The Night Before Christmas

Edwin S. Porter's Edison Christmas short is the first film of Clement Clarke Moore's 1823 poem, and it treats the verses as intertitles. Harry Eytinge plays Santa, feeding real reindeer and finishing toys in his workshop while, in a city household, children hang stockings, fail to sleep, and erupt into a pillow fight. Porter shot 1,670 feet and kept 798. The showpiece is a panoramic miniature: Santa's sleigh crossing painted hills beneath a moon. He comes down the chimney, leaves the presents, and the children tumble downstairs at dawn. Nine minutes of Edison-factory Christmas, released 16 December 1905, two years after The Great Train Robbery.