Falling Leaves (1912 film)

Falling Leaves is a 1912 American silent short film by Alice Guy-Blaché, produced at Solax Studios. Starring Solax stock actors, the story concerns a child's earnest effort to keep her dying sister alive by naive means.

Falling Leaves
Directed byAlice Guy-Blaché
Produced byAlice Guy-Blaché
StarringSee below
Production
company
Release date
  • March 15, 1912 (1912-03-15)
Running time
12 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

A print of the film is preserved in the Library of Congress.[1]

Plot

In the opening scene, Dr. Headley demonstrates the success of his cure for consumption. He is congratulated by his colleagues.

Meanwhile, it is autumn and Winifred is seriously ill with consumption. Her mother and younger sister, Trixie, are distraught. The family doctor tells Winifred's parents that she will die by the time the last leaf falls. Trixie takes these words literally; after the child is tucked into bed, she sneaks outside and starts tying fallen leaves back on branches with string. Passerby Dr. Headley sees her and learns from her what she is doing. He is led into the house where he administers an injection of his serum cure.

Three months later, Winifred is well on the way to recovery. The beginnings of romance between doctor and patient are depicted in the closing scene.

Cast

Production

The plot of Falling Leaves owes elements to the O. Henry short story "The Last Leaf" (1907).[2][3] The child hero is a recurring theme in Guy-Blaché films;[4] the first film produced by Solax, A Child's Sacrifice (1910), which also starred Magda Foy, is another example.

When Falling Leaves was made in early 1912, Solax was still operating out of the Flushing studio it rented from Gaumont.[5] The sets were designed by Henri Ménessier,[6] who had worked with Guy-Blaché since 1904.[7] All the primary roles were filled by members of the Solax stock company.

Release

Falling Leaves was released March 15, 1912.

The review in The New York Dramatic Mirror commented on the cast's capability and complimented the production as "developed and played with a compelling naturalness".[8] In a similar vein, Moving Picture News said of the film that the story unfolded "in an atmosphere of delicacy and charming naturalness".[9]

Preservation

A 35mm print of Falling Leaves is in the collection of the Library of Congress, transferred there in 1983 from the Library and Archives Canada where it was part of the Jerome House collection.[10]

In 2004, the National Film Preservation Foundation included Falling Leaves on its second DVD set, a restored print that runs 12 minutes.[11]

The Whitney Museum's 2009–2010 retrospective of Guy-Blaché included a print of Falling Leaves, restored by Dayton Digital Filmworks and with a new score composed by Tamar Muskal.[12]

References
  1. Bennett, Carl (ed.). "Falling Leaves". Progressive Silent Film List. Retrieved October 3, 2015 – via Silent Era.
  2. Leitch, Thomas (2007). Film Adaptation and Its Discontents: From Gone with the Wind to The Passion of the Christ. JHU Press. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-8018-8565-5.
  3. Bold, Christine (2011). The Oxford History of Popular Print Culture. Oxford University Press. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-19-923406-6.
  4. Villreal, Jose, ed. (October 1, 2009). "Alice Guy Blaché Retrospective at the Whitney will Rediscover an Early Force in Film". artdaily.org. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
  5. Slide, Anthony (1996). The Silent Feminists: America's First Women Directors. Scarecrow Press. pp. 18–19. ISBN 978-0-8108-3053-0.
  6. McMahan, Alison (2014). Alice Guy Blaché: Lost Visionary of the Cinema. Bloomsbury Pub. p. 129. ISBN 978-1-5013-0269-5.
  7. McMahan, Alison (September 2009). "Key Events in the Life of Alice Guy Blaché". Alice Guy Blaché. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
  8. "Falling Leaves" (PDF). Reviews of Sales Company Films. New York Dramatic Mirror. LXVII (1735): 32. March 20, 1912. Retrieved October 2, 2015 – via Fulton History.
  9. "Falling Leaves—Solax". Motion Picture News. V (9): 7. March 2, 1912. Retrieved October 2, 2015 – via Internet Archive.
  10. "Fallings Leaves". Film, Video and Sound Database. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
  11. "More Treasures from American Film Archives, 1894–1931". National Film Preservation Foundation. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
  12. For the restoration: "Alice Guy Blaché Retrospective at the Whitney Rediscovers an Early Force in Film" (PDF) (Press release). Whitney Museum of American Art. September 29, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2015. For the score: Kozinn, Allan (October 2, 2009). "Creating New Scores for a Pioneering Woman's Century-Old Silent Films". The New York Times. Retrieved October 3, 2015.

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