''The Moonshiner'' is a 1904 American short silent

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

produced by the

American Mutoscope & Biograph Company The Biograph Company, also known as the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, was a motion picture company founded in 1895 and active until 1916. It was the first company in the United States devoted entirely to film production and exhibition, ...

and directed by

Wallace McCutcheon, Sr. Wallace McCutcheon Sr. (New York City, 1858 or 1862 – Brooklyn, New York, October 3, 1918) was a pioneer cinematographer and director in the early American motion picture industry, working with the American Mutoscope & Biograph, Edison and Amer ...

Plot

A family of

moonshine Moonshine is high-proof liquor that is usually produced illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of creating the alcohol during the nighttime, thereby avoiding detection. In the first decades of the 21st century, commercial dist ...

rs loads several jugs of illicit whiskey onto a horse-drawn wagon. They leave to make a transaction. A government agent ("The Revenue Spy") observes their departure and heads after them on horseback. The agent observes the family trading the moonshine for corn, thus securing the evidence. The agent heads back to notify his colleagues, and they all leave to make the arrest. Meanwhile, the moonshiners go to work on their still. Significant footage is devoted to showing the methods and procedures of operating the still, which adds a documentary dimension to the film. The lookout is ambushed and apprehended by the government agents, who proceed to have a gunfight with the two outlaws operating the still. One of the outlaws is killed and the other flees, only to be shot by another agent. In retribution, the outlaw's wife kills the agent. The final scene shows the outlaw dying in his wife's arms. The final intertitle reads "The Law Vindicated" but the film appears to portray the outlaws in a sympathetic light, undermining the moral message.

Production and distribution

The film was filmed on location in

Scarsdale, New York Scarsdale is a town and village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The Town of Scarsdale is coextensive with the Village of Scarsdale, but the community has opted to operate solely with a village government, one of several village ...

in June and July 1904. It was produced and distributed by the

. The film was produced with intertitles, which became standard on subsequent Biograph films.

Analysis

The film has been mentioned as an example of the "story films" produced by Biograph in the early 1900s, which allowed this company to overtake the

Edison Company The Edison Manufacturing Company, originally registered as the United Edison Manufacturing Company and often known as simply the Edison Company, was organized by inventor and entrepreneur Thomas Edison and incorporated in New York City in May 188 ...

as "America's foremost motion picture producer". These types of films helped usher in the "

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

Era" (c. 1905-1915), a period of rapid expansion of small storefront movie theaters.

References

External links

*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZyttk48N2I *https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283495/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Moonshiner (The) 1904 films American silent short films American black-and-white films 1900s crime films 1900s action films Films directed by Wallace McCutcheon Sr. American crime action films Films about alcoholic drinks 1900s American films 1900s English-language films