The Chicken Thief

Filmed in Asbury Park, NJ, and the studio on 16 and 26 November 1904, by Billy 
Bitzer. Biograph production no. 2977. Paper Print not copyrighted despite 
claim printed in advertising bulletin no. 39, 27 December 1904. Copyrighted as 
a Dramatic Composition on 17 December 1904, by the American Mutoscope and 
Biograph Company. Authors: Frank J. Marion and Wallace McCutcheon.
_______________________________

[Front page of advertising bulletin:]


FORM NO. 1152 		            BULLETIN No. 39, Dec. 27, 1904


Does Ah Like
 CHICKEN?

Well, Ah Should
    Smile!

                               THE 
                         CHICKEN THIEF

    Photograph Copyright, 1904, by American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.
Dramatic Compostion Copyright, 1904, by American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.



                     A Rip-Roaring Comedy from
                         THE SUNNY SOUTH
                IN STANDARD GUAGE MOTION PICTURES
                            (COLORED)

	                   ________________

 	              LENGTH 758 FEET, CLASS A.
	                   ________________

           Produced and Controlled Exclusively by the
                 American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. 
               11 East 14th Street, New York City.



[page 2]

                   THE CHICKEN THIEF
                       _______

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,		Four Neighboring White Farmers,
Second Thief,			Three Colored Farmhands,
A Southern White Farmer,	Four Colored Women,
His Boy,			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. Exterior of Chicken-Coop and 
Barnyard -- Next Morning.

ACT II.--Interior of Negro Cabin--A Chicken Dinner.

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.


[pages 3 and 4]

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 the 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 bear 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 
enjoyiny 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 an 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 fricasee 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 out 
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.
 


[Source: Biograph Bulletins 1896-1908, Compiled by Kemp R. Niver, Edited by 
Bebe Bergsten (Artisan Press, 1971), pp. 140-143.]