''Princess Nicotine; or, The Smoke Fairy'' is a

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Jan ...

five-minute

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

directed by J. Stuart Blackton. In the film, a smoker (

Paul Panzer Paul Wolfgang Panzerbeiter (November 3, 1872 – August 16, 1958), known professionally as Paul Panzer, was a German-American silent film actor. He appeared in more than 330 films between 1905 and 1952. Biography Panzer was born in Würzburg. ...

) falls asleep and is visited by two fairies (one of which is played by

Gladys Hulette Gladys Hulette (July 21, 1896 – August 8, 1991) was an American silent film actress from Arcade, New York, United States. Her career began in the early years of silent movies and continued until the mid-1930s. She first performed on stage at ...

). Audiences marveled at the

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wo ...

featuring the fairies interacting with objects much larger than themselves. ''Princess Nicotine; or, The Smoke Fairy'' was the first instance of tobacco product placement (for Sweet Corporal cigarettes and cigars) in the movies. In 2003, it was among the 25 films added to the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...

for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant."

Production

The film was produced and most likely directed by J. Stuart Blackton, an illustrator and one of the most important figures in early film history. Blackton specialized in "

trick film In the early history of cinema, trick films were short silent films designed to feature innovative special effects. History The trick film genre was developed by Georges Méliès in some of his first cinematic experiments, and his works remain th ...

s" and sharpened his skill with early special effects making fake footage of the

Spanish-American War Spanish Americans ( es, españoles estadounidenses, ''hispanoestadounidenses'', or ''hispanonorteamericanos'') are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from Spain. They are the longest-established European American group in th ...

and animated films. ''Princess Nicotine'' was shot by Tony Gaudio, who used mirrors to achieve a deep depth of field. The film was probably inspired by

Émile Cohl Émile Eugène Jean Louis Cohl (; né Courtet; 4 January 1857 – 20 January 1938) was a French caricaturist of the largely forgotten Incoherent Movement, cartoonist, and animator, called "The Father of the Animated Cartoon" and "The Oldest ...

's ''The Animated Matches'' (1908), which had previously featured stop-motion matches that appeared to move by themselves. Blackton and Gaudio also employed hidden wires, double exposures, giant props, and smoke to make the film appear magical and dreamlike. The film's special effects astonished audiences, and ''Scientific American'' dedicated an article to explaining how the film was made.

References

External links

*''Princess Nicotine; or, the Smoke Fairy'' essa

by Scott Simon, Scott Simmon at

* * * ''Princess Nicotine; or, the Smoke Fairy'' essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 , pages 18–1

1909 films United States National Film Registry films American black-and-white films American silent short films Films about fairies and sprites Films directed by J. Stuart Blackton 1900s fantasy films Vitagraph Studios short films Articles containing video clips American fantasy films 1900s American films Silent horror films {{short-silent-film-stub