''Bootleggers'' is a 1974 American
comedy-drama
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
film directed by
Charles B. Pierce and starring
Paul Koslo
Paul Koslo (born Manfred Koslowski; June 27, 1944 – January 9, 2019) was a German-born Canadian actor.
Career
Koslo started his career in such 1970s films as '' Nam's Angels'' a.k.a. ''The Losers'', ''Vanishing Point'' and '' The Stone K ...
and
Dennis Fimple
Dennis Clarke Fimple (November 11, 1940 – August 23, 2002) was an American actor.
Biography
Fimple was born in Ventura, California, the son of Dolly and Elmer Fimple. He graduated from Taft Union High School in 1958 and received a teaching c ...
.
Plot
''Bootleggers'' is a period piece crime comedy drama set in rural Arkansas. The first quarter of the film is set 1921, where 10-year-old Othar Pruitt witnesses his bootlegger father being murdered by a member of a rival bootlegger family. The film then skips forward to 1933 which details the adult Othar Pruitt and his partner-in-crime, Dewey Crenshaw, who make a living as moonshiners and cross-state bootleg runners. The film follows an episodic plotline which details Othar and Dewey's work with interacting with Othar's grandfather's distillery, harassing the local sheriff who demands bribes from the bootleggers, flirting with various women at local social ho-downs, and continue to clash against the rival Woodall family and their chief competitors for control of the bootlegged trail runs. When Grandpa Pruitt is murdered by the Woodall clan, Othar and Dewey decide to take matters into their own hands, leading to a climatic shootout with the Woodall family. In the end, Dewey is killed, and Othar kills the remaining members of the Woodall family, only to be arrested by the sheriff for murder.
Cast
*
Paul Koslo
Paul Koslo (born Manfred Koslowski; June 27, 1944 – January 9, 2019) was a German-born Canadian actor.
Career
Koslo started his career in such 1970s films as '' Nam's Angels'' a.k.a. ''The Losers'', ''Vanishing Point'' and '' The Stone K ...
as Othar Pruitt
*
Dennis Fimple
Dennis Clarke Fimple (November 11, 1940 – August 23, 2002) was an American actor.
Biography
Fimple was born in Ventura, California, the son of Dolly and Elmer Fimple. He graduated from Taft Union High School in 1958 and received a teaching c ...
as Dewey Crenshaw
*
Slim Pickens
Louis Burton Lindley Jr. (June 29, 1919 – December 8, 1983), better known by his stage name Slim Pickens, was an American actor and rodeo performer. Starting off in the rodeo, Pickens transitioned to acting and appeared in dozens of movies and ...
as Grandpa Pruitt
*
Jaclyn Smith
Jacquelyn Ellen "Jaclyn" Smith (born October 26, 1945) is an American actress and businesswoman. She is best known for her role as Kelly Garrett in the television series '' Charlie's Angels'' (1976–1981), and was the only original female lead ...
as Sally Fannie Tatum
*
Seamon Glass
Seamon Glass (September 26, 1925 – July 12, 2016) was an American actor and author. He acted in film and television from the early 1960s to the early 1990s. He appeared in the films '' This Is Not a Test'' (1962), ''Deliverance'' (1972), ' ...
as Rufus Woodall
* Betty Bluett as Grandma Pruitt
* Steve Ward as Silas Pruitt
* James Tennison as Mr. Slayton
*
Charles B. Pierce as Homer Dodd
* Steve Lyons as Deputy Carl Duggins
* Buddy Ledwell as Mr. McClusky
* Chuck Pierce Jr. as Othar Pruitt as a boy
Reception
The film grossed over $5.3 million in the United States.
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References
External links
*
1974 films
Films directed by Charles B. Pierce
American comedy-drama films
1974 comedy-drama films
1970s English-language films
1970s American films
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