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A Child of the Forest
(1909) United States of America
B&W : [?] Split-reel or One reel? / [?] 970? feet
Directed by Edwin S. Porter
Cast: Mary Fuller
Edison Manufacturing Company production; distributed by Edison Manufacturing Company. / Scenario by Edwin S. Porter. / © 24 August 1909 by Edison Manufacturing Company [J131135, J131136, J131137]. Released 24 August 1909; [?] in a split-reel with The Patience of Miss Job (1909)? / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama: Western.
Synopsis: [The Moving Picture World, 28 August 1909, page ?] The opening scene shows an Indian squaw carrying her sick papoose down the trail to the bank of a stream where she bathes its feverish brow with the cooling water. Despairing of its life, she determines to seek the white man’s medicine in the nearby village. Pushing her way into the little mission chapel as the mass is being recited, she lays her papoose at the feet of the priest who, mistaking her gestures, baptizes it. Satisfied that the child has received the white man’s medicine, she departs, and her gratitude knows no bounds when the child recovers. An emigrant train, crossing the plains a dozen or more years later, camps not far from the shores of the stream from which the daughter of one of the party is seen filling a pail with water, unconscious of the stealthy approach of a canoe containing Indian braves. She is overpowered, tied hand and foot, and brought to the Indian village, where a council of war decides that her fate shall be death at the stake on the morrow. And here is repaid the debt of gratitude that an Indian is said never to forget. The squaw, whose papoose was spared to her through the good offices of the white man, as she thought, and who has grown to be a fine lad, takes a handkerchief from the captive, and placing it in the lad's moccasin, bids him carry it to the captive’s friends. Stealing from the village, Uray, the “Child of the Forest,” sets off at top speed in the direction indicated to him. By the aid of the camera we see him climbing precipitous cliffs and picking his wearying footsteps through treacherous swamps. His leg injured by a fall, he presses on, imbued with but one thought, his duty. Coming to the edge of a lake, Uray hesitates only long enough to get his bearings, then plunges in and swims across with long, graceful strokes. Reaching the opposite shore, he falls exhausted, rises and falls again, and again drags himself to his feet and continues his weary journey, finally reaching the emigrants’ camp, where, after delivering his message, he swoons. The campers and cowboys mount in haste, and by hard riding reach the Indian village before the captive is put to the stake. After a sharp fight, the Indians are routed and the captive, together with the friendly squaw, brought back to camp.
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 4 September 1909, page ?] A comparison of the work of this beautiful picture with that produced by the same staff of, say, three months ago will reveal a really remarkable advance, especially in the technique of the subject. A Child of the Forest is no easy theme to handle. The canvas is crowded all the time and the work of production must, therefore, have entailed an enormous amount of effort. The actors seemed to have been amazingly well rehearsed and drilled in their work, and the result upon the minds of the audience is that of satisfaction and fullness of feeling at a splendid piece of spectacular drama. For drama it is. The papoose of an Indian squaw is baptized by mistake. Years later, a white woman is abducted by Indian braves. The squaw, grateful to the white man for having spared her child, sends that child, now a boy, with a message that shall release the campers and cowboys who are threatened by Indians. The Indians, of course, are beaten and the captive girl released. And the picture ends with the restoration of happiness. This outline of the story gives little idea of the picture. We were especially attracted by a river scene where the canoe containing the Indian braves advances to the capture of the white girl. This is one of the most beautiful pieces of pictorial moving picture work that we have seen. Then the scene in which the child of the forest, a boy, plunges into the water and swims across its placid surface. Here the tinter had done his work so well that the natural color of the water was most effectively suggested. The fighting between the immigrant campers and the Indians was also a realistic piece of stagecraft. Indeed, A Child of the Forest is nothing but a succession of very beautiful scenes knitted together by a powerful dramatic story. What appealed to us in this picture, which we studied very closely, was the exceedingly fine photographic quality of the work. The negative seems to have been very accurately exposed and the printing end of matters done so carefully that few, if any, superficial flaws are perceptible. And then, again, the coloring and tinting were carried out with unusual feeling and artistic restraint. A Child of the Forest is so good and beautiful that we look upon it as a marked step in advance on the part of the Edison staff. It is rarely, after we have once seen a moving picture film, that our mind recurs to any particular part of it. Indeed, we make this a kind of test as to arriving at what constitutes a notable film of the week. We place A Child of the Forest in this category, because days after we have seen it we find ourselves dwelling on the very beautiful series of pictures of which it is composed.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 15 April 2024.
References: Website-AFI; Website-IMDb.
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