The Little Match Seller
About The Little Match Seller
A poor girl sells matches in the December cold. She lights them for light and warmth, and each flame brings a superimposed vision: a fireplace, a dinner, a Christmas tree, and her dead mother welcoming her. In the morning passersby find her body in the snow, smiling, among burnt matches.
Cast & crew
More about The Little Match Seller
James Williamson directed and photographed it for his Hove company. It was announced in the same December 1902 catalogue as A Reservist, Before the War and After the War. There is no on-screen text.
Themes
Making
Unlike Williamson's Boer War films A Reservist and The Soldier's Return, this one follows Andersen closely and uses superimpositions for the scenes the girl sees when she strikes a match.
Reviews
Michael Brooke of BFI Screenonline called it a serious attempt to show a person's inner life on film through purely visual means.
Look
James Williamson photographed it. The visions of the fireplace, the dinner, the tree, and the mother are in-camera superimpositions over the street.
Technique
The match visions are multiple exposures, used for the story rather than a trick gag.
Preservation
The BFI holds a complete print and has offered it through the Creative Archive. A file is also on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- BFI Screenonline lists a complete downloadable copy running 3 minutes 15 seconds.
- The source is Hans Christian Andersen's 1845 story The Little Match Girl; Screenonline dates the fable to 1846.
- Michael Brooke of BFI Screenonline notes that the trick effects are used for the girl's visions rather than for a comic gag.
- Williamson also photographed the film.
Scenes
- The girl strikes a match and a fireplace is superimposed on the street.
- Her dead mother appears in the last vision.
- Passersby find her body among burnt matches.
Influenced by
- Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Match Girl
Also available
- Internet Archive (TheLittleMatchSeller1902)
- Wikimedia Commons (The Little Match Seller 1902.ogv)
