Is it really the festive season unless you’ve spent countless hours lounging in-front of the TV watching back-to-back Christmas films to wait out the food coma?
We’ve all been there and there’s no doubt that you’re more than familiar with the inevitable row which occurs when deciding on which festive movie to watch.
Do you try your luck with a newer release of play it safe and stick to the classics such as Home Alone, Love Actually or How the Grinch Stole Christmas?
Or maybe you’re a fan of vintage Christmas cinema and prefer to relax by watching It’s A Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street.
But have you ever thought about watching the oldest Christmas film ever?
What is the oldest Christmas film?
Most of us would be forgiven for thinking that features released in the 1940s and 50s were as old as it gets when it comes to festive movies, which means you’ll be surprised to learn the tradition can be traced all the way back to the Victorian Era.
Just a decade after the first moving footage was ever recorded, British filmmaker George Albert Smith was able to create a clip which is believed to be the oldest film of its kind, titled Santa Claus in 1898.
Take a look at the film below, which is currently available to watch on YouTube:
Clocking in at just one minute and 17 seconds, the film sees two children being put to bed by their nanny on Christmas Eve before St. Nicholas appears and makes his way down the chimney.
Once inside the children’s room, Santa places various gifts in their stockings before leaving the children to wake up and discover their presents the following morning.
The clip is silent and in black-and-white – again, it’s 1898, what are you expecting – and is referred to by the British Film Institute’s Michael Brooke as ‘one of the most visually and conceptually sophisticated British films made up to then’.
Santa Claus also displays features which were considered extremely sophisticated for their time, such as a parallel shot of the children sleeping while Santa climbs down the chimney, something which hadn’t yet been seen before in cinema.
An example of filming techniques which were considered pioneering at the time (BFI National Archive/YouTube)
Now Santa Claus may not compare to the Christmas films we’re all familiar with, but it’s certainly fascinating to see a window into how generations long gone enjoyed the same traditions we still love today.
