- Jack exchanges his cow for some magic beans. The beans grow overnight into a beanstalk. Jack climbs it and arrives at a castle that is his. He sets a deal with the giant in exchange for the fortune.
- William Fox's version of "Jack and the Beanstalk" requires a modern setting, or prologue, before Jack's adventures begin, bringing the film story right down to everyday reality. Jack, at first, is just a healthy, normal kiddie, who, in modern life is known as Francis, and his little neighbor is called Virginia. When we first meet them in the picture the mothers have gone to an afternoon tea, leaving Francis and Virginia with a nursemaid. She does the most natural thing in the world, reads them a story of "Jack and the Beanstalk." Then the wonderful idea comes to Francis. He is quite sure that all that is necessary to find the enchanted forest is to go and look for it. He has his toy automobile, too. And so he conspires with his little playmate, Virginia, and they start forth, with their dog "Sport," to find the place in the woods where the terrible giant lives. Fortunately the children take plenty of wraps with them, for the inevitable dark creeps upon them and even the courage of the giant-seeker is taxed a bit as he listens to the screeching of the owls and he feels that sleep is creeping upon him. He cares tenderly for his little friend as she gathers her tiny robes about her. and finds the softest place on the ground. Then Francis himself succumbs, and the Dream God waves his magic wand, and lo, and behold, Francis becomes the Jack of Beanstalk fame, and Virginia is the Princess Regina. Everybody knows the age-old story of "Jack and the Beanstalk." Jack sells his mother's cow for a sack of beans. Instead of being delighted with his bargain she scolds him roundly and throws the seeds out of the window. They are magic seeds, however, and sprout immediately. The next morning the seeds have become a wonderful vine, which grows until it has reached the clouds. Jack is filled with the spirit of adventure, and besides, his fairy godmother has told him that fortune awaits him if he but climb the stalk. Jack starts out and finally reaches the top, arriving in a country where a terrible giant dwells. Here again Jack's fairy godmother meets him and tells him he must slay the giant and secure all his riches, thus avenging Jack's father. While in the lands above the clouds Jack meets Princess Regina, whom he rescues from the giant. Jack finally causes the terrible giant's death and marries the Princess, and they live happily ever afterward. In the epilogue Francis and Virginia, who are asleep in the wood, are found by their distracted parents and taken home.
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By what name was Jack and the Beanstalk (1917) officially released in Canada in English?
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