The Moonshine War (1970) User Reviews

Shouting at the Moon

[Moor-Larkin · 7/10 · 18 July 2006]

This is an elusive movie to see. As a McGoohan fan it had a particular fascination for me. After all the moonshine that has been written about him I was curious to see what 'The Prisoner' actually did do next :-) A maddeningly ill-executed movie seems to be the answer. That's not to say it's a bad movie. Elmore Leonard had stopped writing cowboy books around the late Sixties and as he progressed toward the modern noir he has become feted for, he wrote this story. The movie clearly was meant to tell a tale that began with whimsical criminality but segued into dark, wicked evil - a modern moral fable that reminds us that vice is Vice, however entertainingly dressed-up it might be.

Unfortunately the film-makers failed to 'make the segue' and so the whimsy just becomes increasingly and uncomfortably sinister; without it's moral 'message' becoming clear. Nowadays, with our experience of the Leonard formula, the viewer can figure out what is going on. In 1970 I suspect the audience was just baffled by what must have seemed a wholly inappropriate approach to evil. A contemporary and more popular movie, 'Kelly's Heroes', was similar in mood and execution I felt. The advantage Kelly had was that it had a briefly dark opening scene and then the rest of the tale was whimsy.

The performances in the movie by Widmark and McGoohan are impressive. Widmark goes right back to his roots in movies. He has a confederate (Lee Hazelwood) to carry out Widmark's 'Tommy Udo moves', which left the great man free to exhibit a lazy, lecherous side to his gangster-dentist caricature. An innocent couple in a diner are stripped naked because Hazelwood "likes the look o' their duds" Hazelwood later commits the psychotic murders that should have switched the mood of the movie around, but didn't.

Meanwhile McGoohan explores the role of a greedily foolish, slightly cowardly, villain. His revenue-agent is humiliated by the Moonshine Hillbillies, in a scene where he is 'de-bagged' and hung out of his hotel window. Angrily he brings in the dentist enforcer but the hapless 'Revenoor' is soon overwhelmed by the sadism of real criminals. Swept along by a tsunami of terrorism, McGoohan's character is increasingly out of his depth and belatedly seeks the shore of virtue by switching sides to help Alan Alda repel the Widmark tide. However, before that he has succumbed to the greedy temptation of leading his fake Revenue Enforcement team on a search for booze, and half-heartedly participated in the threatened lynching of Alda's only friend, his black retainer. (This scene bears an eerie resonance of one from another McGoohan movie: 'Dr. Syn')

Alda is curiously blank throughout the movie. A host of interesting people swim around him but he seems oblivious to all of it. The climactic scenes rely on him having become ostracised as a result of his refusal to hand over his cache of booze. This obstinacy brings Widmarks' reign of terror upon the neighbourhood. Those neighbours not only refuse to help Alda in his final stand-off but actually assemble on the nearby hill to watch his expected demise at the hands of the gangsters. Alda's only friend is the black man, and the repentant 'Revenoor'. There was probably a lesson in all of this, but Alda's inability to engender our remotest interest in him, just makes the viewer a tad confused.

McGoohan ends the movie, sitting on a barrel, looking deeply disappointed. I wonder if he'd just viewed the last 'rushes'? Flawed as it is, this film deserves viewing because it has some great stuff going on and all concerned at least can boast that they spotted the potential of Elmore Leonard earlier than most.

McGoohan and Widmark together has got to be worth an hour and a half of anyone's time :-)

A fun movie to watch

[grahamcallander · 7/10 · 9 October 2006]

I saw this movie six times when it first came out, and loved it.

There were snatches of dialogue in it that were pretty funny, and Lee Hazelwood was outstanding as bad guy Dual Metters.

Richard Widmark plays a rascal better than anyone else, and he was perfect as Dr. Emmett Taulbee.

The movie also starred the great character actors Charles Tyner and Bo Hopkins.

I've often wondered why this movie hasn't been made available on DVD.

Saw it again about a year ago on a very blurry VHS tape, and although it was pretty dated after thirty-five years, it was still a watchable movie.

Pappy Made A Batch Of Corn, The Revenuers Came

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 21 September 2007]

I suppose I was fortunate enough to see The Moonshine War in that garden spot of the earth, Fort Polk, Louisiana when it first came out. With all the southern recruits around me, that audience certainly identified with. Would they only have known at the time what a liberal Alan Alda would turn out to be.

