This Edison movie was directed fairly late in his career there by Edwin S. Porter. It covers the birth of Jesus, with the Annunciation, the trip to Bethlehem, the shepherds and finally the Wise Men showing up. It's fairly elaborately cast, with a lot of extras in costume filling out the streets of the city.
It's an example of the Illustrated Text style of movie-making; although that would gradually fall out of fashion, it remained in use, for almost a decade more, for Biblical stories and epics.
Most of the titles in the print I saw were phrased in the present tense -- with Italian titles beneath. Thus: "By order of the Emperor, every person must go to their native town to register for the census". However, the titles for the Annunciation and the Magi are given in the past tense, as if quoting the Bible. Edison films were generally sparse on titles, relying on action to offer their stories.
The production as a whole looks like a school nativity play with adults.
It's an example of the Illustrated Text style of movie-making; although that would gradually fall out of fashion, it remained in use, for almost a decade more, for Biblical stories and epics.
Most of the titles in the print I saw were phrased in the present tense -- with Italian titles beneath. Thus: "By order of the Emperor, every person must go to their native town to register for the census". However, the titles for the Annunciation and the Magi are given in the past tense, as if quoting the Bible. Edison films were generally sparse on titles, relying on action to offer their stories.
The production as a whole looks like a school nativity play with adults.
