As far as I know, this silent Vitagraph short is the oldest surviving screen version of Cinderella from America. It's a realistic modern retelling, in which "Cinderella" is a girl sharing a room in a boarding house with her haughty older stepsister, the "fairy godmother" is a well-off elderly woman who also lives there, and the "prince" is the "fairy godmother's" grandson.
Mary Fuller went on to play Elizabeth in the earliest film version of Frankenstein for Edison in the same year.
The Enchanted Drawing is a short film directed and performed by James Stuart Blackton. It is known for being the first film to apply the stop-motion technique to drawings.
The Enchanted Drawing was produced by the Edison Manufacturing Company and filmed between September and November 1900 at the Vitagraph studios in Brooklyn. It was released in theaters on November 16, 1900, distributed by Edison, whose catalog describes it as follows:
"Upon a large sheet of white paper a cartoonist (James Stuart Blackton, 00:05 ) is seen at work rapidly sketching the portrait of an elderly gentleman of most comical feature and expression. After completing the likeness the artist rapidly draws on the paper a clever sketch of a bottle of wine and a goblet, and then, to the surprise of all, ( 00:57 ) actually removes them from the paper on which they were drawn and pours actual wine out of the bottle into a real glass ( 01:05) ). Surprising effects quickly follow after this; and the numerous changes of expression which flit over the face in the sketch cause a vast amount of amusement and at the same time give a splendid illustration of the caricaturist's art.”
The Enchanted Drawing is sometimes considered the first stop-motion animated film, but this is not the case. Blackton, in fact, does not use stop-motion to create an illusion of movement but rather, like Méliès and his contemporaries, stops the camera on seven occasions ( 00:57, 01:11, 01:31, 01:37, 01:44, 01:49, 01:53 ) to perform individual transformations. His enchanted drawing changes expression, but it does not move as the characters of Humorous Phases of Funny Faces would later do in 1906.
films indexed: 1909, 1909, 1910, 1913, 1918, 1923, 1925, 1929.
I was frustrated with the lack of information regarding the status our earliest Les Mis film adaptations, so I thought to make an index compiling all avaliable information for anybody interested, as well as where/how to watch them if at all possible.
This will include both lost, semi-lost, and avaliable films, and I will mark them accordingly and give as much information I can about the lost ones, as well as press photography when avaliable.
I've also included a google document with footnotes and sources, as well as curiousities and reviews of the films of the times for anybody really interested:) the most particular adaptation choices are written in the post itself.
(As for the short film adaptations preceeding these ones, they are avaliable for viewing on youtube linked here:)
Victor Hugo Et Les Principaux Personnages Des "Misérables" (1897)
1909: The Price of a Soul, The Ordeal, A new life: presumed LOST.
director: Edwin S. Porter
company: Edison Manufacturing Company
archive: N/A
status: The film is considered public domain, and was released as a short film trilogy. The first part apparently shares a reel with the film “Furnished rooms”.
idiosyncrasies: Bishop Myriel is particularly praised in this movie.
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“.... Not more than a small fraction understand them because they have not read the story, or, if they have, it has been in such a cursory manner that it made little or no impression upon them. And yet, the portion who have read them and who appreciate them when reading them enjoy all the more fully the pictures which reproduce them.... “
surviving stills, (scenes depicting Cosette and her new doll, as well as Valjean escaping with her)
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1909: The Galley Slave, Fantine, Cosette, Jean Valjean : presumed LOST.
director: J. Stuart Blackton
company: Vitagraph / Warner.
archive: N/A. While it is possible the reels may lie housed in the Warner Archive lot, there is no record to show it, and they have declined contact.
status: Four films for separate viewing. It is not registered to any archive nor is it available for viewing.
idiosyncrasies: Widely regarded as the first American feature-length film. Significant changes have been made to Javert’s character as he has been fused with Bamatabois, and his motivation is now that Fantine spurns his romantic advances. Despite the film being silent, and presumably, texted, reviewers of the time have trouble spelling character names. The focus on the film is presenting scenes loosely, so you would have to know the novel’s plot beforehand to follow it. Once again the problem rises that the majority of the audience does not understand the film.
According to the Moving Picture World synopsis, this one got rather gruesome: “In the sewer he encounters Thenardier, who permits him to escape from the locked gate by means of a false key, at the same time cutting from Marius's trousers a portion of one leg as a means of identification.“
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“...It seems to the writer as though it would pay if not more than one in the audience understood the pictures.... “
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1910: Aa, Mujou: Presumed LOST
director: N/A (It was common practise not to credit director or actor.)
company: Kinen Daishokan / M. Patê
archive: N/A
status: Believed lost.
idiosyncrasies: It is believed that the film follows a theatrical “one-scene, one-shot” formula while the scenes were explained by a live narrator. Following this tradition of Japanese cinema which resembled theatre, it is likely all the roles were played by men.