Alda is miles from Hawkeye Pierce in this film. He's a young moonshiner who's got some of the finest product around, comparatively speaking. And in those last days before America came to its senses and repealed Prohibition, he's got a short window of opportunity to get rid of his stash before legal liquor goes on the market again.

Trouble is that two people want his product real bad. One is gangster Richard Widmark, back again in those villainous roles that first brought him stardom. The second is treasury agent Patrick McGoohan, one of those despised revenuers that the hillbilly folk don't like.

McGoohan is no Eliot Ness, in fact he's more typical of the treasury agents from back in the day, crooks themselves trying to take advantage of an unpopular law. Yet even with gangsters gunning for Alda, the hill folk won't give McGoohan the right time of day.

The Moonshine War was an entertaining film, nothing special about it, but no disgrace to anyone involved. Except for the ending which was a classic of its kind. I can't say more, but if for no other reason see this film to see how Mr. Widmark and cronies are dealt with.

Weirdly entertaining Moonshine

[pertti.jarla · 9 February 2001]

I only rented this film because of Patrick McGoohan, but found it to be a particularly nice strange little film indeed. The Moonshine War is a simple story of a bunch of people trying to get their hands on some hidden whiskey during the last months of prohibition. And what a weird bunch they are. Richard Widmark plays a disgusting former dentist-rapist and McGoohan is at his most neurotic as a dirty G-man, with a weird growling accent. Tom Skerritt and Teri Garr can be spotted in small roles. The film is written by Elmore Leonard, from his own book. It is easy to see why Quentin Tarantino digs him. The scene where Dual (singer Lee Hazlewood) develops a liking for "that boy´s nice suit" could be straight from a Tarantino film. Just about every character in this film is greedy, selfish and freaky. Unfortunately Alan Alda is pretty bland as the central character. He is probably supposed to be likeable, but he just seems boring surrounded by the other oddballs. Alda is not the right man for the role. Also Richard Quine is not a very exciting director, and there are a couple of really awful bubblegum tunes on the soundtrack. The script and some great characters, however, make it a pleasure to watch.

A Unexpectedly Enjoyable Movie

[franklincolletta · 7/10 · 29 May 2023]

I thoroughly enjoyed this offbeat movie. Patrick McGoohan as a Tennessee revenooer? Yep, he pulls it off. Alan Alda as a moonshiner? Alda plays it low key. He's as cool as a cucumber despite facing considerable adversity. With more great performances from Richard Widmark, Will Geer, Bo Hopkins and, as a demented killer, Lee Hazlewood. Widmark played a bad guy but without the sneering, evil tones he was known for. Not sure whether previous reviewers watched the entire movie as the low ratings were a surprise to me. Regardless, I took the plunge and I'm glad that I did. Everyone in town loved Son Martin (Alda) so I found it interesting that the writers refrained from making this a typical rally around your buddy film, instead portraying all of Son's friends as nothing more than interested spectators. I say give this movie a try and you won't be disappointed.

Unintended Consequences

[boblipton · 6/10 · 17 February 2021]

Prohibition enforcement agent Patrick McGoohan shows up and tries to track down Alan Alda's reported stash of moonshine, thousands of gallons he is aging in anticipation of Roosevelt's election and legalization of booze. When Alda says no, McGoohan brings in bootlgeer Richard Widmark, who starts a war with Alda for the liquor.

It's filled with thoroughly unlikable characters, with Widmark returning to his early, sociopathic roles, McGoohan utterly corrupt, and Alda very convincing as an unlikable moonshiner. Quine, who had been riding high in the 1950s, was near the end of his string, and was clearly trying to get some of that Bonnie-and-Clyde vibe, but everything is too clean for the back-end setting of hillbilly country just before the 1932 election. Still, it's a fine opportunity to see some classic supporting actors in brief bits, including Will Geer, Harry Carey Jr., and Max Showalter, and some players becoming well known inbits, including Teri Garr, John Schuck, and Tom Skerritt. Despite these small pleasures, it's a thoroughly and probably deliberately nasty movie. Elmore Leonard scripted from his own novel.

