File:1910 O'Neil (film).jpg

{en} The Actor's Children [1] (USA, 1910), directed by Barry O'Neil, starring Yale Boss & Orilla Smith (the Children). <Silent, 14m.>

When his play closes down, an actor returns home to find that his children are gone. He's then notified that a wealthy relative has died and left him a substantial amount of money.

Produced by the Thanhouser Film Corporation in New Rochelle, New York, as the studio's historic first official commercial release. The multi-scene narrative tracks the two young children of a destitute, unemployed theatrical couple who are callously evicted by their landlady and separated from their parents, ultimately surviving on the urban streets by weaponizing their inherited stage talents. Both Orrilla Smith and Yale Boss are highly significant to performance history as they were seasoned professional child actors with extensive prior vaudeville and motion-picture experience. Yale Boss (born in 1899) handles his complex dramatic cues with disciplined maturity, laying the groundwork for his subsequent career as Edison's premier leading juvenile star. The production serves as a vital academic milestone documenting the early industrial migration of experienced, named child performers across competing production houses. <EXTANT; online YES; music YES>