A Christmas Past: Vintage Holiday Films / 1901-1925 (Silent)

A collection of nine silent films, A Christmas Past offers a nostalgic peek into the Yuletide pleasures of the early 1900s. Evoking the Victorian charm of Currier and Ives prints, these picturesque comedies and tender dramas were produced as cinematic Christmas cards offered to moviegoers of the silent era.

Included in this collection of archival rarities, most of which were produced at Thomas Edison's studios, are the 1910 version of Dicken's immortal A Christmas Carol, a heartwarming melodrama by D.W. Griffith (A Trap For Santa), as well as the first screen version of Clement Moore's 1822 poem "Twas the Night Before Christmas."

The films have been digitally mastered from original 35mm elements and are accompanied by a wistful new score by Al Kryszak-performed on a variety of instruments including harp, violin and Christmas handbells - which beautifully enhances the delicate shadings of each of these rare and fascinating treasures.

A collection of holiday themed short films from the early days of cinema, these shorts are a glimpse at the cinematic holiday offerings made for filmgoers in the early part of the 20th century. The nine films included here are: A HOLIDAY PAGEANT AT HOME (5 min. 1901), A WINTER STRAW RIDE (Edwin S. Porter, 7 min. 1906), A TRAP FOR SANTA (D.W. Griffith 16 min. 1909), A CHRISTMAS ACCIDENT (Bannister Merwin, 15 min. 1912), THE ADVENTURE OF THE WRONG SANTA CLAUS: AN ADVENTURE OF OCTAVIUS: AMATEUR DETECTIVE (14 min. 1914), SANTA CLAUS VS. CUPID (Will Louis, 16 min. 1915), SANTA CLAUS (29 min. 1925), A CHRISTMAS CAROL (10 min. 1910), and THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS (Edwin S. Porter, 9 min. 1905).

Christmas | Holiday | Santa Claus | Short | Silent | Silent Cinema