This would have to be the third film that would be shown in a 99 cent midnight Drive-In triple bill

[Ed-Shullivan · 3/10 · 19 February 2021]

There are quite a few Hollywood A stars such as Alan Alda,Richard Widmark, Patrick McGoohan,Will Geer,Harry Carey Jr., and Bo Hopkins but even this all star cast could not provide any razz matazz to this late, late night 1970 clunker. Some local southern townsfolk in Prohibition-era Kentucky survive on making bootleg booze which a federal agent decides he can take over the entire venture and make his fortune just by using the long arm of the law to his benefit.

If it sounds interesting and maybe the story did have some opportunity but this director, Richard Quine was unable to capitalize on it just like the Kentucky moonshiners of the Prohibition time. I found the entire film boring. the only appeal to me was the good looks and allure of the local sleezy hotel owner of 37 year old actress Melodie Johnson.

I can only give this clunker a 3 out of 10 IMDB rating, and if it happened to be made available again at a late night Drive-In triple bill, and/or on the late, late night archive films I would pass and hit the hay, as this film would certainly put me to sleep anyway.

Plain Bizare and crazy

[Tony Rome · 6/10 · 22 November 2009]

This is one crazy bizarre film. Not so much the story, but the casting. Patrick McGoogan as the corrupt prohibition guy is just hilarious, I was waiting for him to yell out "Who is number one?" just for fun. Richard Widmark was also funny, as the bad guy working with Patrick McGoogan. It was weird to see Alan Alda playing the role of the dude with all of the moonshine. One crazy thing if it is 1932, why is there a countryish pop song that sounds like it is from the late 60's playing through this picture? Maybe to be funny. This movie is sometimes fun to watch, but it may annoy some. It was made during that down period at MGM, when studio hands were changing. Maybe Warner Archives will put this out on DVD.

A MISFIRE BY ANY OTHER NAME...!

[masonfisk · 4/10 · 26 November 2018]

A tale of a lot of moonshine & the people out to get it. A down on his luck T-Man played by Patrick McGoohan, tries to muscle in on a bootlegger & buy his stash since the upcoming election will probably mean the end of prohibition. When the moonshiner, played by Alan Alda (before he rose to fame in TV's MASH) disagrees, McGoohan brings in outside help to convince him otherwise. When it turns out his help comes in the form of a sadistic dentist/gangster (are there any other kind?) played by Richard Widmark, the bullets go flying & blood & liquor is spilled. Based on a novel by Elmore Leonard & scripted by him, this offbeat tale is great at concept but lousy on delivery as evidenced by the off-putting & wishy/washy lead & abrupt ending. Look for a young Teri Garr (her name is spelled Terry here which makes no sense since she was in a Star Trek episode a few years earlier & her name was spelled correctly there) & future Alien actor Tom Skeritt unbilled here as a fellow moonshiner.

A very different kind of public enemy.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 21 April 2022]

It's obvious with the 1932 presidential election coming up that Roosevelt will be in and Hoover (and thus prohibition) will be out, but with the need for corn moonshine still abundant, the industry of bootlegging is booming. Realizing that his days as a federal prohibition agent are numbered, Patrick McGoohan decides that he's going to make some last-minute money by getting involved in the industry he's been fighting against and turns to old army Buddy Alan Alda who owns one of the biggest stills in Kentucky. Sheriff Will Geer (always looking the other way with the illegal bootlegging going on around him) has a hysterically funny description of a man's right to do whatever he wants with the corn he grows, anf when McGoohan fails in his attempts, he brings in dr. Richard Widmark who brings along his own kiss of death in infiltrating this industry which result in a ton of violence and death.

Fast moving and always enjoyable but with some very bizarre sequences (one involving a scene in a restaurant where McGoohan and his girlfriend are forced at gunpoint to give up their clothes), this is nevertheless a good film on a historical level about the months of a failed amendment. Fortunately it doesn't overdo the twangy accents in a way that is cartoonish (although that twang is still prevalent), and the bluegrass music in the background isn't overpowering either. Alda, not yet at the time associated with "MASH", plays against the good-natured type that he would become known for, and McGoohan and Geer are very good as well, with Richard Widmark, now a fabulous Silver Fox, returning to his fun loving bad guy image. Only Suzanne Zenor as Alda's dizzy girlfriend, is annoying, but that's based more on the character than her performance. This was obviously influenced by the period crime films that became popular after "Bonnie and Clyde", and while not a classic of that nature is still worth seeing.

Moonshiners versus faux federal agents.

