Snow White

Supposedly this what got Disney's mind oriented toward cartoon versions of well known "fairy tales."

But we can hardly blame it for the patronizing travesty he has performed on children's literature. The story here is a bit Bolwderized (some sex, and much cruelty have been removed from the traditional version). But it is still complex and has lots of side stories, like how she disguises herself as one of her maids in waiting. And how the stepmother tried a comb first, before the apple.

The structure of the play on which this is based is supposedly influenced by the revival of Macbeth then current in London, where the Shakespeare story is explained as controlled by the three witches. Here it is almost as if the witch were responsible for the Faustian deal the ugly stepmother makes.

This film was conceived as a direct result of the amazing popularity of "Birth of a Nation," perhaps the most influential film in history. That's because Birth cemented the notion that movies are like plays — not an entirely predetermined outcome. This was the first big budget play to be movie-ized afterward.

The film is in bad condition, so you have to imagine which cuts were original and which are because of missing segments. I prefer to imagine most of the jumps as missing material because the thing moves so languorously in what we see. For instance, there's a clearly drawn Queen's Toady who we spend many minutes watching in pompous walk.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

The highlight of this version of "Snow White" is the lively performance by Marguerite Clark, who fits into the role very well and shows why she was so popular in her time. Overall, the movie is a pleasant, old-fashioned telling of the story, with a stage-like technique but some pretty good production values for the mid-1910s.

At one time, Clark was as popular as any other actress of her day, but almost all of her movies have since been lost. Even this movie is still missing some material at various points, although the reconstruction in the Treasures From American Film Archives collection is very nicely done, and makes it fit together as well as it possibly could have.

Even when compared with the other great actresses of her day, Clark works very well in the role of a young girl. Her small stature certainly helps, but her actions and mannerisms are also very believable. For the story to work, "Snow White" has to be extremely sympathetic and engaging, and Clark is able to do that quite well.

The story stays fairly close to the Grimm Brothers' original, though downplaying or eliminating some of its more violent aspects. Most of the supporting characters are one- dimensional, but the cast members do a solid job with them. Without Clark, it would have been a decent movie anyway, though probably of interest only to those who are devoted fans of silent movies. Clark's performance makes it pretty good, and well worth seeing.

"Lost" movies are truly the stuff that dreams are made of. So many were destroyed simply on whims of studios because the movies were too old to make any more money or who wanted to make room in their vaults. In retrospect we now know that many real treasures were lost and that is why finding a film presumed lost is such a reason to rejoice. Just recently the 10 reel LOST WORLD (1925) was found and so were uncut prints of THE GHOUL (1933), ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1930), the original 1925 print of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, and the jewel in the crown, the 1910 Edison FRANKENSTEIN. And that brings me to the film I am here to-night to talk about, the 1916 SNOW WHITE. It was the time of the child-woman, the waif-girl. Audiences did not want their illusions shattered and once an actress turned in a convincing performance in a juvenile role she was typecast in the eyes of the ticket buying public. That is why you could find 32 year old Mary Pickford playing a 16 year old orphan in SPARROWS and why 23 year old Mary Miles Minter played sweet, blushing virgins until her involvement in the William Desmond Taylor murder case shot her career down in flames. Mabel Normand was always the funny tomboy and Dorothy Dwan was sweet and winsome. Marguerite Clark was 34 when she played the teen-something heroine in this classic fairy tale. Luckily the camera loved her and her age is not at all obvious. Sticking pretty close to the Grimm fairy tale Snow White is a true princess here but must work as a scullery maid thanks to her jealous stepmother, the queen. Everyone in the castle treats Snow like the royalty she really is even though she looks like a ragamuffin. When by accident she meets up with handsome Prince Florimond (Creighton Hale, who would go on the play the comic hero in THE CAT AND THE CANARY(1927)) and he falls in love with her not realising who she is it incites the queen to demand Snow's life, thus setting in motion the story we all know so well. The Hollywood movie industry was still in its infancy in 1916 so one must wonder out loud where they found 7 midgets (and in truth most of them ARE midgets, not dwarves) to play the 7 Dwarves. Then again finding 7 was probably a cinch compared to the even dozen who appeared in the 1914 RIP VAN WINKLE and that was shot in upstate New York! With a running time of just over an hour this is a film that is a must see for film students and people who just love silent movies. Now if someone could just find A BLIND BARGAIN and LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT. Well . . .we can dream, can't we?

