Northeast Historic Film

Sage-femme de première classe, 1902, by Alice Guy Blaché, who appears on the left. This is, so far, the earliest title discovered by Northeast Historic Film. Our Sense of Community Ways of Watching Tenth Annual By Peter McDougall Elders and Betters Summer Symposium “Before we even started NHF, we took a oving images represent our drive down to Washington, DC, to speak July 24-25, 2009 shared past. They document to our elders and betters. Along the way or two days this summer in Mand interpret events, places, we stopped off in New York to meet with Bucksport, scholars, filmmakers, and people and provide a sense of who people at the Museum of Modern Art,” Farchivists, students, and members we were so that future generations can says David Weiss, NHF’s executive direc- of the public will gather to learn and better understand the common themes tor. “They took us under their wings; we discuss how and where art, educational, that link us all together. But preserving toured the MOMA Department of Film; and amateur films have been shown. our past requires a communal effort. they gave us samples of accession forms Presenters this year will travel from as Fortunately, Northeast Historic Film has and were as nice and generous as they far away as Sweden, Norway, and Britain, a rather large sense of community. could be to show us how they did things.” to join other speakers from Arizona, For NHF, cooperation has always That generosity and openness is fre- Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, New been the name of the game. Sharing quently paid forward as NHF provides York, Maine, Pennsylvania, and Texas. information, keeping an eye open for advice and recommendations to other There will be screenings by Liz Coffey, titles that fall under the umbrella of organizations and archives. NHF’s cold Film Conservator at the Harvard Film another archives, and generally striving storage building (The Cube) and the Archive and Doug McLaren, of the Gene to recruit and support as many people as Alamo Theatre provide working tem- Siskel Film Center in Chicago. possible in the effort to preserve moving plates for organizations as far away as The Academy of Motion Picture images—these are all elements of our Appalshop in Kentucky and the Alaska Arts and Sciences Foundation made a cooperative effort. Moving Image Preservation Association 2009 grant of $2,500 in support of the in Anchorage. NHF is now in the symposium’s educational activities–a position of taking other organizations grant program that encourages the appre- under its wing, thanks to the support it ciation of motion pictures. Symposium Summer 2009 received early on. organizers are Snowden Becker from the 2009 Calendar 3 School of Information at the University Community Cinemas 4 What Goes Around Comes Around of Texas, Austin; Janna Jones from the Distribution 6 Sharing goals means NHF alerts others School of Communication, Cinema and Maine Memory Network 9 to footage that doesn’t quite mesh with Visual Culture Program at Northern Become a Member 15 our mission, but is of interest to others. Arizona University; and Mark Neumann, Moving Image Review is a semiannual “We found five reels of early nitrate also from the School of Communication publication of Northeast Historic Film, film—two 1915 films—and they had at Northern Arizona University. P.O. Box 900, Bucksport, Maine 04416. nothing to do with this region,” recalls Please register by July 10. Program David S. Weiss, executive director Kelsey Abbott and Peter McDougall, writers David. “The Museum of Modern Art, details, registration, and lodging infor- Karan Sheldon, managing editor however, was thrilled to get them since mation at www.oldfilm.org or contact ISSN 0897-0769 no other copies existed. We donated [email protected], 207 469-0924. Email [email protected] See Presenters on Pages 10 & 11 Continued on Page 11 Preserving and Making Accessible Northern New England’s Moving Image Heritage • www.oldfilm.org Executive Director’s Report

An archives must have the longest-term the front desk. External Affairs Director search of a child. For a while we thought perspective. Northeast Historic Film’s full Jessica Hosford joined us in mid-March; it was Blaché’s 1896 La Fée aux choux value is not confined to what we do this she will help us broaden and deepen our and though it turned out to be her later summer. We are maintaining a legacy communications with members and the remake, it is still the earliest film we have for hundreds of years that encompasses public. Thanks to a Maine Community ever found in our collections and appears more than 800 moving image collections, Foundation grant, we’re developing to be the most complete print of this title along with significant ephemera, audio- self-supporting annual events involving in the world. The Library of Congress visual equipment, and library resources. volunteers. We have achieved significant will accept it for preservation. There Strategies for successfully enduring reces- savings from monitoring our energy use will be a Blaché symposium at NYU on sions, depressions and other calamities and before next winter need to do more October 24 and a Whitney Museum have to be in place for our organization insulating. Increased electronic commu- exhibition curated by Joan Simon, to fulfill its mission. nications, including the regular cinema Alice Guy Blaché: Cinema Pioneer, from Reading Nick Paumgarten’s article, schedule, help us cut publication costs. November 6, 2009, to January 24, 2010. The Death of Kings (New Yorker, While we’re streamlining, we are com- May 18, 2009), I came across the acro- mitted to giving people value in tough New Board Member nym “ITE,” which stands for “in this times. Late last year we noticed a drop I’d like to welcome our newest board economy.” The phrase is tremendously in attendance at the weekly movies as member, Judy McGeorge. She has been useful, now that I see it, because I have families cut back on their entertainment involved with NHF since the 1980s and to say it all the time. The financial crisis is budgets, so we added a Saturday matinee brings nonprofit management and Maine challenging everyone, NHF not excepted. with a $3 ticket. ties.

Agility and Dedication Finding and Sharing the Truly Rare Farewell Steinway The next hundred years starts every Earlier this year, Sean Savage, our last The Steinway Model A grand piano morning as we process collections, technical services director, posted 35mm heard in our hall in Arcady Music monitor vault conditions, digitize clips, scans to the Association of Moving Image Festival and ragtime concerts, piano recit- respond to research requests, update Archivists Nitrate Film Interest Group als, and silent film performances since we databases, plan weekend movies and Flickr site, http://www.flickr.com/pho- opened, is sadly moving on. The piano Archival Moments. That work contin- tos/nfig/ where the images were identi- was on loan to us and we must find a ues with our core staff of 6. We’d like fied as the work of Alice Guy Blaché, the worthy replacement. Can you help? to have a minimum of 8 people on staff, pioneer woman filmmaker. Our 1902 but ITE we get by. Here’s how: we have film isSage-femme de première classe, invested in a new phone system with a fantasy depicting discovery of babies in voice mail and presently have no one on a cabbage patch. The filmmaker appears in the film, dressed as the husband in NHF Statement of Purpose The purpose of Northeast Historic Film is to collect, preserve, and make avail- able to the public, film and videotape of interest to the people of northern New England. Activities include but are not limited to a survey of moving pictures of northern New England; preserving and safeguard- ing film and videotape through restora- tion, duplication, providing technical guidance and climate-controlled storage; creation of educational programs through screenings and exhibitions on-site and in touring programs; assistance to members of the public, scholars and students at all levels, and members of the film and video production community, through provid- ing a study center, technical services and facilities. Donor Appreciation Night on Saturday, May 9 included a champagne reception and Paul Sullivan playing the piano to accompany Douglas Fairbanks. Party photos by Bob Brodsky.  www.oldfilm.org 2009 Calendar

