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A Mountain Wife
(1910) United States of America
B&W : One reel / 986 feet
Directed by William F. Haddock
Cast: Edith Storey [the mountain wife], Francis Ford [her husband, a moonshiner]
G. Méliès production; distributed [?] on State Rights basis? by G. Méliès. / Produced by Gaston Méliès. Cinematography by William Paley. / Released 10 November 1910. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? In the mountain wilds of Tennessee there is no end to the manufacture of moonshine whiskey. Whole families live on this nefarious trade and many of them die by it. The men who work at this business are constantly hunted by United States revenue officers as violators of the law for manufacturing of liquor without a special license. The “Mountain wife” loves her husband and stands by and shields him from his enemies, the officers; when they are on his track she hides him, then throws them off his trail, giving him time to escape in the mountain fastnesses, as we are shown in this interesting and thrilling picture. The revenue men are hunting their man and meet an adventurous artist who joins them in the search. They come onto their quarry while he is busy at his still. He is seized and held at bay by the artist. A boy who is a friend of the moonshiner happens along and distracts the attention of the artist from the distiller who, taking advantage of his chance, snatches the gun from the would-be hero, turns it on him and escapes to his home. The detectives make a direct line to the moonshiner’s home; his wife hears them and hides him in the cellar, hiding herself in the garret. The officers come, and no trace of their man and leave, all but the artist, who says he will stay and watch for the reappearance of the fugitive. He hides behind a barrel. The husband and wife come from their hiding places; the courageous artist confronts the husband with a pistol. “Hands up!” he says, but does not count on the wife who “swats” him in the face with a pillow; and again the hunted one gets possession of the pistol, gives it to his wife, and she holds the amateur detective in durance vile while her husband escapes to the mountain fastnesses. Now she does something that requires pluck and determination: she makes the daring chap mount a horse and, straddling another, she compels him at the pistol’s point to ride to the railroad station, embark and decamp for foreign parts a defeated and wiser man. She returns to her home, sends word to her husband that the coast is clear and tells him to come back to the cabin to help pack up their belongings that they will depart from the country and begin life anew. The picture closes with an indescribable tableau of natural splendor, the escape of the man and his mountain wife to a place where they can work at an honest trade and live a good life free from offense to God and man.
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 26 November 1910, page ?] Melodrama possesses the merit of presenting red-blooded personages at least. And the exploits of the wife in protecting her moonshining husband from the revenue officers in this picture keep the audience up to a high pitch of enthusiasm. The average audience delights in these melodramatic poses and the impossible situations from which the woman extricates herself and her husband with equal facility. One scene is worthy of commendation, the last one, where they leave the mountains for a new home. But wouldn’t this have been better if it had been managed so the officers permitted the change? As it stands now one has a feeling that they will follow the fugitives, even though both have determined to go elsewhere and begin a new life.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 25 May 2024.
References: Thompson-Star pp. 27, 140-142, 229 : ClasIm-226 p. 54 : Website-AFI; Website-IMDb.
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