''The Cry of the Children'' is a 1912 American silent short drama film directed by George Nichols for the

Thanhouser Company The Thanhouser Company (later the Thanhouser Film Corporation) was one of the first motion picture studios, founded in 1909 by Edwin Thanhouser, his wife Gertrude and his brother-in-law Lloyd Lonergan. It operated in New York City until 1920, ...

. The production, based on the

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

by Elizabeth Barrett Browning about child labor, stars

Marie Eline Marie Eline (February 27, 1902 – January 3, 1981) was an American silent film child actress and sister of Grace Eline. Their mother was an actress. Eline acted on stage for three years before she acted in films. Nicknamed "The Thanhouser ...

, Ethel Wright, and

James Cruze James Cruze (born James Cruze Bosen; March 27, 1884 – August 3, 1942) was a silent film actor and film director. Early years Cruze's middle name came from the battle of Vera Cruz. He was raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

. At the time of its release, the film proved to be controversial for its use of real-life footage of children working inside a large

textile factory Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

. The film in 2011 was selected into preservation in the

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 ...

by 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 ...

for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Cast

as Alice, the little girl * Ethel Wright as The working mother *

as The working father * Lila Chester as The factory owner's wife * William Russell as The factory owner

References

External links

*''The Cry of the Children'' essay by Ned Thanhouser at

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*''The Cry of the Children'' at thanhuser.or

* 1912 films United States National Film Registry films Silent American drama films American silent short films American black-and-white films 1912 drama films Thanhouser Company films Films directed by George Nichols Articles containing video clips 1912 short films 1910s American films {{1910s-short-drama-film-stub