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A Mountain Blizzard
(1910) United States of America
B&W : Split-reel / 425 feet
Directed by (unknown)
Cast: (unknown)
Edison Manufacturing Company production; distributed by Edison Manufacturing Company. / Cinematography by Edwin S. Porter. / © 15 March 1910 by Edison Manufacturing Company [J139289, J139290, J139291]. Released 15 March 1910; in a split-reel with Fruit Growing, Grand Valley, Colorado (The Results of Irrigation) (1910). / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Comedy: Western.
Synopsis: [The Moving Picture World, 12 March 1910, page ?] The humorous incidents with which [the film] begins are forgotten as the three tenderfeet, benighted in the raging storm, cold and despairing of succor, lie down to die after a pathetic farewell and a renunciation of their favorite vices. The dramatic effect is swiftly changed to comedy, however, when restored to consciousness by rescuers from the nearby hotel, which was obscured from their vision in the storm, and stimulated by the warmth and good cheer found within, each one promptly forgets his peril of a few hours before and, regretting the renunciation made in the prospects of a safe ticket to eternity, stealthily seeks and recovers the symbol of his favorite vice. The big laugh of the film is when the three simultaneously discover one another giving free rein to his ruling passion. // [The Moving Picture World, 19 March 1910, page ?] Three tenderfeet are on a prospecting tour in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. They meet with several adventures, trying to them but intensely amusing to the spectator. After having purchased a necessary third horse they meet with an Indian, who warns them of an approaching snowstorm. Disregarding the warning, they proceed and are caught in a mountain blizzard. They lose their way, and in trying to recover the trail circle about for hours. Night overtakes them in a pitiable condition. They make several efforts to get a fire after having exhausted their store of matches. They resort to rubbing twigs and even try to light a fire by discharging a pistol at the inflammable twigs. They merely succeed in scattering the twigs as well as all hope of artificial heat. In their despair they conclude to lie down and die. Bidding each other a pathetic farewell and asking mutual forgiveness, they renounce their favorite vices — cards, tobacco and whiskey — and settle down in the drifting snow. The next morning they are awakened by the attendants of a mountain hotel which stood within a few feet of the spot where they slept, but was obscured from view by the storm. After a warm breakfast, each man returns to his worldly ways. The humor of this situation is shown in the final tableau of the picture.
Reviews: [Variety, 19 March 1910, page ?] A palpably faked reel is this comedy subject. Three ‘tenderfoot’ visitors to the west start on a long horseback journey over the mountains. An Indian warns them of the coming of snow, but they pay no attention. So far the picture is taken in natural surroundings. When the blizzard strikes them, the trio are safely in the Edison studio, while someone above shakes down thick whirls of make-believe snow which at the finish becomes almost an inch deep. However, this is enough to prostrate the travelers and frighten their horses to run away from camp . . . . There is one good laugh when it is discovered that the runaway horses had more sense than their riders, and after having shaken them gone to the shelter of the hotel. // [The Moving Picture World, 26 March 1910, page ?] A picture evidently based upon one of Mark Twain’s famous scenes in ‘Roughing It,’ where the three travelers, lost in the snow, renounce their controlling vices, cards, tobacco and whiskey. The snow seems real enough, and the efforts to start a fire follow closely the description in the book. And then, when they awake and find themselves once more alive, each returns to his pet vice, and it is thus they meet. The picture is well worked out, and those who enjoyed the story when it was first printed will enjoy this the more.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 5 April 2024.
References: Website-AFI.
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