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An Old-Time Nightmare

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Wikipedia article




'An Old-Time Nightmare' is a lost 1911 American silent comedy-fantasy film. Directed by Fred Walton, the short was released as the latter half of a 1000-foot "split reel", with the first half being another comedy short, 'Lost in a Hotel'.[http://archive.org/details/billboard23-1911-10/page/n39/mode/2up "List Of Films And Their Release Dates/Powers/An Old-time Nightmare (comedy) (split reel)"], 'The Billboard', October 7, 1911, p. 41. Internet Archive. Retrieved June 13, 2020. Both films were produced by the Powers Moving Picture Company of New York. This short's performers are not credited in 1911 reviews, in plot summaries, or in advertisements published in trade journals at the time. The faces of most of the cast were not visible on screen, for many of the actors wore costumes with full head coverings sculpted to resemble various species of birds, including a sparrow, eagle, dove, owl, wren, stork, bluebird, robin, linnet, and crow. While the short was identified upon its release as a comedy, it was also characterized in several contemporary reviews as a morality lesson and ideal photoplay for "juvenile" audiences.[http://archive.org/stream/moviwor09chal#page/n795/mode/2up "'An Old-Time Nightmare' (Powers)"], 'The Moving Picture World', September 16, 1911, p. 778. Internet Archive. Retrieved June 14, 2020.

Plot



According to reviews in 1911 trade publications, the film began with scenes of a group of boys fishing by a pond in a wooded area known as "Boyland". One of the youngsters brought with him a large serving of pie, which another boy named Tommy steals and runs away from the group. Once he outruns the other boys, Tommy shares the pie with his friend who accompanied him. The pair are tired from running and now do not feel well after devouring the stolen treat, so they lie down next to a big tree and fall asleep. Tommy begins to dream. In a bizarre nightmare he sees himself stealing again, but this time in "Birdland". He is a thief who climbs a tree and robs a bird's nest of its eggs. After taking the eggs, Tommy climbs down and then argues in his dream with his friend. The boys disagree about how to share the eggs, so they leave one another.

Later in his dream, as he walks alone across a cornfield, Tommy is confronted by a huge sparrow that is even larger in size than the boy. The bird accuses him for egg theft and calls a equally large police bird, who arrests Tommy and "jails" him in a large bird cage. A trial before Judge Eagle is then convened to try the boy for his crime. Other human-sized birds assemble in the forest to act as jurors and witnesses in the outdoor court. After the jury quickly finds Tommy guilty, the judge sentences him to be beheaded. A flock of birds now forms a "death march" to escort the condemned boy to the chopping block, where the Crow, Birdland's executioner, is holding a large axe. There, Tommy is forced to place his head on the block, but just before the Crow strikes the fatal blow, Tommy awakens. He finds himself back in the reality of Boyland. His friend is awake too, and says he is hungry again after eating the pie. He suggests that they should find a bird's nest and take some eggs. Tommy refuses. Having gained a new perspective from his nightmare, he vows never again to steal from a nest.[http://archive.org/stream/moviwor09chal#page/n841/mode/2up "The Old-Time Nightmare (Sept. 19)"], 'The Moving Picture World', September 16, 1911 p. 824. Internet Archive. Retrieved June 13, 2020.

Cast



Not one of the performers is credited in reviews of the film, in plot summaries, or in Powers' advertisements for the production published in trade journals and papers in 1911.

*Uncredited child actor as Tommy

*Uncredited child actor as Tommy's Friend

*Uncredited performer as the Sparrow, the victim of egg theft[http://archive.org/stream/billboard23-1911-09#page/n349/mode/2up "An Old Nightmare"], The Bulletin, September 30, 1911, p. 43. Internet Archive. Retrieved June 12, 2020.

*Uncredited performer as the Police Bird of Birdland

*Uncredited performer as Judge Eagle

*Uncredited performers as Bird Jurors

*Uncredited performer as the Minister Dove

*Uncredited performers as Committee of Owls

*Uncredited performer as the Crow, the executioner

Split-reel release and reception



During the silent era, it was common practice for production companies to load two short films onto a single reel, creating what was referred to then as a "split reel". Combining films onto one reel not only reduced the number of reels shipped to theaters by distributors, it also reduced the number of reel changes on the projectors at those locations. In September 1911, when Powers Moving Picture Company distributed its split-reel copies of 'Lost in a Hotel' and 'An Old-Time Nightmare', this comedy-fantasy comprised the latter half of all the shared reels released.

The film in 1911 was generally well-received by reviewers, who judged it to be an amusing oddity as well as a "worthwhile" screen presentation.[http://archive.org/details/moviwor10chal/page/n45/mode/2up "'The Old-Time Nightmare' (Powers)"], 'The Moving Picture World', October 7, 1911 p. 41. Internet Archive. Retrieved June 13, 2020. Powers itself promoted the release as "Without a doubt the most Original Children's Picture by this or by any other Film Company."Banner advertisement for 1911 films of Powers Moving Picture Company, 'The Billboard' (Cincinnati, Ohio), September 16, 1911, p. 71. Retrieved June 16, 2020. The trade journal 'The Moving Picture World' applauded that effort:

"Lost" film status



No copy of this Powers short is listed among the motion-picture holdings of the Library of Congress, the UCLA Film Archives, in the collection of moving images at the Museum of Modern Art, the George Eastman Museum, the Library and Archives Canada, or in other major film repositories in the United States, Canada, or Europe.Online and hard-copy searches for this comedy/fantasy in the cited collections were conducted in June 2020, as well as in the Library and Archives Canada, BFI National Archive, and in EU film repositories through the European Film Gateway. The film is therefore presumed to be a lost production.

Powers Moving Picture Company continued producing films as a single, independent studio for only seven months after the release of 'An Old-Time Nightmare'. In May 1912 Powers formally merged with other production companies to form Universal Film Manufacturing Company.Horsley, David (1914). "David Horsley Tells History of Hollywood", 'The Arizona Republican' (Phoenix), February 16, 1925, p. 12. ProQuest Historical Newspapers, Ann Arbor Michigan; subscription access through The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library. Retrieved June 8, 2020. Properties of those companies were later consolidated under the ownership of Carl Laemmle and selectively transferred in 1915 to Universal's new, burgeoning studio complex in Universal City, California. If any master negatives and prints of this film and others by Powers were later physically transferred to Universal, that footage may have been lost in devastating fires that often occurred throughout the motion-picture industry in the silent era, including at Universal. At any given time, many millions of feet of old and new films that had been shot on unstable, highly flammable cellulose nitrate stock were stored in film vaults and in various studio warehouses. It is more likely, however, that subsequent studio managers deemed this short and its split-reel companion 'Lost in a Hotel' to be inconsequential releases by a short-lived, secondary production company and were discarded or perhaps were simply left unattended and allowed to decay and disintegrate over time.

Notes



References




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