Thursday, July 23 - Sunday, July 26 Friday, October 16 - Wednesday, November 4 - Bucksport Bay Festival, including Sunday, October 18 Sunday, November 7 Riverbend Players Vaudeville Shows Out of the Closet, Our Amateur Film Association of Moving Image at the Alamo Theatre on Thursday Heritage, a three-day preservation work- Archivists Annual Meeting and Sunday, and Outdoor Movie at shop at Burlington College, Burlington, in St. Louis, MO the Alamo Theatre on Friday, July 24. Vermont, led by Gemma Perretta. There http://www.amiaconference.com/ http://www.bucksportchamber.org/ will be a Home Movie Day observance festival.html in the workshop. For information and to O register, http://www.burlington.edu O I OIO O Friday, July 24 - Saturday, July 25 IThank You to NHF Supporters Northeast Historic Film Symposium, Saturday, October 17 On May 9 nearly 100 people gathered I Ways of Watching at the Alamo Theatre, Maine Home Movie Day O in the Alamo Theatre to be honored Bucksport. Open to all, with presenta- Organized by Northeast Historic Film for their longstanding commitment O tions and time for discussion. See and presented at Maine Historical Ito Northeast Historic Film. Attendees Pages 10-11 for presenters. Registration, Society, 489 Congress Street, Portland, were treated to tours of the facility, a http://oldfilm.org/symp_2009 Maine. champagne toast led by board president O Home Movie Day is an international Richard Rosen, a giant cake, and went Saturday, August 8 event, celebrating home movies, first held home with DVDs from our catalog I Pirate Day at the Alamo Theatre in in 2003. Anyone with home movies is of Videos of Life in New England. Of collaboration with Fort Knox. A pirate invited to bring their cans and boxes to course, a highlight of the evening was the ship with activities at the Fort across the Maine Historical Society, where they will silent film program with Paul Sullivan, Penobscot River, then a pirate movie and be examined and prepared for projec- Grammy Award winning composer and more fun at the cinema. tion. There is no charge. About HMD, performer, bringing out the humor and http://www.homemovieday.com/ excitement of Manhattan Madness and Thursday, October 1 - Directions, http://www.mainehistory. Pass the Gravy. Manhattan Madness, Sunday, October 4 org/about_visit.shtml with dynamo Douglas Fairbanks, was Camden International Film Festival made in 1916, the year the Alamo Camden, Rockland, and Rockport, Saturday, October 31 opened. The sounds of the piano and Maine. http://www.camdenfilmfest.org/ Halloween screening of The Rocky the laughter from the audience filled Horror Picture Show at the Alamo the auditorium throughout the evening, Sunday, October 4 - Theatre, Bucksport. Under 17 not testament to the fun being had by all. Sunday, October 11 admitted. http://www.oldfilm.org Fryeburg Fair O O O OIO At the Farm Museum, in an 1832 barn: I I I I screenings and videos for sale during the agricultural fair in Fryeburg, Maine. http://www.fryeburgfair.com/

The Alamo Theatre auditorium. Phil Yates and Gemma Perretta are in the booth, preparing to show Culture, Identity on video, Manhattan Madness at 16 frames per The event was made possible by a generous grant from second, and after a brief intermission with cake, Pass the Gravy at 24 frames per second. the Golden Rule Foundation. www.oldfilm.org  Community Cinemas: Coming Together in Trying Times

By Jane Donnell, Marketing Manager movies. Studios want their first-run fea- tures to play at a movie house for several n the world of multiplexes and Netflix weeks. It’s cost- effective for them. Most it has become much more difficult small cinemas don’t have the audience Ifor small, independent community base to sustain shows for more than a cinemas to survive. The Alamo Theatre week—or for more than a weekend in is no exception. When we reopened in the Alamo’s case. 1999, the community just seemed happy Blanco convinced several of the major to have its movie house back. It didn’t studios to let him book a film for several seem to matter that we were booking weeks but allow that one print to move films that were very late first-run at best. around to several different theaters. The After all, they had been waiting since Alamo is part of what he refers to as 1956. The economy experienced a ter- the “Midcoast Consortium.” (We’ve all The Alamo’s Phil Yates troubleshoots with State rible downturn and the movie industry threatened to get him a Maine map.) Cinemas’ Steve Leackfeldt in Calais, Maine. While the has changed. We have had to get creative Our group consists of the Alamo Theatre State uses a platter style projector, The Alamo has two variable speed Super Simplex projectors. in the way we do business. in Bucksport, the Centre Theatre in We experiment with different show Dover-Foxcroft, State Cinemas in Calais, times, offer discounted children’s mov- Reel Pizza Cinerama in Bar Harbor, and willingness to cooperate. We are getting ies, and are enticing customers displaced the Milbridge Theatre in Milbridge. The many movies sooner than we would, when the Ellsworth Twin closed (it was group includes nonprofit and for-profit are cutting costs and pooling resources. in a strip mall 20 miles from here) with businesses alike. We are all quirky and We are shuttling many prints ourselves, a $3 Saturday matinee. This is all on the small, and are worried about how we will ordering concessions supplies together, heels of the biggest change we made a be able to afford conversion to digital sharing ideas and equipment, and help- couple of years ago. Our film booker, Jim projection technology in the near future. ing each other troubleshoot. We are Blanco, who is the liaison between the The movie business is fickle and surviving on the main streets of rural film studios and the theaters, came up unpredictable. It is a struggle for all of Maine and have built a wonderful sense with an innovative way to get his clients our little Main Street cinemas to remain of community. And isn’t that what your more current releases and keep the local open for business. The wonderful people hometown cinema is really all about? people from heading out of town to see in our group share common needs and a

