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The Musketeers of Pig Alley
The Musketeers of Pig Alley
Directed by	D. W. Griffith
Written by	D. W. Griffith; Anita Loos
Starring	Elmer Booth; Lillian Gish; Clara T. Bracy; Walter Miller
Music by	Robert Israel
Distributed by	General Film Company
Release dates	October 31, 1912; November 5, 1915 (U.S.);
Running time	17 minutes (16 frames per second)
Country	United States
Languages	Silent film; English intertitles

The Musketeers of Pig Alley is a 1912 American short drama and a gangster film. It is directed by D. W. Griffith and written by Griffith and Anita Loos. It is also credited for its early use of follow focus, a fundamental tool in cinematography.^[1]

The film was released on October 31, 1912, and re-released on November 5, 1915, in the United States. The film was shot in Fort Lee, New Jersey where many other early film studios in America's first motion picture industry were based at the beginning of the 20th century.^[2]^[3]^[4] Location shots in New York City reportedly used actual street gang members as extras during the film.

It was also shown in Leeds Film Festival in November 2008, as part of Back to the Electric Palace, with live music by Gabriel Prokofiev, performed in partnership with Opera North.

In 2016, the film was added to the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Plot

The film is about a poor married couple living in New York City. The husband works as a musician and must often travel for work. When returning, his wallet is taken by a gangster. His wife goes to a ball where a man tries to drug her, but his attempt is stopped by the same man who robbed the husband. The two criminals become rivals, and a shootout ensues. The husband gets caught in the shootout and recognizes one of the men as the gangster who took his money. The husband sneaks his wallet back and the gangster goes to safety in the couple's apartment. Policemen track the gangster down but the wife gives him a false alibi.

Cast

Elmer Booth – Snapper Kid, Musketeers gang leader
Lillian Gish – The Little Lady
Clara T. Bracy – The Little Lady's Mother
Walter Miller – The Musician
Alfred Paget – Rival Gang Leader
John T. Dillon – Policeman
Madge Kirby – The Little Lady's Friend / In Alley
Harry Carey – Snapper's Sidekick
Robert Harron – Rival Gang Member / In Alley / At Gangster's Ball
W. C. Robinson – Rival Gang Member (as Spike Robinson)
Adolph Lestina – The Bartender / On Street
Jack Pickford – Boy Gang Member / At Dance Ball

Uncredited:

Gertrude Bambrick – Girl at Dance
Lionel Barrymore – The Musician's Friend
Kathleen Butler – On Street / At Dance
Christy Cabanne – At Dance
Donald Crisp – Rival Gang Member
Frank Evans – At Dance
Dorothy Gish – Girl in Street
Walter P. Lewis – In Alley / At Dance
Antonio Moreno – Musketeers Gang Member / At Dance
Marie Newton At Dance
J. Waltham – In Alley

Influence

In his book The Movie Stars, film historian Richard Griffith wrote of the scene where Lillian Gish passes another woman on the street (pictured):

Griffith's camera in this scene happened to focus on the unforgettable face of the nameless girl in the center of the shot and a murmurous wave swept audiences at this point in the film whenever it was shown. No one knows what became of this particular extra, but such raw material, and such camera accidents, became the stuff of stardom later on."^[5]

References

^ "Silent Era: PSFL: The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912)". Archived from the original on September 19, 2000.
^ Koszarski, Richard (2004), Fort Lee: The Film Town, Rome, Italy: John Libbey Publishing -CIC srl, ISBN 0-86196-653-8
^ "Studios and Films". Fort Lee Film Commission. Retrieved May 30, 2011.
^ Fort Lee Film Commission (2006), Fort Lee Birthplace of the Motion Picture Industry, Arcadia Publishing, ISBN 0-7385-4501-5
^ The Movie Stars Richard Griffith Doubleday and Company Inc. 72-126382 Copyright 1970