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1912: Les misérables: Preserved, digitzied, exclusive.
director: Albert Capellani
company/rights holder: Pathé / SCAGL
archive: Gaumont Pathe / Cinémathèque française
idiosyncrasies: Credits include minor characters such as Bousset, Feuilly, and Combeferre. The film was viewed favorably with the exception of the love story between Cosette and Marius:
“...About the single dull period of the film is the love portion between Cosette and Marius. These roles were taken by Le Petite Frommet (sic) et M. de Gravonne. Mlle Frommet wasn't nearly as nice to love as a grown up as the child who took the same part 15 years before. De Gravonne was very serious, in mind and action, and with a timid little mustache, he scarce looked a fevered lover... “
The film was heavily promoted and hyped as The Greatest film of all time, so much so that the reels shipment to America constituted Ad-worthy news. (Pictured below)
[trans.] Picture of a shipping boat. “Coming on Wire at Once: On Tuesday, April 1, the French Line Steamer “La Touraine” will arrive in America with the Greatest Motion Picture Ever Made <<Les Miserables>>”
status: Preserved and digitized in 1985, Pathé exclusive shown at festivals.
Like many films it’s stuck in the Pathé vaults only avaliable if you register via their website as a film media professional, which makes it inaccessible to the populace. It has not been shared:/ Perhaps via letter writing they can be persuaded to release it as a DVD. Here are the links for it, in any case:
1...
2...
3...
4...
Promotional picture at the time:
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1918: Les Misérables: In process of digitazation.
Director: Frank Lloyd
Company: Fox films
archive: Filmoteka Narodowa / Národní filmový archiv
idiosyncrasies: Fantine’s role is credited here as “Fantine Thernadier”, possibly meaning she is a niece of theirs in this film.
status: The original reels are presumed lost in a fire. Partially preserved, in process of being digitized. This film was alleged to be preserved by the AFI, but as stated by an employee of the institute at the time, this preservation was botched. A 65 minute version still exists at Filmoteka Narodowa, with the reels are in good condition and in the process of being digitized(which may take anywhere from one to ten years, according to contact). They are avaliable for viewing in place!
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1923: Aa, Mujou- Dai ippen: Hôrô no maki, Aa Mujou-Dai nihen: Shichô no maki: Partially LOST
director: Ushihara Kiyohiko, Ikeda Yoshinobu
company: Shochiku
archive: National Film Archive of Japan
idiosyncrasies: The film is set in China. They are two adaptations, one details Valjean’s story up until Petit-Gervais. Reviews of the time rate are unfavorable, particularly bashing the acting, as well as the fact that Fantine seemed too pretty and made up.
status: This movie was partially aborted halfway through production as only 2/4 of the movies were made. About 9 minutes of these reels survived, are digitized and are avaliable for viewing at National Film Centre of Japan in Tokyo.
---- REVIEWS OF THE TIME ----
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1925: Les Misérables: Preserved. Avaliable online.
director: Henri Fescourt
company: Pathé
archive: Gaumont Pathe / on-line archive (DM for link)
stars: Gabriel Gabrio (Valjean), Paul Jorge (M. Myriel), Sandra Milovanoff(Fantine+Cosette), Jean Toulout (Javert), François Rozet (Marius), Paul Guidé( Enjolras )
idiosyncrasies: At over 6 hours, this version is possibly one of the most complete adaptations of the story, including a lot of footage of Marius as a child, as well as small jokes from the book. A lot of effort and love was put into restoring the film from the reels and original scripts, and the whole process took over 3 years.
status: Fully restored, tinted, subtitled.
This version is a Pathé exclusive, but has been made available online with english subtitles. (sidenote, this version in particular comes warmly recommended as a long-time fan of LM :) )
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1929: Aa mujou: Presumed LOST.
director: Seika Shiba
company: Nikkatsu
archive: N/A
idiosyncrasies: Set during the Meiji restoration in Japan, Bishop Myriel here being Buddhist nun Mitsuki, and was criticised for being populist as Les Misérables was an extremely hot media topic at the time. The action is speculated to be set during the Chichibu rebellion, a peasant revolt in 1884. Subsequently the names of the characters are changed into: Jaan Gijūrō (邪安義十), Jashiro(蛇四郎), nun Mitsuki (光月尼), Ushigoro(牛五郎) Harue(春江) and Otsune(お常).