It being Christmas, Santa Claus enters (stage left) through the chimney, magically makes a decorated tree appear (begging the question, "Why didn't this household already have one?"); then, he deposits a set of theatrical dolls on a nearby table. They come to life and play-out the story of "Snow White (and the Seven Dwarfs)"…

Our heroine's beautiful queen mother bears a little princess "with skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as ebony." She grows into the fairest Marguerite Clark (as Snow White). This rattles jealously wicked Dorothy Cumming (as Brangomar), who wants to be the most beautiful woman in town. She goes to bald-headed Alice Washburn (as Witch Hex), who grants Ms. Cumming both loveliness and a truth-telling "Magic Mirror"; in return, the Witch demands that, "in the future, she would receive the heart of Snow White." Mr. Washburn plans to use Clark's heart as a hair-growing tonic.

Within a year, Ms. Clark's mother dies. The newly-lovely Cumming marries the king just before he dies, then turns Clark into a "Cinderella"-like servant. Of course, this doesn't stop visiting prince Creighton Hale (as Florimond) from falling in love with Clark. Wicked Queen Cumming is upset that handsome Mr. Hale didn't propose to her, despite his being much younger; Cumming tells Hale she will allow him to wed Clark, after the Princess spends a year in boarding school. Actually, Cumming sends Clark on a wild goose chase, and orders huntsman Lionel Braham (as Berthold) to go rip out her heart!

This is the thoroughly charming original film version of Clark's beloved stage play "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1912) which was, as you'll see, the blueprint for Walt Disney's famous 1937 version. Mr. Disney saw this as a teenager, and was obviously enchanted. By 1916, Clark was rivaling Mary Pickford in popularity, and challenging her for highly-sought Christmas box office receipts. All this, despite the fact that Clark a decade older, and didn't like making movies. Still, she is the fairest "Snow White" of all, and hopefully more of her films will be found (like "Wildflower" and "Prunella").

For modern viewers, an initial weakness will be the film's certain staginess - but, director J. Searle Dawley and Paramount's "Famous Players" did not seek to simply film a stage play. Witness the editing, variety of shots, and constant movement of the performers on screen. Some good examples are Clark's walking down the center of the screen, after meeting Hale; and, her discovery of the Dwarf cottage in the woods. "Snow White" compensates for the fact that the screen, unlike the live stage, is flat. This is not the style of film-making which became standard, but it is an example of how to make it lively.

******** Snow White (12/25/16) J. Searle Dawley ~ Marguerite Clark, Creighton Hale, Dorothy Cumming, Lionel Braham

Adapted by Winthrop Ames from his own 1912 Broadway adaptation of the tale published exactly a hundred years earlier by the Brothers Grimm, 'Snow White' was one of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players productions, the Famous Player on this occasion being Marguerite Clark in the role she had created on stage. Aged 33 when the film version was made but easily passing for a girl half her real age, Miss Clark is surrounded by a handsome if stagy production, lushly photographed by H. Lyman Broening, who when called upon also conjures up more spooky visuals for scenes such as down in the dwarfs' mine and - most vividly - the witch's lair; both of which can be recognised in the 1937 version produced by Walt Disney, who saw this as a 15 year-old. In this version, the witch and the wicked stepmother are separate characters; the former played for laughs by Alice Washburn, with Dorothy Cumming as the latter resembling Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth in John Singer Sargent's famous 1889 portrait.