The Christmas Angel
About The Christmas Angel
At Christmas, snow comes through the roof of a poor house. The mother is in bed. The father sends their daughter Marie into Paris to beg. Beggars on the church steps push her off. A bakery throws her out. A rag-and-bone man shares his bread and his shawl. She walks on into the snow and falls. Méliès shot two endings. In the French version she freezes, and the Christmas angel takes her soul. In the British and American version a rich couple in an automobile pick her up and bring gifts home to the family.
Cast & crew
More about The Christmas Angel
Georges Méliès directed it. Star Film numbered it 669–677. The French title is Détresse et Charité. Britain called it The Beggar Maiden. The United States called it The Christmas Angel. Rachel Gillet plays Marie. Méliès plays the rag-and-bone man, a beggar on crutches, and a coal seller. A listing times it at 10 minutes. The automobile in the export ending was used again in An Adventurous Automobile Trip.
Themes
Making
Méliès built a Paris street, a church step, and a bakery, then filmed a second finish so the export print could end in a rescue.
Preservation
Prints of the film survive.
Notes
- The American catalogue names the girl Marie and keeps saying the story is in Paris.
- The two endings were made for different markets. France gets the death. Britain and America get the car.
- Méliès is in three small parts. Gillet has the lead.
- An angel appears in the parents' room in the export version, just before she is brought back.
Scenes
- Professional beggars shove Marie off the church steps.
- The rag-and-bone man gives her bread and a shawl.
- In the French ending the angel carries her off. In the export ending a couple stops the car.
