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Chicken Thieves
(1897) United States of America
B&W : [?] 45 or 50? feet
Directed by [?] James H. White?
Cast: (unknown)
Edison Manufacturing Company production; distributed by [?] Edison Manufacturing Company and/or F.M. Prescott? / Cinematography by [?] William Heise? / © 5 June 1897 by Thomas A. Edison [34231, 34232]. Released June 1897. / [?] Kinetoscope 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format or Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format?
Comedy-Drama.
Synopsis: [From Edison promotional materials] A capital picture, depicting an occupation commonly attributed to and sometimes proven against the colored race. The hen house occupies the entire left foreground of the picture, running back to the nearby road. The main foreground is filled with tall grass swept by the wind, the naturalness of which effect is remarkable. A darkey thief appears ’round the corner, carrying a tattered sack. He suspiciously approaches the window, from which two fowl are handed to him by a black confederate, who himself suddenly appears at the window, falling out head first but clinging tenaciously to a fluttering white bird. Both darkies start to run when the farmer and his hand appear in the foreground, one with a scythe and the other with a gun. Just as the marauders disappear ’round the corner, the farmer, back to, but still shown at life-size in the picture, aims and fires twice. The smoke effect from the gun at this close range is startling and beautiful, and the entire picture is one of the best composed and most ingenious we have made.
Survival status: Print exists in the George Eastman Museum film archive.
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 22 August 2023.
References: Magliozzi-Treasures n. 3671 : Website-AFI; Website-IMDb.
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