All that Glitters is Cold: Preserving Precious Films in The Cube

By Emily Hurwitz, Vault Manager of which are tracked in our database to do what was best for their collection. system. When this archives requests that In addition to processing their entire hen one peruses the Northeast we pull one of their boxes and ship it (a collection and entering it into our vault Historic Film website (www. semi-weekly occurrence), I find it in our database, I also created a customized data Woldfilm.org, for those of records and secure it for shipping. This set and sent that back to the client. Now you who have yet to check it out), one client represents the most basic kind of they have an official record of their films, may notice the words “Film Storage.” vault management: NHF will intake including gauge and title. This organiza- Here one will see a breakdown of vault your film, enter it into our database by tion was so pleased with our work that statistics, climate conditions, and stor- creating a box-level record, and ship it to they have asked us to digitize their collec- age rates for rental space in the NHF you at your request. tion. Thus the circle of media life goes on vaults (affectionately called The Cube On an entirely different scale, I as it moves from box to can to digital file. by employees–because the three story recently processed four boxes of film for Vault rental services at NHF range building looks remarkably like one). But one organization. Each film was individ- from processing 40-pound boxes to those rental clients who choose NHF to ually processed and recanned if necessary, single reels of Super 8mm film, from preserve their films receive much more and those films that had begun to decay huge academic holdings to small personal than a place on a climate-controlled shelf. due to vinegar syndrome were specially gems, and from 2,000 ft. reels of 35mm As vault manager, I have dealt with processed to delay the progression of film to 90-minute Digibeta tapes. Our several collections from archives span- decomposition. The film holdings for rental clients know that we keep their ning the Eastern seaboard and then this particular organization are moder- media safe, preserved, secure, and of some. One of our larger clients stores ately small because they are not explicitly course cool–reel cool. over 3,000 boxes of film with us, all a film archives; it was up to us at NHF

 www.oldfilm.org Collections Use: You Can Find Me at NHF – Bill Green

By Kelsey Abbott job to help him pay for college. With minimal experience operat- or Maine television icon Bill Green, ing his father’s home movie Northeast Historic Film is a vital camera—and a promise to arrive Fresource. His shows, Bill Green’s early and stay late—Green man- Maine and The Green Outdoors, focus aged to land a gig at WLBZ2 in on action and adventure and celebrate Bangor where he earned $1.70 an the people and places of Maine. While hour. He kept his promise and, Green’s goal is “to make a record of what after two and a half years, became was around here in 2009,” his shows a sportscaster at the station. often include a glimpse into Maine’s Green worked at Channel 2 past—and for these, he says, “NHF is from 1972 to 1981, the era of crucial to me.” film. In 1979, at the age of 25, NHF isn’t just a treasure trove of he covered a plane crash at Owls Bill Green, somewhere in Maine. Scan from program video. Maine’s history for Bill Green. It’s also an Head, Maine. Only one person archive of his life and his career. As a shy survived the crash. Seventeen than most mainstream markets. Green five-year old, Bill attended the unveiling died. The night is still etched in Green’s grew up following Bud Leavitt—the of the Paul Bunyan statue in Bangor in memory. His film is also preserved in executive sports editor of the Bangor 1959. Earlier this year, Green covered the NHF’s archives. This May, WSCH6 Daily News and host of The Bud Leavitt statue’s 50th anniversary on Bill Green’s will revisit the crash and talk to the lone Show—who covered outdoor pursuits Maine. The segment included footage survivor. While Green will not cover the like hiking, fishing, hunting and skiing on of the unveiling (from NHF’s vault, of story of the 30th anniversary, the piece top of the typical “stick and ball” sports. course) and an interview with Norm will feature his original report of the Green believed that today’s sportscasts Martin, the statue’s designer who also hap- accident, courtesy of NHF. should cover outdoor life as well, espe- pened to be Green’s childhood neighbor. In 1981, Green became the weekend cially in a state like Maine where so many Bill Green grew up in the Bangor area sportscaster at WCSH6 in Portland. He tourists come for outdoor adventure. and fell into the television industry at dreamed of moving on to a Boston station Green continued to cover the week- a young age. He was just 18 when he and then to Monday Night Football, but end sports desk until 1993, but in the started searching for a minimum wage his idea of sports was (and still is) broader mid-1980s he started his own show, The Green Outdoors. A few years later, he added Bill Green’s Maine. In 2008 and early 2009, Green has tapped into NHF’s resources for four stories (includ- ing “Paul Bunyan Turns 50”). His May, 2008 segment on the 1968 presidential race in which Maine senator Ed Muskie was selected as the Democrats’ vice presidential nominee included footage from the NHF archives. Film from the NHF archives also played a crucial role in Green’s December 2008 “Arlington Wreaths” story and his April 2009 “Sardine Packers” piece. While Bill Green is not the only one bringing NHF’s archived footage to the small screen—every Wednesday morn- ing WCSH6 runs a feature called “Time Warp Wednesdays” that often features an NHF clip—he is perhaps the one whose life is most entangled with the NHF archives. He says, “When I die, I don’t know if I’ll go to heaven or hell, but you Furloughed Verso mill employees use down time to help at NHF for a week. can find me at NHF (because everything Greg Saunders and Chris Remick in the vault. I do goes there).”

