''The Death of Poor Joe'' is a 1901 British

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

, directed by

George Albert Smith George Albert Smith Sr. (April 4, 1870 – April 4, 1951) was an American religious leader who served as the eighth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Early life Born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territor ...

, which features the director's wife

Laura Bayley Laura may refer to: People * Laura (given name) * Laura, the British code name for the World War I Belgian spy Marthe Cnockaert Places Australia * Laura, Queensland, a town on the Cape York Peninsula * Laura, South Australia * Laura Bay, a ba ...

as Joe, a child street-sweeper who dies of disease on the street in the arms of a policeman. The film, which went on release in March 1901, takes its name from a famous photograph posed by

Oscar Rejlander Oscar Gustave Rejlander (Stockholm, 19 October 1813 – Clapham, London, 18 January 1875) was a pioneering Victorian art photographer and an expert in photomontage. His collaboration with Charles Darwin on ''The Expression of the Emotions in M ...

after an episode in

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

' 1853 novel ''

Bleak House ''Bleak House'' is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode serial between March 1852 and September 1853. The novel has many characters and several sub-plots, and is told partly by the novel's heroine, Esther Summerson, and ...

'', and is the oldest known surviving film featuring a Dickens character. The film was discovered in 2012 by

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

curator Bryony Dixon, after it was believed to have been lost since 1954.The Death of Poor Joe
in the BFI Film & TV Database Until the discovery, the previous oldest known Dickens film was ''

Scrooge, or, Marley's Ghost ''Scrooge, or, Marley's Ghost'' is a 1901 British short silent drama film, directed by Walter R. Booth, featuring the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge (played by Daniel Smith) confronted by Jacob Marley's ghost and given visions of Christmas past, p ...

'', released in November 1901.

Cast

as Joe * Tom Green as the policeman

References

External links

*
''The Death of Poor Joe''
in the BFI Film & TV Database *
Film on YouTube
1901 films 1901 drama films 1901 short films 1900s rediscovered films 1900s British films British drama films British silent short films British black-and-white films Films based on works by Charles Dickens Articles containing video clips Films directed by George Albert Smith Rediscovered British films Works based on Bleak House Silent drama films {{short-silent-drama-film-stub

Cast

See also

References

External links