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{{short description|1910 film by Barry O'Neil}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox film
{{Infobox film
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| image = The Actor's Children 1.jpg
| image = The Actor's Children 1.jpg
| caption = The Actor, his wife and the two children.
| caption = The Actor, his wife and the two children.
| director =
| director = [[Barry O'Neil]]
| producer = [[Thanhouser Company]]
| producer = [[Edwin Thanhouser]]
| writer = [[Lloyd Lonergan]]
| writer = [[Lloyd Lonergan]]
| narrator =
| narrator =
| starring = Orilla Smith<br> [[Yale Boss]]<br> [[Frank Hall Crane]]<br> [[Nicholas Jordan]]
| starring = Orilla Smith<br> [[Yale Boss]]<br> [[Frank Hall Crane]]<br> Nicholas Jordan
| music =
| music =
| cinematography =
| cinematography = Blair W. Smith
| editing =
| editing = [[Gertrude Thanhouser]]
| distributor = Thanhouser Film Corporation
| distributor = [[Thanhouser Company]]
| released = {{film date|1910|3|15}}
| released = {{film date|1910|3|15}}
| runtime =
| runtime =
Line 19: Line 21:
}}
}}
'''''The Actor's Children''''' is a 1910 American [[silent film|silent]] [[short film|short]] [[drama]] written by [[Lloyd Lonergan]] and produced by the [[Thanhouser Film Corporation]] in [[New Rochelle, New York]]. The film features Orilla Smith, [[Yale Boss]], [[Frank Hall Crane]] and [[Nicholas Jordan]]. The production was not the first film subject by the company, but it was the first to be released. Both Barry O'Neil and Lloyd B. Carleton have been credited as the director of the production. [[Edwin Thanhouser]] said that 19 copies of the film were produced and distributed to dealers.
'''''The Actor's Children''''' is a 1910 American [[silent film|silent]] [[short film|short]] [[drama]] written by [[Lloyd Lonergan]] and produced by the [[Thanhouser Company]] in [[New Rochelle, New York]]. The film features Orilla Smith, [[Yale Boss]], [[Frank Hall Crane]] and Nicholas Jordan. The production was not the first film subject by the company, but it was the first to be released. Both [[Barry O'Neil]] and [[Lloyd B. Carleton]] have been credited as the director of the production. [[Edwin Thanhouser]] stated that 19 copies of the film were produced and distributed to dealers.


The film begins with two unemployed parents obtaining employment in an upcoming theater production. Shortly after returning home, the landlady shows up and demands the rent, but can not collect. She gives them one week, but the theater production does not manifest and the parents again search for work. While they are out, the landlady finds a tenant and puts the children out on the street. They end up dancing for an [[organ grinder]] and are saved by a theater manager who puts them on his vaudeville bill. The parents come into a fortune and are reunited by their children at the theater. The film was met with positive reviews and some criticism for its acting and scenario, but the industry had reasons to encourage the success of Edwin Thanhouser's company. A print of the film exists, but it was the subject of nitrate deterioration.
The film begins with two unemployed parents obtaining employment in an upcoming theater production. Shortly after returning home, the landlady shows up and demands the rent, but can not collect. She gives them one week, but the theater production does not manifest, and the parents again search for work. While they are out, the landlady finds a tenant and puts the children out on the street. They end up dancing for an [[organ grinder]] and are saved by a theater manager who puts them on his [[vaudeville]] bill. The parents come into a fortune and are reunited by their children at the theater. The film was met with positive reviews and some criticism for its acting and scenario, but the industry had reasons to encourage the success of Edwin Thanhouser's company. A print of the film exists, but it was the subject of nitrate deterioration.


==Plot==
==Plot==
[[File:The Actor's Children 2.jpg|thumb|right|The theater manager rescues the children from the organ grinder]]
[[File:The Actor's Children 2.jpg|thumb|right|The theater manager rescues the children from the organ grinder]]


