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The Girls in Overalls
(1904) United States of America
B&W : 350 feet
Directed by Harry Buckwalter
Cast: (unknown)
The Selig Polyscope Company production; distributed by The Selig Polyscope Company and Kleine Optical Company. / Released 22 October 1904. / [?] 35mm spherical format?
Synopsis: [From George Kleine promotional materials] The story is briefly told. Regis Vidal settled on a 725-acre ranch near Gunnison, Colorado. Eight daughters and one son were born. As the family grew up times became hard and the father was compelled to borrow $15,000 on the ranch. He fell into the clutches of a money-lending shark and the worry caused his death. A year later the mother died, leaving the children even more deeply in debt. With true Western spirit the children decided to work the ranch themselves. The girls donned overalls and took up the heavy drudgery of the field. Like true French maidens they lost none of their graces or charms. Neither could they forego the habit of wearing high-heeled shoes while at work. The film shows the girls at work and at play. SCENE 1. GOING TO WORK. — The film opens with a view of the Vidal ranch house, in Colorado. The girls have been eating dinner and as they come out they grasp the tools with which they work the fields. Some have hoes, others have rakes and Miss Mathilde takes up the heavy axe with which she splits the winter supply of kindling. They walk past the camera and each girl appears more than life size, and perfect portraits of the rustic beauties can be seen. Some have hands in pockets and others walk with queenly grace, but all are modest and attractive. SCENE 2. CHOPPING WOOD FOR WINTER. — The big house needs a large supply of kindling for the winter and the girls “get busy” with the work. They saw and hack and carry and split and chop like old woodsmen, and through it all exhibit a feminine touch and swing that is laughable in the extreme. Still, they manage to chop up huge tree trunks and pile up cords of wood in a short time and without a complaint or frown. SCENE 3. LUNCH TIME. O, THAT WATERMELON. — They stop their labors to eat several juicy melons. They try to eat as boys are supposed to when they are paying a midnight visit to the farmer’s melon patch, but the more they try the worse they act, and the feast is lively and funny. SCENE 4. A LITTLE GAME OF LEAP FROG. — By way of diversion, the girls stop on their way to work and indulge in a few moments of leap frog. Their antics and contortions are laughable in the extreme. The first girl gets down on hands and knees and the next jumps over and also gets down. Then it is a system of rotation and eventually the first is last and the last is first, not counting the little accident that happens during the play. SCENE 5. RAKING HAY. — The smaller girls handle the horse rakes and gather up the heavy crop into piles ready for the go-devils to take away. The sight of bright-eyed, smiling girls driving a horse hitched to a rake is quite amusing, but when the girls wear overalls and high-heeled shoes and even black lace waists under the bibs of the jeans, it is doubly interesting. SCENE 6. STACKING HAY. — The scenes in the hayfield are more sedate, though there are many amusing incidents. The picture gives a very clear idea of how an immense Colorado hayfield is handled. The girls handle the “go-devils” with the skill of jockeys and they bring up to the stacker immense piles of hay that seem almost as much as entire crops elsewhere. Some of the girls are on the “go-devils.” Another handles the stacker and trips the elevator just at the right moment. Another pilots the stacker horse forward and backward and still another is on top of the stack carefully disposing of the hay as it is sent up. SCENE 7. FUN ON A HAY STACK. — But these jolly girls can’t be suppressed. After the stack is finished they have fun sliding down the slippery sides and piling up in a heap at the bottom.
Survival status: Print exists.
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 4 May 2012.
References: Musser-Emerge pp. 400, 603 : Website-AFI.
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