Bootleggers (1974 film)

Last updated

Bootleggers
Bootleggers (1974 film).jpg
Directed by Charles B. Pierce
Starring Paul Koslo
Dennis Fimple
Cinematography Tak Fujimoto
Music by Jaime Mendoza-Nava
Release date
  • 1974 (1974)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$5.3 million (US) [1]

Bootleggers is a 1974 American comedy-drama film directed by Charles B. Pierce and starring Paul Koslo and Dennis Fimple.

Contents

Plot

Bootleggers (also released as Deadeye Dewey and the Arkansas Kid [2] ) is a period piece crime comedy drama set in rural Arkansas. The first quarter of the film is set 1921, where 10-year-old Othar Pruitt witnesses his bootlegger father being murdered by a member of a rival bootlegger family. The film then skips forward to 1933 which details the adult Othar Pruitt and his partner-in-crime, Dewey Crenshaw, who make a living as moonshiners and cross-state bootleg runners. The film follows an episodic plotline which details Othar and Dewey's work with interacting with Othar's grandfather's distillery, harassing the local sheriff who demands bribes from the bootleggers, flirting with various women at local social ho-downs, and continue to clash against the rival Woodall family and their chief competitors for control of the bootlegged trail runs. When Grandpa Pruitt is murdered by the Woodall clan, Othar and Dewey decide to take matters into their own hands, leading to a climatic shootout with the Woodall family. In the end, Dewey is killed, and Othar kills the remaining members of the Woodall family, only to be arrested by the sheriff for murder.

Cast

Reception

The film grossed over $5.3 million in the United States. [1] [3]

Related Research Articles

Mayberry is a fictional community that was the setting for two popular American television sitcoms, The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968) and Mayberry R.F.D. (1968–1971); Mayberry was also the setting for a 1986 reunion television film titled Return to Mayberry. The town is also frequently mentioned in the spin-off program Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., and is seen when Pyle returns to visit his home town. Mayberry is said to be based on Andy Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy, North Carolina. Mount Airy is also known as Mayberry and called by both names by its residents.

William Kenneth (Kinnie) Wagner commonly known as Kinnie Wagner was a bootlegger in Mississippi, who murdered five people, including three lawmen. He escaped from custody numerous times, but ultimately died in prison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claude Akins</span> American actor (1926–1994)

Claude Aubrey Akins was an American character actor. He played Sonny Pruit in Movin' On, a 1974–1976 American drama series about a trucking team, Sheriff Lobo on the 1979–1981 television series, and a variety of other film and television roles.

Pruitt Taylor Vince is an American character actor. He had roles in the films Mississippi Burning (1988), Jacob's Ladder (1990), JFK (1991), Identity (2003), and Constantine (2005). He played J.J. Laroche in The Mentalist (2008–2015).

The Irish Mob is a usually crime family–based ethnic collective of organized crime syndicates composed of primarily ethnic Irish members which operate primarily in Ireland, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, and have been in existence since the early 19th century. Originating in Irish-American street gangs – famously first depicted in Herbert Asbury's 1927 book, The Gangs of New York – the Irish Mob has appeared in most major U.S. and Canadian cities, especially in the Northeast and the urban industrial Midwest, including Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cleveland, and Chicago.

<i>The Town That Dreaded Sundown</i> (1976 film) 1976 film by Charles B. Pierce

The Town That Dreaded Sundown is a 1976 American thriller horror film directed and produced by Charles B. Pierce, and written by Earl E. Smith. The film is loosely based on the 1946 Texarkana Moonlight Murders, crimes attributed to an unidentified serial killer known as the Phantom Killer. It is narrated by Vern Stierman, who had narrated Pierce's 1972 film The Legend of Boggy Creek. Ben Johnson stars as Captain J.D. Morales, a fictionalized version of Texas Ranger Captain M. T. "Lone Wolf" Gonzaullas. The Phantom is played by Bud Davis, who later worked as stunt coordinator on films such as Forrest Gump, Cast Away, and Inglourious Basterds. The film was mostly shot around Texarkana, and a number of locals were cast as extras. The world premiere was held in Texarkana on December 17, 1976, before its regular run in theaters on December 24.

<i>The Legend of Boggy Creek</i> 1972 American docudrama horror film

The Legend of Boggy Creek is a 1972 American docudrama horror film about the "Fouke Monster", a Bigfoot-type creature reportedly seen in and around Fouke, Arkansas, since the 1940s. The film combines staged interviews with local residents who claim to have encountered the creature, along with reenactments of these encounters. Director and producer Charles B. Pierce, an advertising salesman, secured funding from a local trucking company and hired local high school students to help complete the film. Made on a budget of $160,000, the film was released theatrically on August 8, 1972.