The plot of the film was best convened through a published synopsis in trade which introduced the names of the cast and the backstory. Eugenie Freeman and Paul Temple, marry and have two children, a boy and a girl. The parents have been unemployed, but the film starts with the parents finding work in an upcoming production at a theater. As they return home and soon are interrupted by the landlady, Mrs. O'Brien. The landlady is upset and does not care about the family's misfortune. Unable to collect and without another tenant, she provides one week for the Temple family to pay up.<ref name=ac />
The plot of the film was best convened through a published synopsis in trade, which introduced the names of the cast and the backstory. Eugenie Freeman and Paul Temple, marry and have two children, a boy and a girl. The parents have been unemployed, but the film starts with the parents finding work in an upcoming production at a theater. As they return home, they are interrupted by the landlady, Mrs. O'Brien, who demands the rent. The landlady does not care about the family's misfortune and is upset when she cannot collect. She provides one week for the Temple family to pay up.<ref name=ac />


The production is postponed and the parents are out looking for work when a prospective tenant appears. Mrs. O'Brien shows him the room and he is interested, but does not know what to do with the children. Mrs. O'Brien puts the children out onto the street where they dance to the music played by an [[organ grinder]]. The organ grinder earns more money from their dancing and he entices the children to return to his hovel and teaches them to dance. The organ grinder instructs them to dance for money. The children are rescued by a theater manager and finds them a place in the theater program.<ref name=ac />
The production is postponed and the parents are out looking for work when a prospective tenant appears. Mrs. O'Brien shows him the room and he is interested, but does not know what to do with the children. Mrs. O'Brien puts the children out onto the street, where they dance to the music played by an [[organ grinder]]. The organ grinder earns more money from their dancing and he entices the children to return to his hovel and teaches them to dance. The organ grinder instructs them to dance for money. The children are rescued by a theater manager and finds them a place in the theater program.<ref name=ac />


In the meantime, the parents have searched for their children and suddenly come into a fortune when a relative bequeaths a large sum of money to them. The parents search for their children in large gatherings and find their children dancing on the vaudeville bill from their theater box. The family is reunited and the film concludes.<ref name=ac />
In the meantime, the parents have searched for their children and suddenly come into a fortune when a relative bequeaths a large sum of money to them. The parents search for their children in large gatherings and find their children dancing on the vaudeville bill from their theater box. The family is reunited and the film concludes.<ref name=ac />


==Cast==
==Cast==
* [[Frank Hall Crane|Frank H. Crane]] as the actor (Adult male lead)<ref name="ac">{{cite web | url=http://www.thanhouser.org/tcocd/Filmography_files/ind6oyj7l.htm | title=Volume 2: Filmography - The Actor's Children | publisher=Thanhouser.org | date=1995 | accessdate=January 14, 2015 | author=Q. David Bowers}}</ref>
* [[Frank Hall Crane|Frank H. Crane]] as the actor (adult male lead)<ref name="ac">{{cite encyclopedia | url=http://www.thanhouser.org/tcocd/Filmography_files/ind6oyj7l.htm | title=Volume 2: Filmography - The Actor's Children | encyclopedia=Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History | date=1995 | access-date=January 14, 2015 | author=Q. David Bowers}}</ref>
* Orilla Smith as the actor's daughter (little girl)<ref name=ac />
* Orilla Smith as the actor's daughter (little girl)<ref name=ac />
* [[Yale Boss]] as the actor's son (little boy)<ref name=ac />
* [[Yale Boss]] as the actor's son (little boy)<ref name=ac />
* [[Nicholas Jordan]] as a comedian<ref name=ac />
* Nicholas Jordan as a comedian<ref name=ac />