www.oldfilm.org  Distribution: The Long Tail of NHF

By Peter McDougall The titles offered on the distribu- tion list are derived, in most cases, from very now and again, a term that titles stored safely in the organization’s relates to social and economic archives. We also provide cooperative Eforces makes its way in to everyday distribution services to some indepen- language. Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping dent media makers and organizations. Point is one such example. Another is Given that distribution and sales are part Chris Anderson’s Long Tail. of our access strategy, tied to the primary The Long Tail describes a shift in how purpose of preserving the moving images, products are sold. Online shopping has the rules governing the content offered to effected marketing strategies so that consumers are different. “We don’t have forgotten items have a second chance a business model that pares our selec- at retail life—major blockbusters are no tion down to what sells best,” says Jane longer the only way to make big money. Donnell, NHF’s marketing and mem- The Long Tail is relatively new as a con- bership manager. “We respect film. We cept and is still being debated by academ- offer things that don’t make money. We Islander, just one of the 144 titles sold by NHF that ics and experts. But it is not unfamiliar to wouldn’t be selling more than 10 titles if benefit from the economics of the Long Tail–where us at Northeast Historic Film. The value we did otherwise.” revenues are driven by selling many copies of a number of titles, rather than selling a large number of special interest moving images is the But by offering more than just the ten of just a few. very reason that NHF exists. top-selling titles, NHF is able to greatly expand the number of sales it makes serve, and make available to the public, A Marketing Strategy and the number of titles that reach eager film and videotape of interest to the peo- According to Chris Anderson, the Long viewers. “The more titles we offer, the ple of northern New England. And while Tail is an approach to sales and market- more people perceive that the things we the Long Tail has worked to breathe new ing that aims to sell small quantities of sell are special,” says Donnell. “They still life into long-forgotten titles on NetFlix a large number of diverse items. Instead pretty much just buy one or two titles, and iTunes, providing access to unique of focusing on the sales of a handful of but it gets people to stop and peruse all and special materials has always been at top-selling items, such as the hottest of what’s offered. More so than if we just the core of what NHF does. That it is a music and movies, Anderson argues displayed the few things that we know contemporary idea in social and eco- that a significant amount of revenue can are most likely to sell.” nomic circles is just icing on the cake. be generated from the Long Tail of less Of the 144 titles sold, the five top-sell- popular products. In order for the Long ing titles account for close to a third of Islander Tail approach to work, however, retail- all sales. The popular titles, such as Dead A Maine feature film ers have to keep costs low and need to River Rough Cut and From Stump to provide a very large selection of titles. Ship, each sold more than 100 copies Off the coast of Maine, families have For stores with a traditional physi- last year, and have remained popular lived and worked the sea for gen- cal presence, the Long Tail is a difficult year after year. Meanwhile, less popular erations. Everyone knows each other. strategy to adopt because of the physi- titles, such as Cherryfield, 1938 and It’s Birthright is akin to law and fishing cal limitations of shelf space. Online the Maine Sardine!, sell only a handful territories are inherited. Eben Cole stores, however, offer the opportunity or fewer copies per year but drive nearly (Thomas Hildreth) continues his for almost unlimited selections. In the two-thirds of the total sales. It’s NHF’s family’s legacy of harvesting lobsters, case of purely digital sales models, such Long Tail at work. but after causing a tragic accident at sea, as iTunes, there’s no difference between a A broad selection is just one of the Eben loses everything. After serving sale of a popular song versus a sale of an elements of the Long Tail strategy that five years in prison he returns deter- all-but-forgotten oldie. The profit can be NHF applies to its distribution process. mined to win back the way of life he the same because the reproduction and The other is keeping costs low. Shelf fought so hard to protect. Only now he storage costs are identical for each title. space isn’t a problem, since most orders is an outcast, his ex-wife Cheryl (Amy aren’t filled from a standing inventory, Jo Johnson) wants nothing to do with With a Twist but rather as small-run duplications of him and fishermen see him as a harbin- Though NHF already benefits from the in-house titles. Jacket covers are gener- ger of bad luck. Popper (Philip Baker economics of the Long Tail, it does so ated inexpensively while maintaining Hall), an old fisherman, gives Eben a with a slight variation on the marketing a professional appearance and even the chance to become an islander again. strategy: all of the titles offered by NHF shrink-wrapping is kept in-house. would be considered niche products. The distribution part of NHF is the 101 minutes third leg of the mission to collect, pre- $24.95  www.oldfilm.org Collaboration: Open Source Tools for Moving Image Archivists

ollaborative problem solving is Barbara Humphrys, Library of Dave MacCarn then gave an update on exemplified in “open source” soft- Congress, retired, wondered if this is a the PBCore metadata schema for describ- Cware—computer code written and long-term solution and whether handling ing public broadcasting materials and shared among programmers, which is digital and analog records together is invited comments from the group. Chris different from proprietary software devel- viable. Karen Cariani from WGBH-TV, Beer presented WGBH’s experience with oped by companies and sold to users. however, offered that hiring a developer Fedora and discussed open source reposi- Open source philosophy and prac- to create a custom application was, in tory software. Finally, Seth Kaufmann tice is gaining attention from mov- fact, economical. gave an overview of CollectiveAccess, ing image managers. Last November which is an open source collection man- at the Association of Moving Image Discussion Continued in February agement tool for cultural heritage institu- Archivists conference in Savannah, Following a storm postponement, 50 tions. The presenters’ slides are available Georgia, a group gathered to discuss the librarians, archivists and media manag- at http://info.wgbh.org/wiki/OSA/ and use of collaboratively developed tools. ers gathered on February 2 at WGBH there is a Facebook page, AMIA Open Karen Barcellona, chair of the AMIA Educational Foundation in Boston to Source Interest Group. Cataloging and Metadata Committee, continue the discussion of open source reported that the Academy of Motion management tools. WGBH Media Thanks to Courtney Michael, WGBH, for Picture Arts and Sciences will be test- Library and Archives and Northeast meeting reporting. ing the open source museum tool Historic Film hosted and orga- CollectiveAccess in a Science and nized the meeting. Presenters Technology Council project. Jack included Karan Sheldon of Brighton, AMIA News, Documentary NHF, Karen Cariani of the and Committee chair from Illinois Public WGBH Media Library and Media, finds that Drupal—a content Archives, WGBH Interactive’s management system for online data- Chris Beer, WGBH Applied bases—provides core functionality. David Technology’s Dave MacCarn, Rice from WNET praised the PBCore and Seth Kaufman of data structure that ensures consistent CollectiveAccess. exchange of information. He said that Karen Cariani gave an intro- community development ensures wide- duction outlining the challenges spread adoption and that many nonprof- facing moving image archivists its, including National Public Radio, are and how the group might ben- At WGBH in February, Seth Kaufman speaking, Dave MacCarn adopting open source solutions. efit from sharing innovations. and Karen Cariani looking at his slides.

