The Musketeers of Pig Alley
About The Musketeers of Pig Alley
On the Lower East Side a musician is robbed by the Snapper Kid. At a ball a man tries to drug the musician's wife, the Little Lady. The Snapper Kid stops it. The two gangs shoot it out in the alley. The musician, caught in the gunfire, knows the Snapper as the thief and takes his wallet back. The Snapper hides in their rooms. The police come. The Little Lady gives him a false alibi.
Cast & crew
More about The Musketeers of Pig Alley
D. W. Griffith directed. He and Anita Loos wrote it. G. W. Bitzer photographed. The General Film Company released it on October 31, 1912, and again on November 5, 1915. Shot in Fort Lee, with New York street scenes that used gang members as extras. Elmer Booth plays the Snapper Kid. Lillian Gish plays the Little Lady. Walter Miller plays the musician. Harry Carey is the Snapper's sidekick.
Themes
Look
G. W. Bitzer follows the gang into the alley, shifting focus as they come toward the lens.
Technique
An early follow-focus shot as the gang walks up the alley.
Preservation
Prints survive. Named to the National Film Registry in 2016.
Notes
- The follow focus on the alley approach is one of the early uses of that trick.
- Clara T. Bracy plays the Little Lady's mother. Alfred Paget leads the rival gang.
- Robert Harron, Jack Pickford, and Dorothy Gish appear in the street and the ball.
- Named to the National Film Registry in 2016.
Awards
- National Film Registry (2016)
Scenes
- The Snapper takes the musician's wallet.
- The Little Lady lies to the police after the Snapper hides upstairs.
