The Land Beyond the Sunset

This magical little gem from the studios of Thomas Edison is one of the revelations of the "Treasures from American Film Archives" program shown on TCM and available on DVD. In it a poor newsboy who lives with an alcoholic and abusive grandmother in a city slum gets to visit the countryside and participate in a picnic for the underprivileged. There he becomes transformed by a fairy-tale story that is read to the kids and is inspired to seek for himself that land beyond the horizon, where all is happiness and joy, a desire which all of us on this planet must surely share from time to time. The music track added to this presentation features some lovely songs which, together with the compelling images, transport us all to that better beyond.

You can see this and other terrific rare and vintage movies on THE TREASURES FROM AMERICAN FILM ARCHIVES DVD. I highly recommend this 4 DVD set. The short film itself is a sad tale of a poor street urchin who takes fairy tales too seriously.

Art combines with messaging in cinema's first nonprofit promotional film, October 1912's "The Land Beyond Sunset." The short movie, sponsored by the still active non-profit organization The Fresh Air Fund, encourages poor city children to make an effort to visit the outdoors. The ending is absolutely stunning.

Edison Studios took on the task of creating a story--script written by Dorothy Shore--of convincing people, especially children, to escape the confining tenements of the big cities and journey into the countryside. An abused boy constantly being beaten by his drunken grandmother, takes up the offer to go on a children's trip to a countryside lake. The excursion proves to be such an eyeopener and refreshing that he's hesitant to return to his nightmarish home environment.

This first ever promotional movie was eventful and convincing to those in the audience. Yet the film, directed by Harold Shaw, is so beautifully done that it set the template of how to produce a persuasive message on film by an organization who wants to improve the lives of those in destitute.

Land Beyond the Sunset, The (1912)

*** (out of 4)

This is a rather interesting and sadly forgotten film from Edison. Poor boy Joe (Martin Fuller) is abused by his alcoholic grandmother so he gets on a train where a group of under privileged children are going on a picnic. At the picnic the teacher tells Joe a story about a kid who was put in a boat and sailed off for a fairy land beyond the sunset. I won't ruin how the film ends but you really have to give it credit for having the guts to end like it does. Again, I won't ruin anything but the ending certainly makes one think as there are several things that might have happened and it's up to the viewer to make up their own mind. I think it's fair to say that this Edison film was trying to copy the work of D.W. Griffith as it certainly has a political message about the poor but it also has the view that happiness can be found in the country, which are two things that the Biograph director made a lot of films about. For the most part I found this piece to be interesting for a number of reasons. One is the before mentioned ending. Another is how it shows the poor living and the effect on Joe after seeing the country, which is seen as a much more pleasant and safe place. I also enjoyed the rather surreal nature of how the film told the "story" of Joe in such a way where it really did seem like a fairy tale. Fuller is very good in his role as the poor boy who dreams of something better.

A young impoverished boy wins the opportunity to spend a pleasant day out in the countryside. The under privileged children are told a fairy tale and this transforms the young lad. He imagines a land beyond the sunset. The film ends on a poetic enigmatic note.

The film is an unusual combination of social drama and otherworldly fantasy. It has to be said that these two seemingly opposing genres are combined here quite beautifully. There is definitely a social conscience here. The squalor of the city slums is compared to the country and it's clear that the film implies the latter is much better and purer. The fairy tale sequence itself is very nice, helped a great deal by the lilting Irish music accompanied by it in the version I saw and fitted with the images perfectly. The ending itself is somewhat ambiguous and open to different interpretations but this is one of the very reasons it is so effective and why this old film still feels so fresh.