A Trap for Santa (1909, Biograph)

“A Trap for Santa” (1909) is a holiday film that was directed by D.W. Griffith at Biograph. Sixteen minutes in duration, this heartwarming melodrama was produced as a cinematic Christmas card to moviegoers of the era. The story begins with an unemployed man, played by Henry B. Walthall, with a wife, played by Marion Leonard, and two children, played by Gladys Egan and John Tansey. He turns to alcohol and eventually leaves his family when he feels he has let them down. Time passes and the mother inherits a fortune from her deceased aunt. On Christmas Eve, the children set a trap for Santa Claus to come through the window because their house has no chimney. The father, unaware that the house belongs to his family breaks into the house and falls into the trap.



Filmed in Fort Lee, New Jersey, “A Trap for Santa” (1909) is a relatively well-made film considering it was made over 100 years ago. Griffith had personally directed for two years from the summer of 1908 all Biograph films. Thereafter as general director he superintended all Biograph productions and directed the more important features until October 1, 1913. Even though from a technical aspect there are a couple of weaknesses, it’s quite an interesting film. The acting style is a bit old-fashioned, but Henry B. Walthall turns in a good performance as the father. Fans of early silent films should recognize an uncredited Mack Sennett in a few scenes. Despite its shortcomings, “A Trap for Santa” is an interesting curiosity piece of the early years of cinema.






















Like his mentor D.W. Griffith, Henry Brazeale Walthall was a Southerner, with perhaps a little more affluent family background than the director. He was born, one of eleven sons, on a farm near Columbiana, Shelby County, Alabama, on March 16, 1878. He studied law, but quit to fight in the Spanish-American War, and then took up acting, making his New York debut in 1901. In 1909, a chance encounter with a friend and fellow actor, James Kirkwood, resulted in a meeting with D.W. Griffith at the American Biograph Company. Griffith was already familiar with Walthall’s stage work, and immediately cast him in “A Convict’s Sacrifice”(1909). Walthall appeared in more than 100 Biograph shorts from 1909 through 1913, and, with a short break at Pathe, was to remain with Griffith until 1915. Walthall played Holofernes in Griffith’s first and Biograph’s only feature-length production, “Judith of Bethulia” (1914). Walthall had played many Southerners in many Biograph shorts, and he was the obvious choice for Ben Cameron, the “little colonel” in “The Birth of a Nation” (1915). Walthall left Griffith and first joined the Balboa Amusement Company in Long Beach, California, and then the declining Chicago-based Essanay Company in late spring of 1915. Both Walthall and his actress wife, Mary Charleson, remained with Essanay through May 1917. Walthall formed his own independent production company, releasing through Paralta, the first two films which were directed by Rex Ingram. In 1918, Walthall returned to Griffith’s direction. He was cast in Griffith’s minor and “lost” production of “The Great Love.” By the late teens, Walthall’s career was in rapid decline. He made many films, but only a handful in the late 1920’s are famous titles: “Three Faces East” (1926), “The Scarlet Letter” (1926) and “London After Midnight” (1927). With the coming of sound, the situation improved. Walthall had a solid stage background, and his voice was quiet yet authoritative. Some of the sound films he made were “Abraham Lincoln” (1930), “Chandu the Magician” (1932), “Judge Priest” (1932), “Dante’s Inferno” (1935), and “The Devil-Doll” (1936). Walthall was to have played the High Lama in Frank Capra’s production of “Lost Horizon” (1936), but died on June 17, 1936, before shooting commenced. Walthall was 58 years old.

Video: An Unseen Enemy (1912).

Thank you Silent, for your wonderful movie review. Lillian and Dorothy Gish give a wonderful performance in this silent film. I loved the scenes with Robert Harron. The three of them are natural actors, which you can see in this film. Great photography.

An Unseen Enemy (1912, Biograph)

“An Unseen Enemy” (1912) is a Biograph short directed by D.W. Griffith that is most notable for being the first film of sisters, Lillian and Dorothy Gish. Fifteen minutes in length, this exciting suspense film was probably Griffith’s most complex race to the rescue drama at the time. The story begins with two sisters, played by Lillian and Dorothy Gish, who are mourning their recently deceased father. The sisters have inherited a small sum of money which is deposited in a safe in their home by their brother, played by Elmer Booth, who then leaves for work. Unfortunately, the sisters are left in the care of a housekeeper, played by Grace Henderson, who goes after the money. At this point, we meet Bobby, the younger sister’s boyfriend, played by Robert Harron, who is about to leave for college, but is unhappy that she is too shy to give him a farewell kiss. Meanwhile the housekeeper enlists the help of a disreputable partner, played by Harry Carey, who cracks the safe while she has the sisters locked in a room and terrorize them by firing a gun through a hole in the wall.

"An Unseen Enemy" is very melodramatic, but it is effectively suspenseful. The set up is rather accurate and the action takes up around half of the duration of the film. I loved the way Griffith threw in various little twists to heighten up the tension like the phone line going dead and the close-up of the gun emerging through a hole in the wall. I was quite impressed with the great photography and the natural style of acting of the Gish sisters and Robert Harron. This Biograph short is worth watching just to see the Gish sisters at the dawn of their film careers.

Dorothy Gish, who as an adolescent entered films in D.W. Griffith’s one-reelers, helped establish the art of silent film acting and motion picture development. Even though she enjoyed a career that spanned six decades, she is barely remembered. Dorothy was famous as a comedienne in an era dominated by male clowns. Were it not for her relation to Lillian Gish and her dramatic performance in D.W. Griffith’s “Orphans of the Storm” (1921), she probably wouldn’t be remembered at all. Dorothy was born on March 11, 1898, in Dayton, Ohio into a broken family after her father walked out on his wife and first child, Lillian. Their mother had the two girls onstage at a very early age. The girls and their mother lived a less than glamorous life, but took whatever roles they could to survive. Virtually all of the Gish girls’ youth was spent in the theatre until 1912 when they decided to go visit the studio where their good friend from the theatre, Gladys Smith, known as Mary Pickford on the screen, was working. The girls visited the Biograph studio on East 14^th Street in New York City and were introduced to D.W. Griffith. He immediately put them to work, and their first starring role was in a suspense drama, “An Unseen Enemy” (1912). The Gish sisters became a mainstay of Griffith’s stock company appearing in dozens of shorts. Dorothy and Lillian were included in Griffith’s first attempts at feature length films such as “Judith of Bethulia”(1914) and “Home Sweet Home” (1914) but Dorothy was not used in his epic, “The Birth of a Nation” (1915). However, Dorothy’s role as the “Little Disturber” in “Hearts of the World” (1918) brought her recognition. Realizing her comedic talent, Paramount signed her to a contract and she made 14 films for the company over the next four years. One of these was “Remodeling Her Husband” (1920) which co-starred her husband-to-be, James Rennie, and was the only film ever directed by Lillian. Dorothy co-starred twice more with her sister in “Orphans of the Storm” (1921) and “Romola” (1924). Dorothy made 17 films from 1920 to 1929, one of the most popular was the English made Nell Gwynne (1926). Dorothy’s last silent film was “Madame Pompadour” (1927). After her first sound film, “Wolves” (1930), Dorothy spent almost all of her time in a very successful career on the stage. Dorothy returned to the big screen again for “Our Hearts Were Young and Gay” (1944), “Centennial Summer”(1946), “The Whistle at Eaton Falls” (1951), and “The Cardinal” (1963). Dorothy Gish died on June 4, 1968 of bronchial pneumonia. She was 70 years old.