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The Chicken Thief
(1904) United States of America
B&W : 758 feet
Directed by Wallace McCutcheon
Cast: (unknown)
American Mutoscope & Biograph Company production; distributed by American Mutoscope & Biograph Company. / Released December 1904. / [?] Biograph 35mm spherical format?
Comedy.
Synopsis: [Description from a Biograph Bulletin] From the opening of the picture, where the coon with the grinning face is seen devouring fried chicken, to the end where he hangs his head down from the ceiling, caught by a beat trap on his leg, the film is one continuous shout of laughter. // [From Biograph promotional materials] A new Comedy Motion Picture Production by the originators of “Personal,” “The Escaped Lunatic,” “The Lost Child” and other recent successes. PEOPLE IN THE PLAY: First Chicken Thief, Second Thief, A Southern White Farmer, His Boy, Four Neighboring White Farmers, Three Colored Farmhands, Four Colored Women, A Colored Clergyman, Two Pickaninnies. The period is today. The action may be divided into a prologue and four acts as follows: PROLOGUE: Showing the First Chicken Thief in relief. ACT I. Interior of Chicken-Coop--Night. ACT II. Exterior of Chicken-Coop and Barnyard--Next Morning. ACT III. The Flight through the Woods. (Film tinted throughout to give moonlight effects.) In five exciting scenes. ACT IV. Interior of Negro Cabin. The Capture. THE STORY: In presenting THE CHICKEN THIEF to exhibitors of motion pictures the world over, the originators feel that another great big comedy hit has been made. From the opening of the picture, where the coon with the grinning face is seen devouring fried chicken, to the end where he hangs head down from the ceiling, caught by a bear trap on his leg, the film is one continuous shout of laughter. The opening scene is a triumph of photography, something that has never been done before; that is, a moving picture of the interior of a big hen-coop at night, showing over one hundred chickens asleep on the roosts as the thieves enter. Nothing could be more realistic. With careful moves the experienced coons gather in the fluttering and squawking chickens by the armful, and when their bag is full to overflowing they clear out as silently as they came. The farmer and his son, the latter yawning and stretching from being routed out of bed, rush into the coop shortly after the coons leave and the briefest survey shows them how successful the raid has been. Next morning however the farmer sets a big steel trap just outside of his chicken-coop door, fastens it down with a stake and conceals it beneath a covering of straw. The scene then changes to the interior of a darky cabin where all hands are enjoying a chicken, with a colored dominie as the guest of honor. The first chicken thief sits at the head of the table as the host of the occasion. Two little pickaninnies are feasting at the extemporized table made of a box placed on the floor. The savory stew and the coffee pot are steaming on the stove near by. And the way those darkies get away with that chicken fricassee is something marvelous. It would make the mouth of a confirmed dyspeptic water to look at the scene. The next five scenes all take place by moonlight, that pale and mysterious light so dear to the heart of the 'possum-hunter and his compatriot, the chicken thief. The film is beautifully colored to give the moonlight effect. As the first scene opens we see the barnyard where the bear trap has been set. There is a slight commotion at one side and two coons come sneaking in on hands and knees. They have returned for another raid on the roost. Cautiously they make their way to the chicken-coop door when Bing! the foremost coon puts his foot in the bear trap, and the huge jaws snap over his ankle. Instantly there is a frantic struggle. The farmer hears the racket and comes running with his gun followed by the sleepy boy with the lantern. The trapped coon seeing them coming, gives a mighty tug at the stake, pulls it up and starts away as rapidly as the trap will permit, the chain clanking at his heels at every jump. Then comes a wild chase through the woods, the two coons leading, pursued by the owner of the chickens and a lot of other farmers armed with shot guns. Over a rustic bridge across a ravine, down a winding country road and through a lane in the underbrush goes the yelling crowd. Across the lane is a gate. The first coon, still with the trap on his leg, gets over the gate safely, but the second coon gets a charge of bird shot in a tender section of his anatomy just as he makes the leap. He tumbles in a heap, and the pack of farmers is on him in a minute. They drag him away sulky and struggling. The owner of the chickens and his boy, however, keep on after the negro with the trap on his ankle. The next scene is in front of the negro cabin. Our colored friend, dragging his chain, rushes up the path to the door, opens it and hurries in. The scene instantly changes to the interior of the cabin where the crowd of negroes seen at dinner are having a dancing party. The door bursts open and the chicken thief dashes in, looks about wildly for a place to hide, and, at the suggestion of the dominie, runs up the ladder to the attic, pulls the ladder after him and shuts down the trap-door. The dance is then started up to keep up appearances, but the farmer and his boy are soon knocking at the door. They burst in without ceremony and angrily search the place. From room to room they go without success, and they are just about to leave when they hear a suspicious noise from the attic. There is an instant of suspense, and then, amid a shower of lath and plaster, the unlucky coon comes through head first, hanging by one leg from the trap which has caught in the rafters. The film throughout is without a flaw photographically, and projects as steady as a lantern slide.
Survival status: Print exists.
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Keywords: African-Americans
Listing updated: 8 April 2012.
References: Bohn-Light p. 114; Musser-Emerge pp. 375, 380-381, 599 : Website-AFI.
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