A Christmas Past - Silent-era Holiday Films

 

By Steve D. Stones

This Kino Video DVD collection of 10 short silent era Christmas holiday films is an interesting treat, considering that most of the films are over 100 years old. The films really communicate a sense of what life was like at the beginning of the 20^th century in the early days of the age of automobiles and the airplane. The collection of films dates from 1901 to 1925.

On this DVD set is included the nine films – A Holiday Pageant At Home (1901), A Winter Straw Ride (1906), A Trap For Santa (1909), A Christmas Accident (1912), The Adventure of The Wrong Santa Claus – An Adventure of Octavius, Amateur Detective (1914), Santa Claus vs. Cupid (1915), Santa Claus (1925), A Christmas Carol (1910) and The Night Before Christmas (1905). Most of the films run less than 20 minutes long.

A Winter Straw Ride (1906). A group of young, playful girls climbs on board a horse sleigh for a casual ride through the snow. The girls are happy and giddy, even when they encounter a group of young boys who throw snowballs at them as they pass on a road. The sleigh eventually gets stuck in the snow and overturns, dumping all the girls out into the deep snow. The girls attack a middle-aged man and smear snow in his face. Running through the snow, the girls throw snowballs at each other. Everyone appears to be having lots of fun in this short film. You'll be reminded of those winter days of the past playing out in the snow with your childhood friends when you see this film.

A Trap For Santa (1909). This short film opens with the text on screen: No Work For Father. Misery And Want – The Family's Lot. A hardworking father and husband is out of work, unable to make a living for his family. It's Christmas time, and the father is greatly depressed that he cannot provide a good Christmas for his family during this time that is supposed to be cheerful and merry. The father spends his time at the local bar drinking his problems away. One day he leaves his house for good and places a note under the door to his wife and children saying that they would all be better off without him. His wife later receives a letter in the mail that she has inherited a moderate fortune from her deceased aunt's estate.

On Christmas Eve, the children set a trap for Santa by placing a tight wire wrapped around a chair next to the Christmas tree that leads to their bedroom. Their depressed father climbs through a window to get into the house. The mother suggests that he dress up as Santa and give the children gifts that she has purchased from her estate inheritance. Dressed as Santa, the father distributes the gifts to the children, and the whole family is happy for Christmas.

The Adventure of The Wrong Santa Claus (An Adventure of Octavius – Amateur Detective) (1914). A man named Octavius receives an invitation to play Santa Claus in the Randall family home in Oakville. He packs a Santa suit in a suitcase and travels to the Randall home. After having dinner with the Randall family, Octavius goes upstairs to get into his Santa suit. While putting on the suit, a burglar enters the Randall home, knocks out Octavius unconscious and locks him in a bedroom. The burglar puts on a different Santa suit and goes downstairs to steal gifts from under the Christmas tree. Mrs. Randall finds Octavius knocked out in the locked bedroom. Octavius chases the burglar down the street as they are both still dressed as Santa. After chasing the burglar on board a moving train, Octavius is finally able to confront the burglar at a street corner news stand and have him arrested. The Randall family gets their basket of gifts back for Christmas. Octavius falls in love with the oldest daughter of the Randall family.

Santa Claus (1925). I consider this film to be the best in the entire set. It is also the longest film – running at 28 minutes. The opening title tells the viewer that this is a fantasy filmed in Northern Alaska. Children sleeping in their beds on Christmas Eve awaken to sneak downstairs to the home Christmas tree to wait for the arrival of Santa. They want to ask Santa what he does when it's not Christmas.

When Santa arrives, the children sit on his knees and he tells them that he lives in the Land of Winter near the Polar Sea. He tells them his home is guarded by goblins of the deep, which are sea lions. A polar bear patrols the land and sometimes Layluk, the northern wind, comes howling from ice caves to Santa's ice castle. On nights like these, Santa hurries back to his ice castle to help his elves and gnomes work on Christmas toys. He also tells the children that he cares for reindeer during the entire year. He even occasionally drinks reindeer milk.

Once a year, Santa meets with the Easter bunny to tell him which girls and boys deserve the prettiest Easter baskets at Easter. He watches children all over the world in his giant telescope. He also keeps a record book of all children to record their behaviors and what gifts they want at Christmas.

Santa also meets with Jack Frost, who he considers to be the greatest artist in the world. Here we see a man dressed in a white snow suit with a magic wand with a star wave his wand across snow to create beautiful ice crystals. 

The scenes of Santa's workshop and all the toys being made are some of the most amazing scenes in the film. Santa meeting with Eskimos before Christmas, and entering their homes on Christmas Eve to bring toys for Eskimo children are also some of the interesting highlights of this film. Santa's sleigh even overturns in the deep snow, showing the viewer some of his challenges of getting toys to children on Christmas. Santa loves his job so much that he overcomes these challenges.

This Holiday Season, consider viewing some silent era holiday films that take you back to the early days of the 20^th century. These films may not be big-budget, Hollywood-produced films with famous directors and great cinematography, but they capture an interesting moment in time that communicates what Christmas time was like over 100 years ago. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Hell’s Highway-The True Story of Highway Safety Films

By Steve D. Stones

I was perhaps the only teenager on the face of the planet who never had a desire to obtain a driver’s license or purchase a car. I spent my teen years riding my skateboard with my friends, so my skateboard was my main mode of transportation, as far as I was concerned.

When I did enter into driver’s ed classes, I was a nervous wreck. It didn’t help matters that I had heard rumors in school of violent traffic accident films that were to be shown in class. I don’t remember seeing any violent car crash films in driver’s ed class, but the anticipation of seeing them overwhelmed me.

Fast forward some twenty-two years later and I discover that Kino Video has released a two disc DVD entitled Hell’s Highway-The True Story of Highway Safety Films. Now I could finally find out what all the hype was about when I was in High School.

The first DVD in the set is an hour and a half documentary of how highway safety films began. The documentary interviews many of the people involved in making the films, such as John P. Butler, former chief of police in Mansfield, Ohio, Earle J. Deems, producer of the films and John R. Domer, photographer for the Highway Safety Foundation. The entire documentary shows graphically violent excerpts from many of the Highway Safety Foundation’s films, such as Signal 30, Highways of Agony, Mechanized Death and Wheels of Tragedy.

Clips shown from these films are like watching an illegal snuff film. They are not for the weak of heart. A dead elderly couple is pulled from a wrecked car, their bodies burned beyond recognition. Another clip shows a teenage girl leaning out a car door, her broken jaw and face covered in blood. A crushed baby is shown in another clip.

Unlike a snuff film, these clips of actual highway accidents are packed with voice over narration that is deadly serious, yet very dry and monotone. I’m not sure how effective these films would have been to teenagers viewing them in the 1950s and 60s, but I think it’s safe to say that teens of today feel they are much more invincible to death and are desensitized to violence. These films today serve as a source of kitsch and campy entertainment from a bygone era.

The second disc in the set is packed with short excerpts from other shocking classroom scare films, such as Carrier Or Killer, The Third Killer and Death On The Highway. Three complete driver’s ed shorts are also included on the DVD. Mike Vraney from Something Weird Video in
Seattle offers his views on these films in the main documentary. Vraney and his company sell many of these driver’s ed films. Remember to buckle up the next time you go for a drive. Believe me, you’ll want to after watching this documentary.