== Production ==
== Production ==
The script for the production was written by Lloyd F. Lonergan, who employed the [[deus ex machina]] dramatic technique in the conclusion of the plot. In film, this is the sudden inheritance and parents finding their children in the theater. The two children, Orilla Smith and Yale Boss, were child actors with prior film experience and did not have any further connection to the Thanhouser Company after the production.<ref name="v1">{{cite web | url=http://www.thanhouser.org/tcocd/Narrative_files/c3s1.htm | title=Volume 1: Narrative History - Chapter 3: 1910 The First Release | publisher=Thanhouser.org | date=1995 | accessdate=January 14, 2015 | author=Q. David Bowers}}</ref> The cameraman, Blair Smith, used a camera rented by the [[Columbia Phonograph Company]] and had its inventor, [[Joseph Bianchi]], assist in the camera's operation and use. The director of has both been credited to Barry O'Neil and Lloyd B. Carleton in numerous trade sources.<ref name=ac /> Smith was the first cameraman of the Thanhouser Company, but this film was not the Thanhouser Company's first subject. Instead, it was ''The Mad Hermit'' which was shelved until August 9, 1910.<ref name=begin /> The exact order of the productions is not known, but a work titled ''Aunt Nancy Telegraphs'' was filmed in December 1909 and never released.<ref name=begin /> Certain parts of ''The Actor's Children'' were produced in the last week of February 1910.<ref name=ac />
The script for the production was written by [[Lloyd F. Lonergan]], who employed the [[deus ex machina]] dramatic technique in the conclusion of the plot.<ref name=v1 /> In film, this is the sudden inheritance and parents finding their children in the theater. The two children, Orilla Smith and Yale Boss, were child actors with prior film experience and did not have any further known connection to the Thanhouser Company after the production.<ref name="v1">{{cite encyclopedia | url=http://www.thanhouser.org/tcocd/Narrative_files/c3s2.htm | title=Volume 1: Narrative History - Chapter 3: 1910 The First Release | encyclopedia=Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History | date=1995 | access-date=January 14, 2015 | author=Q. David Bowers | archive-date=February 20, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220175428/http://www.thanhouser.org/tcocd/Narrative_files/c3s2.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref> The cameraman, Blair Smith, used a camera rented by the [[Columbia Phonograph Company]] and had its inventor, [[Joseph Bianchi]], assist in the camera's operation and use. The director of has both been credited to [[Barry O'Neil]] and [[Lloyd B. Carleton]] in numerous trade sources.<ref name=ac /> Smith was the first cameraman of the Thanhouser Company, but this film was not the Thanhouser Company's first subject. Instead, it was ''[[The Mad Hermit]]'' produced in autumn 1909 and shelved until August 9, 1910.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | url=http://www.thanhouser.org/tcocd/Narrative_files/c3s6.htm | title=Volume 1: Narrative History - Chapter 3: 1910 Thanhouser Quality Commended | encyclopedia=Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History | date=1995 | access-date=13 February 2015 | author=Q. David Bowers | archive-date=February 10, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210093338/http://www.thanhouser.org/tcocd/Narrative_files/c3s6.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=begin /> The exact order of the productions is not known, but a work titled ''[[Aunt Nancy Telegraphs]]'' was filmed in December 1909 and never released.<ref name=begin /> Certain parts of ''The Actor's Children'' were produced in the last week of February 1910.<ref name=ac />


The director of the film is not known, but two possibles exist. Barry O'Neil was the stage name of Thomas J. McCarthy, who would direct many important Thanhouser pictures, including its first two-reeler, ''[[Romeo and Juliet (1911 film)|Romeo and Juliet]]''. Lloyd B. Carleton was the stage name of Carleton B. Little, a director who would stay with the Thanhouser Company until moving to the [[Biograph Company]] by the summer of 1910. The confusion between the directing credits stems from the industry practice of not crediting the film directors, even in studio news releases. Q. David Bowers says that the attribution of these early directors often comes from a collection of contemporary publications or interviews.<ref name=begin>{{cite web | url=http://www.thanhouser.org/tcocd/Narrative_files/c3s1.htm | title=Volume 1: Narrative History -Chapter 3 - 1910: Film Production Begins | publisher=Thanhouser.org | date=1995 | accessdate=January 14, 2015 | author=Q. David Bowers}}</ref>
The director of the film is not known, but two possibles exist. Barry O'Neil was the stage name of Thomas J. McCarthy, who would direct many important Thanhouser pictures, including its first two-reeler, ''[[Romeo and Juliet (1911 film)|Romeo and Juliet]]''. Lloyd B. Carleton was the stage name of Carleton B. Little, a director who would stay with the Thanhouser Company until moving to the [[Biograph Company]] by the summer of 1910. The confusion between the directing credits stems from the industry practice of not crediting the film directors, even in studio news releases. Q. David Bowers says that the attribution of these early directors often comes from a collection of contemporary publications or interviews.<ref name="begin">{{cite encyclopedia | url=http://www.thanhouser.org/tcocd/Narrative_files/c3s1.htm | title=Volume 1: Narrative History - Chapter 3 - 1910: Film Production Begins | encyclopedia=Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History | date=1995 | access-date=January 14, 2015 | author=Q. David Bowers | archive-date=March 4, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304104643/http://www.thanhouser.org/tcocd/Narrative_files/c3s1.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref>