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 3 November 2018]

When this strange story begins, a federal agent (Patrick McGoohan) arrives in rural Kentucky in 1932...during the final days of Prohibition. He has a scheme to buy up all the local corn whiskey in order to sell it and get rich when the law changes...allowing the sale of alcohol. At first, this seems like it might be a winning proposition for him and the farmers. But when his sociopathic partners arrive in town, their methods are a bit more violent...and soon stills are being destroyed,and folks are getting killed. Eventually this leads to a weird standoff where the folks in town come out to watch the killing...just like they were going to an afternoon picnic!

This is a most unusual film for many reasons. Seeing Alan Alda, Richard Widmark and Patrick McGoohan in a rural film like this did seem odd...though they did reasonably well. It's also unusual because at times, realism seemed to mean very little...with the inexplicably strange character, Dual, does things that simply don't make sense (such as the clothing scene in the restaurant). I think the film would have been much, much better without him.

So is it any good? Well, it's made okay and obviously folks enjoyed it when you read through the reviews. As for me, I didn't particularly enjoy what I watched,. it was a bit slow and it seemed awfully unrealistic.

By the way, this is far from a politically correct movie....with the infamous n-word being used again and again. Sadly, it did make the film seem more real (after all, folks DID talk like this back in the day)...that's for sure.

somebody missed it

[brazosman2000 · 10/10 · 17 January 2005]

After reading Mr. MacIntyre's review about "The 1932 Moonshine War" I'd have to conclude that Mr. MacIntyre's review of this movie was 80 percent ignorance and 20 percent assumption.

The movie is based in the last days before the repeal of the 18th Amendment of the U.S. Constitituion which made it a crime to import, buy or drink alcohol. A complete failure in regard to legislation. The principle of the movie revolved around a LARGE stash of 8 year old whiskey owned by Alan Alda's char acer that distributors would of paid twice their weight in gold for. What Mr. MacIntyre's missed was that the time and place were during the Great Depression in the Kentucky, the American South, which was triple-poor compared to the rest of the world. Alan Alda's character was not part of a family, but a member of a community who made whiskey to sell to the rest of the country because the soil of their farms could produce little else to keep them from going hungry. It was choice many people made during those times. The whiskey for Alda's character was a legacy from his father and his ticket out of the poor house along with his lady friend. Part of the dialog was leaving to go live in California, the eternal promise land even by today's standards.

Patrick McGooan's character was CROOKED, as in criminal, Federal officer looking to make himself rich from his old Army buddy "Son Martin's" whiskey. He was anything, but hard working and when confronted by the black man with the shotgun, even less so. Thus, his contact with Richard Widmark and his gang. When the gang found they no longer needed McGooan's character they turned on him. In turn Alda's neighbors turned on him, when the gang, posing as MORE Federal officers started raiding his neighbors stills and homes. They refused him service and credit at the local store among other things. I saw this flick as teenager and the storyline has remained with me for decades. It seemed that much of the story revolved around the old nursery rhyme about Chicky Licky who no one wanted to help make the bread, but they sure wanted to help eat it. The same thing is definitive in this movie, but the ending was beautiful in the destruction of the bad guys and the reconciliation of the neighbors. I'm surprised this movie isn't out on DVD or VHS.

odd bird

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 17 February 2021]

It's Prohibition Kentucky. Federal agent Frank Long (Patrick McGoohan) arrives to squeeze money from the local moonshiners. He tracks down old army buddy John W. (Son) Martin (Alan Alda) and demands a cut. Son figures on waiting him out as Prohibition is rumored to be ending soon. A cold war starts heating up between Long and everybody else. He recruits gangster Dr. Emmett Taulbee (Richard Widmark) from Louisville.

It's a little weird to see Alan Alda playing this humorless role. It's an odd bird. It's not actually funny and they have a couple of great comedic actors including Alda. It's not actually thrilling. It's not even that tense despite plenty of shooting. The story meanders and unfolds. It's based on an Elmore Leonard novel. It may work better if the movie makes Son the protagonist. There is an edge to the material that is missing from the film. Its quirky tone doesn't work.

