The Cry of the Children

An indictment of the evils of child labor, the film was controversial in its time for its use of actual footage of children employed in a working mill.

While this film is not all that incredible in and of itself, it is interesting what it allegedly accomplished. Using a poem and mixing it with a short film and some actual child labor footage, people were made upset by what they saw. Allegedly this even helped shift presidential politics, though I am somewhat skeptical of that.

Child labor is something we frown upon and should, though it depends on what the labor is. We still (2016) have no problem with children working on family farms. And that is probably okay. But what we see here is work that probably is not safe even for well-trained adults. I kept thinking fingers or hands would be removed!

Child labor was popular with factory owners in the early 1900's (and prior) for several reasons. Among them were the federal government allowed children 14 years old and above to work up to 54 hours a week; kids were paid far less than an adult; and a number of children in the lower class supposedly would had rather work than sit in school all day.

There were a growing number of people who recognized the horrid conditions of these factories exposing the nation's youth to a hard life. Thanhouser Studio released in April 1912 "The Cry of the Children," based on an 1843 Elizabeth Barrett Brown poem of the same name. The film dealt with a family who worked in the factory grind. The youngest, played by Marie Eline (whose career was limited to Thanhouser films from 1910-1914) was allowed to be free at home, that is until the mother becomes ill. Yoiung Marie, seeing the family would be hard hit financially, steps in to help out. The strain on the young child is illustrated by Marie's fragility.

What's remarkable about "The Cry of the Children" is a local factory near the Thanhouser Studios in New Rochelle, N. Y., agreed to have the movie crew come in and film the actors intermingling with its factory workers, especially the children laborers, while the plot plays out. The viewers get to see a taste of what these young workers had to do for 50-plus hours, six days a week.

The film was produced on the heels of the Lawrence, MA., American Woolen Company strike, which was protracted in violence and hardship for those workers demanding a more humane workweek. During the 1912 U. S. presidential race, candidate Woodrow Wilson cited this film to illustrate his opponent, incumbent President William Taft's inaction on the face of cruel child labor. "The Cry of the Children" was the first film cited by a presidential candidate to be used against an opponent.

A social conscience drama produced by the Thanhouser Studio one year after more than 140 workers - many of them child labourers - died in a factory fire, which features scenes that were actually filmed in a mill. The anger over that incident is evident in George Nichol's film, but it's weakened by characters that are typical of the kind of broad stereotypes found in early silent movies. Marie Eline, the "Thanhouser Kid" shines as the tragic, beloved child of an impoverished family employed by a heartless mill owner.

This is a powerful movie, made by angry filmmakers whose indignation over the injustice they depict still packs a punch many years after the film's initial release. Unlike many dramas of its era this one won't provoke any unintended laughter today, not even when the acting looks a bit primitive or, during the climax, when a character who is deceased reappears before her awed family in the form of an angel with white feathered wings. We regard these moments with the same solemnity they must have inspired when the film was new, for the issues addressed in The Cry of the Children are no laughing matter. This film is remembered primarily as a protest against the exploitation of children by greedy capitalists, but it is also an examination of the vast disparity between the quality of life enjoyed by the Haves and endured by the Have-nots in this country. The filmmakers do not promote any specific political agenda or solution, nor do they exhort the audience to organize, strike, or overthrow the bosses; they simply tell their tale and leave you, the viewer, to mull it over and draw your own conclusions. This strikes me as a far more effective way of reaching people than to preach the gospel of any particular "ism."

The Cry of the Children was produced by the Thanhouser Company of New Rochelle, New York, a studio in existence from 1909 to 1918, and it stands as the studio's best-known release. The story presents a stark contrast between the daily lives of a mill worker, his sickly wife and their three children-- two of whom work in the factory --and the mill's wealthy owner and his pampered spouse. The worker and his family live in shabby rooms with no heating, where the children, two girls and one boy, share a single bed. There's no silverware, no china plates. When the mother coughs and clutches her chest her husband looks horrified. Does she have tuberculosis? (Forget about "health insurance" in 1912.) The family's only joy is little Alice, a curly-haired charmer who is the one member of the family not enslaved by factory work. Scenes at the mill, obviously filmed at a genuine mill and not in a studio, reveal workers who look hollow-eyed and exhausted. It's a jolt when we are suddenly introduced to the owner of this mill, seen in his home: it is luxurious, filled with overstuffed furniture and ornate fixtures. The owner and his wife are well-dressed and surrounded by servants who fuss over them and cater to their every need. Happenstance brings the mill owner's wife into contact with little Alice, and the lady is so charmed by the little girl she tries to adopt her. The worker and his family refuse to give up their daughter, even when the boss reaches for his wallet and offers them cash for their child. (And I can hear the audiences of those 1912 store-front theaters, hissing the rich couple and cheering when the working parents refuse his offer). But later, when the mill owner refuses to grant his employees a living wage, the workers go on strike and their living conditions worsen considerably. When life becomes intolerable little Alice goes to the mill owner's home and offers herself up for adoption.

I won't reveal the ending here but suffice to say it's not a cheery one. When The Cry of the Children reaches its finale you're likely to feel deflated and depressed; and then, as you think about what you've seen, you get angry. That was surely the producers' intention when they made this movie and their work, seen today, is still effective. Eventually, child labor laws were enacted that eliminated the conditions illustrated here, but the gross disparity between the lives of the working poor and the idle rich is essentially the same as ever, and just as unfair and outrageous. This old film can't be dismissed as a quaint historical artifact because it still provokes the viewer to think about this disparity, to wonder why we live like this and whether it's possible to change. Here's a film released the very month the Titanic sank that can still get your adrenalin pumping, all these years later.

Slow but powerful and earnest piece decrying child labor. As the factory owners live a life of ease and short takes, the workers -- including children -- suffer a life of hardship and long takes. Look for future star director James Cruze -- director of THE COVERED WAGON -- who was a contract player for Thanhouser at this time.