British Film Institute

As with G.A. Smith's earlier Old Man Drinking a Glass of Beer (1898), Grandma Threading Her Needle is a 'facial' - a film whose sole purpose is to record changing facial expressions for the purposes of entertainment. It was perhaps most evocatively described by the Edison catalogue when it was marketed in the US:

A picture true to life, and a most excellent subject. Poor old grandma is seated in her chair, vainly attempting to engage a thread in the eye of the needle. The facial contortions that are engaged in are ludicrous to say the least. The needle is finally threaded, and the happy contented look that comes over the face of grandma is a most pleasing ending of the picture.

Grandma was played by Eve Bayley, Smith's sister-in-law - the connection being Smith's wife Laura Bayley, who was a regular performer in his films in her own right.

Michael Brooke

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