Rescued from an Eagle's Nest (1908)

A family is terrified when an eagle carries off its young child.

Director:

J. Searle Dawley

Stars:

Henry B. Walthall, Miss Earle, Jinnie Frazer

Cast

Credited cast:
Henry B. Walthall	...	Woodsman (as H. B. Walthall)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Miss Earle
Jinnie Frazer	...	Baby
D.W. Griffith	...	Father

Storyline

A woodcutter says good-bye to his wife and child, and then goes off to work. After he has left, the mother leaves the child outside their cabin to play. Suddenly, an eagle swoops down and carries off the child. When the mother realizes what has happened, she runs to tell her husband. He and the other lumberjacks immediately set out to find and rescue the child.

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Plot Keywords:

rescue | baby | bird | melodrama

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Genres:

Action | Short

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 January 1908 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kimentés a sas fészkéből

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Edison Manufacturing Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

6 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Before the Nickelodeon: The Cinema of Edwin S. Porter (1982)

User Reviews

Pretty Uneven, But Certainly Interesting

In terms of quality, this is a pretty uneven feature, but it is certainly interesting. The story creates some good suspense, and although it seems pretty far-fetched, it was said to have been based, at least in part, on an actual incident. Some significant parts of the story rely heavily on special effects that do not hold up very well by later standards, yet they do tell the story clearly.

This movie might be best known now for the very early screen appearance of D.W. Griffith, as the father whose child is carried away by the eagle. His performance is at least adequate for its time, as are those of the rest of the cast.

The movie uses several sequences of visual effects to depict the eagle's capture of the child, and its subsequent conflict with Griffith. As was often the case in movies by Edwin S. Porter and other Edison film-makers, the emphasis is on making it clear what is happening, rather than on striving for a completely seamless or convincing effect. This makes the special effects look very unconvincing now, but to their original audience, they probably looked a lot better.

This seems to have been a pretty ambitious effort for its day, and even if it does not look very impressive now, it has enough interesting aspects to be worth watching.