CollectiveAccess For museums and archives At the February 2 Open Source Meeting New “Providence” version coming http://www.collectiveaccess.org Baker Library, Harvard University Mass College of Art and Design Boston Neighborhood Network MIT Libraries Fedora Repository System Boston Public Library National Fire Prevention Assoc. Storage and retrieval for digital objects Boston Symphony Northeast Historic Film http://www.fedora-commons.org/ Cambridge Community TV Northeastern University Chris Beer’s explanation, Center for Home Movies NYU http://www.slideshare.net/cmichael/ Children’s Hospital Boston Preserving Digital Public Television repositories-what-are-they-and-what- Democracy Now Roasted Vermicelli are-they-good-for Digital Commonwealth Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe PBCore Metadata Standard Footage Farm Scribe Media Center, PA Public Broadcasting Metadata Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Simmons GSLIS Dictionary Project Testimonies, Yale Tufts University Not just for public broadcasting! Harvard Film Archive WGBH http://www.pbcore.org Now in version 1.2 Lesley University WNET A PBCore workshop will be offered at Manhattan Neighborhood Network AMIA annual conference, Nov. 2009.

www.oldfilm.org  Grants in Action

The Davis Family Foundation of New Brunswick, Ben Levine and Maine Arts Commission As reported in Winter 2009 MIR, Julia Schulz, is part of an NSF effort Wabanaki Bibliography the Davis Family Foundation funded to preserve endangered languages like Micah Pawling, a Ph.D. candidate in “Essential Information: To Provide Better Passamaquoddy. (See the Winter 2008 History at the University of Maine, has Service,” $15,000 to support an entirely MIR for more information.) completed a bibliography of Wabanaki new electronic accessioning process. We “Language Keepers” captures conver- film and video in the Northeast Historic are working with Seth Kaufman, cre- sations in the natural Passamaquoddy Film collections. It is now a bound bibli- ator of CollectiveAccess, an open source language spoken by approximately 50 ography, and a Wabanaki database, with application, to streamline our intake of individuals from three different com- 190 entries describing primarily original collections. Kaufman’s mission, with munities. The conversations are available or unique film and video footage, includ- NHF’s collections management team, is on seven 30-minute DVDs, having great ing 16mm television newsfilm. Pawling to convert our pencil and paper habits of value for the study of the Passamaquoddy viewed materials and added to NHF recording materials entering NHF into an language. The DVDs may be viewed in catalog records; the resulting work allows electronic database management system. Passamaquoddy with English subtitles, us to begin to assess the strengths and The accession process is integrated Passamaquoddy with Passamaquoddy weaknesses of NHF’s Wabanaki holdings. into the overall information needs of subtitles, or without subtitles. Wabanaki is an all-inclusive the staff while anticipating the creation Viewers can choose to see the online term that includes the Penobscots, and release of public records. The exist- Passamaquoddy dictionary and tran- Passamaquoddies, Maliseets, and ing public records, which have been on scripts of the text and translations on the Mi’kmaqs, along with other Abenaki our Website in the Online Collections screen simultaneously. groups. The bibliography encompasses Guide at http://oldfilm.org/collections Now that the DVDs are complete, the a geographic region of tribal homelands database, have been exported to the project leaders are using outreach to fur- that includes present-day New England, CollectiveAccess database system where ther the language preservation efforts of especially northern New England, and they will be converted to Encoded the “Language Keepers” project. They are the Maritime Provinces and Québec. Archival Description, a standard main- conducting workshops on reading and The bibliography was supported tained by the Library of Congress and writing in Passamaquoddy and working by a Maine Arts Commission grant Society of American Archivists. This will with individuals who understand, but do entitled “Passamaquoddy–We Are Seeing ensure that the collections will be more not speak Passamaquoddy. In addition, Together,” sponsored by NHF and widely searchable. Going forward all new the project leaders are viewing and dis- the Passamaquoddy Cultural Resource accession information will be created and cussing the DVDs with those that took Center. (See Page 13.) managed electronically. part in the recorded conversations, who Meanwhile, Seth has begun trial exports find that this project has brought back a Maine Arts Commission of our item-level database. Currently, shared linguistic and cultural memory. Artists in Community more than 30,000 records are handled The audiovisual record provides insight Thanks to a grant from the Maine Arts in a data structure mapped to MARC, into the Passamaquoddy culture—a cul- Commission Artists in Communities a process we established in the 1980s ture based on cooperation. In the films, program, Northeast Historic Film is fiscal using ProCite bibliographic software. It’s the elders speak of going hunting, fishing sponsor of filmmaker Richard Kane for time to say good bye to ProCite—which, and berry-picking together. Just 20 to 30 his documentary about the Schoodic although it served us well by providing years ago, the Passamaquoddy people did International Sculpture Symposium. excellent search capability and flexible not have refrigeration so they would have (SISS), a biennial event that invites fields—is unable to relate collections, to share their food right away. One elder sculptors from all over the world to items, and their many copies. With tells a story of putting fish in community produce pieces of public art from Maine CollectiveAccess, we will integrate the members’ mailboxes. Passamaquoddy granite and basalt. The symposium plans detailed item-level records using the government also worked by cooperation, to produce 30-40 permanent installa- PBCore data structure. PBCore is a or more appropriately, by consensus. All tions of public art throughout Downeast standard way to describe moving images issues were decided by complete con- Maine. The film follows the sculptors including intellectual content, rights, and sensus, not majority. In fact, the leaders who took part in the 2007 SISS (the various generations of a given item. would stay up all night discussing an inaugural year) as they select stone from issue until everyone agreed and, if an local quarries, create their sculptures and NSF-Funded individual did not agree, he or she would install them. Language Keepers Project have to leave the discussion. Richard Kane reports that the proj- The first phase of the National Science We look forward to many more fasci- ect is in post-production. He expects a Foundation-funded “Language Keepers” nating conversations. release in mid-July, just in time for the project is complete. This project, led 2009 SISS (http://www.schoodic by Dr. Robert Leavitt at the University sculpture.org/home.html).  www.oldfilm.org Staff News Collections Use: Maine Memory Network

