A CHRISTMAS PAST (1925) ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: D.W. Griffith, Edwin S. Porter, others
A compilation of short Christmas movies, most of them from the early silent era. The films are variable and some are quite primitive. (The earliest is from 1901.) Edison's condensed version of "A Christmas Carol" (1910) goes by pretty quick, but an extended visit to Santa's North Pole headquarters in "Santa Claus" (1925) seems to drag on forever. The highlight is probably "A Winter Straw Ride", shot by Edwin S. Porter in 1906, in which a bunch of young people go for a sleigh ride and get pelted with snowballs. They keep falling out of the sleigh, and eventually just run off chasing each other on foot, and they're having so much falling-down fun, you can't help suspecting some festive seasonal beverage was involved.