== Release ==
== Release ==
The single reel drama, approximately 1000 ft, was released on March 15, 1910 by the Thanhouser Company.<ref name=ac /> In later years, Edwin Thanhouser recalled that 19 copies of the film were produced and sent out to dealers throughout the United States. Of these 19 copies produced, ten were returned, some with letters of interest in future Thanhouser productions.<ref name=v1 /> The film was viewed across the United States with advertisements for showings in [[Pennsylvania]],<ref name="lyric">{{cite web | url=http://www.newspapers.com/clip/1574175/mount_carmel_item/ | title=Latest Indian Western, Lyric | publisher=Mount Carmel Item (Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania) | date=April 20, 1910 | accessdate=January 14, 2015 | pages=4}}</ref> [[Wisconsin]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.newspapers.com/clip/1574182/oshkosh_daily_northwestern/ | title=Colonial | publisher=Oshkosh Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) | date=March 31, 1910 | accessdate=January 14, 2015 | pages=10}}</ref> [[Kansas]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.newspapers.com/clip/1574191/the_winfield_daily_free_press/ | title=Jewel Theatre | publisher=The Winfield Daily Free Press (Winfield, Kansas) | date=October 10, 1910 | accessdate=January 14, 2015 | pages=3}}</ref> and [[Washington (state)|Washington]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.newspapers.com/clip/1574204/the_tacoma_times/ | title=Temple of Music | publisher=The Tacoma Times (Tacoma, Washington) | date=October 17, 1910 | accessdate=January 14, 2015 | pages=5}}</ref>
The single reel drama, approximately 1000&nbsp;ft (0.3&nbsp;km)&nbsp;, was released on March 15, 1910, by the Thanhouser Company.<ref name=ac /> In later years, Edwin Thanhouser recalled that 19 copies of the film were produced and sent out to dealers throughout the United States. Of these 19 copies produced, ten were returned, some with letters of interest in future Thanhouser productions.<ref name=v1 /> The film was viewed across the United States with advertisements for showings in [[Pennsylvania]],<ref name="lyric">{{cite web | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1574175/mount_carmel_item/ | title=Latest Indian Western, Lyric | publisher=[[Mount Carmel Item]] (Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania) | date=April 20, 1910 | access-date=January 14, 2015 | pages=4|via = [[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref> [[Wisconsin]],<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1574182/oshkosh_daily_northwestern/ | title=Colonial | publisher=[[Oshkosh Daily Northwestern]] (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) | date=March 31, 1910 | access-date=January 14, 2015 | pages=10|via = [[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref> [[Kansas]],<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1574191/the_winfield_daily_free_press/ | title=Jewel Theatre | publisher=[[The Winfield Daily Free Press]] (Winfield, Kansas) | date=October 10, 1910 | access-date=January 14, 2015 | pages=3}}</ref> and [[Washington (state)|Washington]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88085187/1910-10-17/ed-1/seq-5/ | title=Temple of Music | publisher=[[The Tacoma Times]] (Tacoma, Washington) | date=October 17, 1910 | access-date=August 11, 2016 | pages=5|via = [[Chronicling America]]}} {{Open access}}</ref>


== Reception and Impact ==
== Reception and impact ==
''The Actor's Children'' was released with enthusiasm and positive reviews in trade publications. ''The Moving Picture World'' reviews would be favorable and without much criticism, even calling the acting convincing.<ref name=ac /> A more honest review in the ''[[The New York Dramatic Mirror]]'' was written reviewer was pleased with the production, but offered criticism about the production's weaker aspects. The reviewer found there to be too much emphasis on the unimportant parts and a lack of emotion from the actors, and the child actors performance was faulted by repeatedly looking at the camera.<ref name=v1 /> Critical reception of the film may not have been entirely neutral for a number of reasons. Edwin Thanhouser was well-liked gentleman who had many friends in the Patents Company that likely wanted him to succeed. Furthermore, writers in the magazines hoped that Independents would succeed and challenge the Patents Company's stranglehold on the industry. Also, film critics and reviewers of the era would balance the negativity of even the worst films with some favorable aspects. Even without any ulterior motives, the film may have been worthy of a favorable review.<ref name=v1 />
''The Actor's Children'' was released with enthusiasm and positive reviews in trade publications. ''[[The Moving Picture World]]'' reviews would be favorable and without much criticism, even calling the acting convincing.<ref name=ac /> A more honest review in ''[[The New York Dramatic Mirror]]'' was written by a reviewer who was pleased with the production, but offered criticism about the production's weaker aspects. The reviewer found there to be too much emphasis on the unimportant parts and a lack of emotion from the actors, and the child actors performance was faulted by repeatedly looking at the camera.<ref name=v1 /> Critical reception of the film may not have been entirely neutral for a number of reasons. Edwin Thanhouser was a well-liked gentleman who had many friends in the Patents Company that likely wanted him to succeed. Furthermore, writers in the magazines hoped that Independents would succeed and challenge the Patents Company's stranglehold on the industry. Also, film critics and reviewers of the era would balance the negativity of even the worst films with some favorable aspects. Even without any ulterior motives, the film may have been worthy of a favorable review.<ref name=v1 />


