The Moonshiner

This short drama is probably more noteworthy for its resourceful technique than for its story, but it does have some fairly good action sequences in addition to the technical strengths. Its most noticeable feature is the frequent camera movement, which it uses several times in order to follow the action more continuously. It also uses title cards (in the old "tableau" format) more liberally than most movies from 1904 would have done.

The story shows the activities of "The Moonshiner" and the government agents who are trying to stop him. You have to watch rather carefully in the first part, since some of the characters and actions are rather indistinct. After that, things move quickly, and there is some suspense in addition to the action. The tone remains serious throughout. The main thing missing is that the characters are only faintly developed. Otherwise, it's put together pretty well for its time.