Run Time: 1 minute. Studio: George Albert Smith Films. Director: George Albert Smith. Producer: George Albert Smith. Main Cast: Laura Bayley.
As a movie buff whose favorite holiday is easily Christmas, I absolutely love Christmas movies. Like many of you I watch such established classics as It's a Wonderful Life (1947), Miracle on 34th Street (1947), White Christmas (1954) and A Christmas Story (1983) every single year. However sometimes I love to dig into the lesser-known Christmas films. This includes digging into the earliest Christmas films. While when talking about movie history, it is never a good idea to use the word first (as it will almost always turn out there is something earlier), Santa Claus is definitely one of the earliest Christmas films.
With a runtime of a little over a minute, the storyline is of course very simplistic. The film begins with two children peeking by the fireplace waiting for Santa to come down. The maid then rushes the kids off to bed. We then see Santa Claus up on top of the house. He comes down the chimney and gives the kids their gifts while they are sleeping. The kids then wake up and happily find their toys.
While this film may be very simple, it is by no means primitive. In fact, the filmmaking is incredibly sophisticated. In fact, this short still remains a real visual treat today. While again it is never a good idea to use the word first when talking about movie history, this is believed to be one of the earliest films to use parallel action on screen. This can be seen when the kids are asleep, and Santa is on the roof. With the use of double exposure and a pure black background for the kids' room, we see Santa going down the chimney on one side of the screen and the kids on the other. Not only is this done very well but the transition from Santa on top of the roof to Santa standing in the kids' bedroom is simply fantastic. The double exposed image of the house's roof instantly disappears when Santa's foot hits the ground and then we pretty much immediately see all of Santa in the room with the kids. The result is pure movie magic. If this short remains impressive today, it is hard to imagine what audiences back in 1898 felt. This film also, while brief, captures the magic of being a kid on Christmas Eve waiting for Santa to come. Watching this film not only brought back memories of this, but it made me feel like a kid a Christmas all over again. There is just some unexplainable warmth to the simplicity of the story and the magic of the images. Simply put this film feels like Christmas.
British filmmaker, George Albert Smith may not get enough attention today, but he is a true cinema pioneer. During his career, he directed hundreds of short films. A former hypnotist, he used the film medium to create a real sense of magic. With filmmaking techniques that were well ahead of their time, you can only imagine the type of awe that audiences felt watching his films back when they were new. Many of his early films were either fairy tale style fantasy, comedies or short adaptations of popular stories. As well as some early special effects that still hold up, Smith was also a pioneer when it came to editing and closeups. However, one of his most interesting parts of his movie career is that he invented Kinemacolor, the first successful movie coloring process. This coloring process ran from 1908 to 1915. When this process ended due to a patent suit by William Friese-Greene, Smith's movie career came to an end.
Laura Bayley who plays the maid was George Albert Smith's wife and appeared in quite a few of his films including A Kiss in the Tunnel (1899), Cinderella (1898) and Mary Jane's Mishap (1903). She directed the short film, Hey, Diddle Diddle, the Cat and the Fiddle (1902) and some people believe she may even have directed some films credited to her husband).
Santa Claus is not only a wonderful look at early movie history but is also still a delightful film today.
Resources Used
https://www.historyhit.com/culture/the-oldest-christmas-film-in-history/
As a movie buff whose favorite holiday is easily Christmas, I absolutely love Christmas movies. Like many of you I watch such established classics as It's a Wonderful Life (1947), Miracle on 34th Street (1947), White Christmas (1954) and A Christmas Story (1983) every single year. However sometimes I love to dig into the lesser-known Christmas films. This includes digging into the earliest Christmas films. While when talking about movie history, it is never a good idea to use the word first (as it will almost always turn out there is something earlier), Santa Claus is definitely one of the earliest Christmas films.
With a runtime of a little over a minute, the storyline is of course very simplistic. The film begins with two children peeking by the fireplace waiting for Santa to come down. The maid then rushes the kids off to bed. We then see Santa Claus up on top of the house. He comes down the chimney and gives the kids their gifts while they are sleeping. The kids then wake up and happily find their toys.
While this film may be very simple, it is by no means primitive. In fact, the filmmaking is incredibly sophisticated. In fact, this short still remains a real visual treat today. While again it is never a good idea to use the word first when talking about movie history, this is believed to be one of the earliest films to use parallel action on screen. This can be seen when the kids are asleep, and Santa is on the roof. With the use of double exposure and a pure black background for the kids' room, we see Santa going down the chimney on one side of the screen and the kids on the other. Not only is this done very well but the transition from Santa on top of the roof to Santa standing in the kids' bedroom is simply fantastic. The double exposed image of the house's roof instantly disappears when Santa's foot hits the ground and then we pretty much immediately see all of Santa in the room with the kids. The result is pure movie magic. If this short remains impressive today, it is hard to imagine what audiences back in 1898 felt. This film also, while brief, captures the magic of being a kid on Christmas Eve waiting for Santa to come. Watching this film not only brought back memories of this, but it made me feel like a kid a Christmas all over again. There is just some unexplainable warmth to the simplicity of the story and the magic of the images. Simply put this film feels like Christmas.
British filmmaker, George Albert Smith may not get enough attention today, but he is a true cinema pioneer. During his career, he directed hundreds of short films. A former hypnotist, he used the film medium to create a real sense of magic. With filmmaking techniques that were well ahead of their time, you can only imagine the type of awe that audiences felt watching his films back when they were new. Many of his early films were either fairy tale style fantasy, comedies or short adaptations of popular stories. As well as some early special effects that still hold up, Smith was also a pioneer when it came to editing and closeups. However, one of his most interesting parts of his movie career is that he invented Kinemacolor, the first successful movie coloring process. This coloring process ran from 1908 to 1915. When this process ended due to a patent suit by William Friese-Greene, Smith's movie career came to an end.
Laura Bayley who plays the maid was George Albert Smith's wife and appeared in quite a few of his films including A Kiss in the Tunnel (1899), Cinderella (1898) and Mary Jane's Mishap (1903). She directed the short film, Hey, Diddle Diddle, the Cat and the Fiddle (1902) and some people believe she may even have directed some films credited to her husband).
Santa Claus is not only a wonderful look at early movie history but is also still a delightful film today.
Resources Used
https://www.historyhit.com/culture/the-oldest-christmas-film-in-history/
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