The Cry of the Children (film)

For works with similar titles, see The Cry of the Children.

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The Cry of the Children (1912)
directed by George Nichols

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A 1912 American short drama film, based on the poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, about child labor. In 2011, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

Key (info)
	Dialogue
	In scene
	Storyline

Cast and Crew
Crew
Production company	Thanhouser Company
Director	George Nichols (d. 1927)
Cinematographer	Carl Gregory (d. 1951)
Based on available information, the latest crew member that is relevant to international copyright laws died in 1951, meaning that this film may be in the public domain in countries and jurisdictions with 72 years p.m.a. or less, as well as in the United States.

The following is a transcription of a film. The contents below represent text or spoken dialogue that are transcribed directly from the video of the film provided above. On certain screen sizes, each line is represented by a timestamp next to it which shows when the text appears on the video. For more information, see Help:Film.

4607249The Cry of the Children1912

Approved by
Pennsylvania State Board
of Censors

J. Louis Breitinger
Chairman.

"Do ye hear the children weeping, O my brothers!
Ere the sorrow comes with years?"

"The young lambs are bleating in the meadow"

"The young Birds are chirping in the nest"

"But the young, young, children—they are weeping
In the country of the free!"

The day begins at the mill workers' home

Little Alice, their one ray of sunshine, is to be kept free from the shadow of the factory

At the mill owner's home

OFFICES

MILL
AND
YARD

Later that day

"O ye wheels—stop! be silent for to-day!"

Attracted by the joyous child, the mill owner's wife offers to adopt her

Another effort is made to induce the mill workers to part with their child

A new pet replaces little Alice in the wife's affections

The mill workers strike for a living wage

After months of privation

The victors

Starvation Will Soon
Force Mill Workers
to Abandon Strike

Large Families Endure Many
Hardships--Children Cry
for Bread

The vanquished

Little Alice becomes a worker in her mother's stead

"All day she drives the wheels of iron"

Alice, to aid her family, is now willing to be adopted

Sadly changed by want and toil, little Alice is no longer desired

"'It is good when it happens,' say the children,
'That we die before our time'"

"'From the sleep wherein she lieth, none will wake her,
Crying, 'Get up, little Alice! it is day!'"

"But the child's sob in the silence curses deeper
Than the strong man in his wrath"

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.

Copyright law abroad tends to consider the following people authors of a film:

The principal director
The screenwriter, and/or other writers of dialogue
The composer/lyricist (if the film is accompanied by sound)
The cinematographer
By extension, the authors of any works that may serve as the basis for a film's plot

The longest-living of these authors died in 1951, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 72 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse