yet its production was riddled with mishaps. Buddy Ebsen, originally cast as the Tin Man, inhaled aluminum dust from his makeup, leading to severe lung cramps and hospitalization. He survived but lived with lingering complications, later blaming “that damned movie.”
Margaret Hamilton, the Wicked Witch, suffered second‑degree burns on her face and third‑degree burns on her right hand when a real burst of fire shot up during a pyrotechnic escape scene. She required six weeks of recovery and returned only after securing a “no more fire work” guarantee.
Stunt double Betty Danko was scarred for life when her broomstick prop exploded during the sky‑writing sequence, and several flying‑monkey actors were injured when their wires snapped. Even Toto the dog wasn’t safe—an on‑set guard stepped on his leg, breaking it.