The Death of Poor Joe
1901 British film by George Albert
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The Death of Poor Joe is a 1901 British short silent drama film, directed by George Albert Smith, which features the director's wife Laura Bayley as Joe, a child street-sweeper who dies of disease on the street in the arms of a policeman.[2] The film, which went on release in March 1901, takes its name from a famous photograph posed by Oscar Rejlander after an episode in Charles Dickens' 1853 novel Bleak House, and is the oldest known surviving film featuring a Dickens character.[3][4]
Tom Green
- March 1901
| The Death of Poor Joe | |
|---|---|
Full film | |
| Directed by | George Albert Smith |
| Starring | Laura Bayley Tom Green |
| Distributed by | Warwick Trading Company |
Release date |
|
Running time | One minute[1] |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | Silent |
The film was discovered in 2012 by British Film Institute curator Bryony Dixon, after it was believed to have been lost since 1954.[5][6] Until the discovery, the previous oldest known Dickens film was Scrooge, or, Marley's Ghost, released in November 1901.[7]
Cast
- Laura Bayley as Joe
- Tom Green as the policeman