For a Few Gallons More

[chaos-rampant · 11 February 2009]

It's a damn shame this cheering slice of deep-friend southernsploitation fun seems to have slipped through the cracks of b-movie cinema for good. Adapted by Elmore Leonard from one of his books, this story, taking place during the end of Prohibition and two months before Roosevelt's election, of a gang of bootleggers led by a middle-aged Richard Widmark trying to get ahold of a large amount of whiskey stashed away by hillbilly Alan Alda, is as unassuming as it is riveting in its own pulpy way. Certain moments of distinctly Leonard-esquire badassitude, such as a scene where Widmark's top dog, played by songwriter Lee Hazlewood of all people, makes a couple strip in a cafe, is right up there with the 'ticket scene' in HOMBRE. Ex-film noir star with a prolific career behind him, Richard Widmark in the role of gang leader Dr. Emmett Taulbee seems to be having the time of his life, Patrick McGoohan is quite good in a role screaming for Warren Oates and Alan Alda is kind of lost in the general excitement. Nothing out of the ordinary here, just a solid, unpretentious, southern-flavoured b-movie, with a crackling script and some good performances, it would probably develop a cult following if it had a DVD release.

moonshine war

[mossgrymk · 5/10 · 4 June 2023]

One of the tinnier projects to roll off the late 60s/early 70s, Hollywood, redneck assembly line following the success of the Bonnie And Clyde model. Especially disappointed in scenarist Elmore Leonard's dialogue which, in stark contrast to his urban crime novels, is best described as "flat, ersatz hick". And director Richard Quine seems light years removed, both in time and space, from his glory days with Kim and Judy. As for the acting it ranges from entertainingly absurd (Widmark) to acceptable (Alda) to downright awful (McGoohan, who seems to choke on his Irish meets Souternoid accent). The only genuine study in good ol boy sociopathy is turned in by Lee Hazelwood, sans pepper sprout. Solid C.

PS...If you wish to see a much better film on this same general topic check out "Thunder Road", with Mitchum.

Bad to the Bone

[theognis-80821 · 2/10 · 19 June 2023]

The smash hit "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967) sparked a revival of 1930s gangster yarns and Elmore Leonard got on it with his novel, "The Moonshine War" (1969), which he adapted for the screen the following year. After much success with westerns and crime stories, this movie seemed to combine both genres, but, too often, it strains credulity. Leonard was an excellent novelist, but this script ill serves his reputation: a taut, clever, suspenseful scene in the stage depot, by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank from "Hombre" (1967) is tortured into a lengthy, silly, annoying scene in an eatery here. Writers are fading or just making a buck when they start imitating themselves. But better writers adapted some later stories on which Leonard got some co-producing credit. Sadly, some antique cars are wrecked.

Not that bad, for what it is. A LOT OF FUN, TOO !!!

[pizzawarrior1956-1 · 8/10 · 23 November 2005]

Being from Louisville, Kentucky, it is hard to be objective about this movie.

Considering the times this film depicts, that is the closing days of Prohibition and in the depths of the Great Depression, it is also hard to take these characters too seriously, for after all they are all on the make in some way, which makes this so much fun to watch.

You don't give a damn who wins !!!!

Patrick McGoohan's character as a crooked G-Man is par for the course, and Richard Widmark's corrupt dentist with his little sexy bundle in tow and other hangers-on may not be your average Louisvillian, though I imagine he does need a fair amount of medicinal alcohol for his private use, especially around Derby Week !!! (After all, what's a Mint Julep without bourbon.)

Alan Alda is quite good as 'Son Martin', who is sitting on a fortune in moonshine, patiently waiting for repeal.

Add all the local color provided by a good supporting cast, and you have a watchable movie, though you do have all these Hollywood types trying to get by with bad Southern drawls and over-the-top acting.

One highlight is seeing a young Teri Garr strip naked at gunpoint,(at least I think it was her, since we had a brief rear view. Could have been a body double).

Best watched with a full jar !!!!

One of the BEST B's ever !

[wmjahn · 10/10 · 16 August 2008]

Come on folks, you can't be serious! THE MOONSHINE WAR has only a 5,9 rating on the IMDb ??? 123 voters ?

I really like Alan ALDA, he is such a normal guy, always a reliable actor, very watchable, practically never a bad part, funny, poignant, great timing. Hardly anybody ever looked at his lesser known movies?

