Tonight, as a part of my effort to get all of our readers into the holiday spirit, I present to A Christmas Accident, a silent film from 1912! That’s right — this movie is 103 years old! When this movie was first released, William Howard Taft was still President and the Ottoman Empire was still a thing!
Anyway, A Christmas Accident tells the story of rich and miserly Mr. Gilton. Mr. Gilton shares a duplex with a large and impoverished family. Mr. Gilton may be rich but he’s definitely not happy. He spends his time arguing with his wife and harassing the local shop owner. However, he reserves most of his anger for his neighbors. When his dog dies, he accuses them of poisoning it. When his wife’s meatloaf disappears, he accuses them of stealing it.
But then, on Christmas, something happens that causes Mr. Gilton to understand the true meaning of the holidays…
As I’ve stated many times here, I am a huge history nerd and films like A Christmas Accident fascinate me. It’s amazing to see, firsthand, how people lived in 1912. Add to that, A Christmas Accident holds up pretty well for a 103 year-old film. William Wadsworth does a pretty good job as the Scrooge-like Mr. Gilton and, as the most prominent of the poor children, Edna Hammel is the epitome of the saintly (if poverty-stricken) children who dominated popular culture at the turn of the 20th Century.
Enjoy A Christmas Accident!
Through the Shattered Lens 