Kansas Saloon Smashers (1901)

Kansas Saloon Smashers is a 1901 comedy short film produced and distributed by Edison Studios. Directed by Edwin S. Porter, it is a satire of American activist Carrie Nation. The film portrays Nation and her followers entering and destroying a saloon. After the bartender retaliates by spraying Nation with water, policemen order them out; the identities of the actors are not known. Inspiration for the film was provided by an editorial cartoon which appeared in the New York Evening Journal.

Kansas Saloon Smashers became a success upon its March release, and inspired other films about Nation to be produced by Lubin Manufacturing Company and Biograph Company. It was not the only film produced by Edison Studios to mock Nation; released the same year, Why Mr. Nation Wants a Divorce parodied the relationship between Nation and her husband. A print of the film is preserved in the Library of Congress, and it was released on DVD in 2007.

Synopsis

A bartender is working at a saloon, serving drinks to customers. After he fills a stereotypically Irish man's bucket with beer, Carrie Nation and her followers burst inside. They assault the Irish man, pulling his hat over his eyes and then dumping the beer over his head. The group then begin wrecking the bar, smashing the fixtures, mirrors, and breaking the cash register. The bartender then sprays seltzer water in Nation's face before a group of policemen appear and order everybody to leave.