Thirty Days at Hard Labor (1912)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Oscar Apfel

Writer:

O. Henry (story)

Release Date:

9 January 1912 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Comedy

Plot:

Jack must prove himself before Beatrice's father will allow him to continue seeing his daughter.

Cast

Robert Brower	...	Mr. Langdon
Mary Fuller	...	Beatrice, his daughter
Harold M. Shaw	...	Jack Deering
William Wadsworth	...	Restaurant proprietor

Runtime:

16 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Company:

Edison Company

Trivia:

A copy of this film survives at The Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Edison: The Invention of the Movies (2005) (V)

Charming

This Edison short from 1912 is based on an O. Henry short story: a son of the idle rich falls in love with the daughter of a self-made man and, in order to gain her father's permission to wed her, offers to work at unskilled labor for thirty days. This being an O. Henry story, you can expect a sharp snapper at the ending. In the meantime, until you get there, there are some some good comedy gags. You do need to get used to the Edison style of editing, which was very short of title cards but which is very well edited for understanding -- despite, to the modern eye, the occasional abrupt transition. Or perhaps not, given MTV techniques.

The interesting historical fact about this movie is that it was directed by Oscar Apfel. Mr. Apfel directed from about about 1911 through 1928, then just gave up and spent his last ten years as an actor. During his directing phase, however, he co-directed Cecil B. Demille's earliest films, basically teaching C.B. how to do the job. Why did Apfel give up directing? Was his technique out of date? Maybe. It was a common issue with several directors who vanished at that time. But here in 1912, he and his company are in fine form.