"The Sewer" appears to be the first two-reeler listed in the Solax filmography put together by Allison McMahan (in her book "Alice Guy Blaché: Lost Visionary of the Cinema"), although unlike most of the studio's productions, it was directed by one of Guy's employees instead of her--in this case, an Edward Warren. Regardless, it's identical in appearance to other Guy Solax pictures, with the tableau style of title cards describing proceeding actions and actors positioning frontally for the camera, and Guy is said to have supervised all Solax productions. I think that police station is the same set used in "A Terrible Lesson" (1912), which I just saw before this one, as well from who knows how many other films. The rich couple's home looks familiar, too. And, of course, the orphan's name is Oliver. Who's his brother, Tiny Tim? The exception is the maze of sewer settings, which include painted backdrops and are tinted/toned green. It's the film's highlight, and on Alice Guy Blaché vol. 2: The Solax Years Blu-ray from Kino Lorber, it's accompanied by some inspiring music from Tamar Muschal.
Other filmmakers in the U. S. were starting to experiment with multi-reel productions around this time and earlier, as the national film industry gradually caught up with countries such as Denmark, France, from which Guy previously experimented with longer films such as her 1906 passion play, and Italy, where the feature-length film was already becoming standard. By the following year, Guy was making some films of up to three reels in length, including "Dick Whittington and His Cat," and by 1914 she started making what would today be considered features, such as the now lost and once controversial white-slavery flick "The Lure," which clocked in at six reels.
The scenario of "The Sewer" isn't too compelling. I was on board with its depiction of charity as run by a crook. Tell me about it; I can't donate to them without wondering which marketing executive's salary I'm subsidizing. But, then, the play inevitably takes an even more conservative turn as it pits the scheming poors against the child-friendly rich, the latter of whom are as ever aided by the police. At least they tie the rich guy up and lower him into a subterranean dungeon from which he must pull himself up by his bootstraps out of the sewer, which is appreciably absurd.
(Note: At least one scene is missing from the roughed-up but still quite lovely 35mm extant print of the film, but the presentation fills in that blank with explanatory text.)