The release managed to survive against considerable odds, but the surviving print is not without severe faults. The surviving print has considerable nitrate deterioration and very poor picture quality in certain parts.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://thanhouser.org/films/actors.htm | title=Thanhouser - The Actor's Children | publisher=Thanhouser.org | accessdate=January 14, 2015}}</ref> This film survives in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences film archives.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/A/ActorsChildren1910.html | title=Silent Era - The Actor’s Children | publisher=Silent Era.com | date=2012 | accessdate=January 14, 2015}}</ref>
The release managed to survive against considerable odds, but the surviving print is not without severe faults. The surviving print has considerable nitrate deterioration and very poor picture quality in certain parts.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://thanhouser.org/films/actors.htm | title=Thanhouser - The Actor's Children | publisher=Thanhouser.org | access-date=January 14, 2015 | archive-date=July 10, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710095532/http://www.thanhouser.org/films/actors.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref> This film survives in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences film archive.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/A/ActorsChildren1910.html | title=Silent Era - The Actor's Children | publisher=Silent Era.com | date=2012 | access-date=January 14, 2015}}</ref> ''The Actor's Children'' was preserved by the [[Academy Film Archive]] in 2007.<ref>{{cite web|title=Preserved Projects|url=https://www.oscars.org/academy-film-archive/preserved-projects?title=actor%27s+children&filmmaker=&category=All&collection=All|website=Academy Film Archive}}</ref>


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
The back story in the published synopsis differs from the actual production in a few aspects. When the organ grinder takes the children back to his hovel, the inter-title states they are forced to dance.<ref name=work /> In the synopsis, it states the children are instructed to dance to the [[hurdy-gurdy]].<ref name=ac /> The organ grinder does not play a hurdy-gurdy.<ref name=work>{{cite AV media | title=The Actor's Children | publisher=Thanhouser Company | date=1910 | medium=35 mm film}}</ref> In the published synopsis the parents are named Eugenie Freeman and Paul Temple.<ref name=ac /> However, the letter the father receives is addressed to Paul Tilden. The letter informs him of Joseph Tilden's death and of the $100,000 inheritance.<ref name=work />
The backstory in the published synopsis differs from the actual production in a few aspects. When the organ grinder takes the children back to his hovel, the intertitle states they are forced to dance.<ref name=work /> In the synopsis, it states the children are instructed to dance to the [[hurdy-gurdy]].<ref name=ac /> The organ grinder does not play a hurdy-gurdy.<ref name=work>{{cite AV media | title=The Actor's Children | publisher=Thanhouser Company | date=1910 | medium=35 mm film}}</ref> In the published synopsis, the parents are named Eugenie Freeman and Paul Temple.<ref name=ac /> However, the letter the father receives is addressed to Paul Tilden. The letter informs him of Joseph Tilden's death and of the $100,000 inheritance.<ref name=work />

==See also==
* [[List of American films of 1910]]


==References==
==References==
Line 59: Line 64:
== External links==
== External links==
*{{IMDb title|0233154}}
*{{IMDb title|0233154}}

{{Barry O'Neil}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Actor's Children}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Actor's Children}}
[[Category:1910 films]]
[[Category:1910 films]]
[[Category:1910s drama films]]
[[Category:1910 drama films]]
[[Category:American films]]
[[Category:1910 short films]]
[[Category:American silent short films]]
[[Category:1910s American films]]
[[Category:Black-and-white films]]
[[Category:1910s English-language films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:English-language drama short films]]
[[Category:Films about landlords]]
[[Category:Films directed by Barry O'Neil]]
[[Category:Films directed by Lloyd B. Carleton]]
[[Category:Films shot in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Silent American drama short films]]
[[Category:Surviving American silent films]]
[[Category:Thanhouser Company films]]
[[Category:Thanhouser Company films]]

