''Little Sunset'' is a 1915 American

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized 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) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

directed by

Hobart Bosworth Hobart Van Zandt Bosworth (August 11, 1867 – December 30, 1943) was an American film actor, director, writer, and producer. Bosworth began his career in theater, eventually transitioning to the emerging film industry. Despite a battle with ...

and written by Charles Emmett Van Loan. The film stars Hobart Bosworth,

Gordon Griffith Gordon S. Griffith (July 4, 1907 – October 12, 1958) was an American assistant director, film producer, and one of the first child actors in the American movie industry. Griffith worked in the film industry for five decades, acting in ove ...

Rhea Haines Rhea Haines (October 2, 1894 – March 12, 1964) was a silent film actress from Indiana. Biography Haines was a leading lady for the film company of actor Hobart Bosworth. She played in films with Lillian Gish, Dorothy Gish, and Mack Sennett. ...

, Joe Ray and

Marshall Stedman Marshall Stedman (August 16, 1874 – December 16, 1943) was an American stage and silent screen actor/director, playwright, author and drama teacher. Early life Edward Marshall Stedman Jr. was born in Bethel, Maine, the son of Edward Sr. a ...

. The film was released on May 6, 1915, by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

. The film is based on a 1912 story by Charles Emmett van Loan, then the leading writer of baseball fiction in America. It is one of the first baseball films. The "Apaches" featured in the film were actually the

Vernon Tigers The Vernon Tigers were a Minor League Baseball team that represented Vernon, California in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) from 1909 to 1925. The team won back-to-back PCL pennants in 1919 and 1920. The Tigers, together with the Sacramento Solons, ...

team players, then among the best professional baseball players in California in the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

. The film is also one of the first feature films to focus on the story of a child. Children have been a familiar presence since the origins of cinema in many short films, here

- at the age of 8 with already considerable experience in movies - becomes the first child actor to star in a feature film in the United States.Stanley W. Todd, "The Boys of the Screen",
Motion Picture Classic
' 2.1-6 (1916), p.21. After him, the same opportunity would be offered in the 1910s only to Marie Osborne,

Zoe Rae Zoe Rae (born Zoë Rae Bech; July 13, 1910 – May 20, 2006) was an American child actress of the silent era. She appeared in 54 films between 1915 and 1920. She was called "the greatest little emotional actress on record" by ''Motion Pictur ...

and Tibor Lubinszky. It would then become common practice in the 1920s, especially after the enormous success of ''

The Kid The Kid or The Kids may refer to: Fictional characters * The kid (''Blood Meridian''), a character in Cormac McCarthy's 1985 novel ''Blood Meridian'' * The Kid (''The Matrix''), a character in the ''Matrix'' film series * The Kid (''The Stand'' ...

'' (1921) with

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

and

Jackie Coogan John Leslie Coogan (October 26, 1914 – March 1, 1984) was an American actor and comedian who began his film career as a child actor in silent films. Coogan's role in Charlie Chaplin's film ''The Kid (1921 film), The Kid'' (1921) made him one o ...

Plot

After his mother's death, "Little Sunset" (

) becomes the mascot of the Apaches baseball team, and "Gus, the Terrible Swede" (

) becomes very fond of the child. When Little Sunset gets sick, Gus falls into a state of depression, and after being scolded by the coach for making a bad play in an important game, he uses the incident as an excuse to leave the team. This, however, leaves Little Sunset even more disillusioned and angry. Gus returns to lead the Apaches to victory in the championship, thus regaining the faith and friendship of Little Sunset.

Cast

as Gus Bergstrom the 'Terrible Swede' *

as 'Little Sunset' Jones *

as Mrs. Jones *Joe Ray as Jones *

as 'Apache' manager

References

External links

* *
Little Sunset
', in
BoyActors
' 1915 films American baseball films 1915 comedy films Paramount Pictures films American black-and-white films American silent feature films 1910s sports comedy films 1910s English-language films 1910s American films Silent American sports comedy films English-language sports comedy films {{1910s-comedy-film-stub