Bertha Blanchard

Edwin Thanhouser re-made The Vicar of Wakefield in 1917 as a eight-reel feature film providing us with a frame of reference for the maturation of film language and cinematic techniques over the ensuing eight year period.

Her parents were humble peasants, and were fond of her when she was a baby, for they believed she would grow up to be a beautiful woman and make a good match. The trouble was that she didn't grow up. When she was nineteen she was no bigger than a child of six. Naturally they were overjoyed when an offer for their daughter's hand was made by another midget who lived in the same village. To their astonishment and anger, the girl refused to entertain it, declaring the husband she chose would have to be a man of whom she could be proud. Her home life was most unhappy after that, and the entire family rejoiced when a showman from the United States arrived and offered what seemed big money if she would join his "Congress of Freaks," which was quite an institution in America. And the girl went gladly.