Latest revision as of 06:38, 20 December 2024

The Actor's Children
The Actor, his wife and the two children.
Directed byBarry O'Neil
Written byLloyd Lonergan
Produced byEdwin Thanhouser
StarringOrilla Smith
Yale Boss
Frank Hall Crane
Nicholas Jordan
CinematographyBlair W. Smith
Edited byGertrude Thanhouser
Distributed byThanhouser Company
Release date
  • March 15, 1910 (1910-03-15)
CountryUnited States
LanguagesSilent film
English intertitles

The Actor's Children is a 1910 American silent short drama written by Lloyd Lonergan and produced by the Thanhouser Company in New Rochelle, New York. The film features Orilla Smith, Yale Boss, Frank Hall Crane and Nicholas Jordan. The production was not the first film subject by the company, but it was the first to be released. Both Barry O'Neil and Lloyd B. Carleton have been credited as the director of the production. Edwin Thanhouser stated that 19 copies of the film were produced and distributed to dealers.

The film begins with two unemployed parents obtaining employment in an upcoming theater production. Shortly after returning home, the landlady shows up and demands the rent, but can not collect. She gives them one week, but the theater production does not manifest, and the parents again search for work. While they are out, the landlady finds a tenant and puts the children out on the street. They end up dancing for an organ grinder and are saved by a theater manager who puts them on his vaudeville bill. The parents come into a fortune and are reunited by their children at the theater. The film was met with positive reviews and some criticism for its acting and scenario, but the industry had reasons to encourage the success of Edwin Thanhouser's company. A print of the film exists, but it was the subject of nitrate deterioration.

Plot

[edit]
The theater manager rescues the children from the organ grinder

The plot of the film was best convened through a published synopsis in trade, which introduced the names of the cast and the backstory. Eugenie Freeman and Paul Temple, marry and have two children, a boy and a girl. The parents have been unemployed, but the film starts with the parents finding work in an upcoming production at a theater. As they return home, they are interrupted by the landlady, Mrs. O'Brien, who demands the rent. The landlady does not care about the family's misfortune and is upset when she cannot collect. She provides one week for the Temple family to pay up.[1]

The production is postponed and the parents are out looking for work when a prospective tenant appears. Mrs. O'Brien shows him the room and he is interested, but does not know what to do with the children. Mrs. O'Brien puts the children out onto the street, where they dance to the music played by an organ grinder. The organ grinder earns more money from their dancing and he entices the children to return to his hovel and teaches them to dance. The organ grinder instructs them to dance for money. The children are rescued by a theater manager and finds them a place in the theater program.[1]

In the meantime, the parents have searched for their children and suddenly come into a fortune when a relative bequeaths a large sum of money to them. The parents search for their children in large gatherings and find their children dancing on the vaudeville bill from their theater box. The family is reunited and the film concludes.[1]

Cast

[edit]
  • Frank H. Crane as the actor (adult male lead)[1]
  • Orilla Smith as the actor's daughter (little girl)[1]
  • Yale Boss as the actor's son (little boy)[1]
  • Nicholas Jordan as a comedian[1]

Production

[edit]

The script for the production was written by Lloyd F. Lonergan, who employed the deus ex machina dramatic technique in the conclusion of the plot.[2] In film, this is the sudden inheritance and parents finding their children in the theater. The two children, Orilla Smith and Yale Boss, were child actors with prior film experience and did not have any further known connection to the Thanhouser Company after the production.[2] The cameraman, Blair Smith, used a camera rented by the Columbia Phonograph Company and had its inventor, Joseph Bianchi, assist in the camera's operation and use. The director of has both been credited to Barry O'Neil and Lloyd B. Carleton in numerous trade sources.[1] Smith was the first cameraman of the Thanhouser Company, but this film was not the Thanhouser Company's first subject. Instead, it was The Mad Hermit produced in autumn 1909 and shelved until August 9, 1910.[3][4] The exact order of the productions is not known, but a work titled Aunt Nancy Telegraphs was filmed in December 1909 and never released.[4] Certain parts of The Actor's Children were produced in the last week of February 1910.[1]