Jessica Hosford, By Candace Kanes, Curator/Historian, Maine Memory Network External Affairs Director or several years, NHF and Maine The exhibit will be online later this year Historical Society staff members as part of a larger project, Maine History essica Hosford is the newest Fhave discussed ways to get some Online, which will be part of the Maine member of the Northeast Historic of NHF’s moving images on Maine Memory Network. You can see an in- JFilm family. She’s filling the Memory Network, either as discrete progress preview at newly created position of External items, or in support of online exhib- http://users286.mainememory.net/ Affairs Director. “With Jessica as part its. Maine Historical Society, located page/549/display.html of the team we can more effectively in Portland, operates Maine Memory communicate with our members, users, Network, a digital archive and museum Gemma Perretta, NHF’s Technical and the public,” explains David Weiss, of historical documents, images, and Services staff member, has provided clips NHF’s executive director. “Jessica knows artifacts. Nearly 200 organizations with of 21 other NHF collections that already our region and has terrific experience collections related to Maine History par- have been digitized. These will be online in public ticipate (with no charge by the Historical as soon as cataloging is complete. To find relations, Society) by digitizing items from their them, go to www.mainememory.net and volunteer collection and uploading them to the type “Northeast Historic Film” into the management, Website at www.mainememory.net search box. major gift Our “test” case with NHF is the Many of these items also will be solicitation, Hackett Collection, films of the attached to online exhibits or used and annual Western Maine Sanatorium. Those films as individual items in support of appeals.” prompted a multi-part Maine Memory Maine History Online, which will be Jessica Network online exhibit entitled “Among launched in the fall of 2009. Another started work- the Lungers: TB Treatment in Maine” exhibit is Clean Water: Muskie and the ing with NHF that includes the following: Environment, http://users330.maine in March, and memory.net/page/601/display.html got into the thick of things right away. n an essay by Erik Jorgensen, director The tests of getting the film clips “We started off researching and convert- of the Maine Humanities Council online have been successful. Maine ing to a new database system for donors n an excerpt of film from the Hackett Historical Society is excited about the and members on Day One,” she says. Collection presence of NHF on Maine Memory “That system is responsible for all of the n still images from the Maine Historic Network and looks forward to much mailings and thank-you letters that we Preservation Commission and Maine more historic film on the Website. send out—it’s the brains.” Historical Society A true Mainer, Jessica grew up in n a description and sub-exhibits of Rockport and has lived in Bucksport for a patient’s view of his time at the the last 13 years. She has been involved sanatorium with capital campaigns and fund raising n architectural drawings efforts all across Maine. She previously n a description of the concept worked as a campaign manager for BHC of the sanatorium, which was Consulting Group and as Development originally known as the Maine Director for the National MPS Society. State Sanatorium “I am excited to be part of NHF, an n letters from prospective patients organization that is forward-thinking and their families in its approach to historic and cultural n documents and images about preservation,” says Jessica. “They have the financial challenges of strategically mapped their progression, institutional treatment for and offer unmatched collections and tuberculosis. innovative programs that many people have yet to discover. I look forward to helping spread the word.” Her favorite part of working at NHF is the “richness and variety of what happens here—from a local scale to the national stage, and everywhere in between.”

www.oldfilm.org  Ways of Watching, Presenters 2009

ore than 90 presenters Spectatorship in the Classroom have shared their knowl- Jennifer Peterson, Ph.D., Assistant Medge since the symposium Professor, Film Studies Program, was established in 2000. Our tradi- University of Colorado tions include lively conversation, A 1929 study by Ben Wood and evening screenings, and a lobster Frank Freeman using Eastman dinner. The Northeast Historic Teaching Films found that “the Film annual symposium welcomes motion picture film contributes to the class of 2009, the following both [direct and indirect] aspects authors, archivists, teachers, and of the child’s education.” For all researchers who will bring forward their scholarly thoroughness, such the immensely varied practices of studies do not take into account exhibition and viewing of non-com- the concept of the “resistant mercial film. Photo courtesy Jennifer L. Peterson, from Motion Pictures In Education: spectator.” Images and clips from A Practical Handbook For Users Of Visual Aids, by Don Carlos Ellis a number of early classroom films, From Introspection to Convivial (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1923). including Planting and Care of Participation: Departures from that could seat 2,000 people. Trees (Eastman Teaching Films, Black Box Topology in Contemporary 1928), which contains a segment in Video Art Display Purposeful Pleasures: Social Awareness which a film is shown to a class. Cristina Albu, Ph.D. student, Department and Amateur Film Practice in Britain, of History of Art and Architecture, ca. 1927-1977 What You See is What You Get: University of Pittsburgh Heather Norris Nicholson, Ph.D., Watching Swedish Private Film Based on an analysis of spaces of video Department of History and Economic Collections from the 1960s and display and convivial modes of watching, History, Manchester Metropolitan the 1970s this paper proposes a typology of alterna- University, England Cecilia Mörner, Ph.D., School of tives to conventional cinematic environ- From the mid 1920s onwards, amidst Humanities and Media, Dalarna ments and investigates the rationale for other more personal family and holiday University, Falun, Sweden changes in video art spectatorship. records, numerous amateurs used film as In 2003 a special film archive was estab- a means to engage with topical concerns lished in the small town of Grängesberg, Western Ways Gone South: George and to create more purposeful or socially- Sweden. From hundreds of private film Herbert as Failed Showman engaged material. Such purposeful collections Mörner viewed and wrote Jennifer L. Jenkins, Ph.D., Division Head, filmmaking can be considered alongside about selected films for a Swedish Film Film and Television Studies, School of other prevailing socially-concerned activ- Institute book; then she returned to Media Arts, University of Arizona ity and Britain’s documentary movement interview donors in order to get comple- George and Lucile Herbert founded the as well as issues of media representation mentary information. She re-analyzes the Tucson-based Western Ways Features and regional identity. film collections, focusing on perceptions Service in 1936. The Herberts produced before and after the interviews. 18 short subjects for television and two Watching Medical Films parts of a TV pilot for Rawhide Riley, Kirsten Ostherr, Associate Professor of Through Trondheim in a Time a western set in Tucson. The operation English, Rice University Machine: Local Film History as Part of collapsed when their head writer, Tom Medical ways of watching with com- Contemporary Audiovisual Practices Bailey, absconded with the company’s parison of a 1929 film co-produced Bjørn Sørenssen, Ph.D., Department of funds. by Eastman Teaching Films and the Art and Media Studies, The Norwegian American College of Surgeons: Acute University of Science and Technology, This Splendid Temple: Watching Films Appendicitis (Lay Public) and Acute Trondheim, Norway in the Wanamaker Department Stores Appendicitis (Professional), their respec- Local film dating back to 1911 from Caitlin McGrath, University of Chicago tive publicity materials, and documenta- Trondheim, Norway, was found in a J. K. Dixon, “Lecturer and Demonstrator tion of specific exhibition venues. projection booth. Questions of histo- to John Wanamaker,” writes to Charles riography, archival practices and prov- Urban in 1908 regarding “my educa- enance and how continuous screenings of tional work in chronicling historical selected historical scenes were exhibited events” and in showing films in the at relevant locations during the 2005 auditoriums of the Philadelphia and New Trondheim International Film Festival. York Wanamaker Department Stores, each of which contained screening spaces Continued on Page 11 10 www.oldfilm.org Ways of Watching Our Sense of Community Continued from Page 1

