Reenactment of Carrie Nation's saloon smashing in Wichita.Reenactment of Carrie Nation's saloon smashing in Wichita.Reenactment of Carrie Nation's saloon smashing in Wichita.
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Did you know
- ConnectionsEdited into Prohibition: Thirteen Years That Changed America (1997)
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So realistic, you'd swear it was real....not.
About the turn of the twentieth century, Carrie Nation was a self-appointed morals policewoman whose duty was to destroy "demon liquor". Her m.o. was to walk into bars wielding a hatchet and she'd tear the place apart. Well, this was big news but the problem was that with this and other cool news stories (such as the execution of the man who murdered President McKinley), there was no live film footage--and the public was clamoring for it. So, studios staged the events again and actually claimed to have real footage. Today, it all looks obviously fake and cheesy (like this film) but back in those days, people often fell for it. Or, even if they didn't, it was a nice way to dramatize the events.
This film is only a minute long--finishing in less time than it might take to read this review. Before the actress playing Nation comes in, you see some people at a bar. One is a very stereotypical Irishman and when Nation appears, she tosses his bucket of beer on him and begins wrecking the place. At the end, as the police are leading her away, you see one of the coppers trip in the beer on the floor--probably not staged, but back then when mistakes like this took place in these mostly unscripted films, they just left it in and hoped no one would notice.
Overall, a pretty typical recreation for 1901. For a much more interesting film, see the parody (also by Edison Manufacturing Company) entitled "Why Mr. Nation Wants a Divorce"--showing the poor husband of Carrie Nation stuck at home with the kids while his wife is out "saving the world".
By the way, this film is part of a DVD set entitled "Treasures III"--a set of four DVDs all about social issues and reform. The second disk (where you'll find this one) is about women's issues in particular.
This film is only a minute long--finishing in less time than it might take to read this review. Before the actress playing Nation comes in, you see some people at a bar. One is a very stereotypical Irishman and when Nation appears, she tosses his bucket of beer on him and begins wrecking the place. At the end, as the police are leading her away, you see one of the coppers trip in the beer on the floor--probably not staged, but back then when mistakes like this took place in these mostly unscripted films, they just left it in and hoped no one would notice.
Overall, a pretty typical recreation for 1901. For a much more interesting film, see the parody (also by Edison Manufacturing Company) entitled "Why Mr. Nation Wants a Divorce"--showing the poor husband of Carrie Nation stuck at home with the kids while his wife is out "saving the world".
By the way, this film is part of a DVD set entitled "Treasures III"--a set of four DVDs all about social issues and reform. The second disk (where you'll find this one) is about women's issues in particular.
helpful•10
- planktonrules
- Jun 27, 2009
Details
- Runtime1 minute
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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Top Gap
By what name was Kansas Saloon Smashers (1901) officially released in Canada in English?
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