''When Bearcat Went Dry'' is a 1919 American silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by Oliver L. Sellers from the novel by Charles Neville Buck, and starring

Lon Chaney Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and affli ...

as Kindard Powers. The title refers to a character nicknamed "Bearcat" ( Bernard J. Durning) who promises his girlfriend that he will quit drinking liquor. The plot involving a promise to give up drinking was timely given the passage of the

Wartime Prohibition Act In the United States from 1920 to 1933, a nationwide constitutional law prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The alcohol industry was curtailed by a succession of state legislatures, an ...

, which took effect on June 30, 1919, and banned the sale of alcoholic beverages, and ratification of the

Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Eighteenth Amendment (Amendment XVIII) of the United States Constitution established the prohibition of alcohol in the United States. The amendment was proposed by Congress on December 18, 1917, and was ratified by the requisite number of ...

in January of the same year. Portions of the film were shot on location in Marlin, Kentucky. It was considered to be a

lost film A lost film is a feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing char ...

until a print was donated to the American Film Institute from the private collection of projectionist Bill Buffum in 1996. (Another print with Dutch intertitles is said to be stored at the Netherlands Film Museum in Amsterdam (missing a few titles in the first reel).) Oddly enough, legendary silent film collector John Hampton also claimed to once own a nitrate print that was destroyed when his basement flooded. The film was re-issued on 4/20/28, and it may be that these later release prints are the ones that survived.

Plot

Turner Stacy is a wild young moonshiner known as "Bearcat" living in the Cumberland Mountains of Kentucky. Bearcat falls head over heels for Blossom Fulkerson, a minister's daughter, whom he promises he will give up drinking. Bearcat's father gets arrested by revenue agents for running an illegal still and is sent to jail. Bearcat flees to Virginia for awhile to avoid having to testify against his father. When Bearcat returns home, he finds Blossom is engaged to Jerry Henderson, a young man who works for the railroad, and Bearcat develops an instant hatred for him. A group of mountain men led by the brutish Kindard Powers (Lon Chaney) attacks Jerry Henderson, mistaking him for a revenue officer. Henderson escapes them by hiding overnight in Blossom's house, which compromises the young lady's reputation in the town. Henderson is rescued by Bearcat after Powers and his men attack him a second time, but this time Henderson is fatally injured. Bearcat forces Henderson to marry Blossom from his death bed in order to preserve her honor, but Henderson dies soon after the ceremony. Now Bearcat wants to get rid of Kindard Powers once and for all. After Bearcat's father is released from prison, Bearcat attacks and kills Powers in a fight, and the criminal gang disbands. Blossom talks of leaving town to become a schoolteacher, but she changes her mind and marries Bearcat in the end.

Cast

* Bernard J. Durning as Turner "Bearcat" Stacy *

as Kindard Powers * Vangie Valentine as Blossom Fulkerson * Millard K. Wilson as Jerry Henderson (credited as M. K. Wilson) *

Winter Hall Winter Hall (21 June 1872 – 10 February 1947) was a New Zealand actor of the silent era who later appeared in sound films. He performed in more than 120 films between 1916 and 1938. Prior to that, he had a career as a stage actor in Austr ...

as Lone Stacy (Bearcat's father) *

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among ...

as Joel Fulkerson (Blossom's father) *

Ed Brady Ed John Brady (born June 17, 1962) is a former American football player. Brady was raised in Morris, Illinois, and attended Morris Community High School, where he led the Morris Redskins football team to a state championship. Brady played for ...

as Rattler Webb

Reception

"The picture cost $71,642.17 to make, and even the 17 cents shows on the screen." ---Wid's Daily "Apart from the smashing exploitation possibilities on the title of this picture the production affords most excellent entertainment...This is a well directed picture interpreted by a cast of very good types. Suspense and fast action with love and pathos are combined and it will undoubtedly register heavily with the majority and completely satisfy the minority also." --- Motion Picture News. "The production is replete with the atmosphere of the southern mountains, and presents interesting types of men...impersonated by a competent cast. ---Moving Picture World "Besides being remarkably well directed, produced and acted, this is a picture with a big red-blooded theme...Walt Whitman, Ed Brady and Lon Chaney portray difficult character parts with remarkable art. ---Exhibitors Trade ReviewBlake, Michael F. (1998). "The Films of Lon Chaney". Vestal Press Inc. Page 97. .

References

External links

* {{Ollie Sellers 1919 films 1919 drama films Silent American drama films American black-and-white films World Film Company films 1910s rediscovered films American silent feature films Films based on American novels Films directed by Oliver L. Sellers Rediscovered American films 1910s American films 1910s English-language films