Continued from Page 10 the films to them, and later we got ’Round the World and Back Again: An a postcard from Eileen Bowser at Examination of the Production and MOMA who had seen The Sailor’s Exhibition of Adelaide Pearson Sacrifice, 1909, starring Jean the Travel Films Vitagraph dog, shot in Maine. We Kimberly Tarr, NYU Moving Image were able to get a copy of that film.” Archives and Preservation Program A more recent example is the Alice From 1931-1940, social progressive Guy Blaché film found a little over Adelaide Pearson traveled throughout a year ago. Thanks to a communal the world. Wealth and social status effort by NHF, the Nitrate Film granted Pearson and her partner Laura Interest Group of AMIA and the Paddock access to such influential figures Library of Congress, the film will be as Mahatma Gandhi in 1936, captur- part of an upcoming Blaché retro- ing what is believed to be the first color spective. See Page 2. footage of Gandhi. Influenced by the Cooperation amongst archivists on Author Tess Gerritsen and bookstore owner Andy Lacher in work of Burton Holmes, Pearson gained a national and international scale is the Alamo Theatre lobby, February 2009. a reputation as a passionate and inspired hardly surprising. After all, resources management people all got something storyteller. for preserving moving images are limited out of seeing that footage. I had the feel- and much more can be accomplished by ing that they didn’t really want it to end.” Our Cameras, Our Lives: Lesbian working together than in isolation. But Home Movies, ca. 1935 – 1999 NHF reaches outside the community of Closer to Home Sharon Thompson, author, Going All archivists as well and brings the footage NHF understands the importance of the Way: Teenage Girls’ Tales of Sex, preserved in its collections to the public. cooperating with the broader community Romance, and Pregnancy, Hill & Wang/ There is little value to moving images if of archivists and film enthusiasts, and Farrar Straus Giroux no one sees them. recognizes that cooperation can be just as Three lesbian home movie collections important down the street. On filmed primarily in New England and Scholars and Conferences February 19, NHF hosted an auction including Maine material, the Ruth NHF frequently provides footage for and a showing of The Bucksport Movie Storm Collection (mid-1930s-1960s); viewings throughout New England. Queen 2000 to raise funds to help offset Caren McCourtney Collection For an evening in April called A Media medical bills for Main Street bookstore (1970-1990); and the Shira Collection Archaeology of Boston, presented by owner Andy Lacher. Andy fell at his home (c. 1990-2000). In addition to clips, the Ph.D. students at the Harvard Graduate on Christmas Eve, injuring his knee and presentation draws on histories gath- School of Design and the Film Study ankle. The event was a big success. ered from participants in the films as Center at Harvard University, NHF “We used the Alamo because we well as from their friends, relations, and provided five items including the oldest wanted to make the fundraiser a win- acquaintances. one on screen. ter evening out for the family, and the This spring, footage from NHF’s Alamo is looked at by members of the Watching on Cell Phones, Online and collections was shown at the Maine community as a gathering spot,” says on Television Fisheries Conference hosted by the Maine Dave Milan, Bucksport’s economic devel- Bilge Yesil, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Maritime Museum in Bath. A symposium opment director. CUNY-College of Staten Island featured the past, present and future of Whether it’s at the local, regional, Turkish users have embraced cell phone the finfish fishery in Maine, and the hosts national or international level, NHF has cameras to photograph family and contacted NHF to provide visual context cooperated with organizations, com- friends, and document personal lives— for the discussions. Approximately 50 munities, and individuals in order to and photograph authorities’ misconduct. people watched an hour of footage at accomplish its goals of preserving and Ordinary citizens have exposed the the end of the symposium, and listened sharing moving images. beating of children in orphanages, mis- to commentary from Ben Fuller of the “If we don’t create a ruckus and get treatment of minors by security officers, Penobscot Marine Museum. the material used, then it’s harder to police beatings of demonstrators on the “The people attending the conference make our case and fewer people will help streets. These citizen videos are first cir- were interested in every aspect of the support the preservation part of what culated online, then picked up by news fisheries,” says Nathan Lipfert, senior we do,” says David. “The use is what Websites eventually making their way to curator of the Maine Maritime Museum. facilitates the preservation, and without television news programs. “Everybody took something different cooperation there’s no use. More to the from the experience—the scientists, the point, without cooperation we won’t historians, the fishermen and the fisheries survive.” www.oldfilm.org 11 Staff President Richard Rosen, Bucksport, ME David S. Weiss, Executive Director, Owner Rosen’s Department Store, Bucksport. [email protected] Maine State Senator. Board member, Jane Donnell, Marketing Manager, Bucksport Regional Health Center. [email protected] Jessica Hosford, External Affairs Director, Karan Sheldon, Milton, MA [email protected] NHF co-founder. AMIA board member, Barbara Manning, Business Manager, 2007-2009. Author, “The Movie Queen and [email protected] the Activist Archives” for the AMIA journal, Gemma Perretta, The Moving Image. Technical Services & Stock Footage, [email protected] David S. Weiss, Blue Hill, ME Phil Yates, Facilities Manager & Theater, Executive Director and co-founder of NHF. [email protected] Previously media producer in Boston after graduating in film and semiotics from Brown William S. O’Farrell (1955-2008) was a valued member University. Member, Maine Historical Records of NHF’s Advisors. On left, re-enacting a comedy scene Board of Directors Advisory Board. with David Weiss.

