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New York Clipper, 01-February-1908 |
Gaumont is a pioneering film company that has been active since 1895. I found it interesting that the Gaumont logo has a superimposed banner in French. "The Water Babies; or, the Little Chimney Sweep" was a 1907 film made in America by the Gaumont company. Percy Stow directed.
The film is based on an 1893 novel, The Water-Babies: A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby, by Charles Kingsley. Tommy, a little chimney sweep, is abused by his master, Grimes. The master takes Tommy to a manor, where Tommy meets a girl, Ellie, and is accused of stealing items that Grimes had purloined. Tommy runs away and his master, the owner of the manor and all the servants pursue him. Tommy jumps in a river and drowns. Sympathetic "little shell maids" turn Tommy into a water baby. Drunk and angry, Grimes falls into the river. He meets Tommy and the shell maidens, and they turn him into a fish.
Ten years later, Ellie looks for Tommy. She persuades a mermaid to take her to him. Ellie is transformed so they can stay together.