File:1912 Shaw (short).jpg

{en} The Land Beyond the Sunset (USA, 1912), directed by Harold M. Shaw. <silent; 13 min.>

Produced by Edison Studios in direct collaboration with the Fresh Air Fund and directed by Harold M. Shaw. This poetic one-reel social fantasy stars child actor Martin Fuller as Joe, a severely abused and impoverished New York newsboy who is granted a single-day rescue excursion to the countryside. Fuller brilliantly carries the emotional weight of the film; his performance captures a traumatized child whose imagination, fueled by a fairy tale read aloud by a social worker, transforms the rural landscape into a literal, mythical quest for a land free from suffering. The film concludes with a haunting, ambiguous final sequence that remains an exceptional pinnacle of early American silent film acting, resulting in its preservation in the National Film Registry in 2000. <EXTANT; online YES; music YES>

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