<i>Moonrunners</i> 1975 film by Gy Waldron

Moonrunners is a 1975 action comedy film starring James Mitchum, about a Southern family who runs bootleg liquor. It was reworked four years later into the popular long-running television series The Dukes of Hazzard, and the two productions share some similarities. Mitchum had co-starred with his father, Robert Mitchum, in the similar drive-in favorite Thunder Road 18 years earlier, which also focused upon moonshine-running bootleggers using fast cars to elude federal agents. Moonrunners, a B movie, was filmed in 1973 and awaited release for over a year. Its soundtrack reflects the outlaw music boom of the 1970s during which the film was released.

<i>White Lightning</i> (1973 film) 1973 film by Joseph Sargent

White Lightning is a 1973 American action film directed by Joseph Sargent, written by William W. Norton, and starring Burt Reynolds, Jennifer Billingsley, Ned Beatty, Bo Hopkins, R. G. Armstrong and Diane Ladd. It marked Laura Dern's film debut.

<i>Lockdown</i> (2000 film) 2000 drama film directed by John Luessenhop

Lockdown is a 2000 drama film, directed by John Luessenhop and starring Richard T. Jones, Clifton Powell, David Fralick, and Master P. The film was produced by Master P's No Limit Films, a division of his No Limit Records label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Fimple</span> American actor (1940–2002)

Dennis Clarke Fimple was an American actor.

<i>Side Street</i> (1929 film) 1929 film

Side Street is a 1929 American Pre-Code film featuring the only screen teaming of all three Moore Brothers, each of them major silent film stars. George Raft also makes an uncredited appearance as a professional dancer — which Raft was at the time — dancing to the song "Take a Look at Her Now", sung by June Clyde. Side Street was directed by Malcolm St. Clair with a screenplay by George O'Hara and Jane Murfin, based on a story by St. Clair, which was adapted by John Russell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moonshine in popular culture</span>

Moonshine is referenced in many works, including books, motion pictures, musical lyrics and television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 Lakewood shooting</span> 2009 murder of four Lakewood police officers in Parkland, Washington, U.S.

On November 29, 2009, four police officers of Lakewood, Washington were fatally shot at the Forza coffee shop, located at 11401 Steele Street #108 South in the Parkland unincorporated area of Pierce County, Washington, near Tacoma. A gunman, later identified as Maurice Clemmons, entered the shop, shot the officers while they worked on laptops, and fled the scene with a single gunshot wound in his torso. After a massive two-day manhunt that spanned several nearby cities, an officer recognized Clemmons near a stalled car in south Seattle. When he refused orders to stop, he was shot and killed by a Seattle Police Department officer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mob Museum</span> History museum in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada

The Mob Museum, officially the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, is a history museum located in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.

<i>Lawless</i> (film) 2012 American crime drama film

Lawless is a 2012 American crime drama film directed by John Hillcoat. The screenplay, by Australian singer-screenwriter Nick Cave, is based on Matt Bondurant's historical novel The Wettest County in the World (2008). The film stars Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, and Guy Pearce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Bell (actor)</span> American actor (1891–1973)

James Harlee Bell was an American film and stage actor who appeared in about 150 films and television shows through 1964.

<i>Boggy Creek II: And the Legend Continues</i> 1984 film

Boggy Creek II: And the Legend Continues is a 1984 American monster horror film written, directed by and starring Charles B. Pierce. It is the sequel to 1972's The Legend of Boggy Creek. Prior to the release of this film, an unofficial sequel to The Legend of Boggy Creek was made in 1977 titled Return to Boggy Creek. The "Big Creature" in the film was portrayed by Hollywood stuntman and bodyguard James Faubus Griffith. Unlike the original film, which was met with positive reviews, Boggy Creek II was largely panned by critics.

The Lanzetta Brothers, also known as the Lanzetti Brothers due to an incorrect spelling used by newspapers, was a group of six brothers who ran bootlegging operations in Philadelphia and possibly Atlantic City.

This is a list of organized crime in the 1930s, arranged chronologically.

References

  1. 1 2 "Moonshine Whiskey... (advertisement)". Variety . 14 May 1975. p. 8. Retrieved 12 April 2024 via Internet Archive.
  2. "Bootleggers". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  3. Donahue, Suzanne Mary (1987). American film distribution : the changing marketplace. UMI Research Press. p. 293. Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada