Today if you mention the Edison studio to most film buffs, they will associate it with very early pre-D.W. Griffith cinema, with films such as The Kiss, Fred Ott's Sneeze, The Great Train Robbery. However the Edison studio was still making films at the same time D.W. Griffith was making his mark at Biograph studios. Under the influence of what Biograph and Griffith were doing, the Edison films were becoming increasingly more sophisticated. The studio adopted many of the film making innovations Griffith was pioneering and made some of their best films during this period. With this being December I feel it is a good time to look at a Christmas-themed short from Edison at this time.
In this short a kindly family lives next door to a seemingly grumpy old man named Mr. Gliton (William Wadsworth) and his wife (Mrs. William Blechtel). The family is poor but happy and looking forward to Christmas. Mr. Gliton doesn't seem too happy about the upcoming holiday and remains his grumpy self, even getting into arguments with the family. Mr. Gliton orders roast beef but it is accidently given to the family next door. Mr. Gliton yells at the family for taking his roast beef. Soon things get worse for the old man as his dog dies. Again this causes an argument between him and the family. With their lack of money the parents of the family are sad they can't get the children much for Christmas. All this ends up leading to a heartwarming finale that never fails to make me smile.
What may immediately strike those only familiar with Edison's pre-Griffith films is the pure narrative sophistication here. This film incorporates a lot of different plot elements and works them all towards a perfectly constructed ending. Despite this film being over 100 years old there is nothing here to date it. It remains just as charming as it was when it was first released. The story is so beautifully put together and completely timeless that the short feels as if it could have been made yesterday. There is nothing primitive in the filmmaking here. Every second of film is used to its full and best advantage. The heartwarming ending is just as effective and moving now as it was then and I am sure it will bring a smile or perhaps even a tear to your eye.
This film was directed by Harold M. Shaw, who had just begun his film career earlier in 1912 with an Edison short called The Governor. Though he got his start at Edison, he would spend very little of his career there as by late 1913, he was directing shorts for London Film Co. Christmas Accident wasn't the only Christmas film Shaw made as in 1914 he directed one of the many film versions of A Christmas Carol for London Film Co. Around 1915, African Film Productions was looking for American talent for better distribution to American and British audiences. AFP found two directors to bring over with Harold M. Shaw and Lorrimer Johnston. This lead to Shaw directing what some consider to be South Africa's first feature film Der Voortrekkers released in 1916. He followed this with two more South American features with The Rose of Rhosida (in 1917) and Thoroughbreds All (released in 1919). His film career would end in 1924 and he would pass away in 1926. Because of this he never made a talkie. Though his work is little remarked upon today, he was a consistently good director and his films are still delightful to anyone willing to watch them. William Wadsworth, who played Mr. Gliton was an extremely prolific actor, who spent most of his career making shorts for Edison. Mrs. William Bechtel (born as Jennie Cecilia Ahlstrom), who played Mrs. Gliton was also very prolific (though not as prolific as Wadsworth), and also spent most of her career making short films for Edison.
-Michael J. Ruhland
Resources Used
https://thebioscope.net/2012/02/26/the-bioscope-guide-to-south-africa/
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