Kansas Saloon Smashers
| Kansas Saloon Smashers | |
|---|---|
 Nation and her followers attack the saloon | |
| Directed by | Edwin S. Porter |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Edison Studios |
Release date |
|
Running time | 1 minute |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent |
Kansas Saloon Smashers is a 1901 comedy
Kansas Saloon Smashers became a success upon its March release, and inspired other films about Nation to be produced by Lubin Manufacturing Company and Biograph Company. It was not the only film produced by Edison Studios to mock Nation; released the same year, Why Mr. Nation Wants a Divorce parodied the relationship between Nation and her husband. A print of the film is preserved in the Library of Congress, and it was released on DVD in 2007.
Plot
A bartender is working at a saloon, serving drinks to customers. After he fills a stereotypically Irish man's bucket with beer,
Production
After American activist Carrie Nation first attacked a saloon in December 1900, silent motion pictures dealing with the subject of alcohol began to be produced, a testament to Nation's national notoriety and her influence over studios at the time.
The director of Kansas Saloon Smashers was Edwin S. Porter,[1] a projectionist who came to work for Edison as a cameraman in 1900. Eventually, Porter became the director responsible for all of Edison Studios' output.[5] Porter based the set off of a photograph of a wrecked saloon which appeared in the Journal, while the characters and plot were based on editorial cartoons published in the paper.[6][4] Porter frequently read the publication when he wanted inspiration on topics that filmgoers would be interested in.[6]
With production supervised by James H. White,
Kansas Saloon Smashers features
Critical analysis
Kansas Saloon Smashers has been categorized as burlesque, re-enactment,[4] and political satire.[12] Being based on a recent news event,[10] it is noted as helping further the "visual newspaper" style of film.[13] The short portrays saloons as positive, sanitary places rather than immoral establishments.[14][15] In Musser's book The Emergence of Cinema, he writes that "the women's invasion of a male refuge is seemingly attributed to sexual frustration and the concomitant need for revenge,"[10] while author Karen Blumenthal opined that Kansas Saloon Smashers suggests women were only attacking due to a few miscreants being present in the establishments.[15]
Film critic
Release
Initially advertised as Mrs. Carrie Nation and Her Hatchet Brigade,[4] Kansas Saloon Smashers was distributed by Edison Studios and first released on March 16, 1901.[1] A unique publicity still was created for the film, a rare occasion at the time.[18] Upon release, the film was screened at Bradenburgh's Ninth and Arch Street Museum in Philadelphia, where it received an entire bill.[4] Nevertheless, the short made Nation and her followers incensed,[14] and Nation found the view of saloons Porter's film offered to be "disturbing".[3]
The film proved to be very successful, inspiring other films about Nation to be produced by other studios; Biograph Company made Carrie Nation Smashing a Saloon in April, while Lubin Manufacturing Company had produced a film entitled Mrs. Nation and Her Hatchet Brigade by early March.[10] Siegmund Lubin had attempted to capitalize on the success of Kansas Saloon Smashers by making a film where Nation herself appeared; when he was unable to contact her, an actress was hired to play her. Lubin arranged with a Camden bar owner to film a staged destruction scene; however, the actress proved so convincing that bystanders began to destroy the bar for real and Lubin was forced to pay up to seven hundred dollars damage.[19]
Kansas Saloon Smashers film is now in the public domain,[1] and a paper print is preserved in the Library of Congress.[20] This paper print was used to recover the film for a 2007 DVD release, as part of the compilation Social Issues in American Film 1900–1934. The compilation, part of the Treasures from American Film Archives produced by the National Film Preservation Foundation, features several films from the period which had particular focus on common issues at their releases. The other Edison-produced Nation film, Why Mr. Nation Wants a Divorce, is also included.[16]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "Kansas Saloon Smashers". Silent Era. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
- ^ Langman 1998, p. 11.
- ^ a b Grace 2001, p. 137.
- ^ a b c d e f Musser 1991, p. 163.
- ^ Slide 1994, p. 11.
- ^ a b Pizzitola 2002, p. 86.
- ^ Musser 1990, p. 315.
- ^ a b Musser 1991, p. 161.
- ^ Dunkleberger 2007, p. 4.
- ^ a b c d Musser 1990, p. 316.
- ^ Musser 1991, p. 164.
- TIME. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
- ^ Mennel 2008, p. 17.
- ^ a b Moore 2009, p. 207.
- ^ a b Blumenthal 2011, p. 48.
- ^ a b Kehr, Dave (October 9, 2007). "New DVDs". The New York Times. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
- Village Voice. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
- ^ Musser 1991, pp. 162–163.
- ^ Eckhardt 1997, p. 34.
- ^ Niver 1967, p. 346.
Bibliography
- Blumenthal, Karen (2011). Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition. Roaring Brook Press. ISBN 978-1-4668-0158-5.
- Dunkleberger, Amy (2007). So You Want to Be a Film Or TV Director?. ISBN 978-0-7660-2738-1.
- Eckhardt, Joseph P. (1997). The King of the Movies: Film Pioneer Siegmund Lubin. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. ISBN 978-0-8386-3728-9.
- Grace, Fran (2001). Carry A. Nation: Retelling the Life. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-10833-0.
- Langman, Larry (1998). American Film Cycles: The Silent Era. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-30657-0.
- Mennel, Barbara (2008). Cities and Cinema. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-21983-4.
- ISBN 978-0-307-55037-8.
- ISBN 978-0-520-08533-6.
- Musser, Charles (1991). Before the Nickelodeon: Edwin S. Porter and the Edison Manufacturing Company. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-06986-2.
- Niver, Kemp R. (1967). Motion Pictures From The Library of Congress Paper Print Collection 1894-1912. University of California Press. GGKEY:H0RZ324XH81.
- Pizzitola, Louis (2002). Hearst Over Hollywood: Power, Passion, and Propaganda in the Movies. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-11646-6.
- ISBN 978-0-8108-2722-6.
External links
- Kansas Saloon Smashers at IMDb
