A Gift from Santa Claus (1909)
This picture is proof positive that there is such a person as Santa Claus, that he does come down the chimney, and that he does know the things that children want. It begins with the departure of Captain Lovell, a young officer of the Merchant Marine, and his farewell to his little motherless daughter, whom he leaves at a select school for girls, presided over by a lady whose business instinct is stronger than her sympathies. Captain Lovell's ship goes on the rocks, and in the next scene we see the school mistress reading the account of the wreck in the paper, and in anything but a kindly way breaking the news to the Captain's little daughter, Eloise. Eloise now has no one to provide for her, and at the end of the month she is forced to give up her pretty room at the school and become a little drudge, scrubbing the steps, sweeping the floors and sleeping in the bare attic room at the top of the house. Here we see her finding some consolation in her love of books and entertaining her one friend, the poor little, half-starved work-child of the kitchen, by reading aloud to her. Even this taste of comfort is denied her by the heartless school mistress. In the midst of her troubles the Christmas season arrives, and the scene shifts to Santa Claus's house, way up by the North Pole. We see the jolly old fellow looking out over the world and arranging his gifts to provide for the wants of those children of the various lands that he views through his wonderful spyglass. Eloise sends him a note, and although the other girls have not been good to her since her father's death and the consequent loss of her own good clothes and position, she forgives them and remembers them all in her letter to Santa Claus, which concludes with a wish that he will not send her any presents except "just someone to love her." The receipt of this note makes Santa Claus thoughtful for a minute, and then with him we look through his spyglass and we see what he sees. On a deserted Island far away on the other side of the world we see a man signaling a ship, which answers his signal, and the man looks remarkably like Eloise's father. Then, when Christmas Eve arrives, we see Santa Claus come down the chimney into her attic room and transform its barrenness into a bower of beauty, and we see Captain Lovell landing safe and sound in America again. Then Eloise wakes up and Santa Claus promptly vanishes, as of course he must, according to all traditions. We see her delight at the changed aspect of her room and sympathize with the thought, so plainly indicated, that all this beauty needs but one other gift, her father. Next we see what Eloise does not, that he is almost at the door while the wish is expressed, and so we can laugh through our tears when she looks up to find him with outstretched arms waiting to clasp her to his heart again.
All Releases
Domestic
–
–
International
–
–
Worldwide
–
–
GenresDrama
Short
IMDbPro
See more details at IMDbPro
| Filmmakers | Role |
|---|---|
| Edwin S. Porter | Director |
| Cast | Role |
|---|---|
| Florence Turner |