The director of the film is not known, but two possibles exist. Barry O'Neil was the stage name of Thomas J. McCarthy, who would direct many important Thanhouser pictures, including its first two-reeler, Romeo and Juliet. Lloyd B. Carleton was the stage name of Carleton B. Little, a director who would stay with the Thanhouser Company until moving to the Biograph Company by the summer of 1910. The confusion between the directing credits stems from the industry practice of not crediting the film directors, even in studio news releases. Q. David Bowers says that the attribution of these early directors often comes from a collection of contemporary publications or interviews.[4]

Release

[edit]

The single reel drama, approximately 1000 ft (0.3 km) , was released on March 15, 1910, by the Thanhouser Company.[1] In later years, Edwin Thanhouser recalled that 19 copies of the film were produced and sent out to dealers throughout the United States. Of these 19 copies produced, ten were returned, some with letters of interest in future Thanhouser productions.[2] The film was viewed across the United States with advertisements for showings in Pennsylvania,[5] Wisconsin,[6] Kansas,[7] and Washington[8]

Reception and impact

[edit]

The Actor's Children was released with enthusiasm and positive reviews in trade publications. The Moving Picture World reviews would be favorable and without much criticism, even calling the acting convincing.[1] A more honest review in The New York Dramatic Mirror was written by a reviewer who was pleased with the production, but offered criticism about the production's weaker aspects. The reviewer found there to be too much emphasis on the unimportant parts and a lack of emotion from the actors, and the child actors performance was faulted by repeatedly looking at the camera.[2] Critical reception of the film may not have been entirely neutral for a number of reasons. Edwin Thanhouser was a well-liked gentleman who had many friends in the Patents Company that likely wanted him to succeed. Furthermore, writers in the magazines hoped that Independents would succeed and challenge the Patents Company's stranglehold on the industry. Also, film critics and reviewers of the era would balance the negativity of even the worst films with some favorable aspects. Even without any ulterior motives, the film may have been worthy of a favorable review.[2]

The release managed to survive against considerable odds, but the surviving print is not without severe faults. The surviving print has considerable nitrate deterioration and very poor picture quality in certain parts.[9] This film survives in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences film archive.[10] The Actor's Children was preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2007.[11]

Notes

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The backstory in the published synopsis differs from the actual production in a few aspects. When the organ grinder takes the children back to his hovel, the intertitle states they are forced to dance.[12] In the synopsis, it states the children are instructed to dance to the hurdy-gurdy.[1] The organ grinder does not play a hurdy-gurdy.[12] In the published synopsis, the parents are named Eugenie Freeman and Paul Temple.[1] However, the letter the father receives is addressed to Paul Tilden. The letter informs him of Joseph Tilden's death and of the $100,000 inheritance.[12]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Q. David Bowers (1995). "Volume 2: Filmography - The Actor's Children". Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e Q. David Bowers (1995). "Volume 1: Narrative History - Chapter 3: 1910 The First Release". Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History. Archived from the original on February 20, 2015. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  3. ^ Q. David Bowers (1995). "Volume 1: Narrative History - Chapter 3: 1910 Thanhouser Quality Commended". Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History. Archived from the original on February 10, 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c Q. David Bowers (1995). "Volume 1: Narrative History - Chapter 3 - 1910: Film Production Begins". Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  5. ^ "Latest Indian Western, Lyric". Mount Carmel Item (Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania). April 20, 1910. p. 4. Retrieved January 14, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  6. ^ "Colonial". Oshkosh Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin). March 31, 1910. p. 10. Retrieved January 14, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  7. ^ "Jewel Theatre". The Winfield Daily Free Press (Winfield, Kansas). October 10, 1910. p. 3. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  8. ^ "Temple of Music". The Tacoma Times (Tacoma, Washington). October 17, 1910. p. 5. Retrieved August 11, 2016 – via Chronicling America. Open access icon
  9. ^ "Thanhouser - The Actor's Children". Thanhouser.org. Archived from the original on July 10, 2015. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  10. ^ "Silent Era - The Actor's Children". Silent Era.com. 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  11. ^ "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.
  12. ^ a b c The Actor's Children (35 mm film). Thanhouser Company. 1910.
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