It's early autumn and Dr. Headley eagerly demonstrates what seems to be a miraculous cure for tuberculosis. Not far from where he is working, the disease seems preparing to soon claim yet another life, a teenage girl named Winifred. Winifred's mother and little sister Trixie are devastated. When Trixie hears the family doctor say of Winifred that "when the last leaf falls, she will have passed away," she interprets the doctor's words literally. Thinking over what she has heard, she determines to do everything possible to save her sister.
Directed by Alice Guy-Blaché
love
doctor
disease
silent film
tuberculosis
cure
woman director
ill girl
caring child
bacteriologist
childhood innocence
short film
IMDB
N/A
Letterboxd
3.6 / 5
Cast
Mace Greenleaf
Dr. Earl Headley - A Lung Specialist
Blanche Cornwall
Mrs. Griswold Thompson - The Mother
Marian Swayne
Winifred Thompson
Magda Foy
Little Trixie Thompson
Darwin Karr
Mr. Griswold Thompson
Mary Foy
Dr. Headley's Nurse (uncredited)
Crew
Alice Guy-Blaché
Director
Alice Guy-Blaché
Writer
O. Henry
Short Story
Popular Reviews
72 reviews
Emma
10.0★ · 04/21/26
i would tie leaves on a tree to keep my sister from dying of consumption but she’s not well-versed enough in silent short films from 1912 to understand
i would tie leaves on a tree to keep my sister from dying of consumption but she’s not well-versed enough in silent short films from 1912 to understand
steven senegal
8.0★ · 02/17/26
this might be my favourite short film i've ever seen.
this might be my favourite short film i've ever seen.
okito
Pero lpm como me vas hacer eso
Pero lpm como me vas hacer eso
Ben Lossie
6.1★ · 08/31/25
I mean it’s kinda mid, but also kinda fucking cool for something made in 1912
I mean it’s kinda mid, but also kinda fucking cool for something made in 1912
Naïs
The falling leaves Drift by the window The autumn leaves All red and gold I see your lips The summer kisses The sunburned hands I used to hold. 🎶
The falling leaves Drift by the window The autumn leaves All red and gold I see your lips The summer kisses The sunburned hands I used to hold. 🎶