For many movie buffs, December is a time to watch as many classic Christmas films as possible. Though today Christmas movies are all over the place, even with TV channels like Hallmark showing nothing but Christmas movies starting in October (and liberally sprinkling them throughout the rest of the year), during the silent era Christmas films were not anywhere near as common and most of these films were shorts with very few feature length Christmas movies. Yet when you do some digging through the silent era, you will discover some real Christmas gems hidden in there. This month, I want to showcase one of my favorite silent era Christmas movies, a delightful short, Santa Claus.
The very premise of this movie is very charming. Two kids stay up late on Christmas Eve to try to see Santa Claus for themselves. When they see him, they ask him the age-old question of what Santa does when it is not Christmas time.
An opening title states, “A fantasy actually filmed in northern Alaska.” This lets us know just what sort of film we are going to watch. This movie is a delightful mixture of Christmas fantasy and documentary footage. The use of combining these two elements is excellent. For instance, as Santa starts telling the kids about his home life, he describes the area in which he lives resulting in some breathtaking footage of not only Alaska but the animals who live there. To then go from this documentary footage to seeing Santa in his workshop helps make the fantasy scenes feel more real because the atmosphere surrounding it has been so beautifully set up. This is excellent filmmaking for what could have been a cheaply made and corny film. There is also the simple fact that the documentary footage is so great. Even if the fantasy elements didn't work (which they do), this documentary footage would be more than enough reason to watch this film. Yet at the same time this movie is a Christmas fantasy and knows to truly play up this fantasy aspect. This is done excellently. I love the scenes involving the elves in workshop, the scenes involving Jack Frost and the little moment where the fairies dance for Santa, all of which have a distinct charm to them. However, the fantasy scenes that really stand out are the ones where the reindeer are pulling Santa's sleigh. I can't say anything more about those scenes than that are simply magical. Yet the framing scenes involving the kids and Santa are delightful themselves. The early scenes of the kids trying to stay up to see Santa Claus are something that anyone who has ever been a kid can relate to, and something that will bring a smile to every child at heart. This film may be really corny in some spots, but this hardly takes away from the magic of the movie.
The Film Daily, 1925
Amateur Movie Makers, 1927
Though it may seem unthinkable to audiences used to the long list of credits we have today, one problem with writing about silent film history is the lack of credits on many silent movies. The only people who receive credit for this movie are "Mr. and Mrs. F.E. Kleinschmidt." Frank E. Kleinschmidt was an artic explorer, who had already made some documentaries on the locations he explored including, The Arctic–Siberian Expedition (1912) and Captain F.E. Kleinschmidt’s Arctic Hunt (1914). His films were highly praised for their incredible photography of such locations most of us will never see outside of a cinema (or TV or computer screen in today's case). His wife, who shares a credit with him, was a fearless woman who went along with her husband on these expositions and was believed to have helped her husband with the making of the films as well.
The following is from a 1925 issue of The Film Daily.
"Of this Capt. Kleinschmidt says:
"'This is the best and most successful picture I have ever produced in the North. Two hundred prints are already on the road. If it were not for the too close approach of Christmas to cover all the territory in the United States, we do not know where we would wind up.
"'Curiously enough I started this picture in Alaska and finished the interiors here in New York with the greatest of misgivings; in fact, I was on the verge of dropping it many times because the wise-acres in the film industry pointed out the fact that it was a short seasonal picture, could be run only at Christmas time and the result would be the prohibitive price for print and profit the exhibitor would have to pay.
"'To these wise-acres I can know say that I have booked this two-reel picture for as high as $800 for a single print and have already prosects of many bookings for next year when I will be able to furnish the small exhibitor next year with the print I am using in the first run houses this year.'"
The following is an article from a 1927 issue of Moving Picture World.
"H.M. Addison, of Binghamton, N.Y. has been working the baby contest in a big way at the Symphony Theatre. Working under the usual arrangements, a local photographer shot 729 babies, of which 654 turned out well enough to be entered.
"These were shown at the rate of 50 a day, once in the afternoon and again in the evening. Postcards were sent the parent notifying them when the child was to be screened that they might rally their friends.
"Working with the Kleinschmidt picture of Santa Claus, Mr. Addison made a special clean-up with a four-column cut and a two-column story on the front page of the second section of the local paper and a single column follow story.
"These announced the personal appearance of Santa Claus at the three local houses. There was an extra performance at the Symphony Theatre in Binghamton under the auspices of 'Ned Jr. and Raymond,' Ned being the seven year old son of Ned Kornblite and Raymond the three year old child of Davis Cohen, heads of the Binghamton theatres.
"This was held on the Saturday before Christmas and the pictures of the children made for the baby contest were shown in addition to the film. This was in the nature of a treat to the youngsters and admission was only 15 cents.
"This film was regularly shown at three other houses of the circuit and a Santa Claus distributed gifts to the children."
The following is a review from The Exhibitor's Trade Review.
"This is a Christmas novelty that won't fail of appeal to the kiddies. The idea is novel, and the far north background faithful to the locals represented. Capt. Kleinschmidt has shot these scenes in the most northerly parts accessible by camera exposition, and this fact is graphically borne out by the hugs ice floes, the schools of porpoises, polar bears and reindeers that figure in the close-ups. The story of Santa Claus is presented with naive human interest that will undoubtedly bring glee and good cheer to the hearts of children."
The following is from a 1929 issue of Exhibitor's Herald World.
"Ray Grombacher, president of the chain bearing his name, is in a splendid tieup with Spokane Press, a tieup that is notable because the newspaper stories are written in a form that preserves the Santa Claus illusion for the child readers of the paper. A two-column story on the first page of the issue announcing that 'Santa Claus explores are ready to hop northward' reads in part:
"'Winging its way across country to New York City, Nick Mamer's plane is hurrying to Long Island airfield to join with Captain F.E. Kleinschmidt in his great Spokane Press Exploration trip to the North Pole to find Santa Claus. With the exposition will go a cameraman from Liberty theatre sent by Ray Grombacher, owner of the Liberty, so that the children of Spokane can see the movies of the great event on the return of the expedition...
"'Various Spokane merchants have joined in supplying the expedition.'
"Exhibitors are all aware of course that Capt. Kleinschmidt makes pictures especially for Christmas distribution."
Exhibitors Herald, 1926
For anyone interested in watching this delightful film, it can easily be found on YouTube.
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