THE MOONSHINE WAR is a terrific B-movie! A novel and script only ELMORE LEONARD in his prime could have come up with, paired with a director many would not really call a great one, but here he has delivered his best directing-effort ever! I would have never thought Richard QUINE to be such a cynic to deliver a movie like this, but obviously this director, who had worked with so many stellar 50ies and 60ies casts, was so happy to get a little B-effort to direct, probably with hardly any studio-involvement, that he decided to make one of the MOST CYNICAL movies I have ever seen! And the sheer joy everybody involved had in making this little gem is visible in every frame.

And the cast loves it! Alan ALDA is terrific, as is Richard WIDMARK, who has made a couple of nice movies shortly before and after that, but where he really shines like in his early prime is in MOONSHINE WAR. And nobody having seen this gem will ever be able to forget LEE HAZLEWOOD, who only starred in 4 movies, of which this one is by faaaar the best!

Two reviewers call the performance of Alan ALDA "curiously blank" and "pretty blank" (I think one reviewer copied from the other), but sorry, I can't but disagree: First I think Alan ALDA does a magnificent job and plays his part exactly as wanted by director and script. His role IS the only "normal" (boring ??) one in the sense of being unweired, he is the "backwood boy", the bland guy. Nobody expects anything great from him, which is EXACTLY what makes the ending such a winner: the guy nobody expected to handle the job does exactly that! Marvellous! And second I do not see why everybody in a movie has to be weired? If you do not have any normal guy, but only weirdos in a movie, then where is the counterpart, where is any balance? One has to have at least one normal guy to make the oddballs even more odd. Alda does this and he does it magnificent. I think this is also HIS BEST movie.

OK, it is brutal, no doubt, but so what? Moonshining was never a "profession" for cowards and the times back then were not the most peaceful, but what the heck. Just that Alan ALDA is in it, does not mean it has to be a cozy harmless comedy. It certainly is a comedy anyway, but a very brutal one and from what I can see, Alan ALDA loves to be part of it as much as anybody else in this cast. Just look at this classical ending: just wonderful! This ain't a family-movie, nothing for the kids to enjoy on a Sunday evening, unless Dad wants to risk a war with his wife, but that is exactly the reason why this is nothing short of a MUST-SEE for every movie-lover.

Folks, give this another viewing, this is up there with the best B's ever made, up there with THE OUTFIT, ROLLING THUNDER, DIRTY MARY CRAZY LARRY, VANISHING POINT, POINT BLANK, LOLLY MADONNA WAR, ... etc. etc. etc.

Tarantino loves this one and so do I! I wonder who discovered this gem first? :-) I saw it in my middle teenage years the first time, which is 25 years ago, of course on TV in one of those wonderful midnight viewings, where such oddball movies were shown in a regular way back then, where I discovered most of the great B's in movie history. Tarantino is a few years "older" than I am, so he might have discovered it first, but then again maybe not. :-) Anyway, that is not really important.

What is important is that this great effort is not covered anywhere by any top critic yet. But this is perfect Danny Peary-stuff! The guy who wrote these wonderful books about cult movies, ya know. This one has a small cult following, although it does not show on the IMDb yet, but all my mates and every oddball-movie lover I ever talked about with knows and loves it, so this is a CULT MOVIE, even if the followers are not yet that many. Danny, write another cult movie book and this one HAS TO BE covered there. And I can send ya a list of others that need coverage! :-)

Call me biased, but I rate this as high as 10! I wish there would be more flicks like this out there to discover. If you know any comparable one, drop be a line, please.

Widmark and McGoohan together at last!

[britneyfoxx · 10/10 · 22 February 2021]

This movie gets 5 stars just for having both those guys in it. The other 5 is for being a fun movie with great period flavor. Alda is electrifying as a hillbilly. Lee Hazlewood looks much seedier in person than on his album covers but gives a great performance.

It's cool to see cast members of MASH the TV show and the movie together. Great songs too. The finale is a blast. Watch it.

