The Cricket on the Hearth (1909 film)

Last updated
The Cricket on the Hearth
The cricket on the heart (1909).jpg
Still from film
Directed by D. W. Griffith
Written by Frank E. Woods
Based onThe Cricket on the Hearth
by Charles Dickens
Produced by American Mutoscope and Biograph Company
Starring Owen Moore
Cinematography Billy Bitzer
Arthur Marvin
Distributed by Biograph Company
Release date
May 27, 1909
Running time
14-15 minutes (1 reel; original release length 989 feet)
CountryUnited States
LanguagesSilent
English title card

The Cricket on the Hearth is a 1909 silent short film directed by D. W. Griffith. [1] It is based on the 1845 novella of the same title by Charles Dickens. [2]

Contents

Plot

Opening in the home of Caleb Plummer, an old toymaker, we see his son, Edward, departing for the sea. A tender farewell to father and blind sister, Bertha, takes him to the road where he bids adieu to his sweetheart, Mary Fielding. There is then a lapse of three years and we find honest John Pereyhingle the husband of Dot. Mrs. Fielding has gotten into moderate straits and consents to the marriage of Old Tackleton, the grouch, to May. This is repugnant to May, whose heart is set on Edward. Edward returns, stopping on the way at the King George Inn where he learns of the approaching nuptials of Tackleton and May. Borrowing a disguise from a strolling Merry Andrew, he goes in the garb of an old wayfarer on John’s cart to see Dot and find out the truth. John, prompted by Tackleton, watches the pair. Not recognising Edward, John assumes he is a lover. Edward upon learning from Dot how inimical the match is to May resolves to carry her away, which he does with the assistance of Dot. They are married in the roadway just as the much perturbed Tackleton appears. John discovers what a fool he has been in doubting Dot, Tackleton realises what an unpopular grouch he has been and decides to change, while Bertha and Old Caleb are overjoyed at the return of Edward. [3]

Cast

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Jane Eyre</i> 1847 novel by Charlotte Brontë

Jane Eyre is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first American edition was published the following year by Harper & Brothers of New York. Jane Eyre is a Bildungsroman which follows the experiences of its eponymous heroine, including her growth to adulthood and her love for Mr Rochester, the brooding master of Thornfield Hall.

<i>Mrs Craddock</i> 1902 Somerset Maugham novel

Mrs Craddock is a novel by William Somerset Maugham first published in 1902.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Jefferson</span> American actor and author (1829–1905)

Joseph Jefferson III, often known as Joe Jefferson, was an American actor. He was the third actor of this name in a family of actors and managers, and one of the most famous 19th century American comedians. Beginning as a young child, he continued as a performer for most of his 76 years. Jefferson was particularly well known for his adaptation and portrayal of Rip Van Winkle on the stage, reprising the role in several silent film adaptations. After 1865, he created no other major role and toured with this play for decades.

Sanditon (1817) is an unfinished novel by the English writer Jane Austen. In January 1817, Austen began work on a new novel she called The Brothers, later titled Sanditon, and completed eleven chapters before stopping work in mid-March 1817, probably because of illness. R.W. Chapman first published a full transcription of the novel in 1925 under the name Fragment of a Novel.

<i>The Cricket on the Hearth</i> 1845 novella by Charles Dickens

The Cricket on the Hearth: A Fairy Tale of Home is a novella by Charles Dickens, published by Bradbury and Evans, and released 20 December 1845 with illustrations by Daniel Maclise, John Leech, Richard Doyle, Clarkson Stanfield and Edwin Henry Landseer. Dickens began writing the book around 17 October 1845 and finished it by 1 December. Like all of Dickens's Christmas books, it was published in book form, not as a serial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H. D. G. Leveson Gower</span> English cricketer

Sir Henry Dudley Gresham Leveson Gower was an English cricketer from the Leveson-Gower family. He played first-class cricket for Oxford University and Surrey and captained England in Test cricket. His school nickname "Shrimp" remained with him through his life, but few cricket sources refer to him by anything other than his initials. He was a selector for the England cricket team, and a cricketing knight.

"We Wish You a Merry Christmas" is an English Christmas carol, listed as numbers 230 and 9681 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The famous version of the carol is from the English West Country.

<i>Jane Eyre</i> (1943 film) Film by Robert Stevenson

Jane Eyre is a 1943 American film adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel of the same name, released by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by the uncredited Kenneth Macgowan and Orson Welles; Welles also stars in the film as Edward Rochester, with Joan Fontaine playing the title character.

<i>While the City Sleeps</i> (1956 film) 1956 film by Fritz Lang

While the City Sleeps is a 1956 American film noir directed by Fritz Lang and starring Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, George Sanders, Howard Duff, Thomas Mitchell, Vincent Price, John Drew Barrymore and Ida Lupino. Written by Casey Robinson, the newspaper drama was based on The Bloody Spur by Charles Einstein, which was inspired by the case of Chicago serial killer William Heirens. Five decades after the film's release, critic Dennis Schwartz wrote, "Fritz Lang ('M') directs his most under-appreciated great film, more a social commentary than a straight crime drama."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John E. Owens</span> American actor

John Edward Owens was an English-American comedian, born in the Aigburth district of Liverpool, England but taken to the United States when three years old. He began his stage career in 1841 in Philadelphia.

<i>The Golden Louis</i> 1909 American film

The Golden Louis is a 1909 American drama film written by Edward Acker, directed by D. W. Griffith, and produced by the Biograph Company in New York City. Originally, this short was distributed to theaters on a "split reel", accompanying another Griffith-directed film, the comedy The Politician's Love Story.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothy Spencer</span> American film editor (1909–2002)

Dorothy Spencer, known as Dot Spencer, was an American film editor with 75 feature film credits from a career that spanned more than 50 years. Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing on four occasions, she is remembered for editing three of director John Ford's best known movies, including Stagecoach (1939) and My Darling Clementine (1946), which film critic Roger Ebert called "Ford's greatest Western".

The West Indies cricket team toured England in 1933, playing three Test matches, losing two of them and drawing the other. In all, the side played 30 first-class matches, winning only five and losing nine.

<i>A Drunkards Reformation</i> 1909 film

A Drunkard's Reformation is a 1909 American drama film directed by D. W. Griffith. Prints of the film survive in the film archive of the Library of Congress. The American Mutoscope and Biograph Company advertised the feature as "The most powerful temperance lecture ever depicted".

<i>The Zany Adventures of Robin Hood</i> 1984 film by Ray Austin

The Zany Adventures of Robin Hood is a 1984 American made-for-television comedy film directed by Ray Austin and starring George Segal, Morgan Fairchild, Roddy McDowall, Janet Suzman and Tom Baker. It is a parody of the Robin Hood story.

<i>Bright Day</i> 1946 novel by J.B. Priestley

Bright Day is a novel by J. B. Priestley, first published in 1946. One of his better-known works, it combines nostalgia for the northern England that existed before the First World War with an optimism inspired by the conclusion of the Second.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1976 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours</span> Harold Wilsons "Lavender List"

The 1976 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours were announced on 27 May 1976 to mark the resignation of the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson. The list of resignation honours became known satirically as the "Lavender List".

The Day After is a 1909 American short silent drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Blanche Sweet. A print of the film survives in the film archive of the Library of Congress.

<i>The Cricket on the Hearth</i> (1923 film) 1923 film by Lorimer Johnston

The Cricket on the Hearth is a 1923 American silent comedy film directed by Lorimer Johnston and starring Josef Swickard, Fritzi Ridgeway, and Paul Gerson.

References