Santa Claus
“A fantasy actually filmed in northern Alaska.”
About Santa Claus
On the night of 24 December, two children wait up after their mother has gone to bed so they can ask Santa Claus what he does the rest of the year. They fall asleep before he arrives. He tells them he lives in the Land of Winter, on the rim of the Polar Sea, and the cards follow him past ice, a workshop, and chimneys, including some too small for him. He reaches Nome first. The children wake and say it was not a dream. A last card sends him home, tired but happy.
Cast & crew
More about Santa Claus
Frank E. Kleinschmidt and Margaret Alaska Young are credited as directors. Mr. and Mrs. F. E. Kleinschmidt present it. The title card says it was filmed in northern Alaska. It was copyrighted in 1925. It runs 29 minutes.
Themes
Making
The Land of Winter scenes use footage shot in northern Alaska, with Santa placed in that landscape.
Look
Frank E. Kleinschmidt shot the northern Alaska footage that the cards call the Land of Winter.
Notes
- A card quotes the opening of A Visit from St. Nicholas, then the children say their mother has gone to bed.
- Santa says some chimneys are too small, and that is one reason some children get no toys.
- The first town on his route, in the cards, is Nome, Alaska.
- Kleinschmidt had already filmed Arctic expeditions, including The Arctic — Siberian Expedition (1912) and Captain F. E. Kleinschmidt's Arctic Hunt (1914).
Scenes
- The children sneak down after the card that says their mother has gone to bed.
- A card admits that some chimneys will not take Santa.
- He comes in at Nome before the other towns.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Santa Claus (1925).webm)
Quotes
I live in the Land of Winter, on the rim of the Polar Sea.
And that is one reason why some little children never get any toys.
Oh, Santa Claus has been here! It wasn't a dream!