Very Underrated

[Marqymarquis · 8/10 · 9 May 2017]

Alcoholism is a hard topic to tackle - most take the humorous route and this film not an exception - having addressed that subject I shall move on. I have fond memories of this film it being screened in the UK in the early Autumn of 1970 on a Saturday mid evening slot. As to the actors, it seems Patrick McGoohan relished the role of being a Number 2 to Alan Alda rather than Number 6 or Number 1 as he was in The Prisoner; as for Richard Widmark and Lee Hazlewood, the plotting goes rather old fashioned - that isn't to say it's disappointing. Alan Alda IS dull and boring here - but is that not that because his fame making role in MASH two years later had him mugging off like Shakespearean thespian screaming into the rafters to be heard? The film does descend into the depths of a Whitehall farce when both the well dressed man at the diner and McGoohan are shorn of their trousers (that's pants in America) a-la Brian Rix cutting Leslie Phillips' braces (suspenders) allowing his trousers (pants) to fall to his ankles causing a massive explosion resulting in the death of everyone unpleasant in the film - a la Tom and Jerry or Laurel and Hardy. Richard Quine is unjustly criticised for this film - witness the very offbeat Bell Book And Candle and the performance he elicits from Jack Lemmon. As to the illicit distillation of alcoholic beverages - there are regular TV showings of a show called Moonshiners available on SKY TV.

Patrick McGoohan as Wile E. Coyote

[F Gwynplaine MacIntyre · 11 October 2002]

UPDATE: I've seen 'The Moonshine War' only once, on late-night television with commercial breaks. After I originally posted this review, another IMDb contributor posted a review stating that I missed major plot points in the film. My review of this movie is based on the version I saw, which was edited for television. Some plot points may have been excised to make room for more commercials.

I'm very much a fan of Patrick McGoohan, and I admire his penchant for playing a widely varying range of roles, so I eagerly anticipated one of McGoohan's usual tour-de-force performances in 'The Moonshine War'. I was disappointed, not only by McGoohan but by the entire film.

Patrick McGoohan (born in the United States but raised in Ireland) uses his American accent here as a "revenooer" (federal agent) in the Ozarks during the Depression, tracking a family of moonshiners. Alan Alda, with a Li'l Abner cornpone accent, plays the eldest son in the family: not the leader, but it's clear he's going to inherit leadership after the patriarch dies.

I was keenly anticipating a battle of wits (and dirty tricks) between Alda and McGoohan. I was disappointed. Alda's hillbilly keeps outflanking and outwitting McGoohan's federal agent all through the film. McGoohan is subjected to all sorts of humiliating defeats. This movie is the closest Patrick McGoohan ever came to playing Wile E. Coyote: the guy who loses every engagement keeps coming back for more punishment ... and keeps losing again.

It doesn't help that Alda's character and his relations (who are all criminals) are all depicted sympathetically, while McGoohan's character (a low-paid agent in a dangerous job, putting his neck on the line with no back-up, to enforce the law) is depicted unsympathetically. We're meant to cheer for Alda each time he humiliates McGoohan.

The screenplay is by Elmore Leonard, based on his novel. I don't much fancy Elmore Leonard, but friends of mine who are Leonard fans have told me that this movie is a good example of his work.

Some of the local colour in this movie truly irritated me, such as the heavy-set waitress who can't pronounce "Coca-Cola" correctly: she keeps calling it "Co'Cola". After I saw this movie, I learnt (from someone who grew up in the Deep South) that the film is actually quite accurate in its details. In Georgia, where Coca-Cola's corporate headquarters are located, they really do call it "Co'Cola".

"The Moonshine War" was directed by Richard Quine, a former actor who became a (slightly better than average) director with several excellent films to his credit. Quine eventually directed Peter Sellers in the remake of "The Prisoner of Zenda" and in "The Fiendish Plot of Dr Fu Manchu". Reliable reports state that Sellers bullied Quine unmercifully throughout production of both films, and Quine was permanently traumatised by the experience. This was probably a major factor in Quine's eventual suicide.

in the days of prohibition

[ksf-2 · 8/10 · 1 June 2023]

G-man frank long (mcgoohan) wanders into town and starts sniffing around the stills. Right away, long zeroes in on the supply made by john martin (alda, just before "mash". ) but long doesn't want to destroy it... he wants to buy it! As a speculator. Is he really even from the guv-ment? Now it's a showdown. Long calls in some old shifty friends (widmark and others) to help "negotiate". It snowballs out of control, and the bodies start piling up. Keep an eye out for teri garr, the wife in the diner, a couple years before "young frankenstein". This must be where she met alan alda, since they both appeared in mash. It's good! Not perfect, but good stuff. Martin's accent comes and goes. Lots of the "n" word, but that was probably historically accurate during prohibition. Directed by richard quine. Directed an odd collection of films and tv series over his career. Story by elmore leonard. Check out his list of written work... you'll recognize many of them!