Sian Evans, Belfast, ME Pamela Wintle, Washington, DC Mark Neumann, Ph.D. Chair, School of Consulting producer for documentaries on sci- Founder, Smithsonian Institution Human Communication, Northern Arizona University. ence, nature and history including Discovery HD Studies Film Archives. Member, National Film Theater, National Geographic, PBS. Twenty-eight Preservation Board. Founding chair, Association Eric Schaefer, Ph.D. Associate Professor, years of experience, working nationally and inter- of Moving Image Archivists’ amateur film group, Department of Visual and Media Arts, nationally. Family roots in Kingman, Macwahoc, Inédits. Family roots in Skowhegan, ME. Member Emerson College. and Millinocket, ME. of Maine State Society. Samuel Suratt, Founding member of Treasurer International Federation of Television Archives. Paul Gelardi, Cape Porpoise, ME Advisors President, E Media, Kennebunk, a process devel- Nathaniel Thompson, President of Maine Radio opment company specializing in plastic manufac- Individuals with interest in the work of NHF as and Television Co. and CSP Mobile Productions. turing and surface technologies. an organization with a vision for film, video and digital preservation, with broad public access. Tricia Welsch, Ph.D. Associate Professor and Vice President Chair of Film Studies, Bowdoin College. James S. Henderson, Harpswell, ME Gillian Anderson, orchestral conductor and Principal, Publius Research, a public affairs con- musicologist. David Wexler, owner of Hollywood Vaults. sulting firm. Author ofMaine: An Encyclopedia, a DVD publication incorporating moving images. Q. David Bowers, author of Nickelodeon Theaters Patricia Zimmermann, Ph.D. Professor of Consulting archivist to the Council of State and Their Music. Cinema and Photography, Roy H. Park School of Archivists. Ph.D. in political science from Emory Communications, Ithaca College. University. Adjunct faculty member, Southern Peter Davis, director of Hearts and Minds. New Hampshire University. Director of the Maine State Archives, 1987-2007. Kathryn Fuller-Seeley, Ph.D. The role of the Advisors and the composition of the Associate Professor, Cinema group will be discussed over the summer and fall of Donna Loring, Bradley, ME Studies/Communications, Georgia 2009. As the demands of moving image preserva- Wabanaki Culural Tourism Coordinator, Four State University. tion and access shift with changing technologies and Directions Development Corporation. Author user expectations we seek help with digital futures, and sponsor of the state law, “An Act to Require Jan-Christopher Horak, Ph.D. technology transition, education, and scholarship. Teaching of Maine Native American History Director, UCLA Film and We look forward to continuity in our alliances and to and Culture in Maine’s Schools.” Author, In the Television Archive. new connections. The original establishment of the Shadow of the Eagle: A Tribal Representative in Advisors group in 1997 was based on the archives’ Maine. Vietnam Veteran. Graduate of Univ. of Janna Jones, Ph.D. Associate need to move into new territory for public programs, Maine. Graduate of Eleanor Roosevelt Global Professor and Director of the archival storage, and educational outreach. Advisory Leadership Institute. Cinema and Visual Culture pro- leadership is needed all the more now to assist the gram, School of Communication, staff and board in making decisions and alliances in Judith F. McGeorge, Ellsworth, ME Northern Arizona University. order to carry out our mandate. Background in banking and finance. Served In 2010 we will announce the William S. O’Farrell as Executive Director and Board member of Alan Kattelle, author of Home Fellowship, awarded to an individual engaged in organizations including the Bagaduce Music Movies: A History of the American research toward a publication, production, or presen- Lending Library, the Seymour Papert Institute, Industry 1897–1979. tation based on moving image history and culture, par- and WERU community radio. Advisor on the ticularly amateur and nontheatrical film. The William Hancock County Fund of the Maine Community Martha McNamara, Ph.D. S. O’Farrell Fellow will be selected on the basis of the Foundation. Director, Art and Architecture applicant’s experience, the significance and interest Program, Wellesley College. value of the project, and the relation of the proposed James A. Phillips, Bangor, ME work to the collections of Northeast Historic Film. Co-founder of Trio Software Corporation, and an independent property assessment consultant. WRITERS Former staff producer and director at WMTW- Peter McDougall and Kelsey Abbott, marine biologists and freelance writers. They live in Freeport, Maine, with their TV; studied film at George Eastman House. dog, Makai. http://maukamakai.wordpress.com 12 www.oldfilm.org Lots Going On Wabanaki Bibliography Notes from the Introduction by Micah Pawling n March we hosted a concert for Bucksport bookstore owner Andy he compilation of Wabanaki film various political and social issues (WLBZ ILacher with a performance: Tree by and video items at Northeast Collection, 1140.0038 and MPBN Leaf & Marie Moreshead. Supported by a THistoric Film contains about Collection, Stepping Out #5). Maine Community Foundation grant. 190 entries and was created to permit researchers to conduct searches with key Passamaquoddy In April U.S. Representative Mike words. Index terms have been expanded Some films on the Passamaquoddies Michaud spoke about Fair Trade. to include individual names, place names that may interest community members including reservation communities, and would be Maine Centennial (1920), Also in April, the Abundant Life Church tribal affiliations. In some cases, film a celebration in Portland (John E. began Wednesday night services, renting entries have been viewed to provide a Allen Collection); David Westphal’s So our cinema. more detailed and helpful description of We Shall Stand and Fight (1970s?); the footage. William Kenda’s A Question of The documentary feature The Way We The compiler prioritized viewing the Survival: Washington County, Maine Get By had three screenings including an film based on perceived research value, (1976); Eton F. Churchill’s In and Out evening hosted by Bangor Savings Bank, if the footage had sound, whether or of Maine: The First Mainers (1976); sponsor of the film. Aron Gaudet of Old not Native people spoke about their and the MPBN Collection on socio- Town, Maine, and Gita Pullapilly follow experiences, and finally if the medium economic and political issues, includ- three elderly people committed to greet- of the work was easy to view during the ing remarks by Passamaquoddy Indian ing outgoing and returning troops at the research period. Commissioner John Stevens (1970s). Bangor International Airport. Many of the more current moving image Maine Indian Land materials in the bibliography are widely Filmmaking in Maine, Can it Help our Claims Settlement circulated in Native communities today. Economy? A discussion organized by In contrast to the few films made before The Wabanaki film and video database the Bucksport Bay Area Chamber of 1960, there appears to be a sharp increase and bibliography, which represent NHF’s Commerce with Cameron Bonsey, film in the number of Wabanaki materi- collections, will require additional entries advocate, and Barney Martin, actor. als from the late 1960s to the Maine of future acquisitions, uncataloged find- Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980 ings, and donated material. Sixty MIT engineers, lunch at the Alamo (MICSA). After 1980, there are a few Theatre, tour of the Penobscot Narrows professional moving image materials Bridge and Observatory. A talk by Jane about the Wabanaki peoples. The Donnell and screenings of the short MICSA is a watershed event in Annual Fund 2009 about NHF, Culture, Identity, and Maine Indian history. Given the Penobscot River Crossings, a compila- lack of works on twentieth century By Jessica Hosford tion of new and archival bridge footage. Wabanaki history, NHF’s consider- able coverage of events leading up to We launched our first Annual Fund cam- Castine, Maine’s Adams School field the settlement act is promising for paign in 2008 with a year-end appeal. Our trip with visiting French students from researchers. supporters contributed more than $12,500. St. Castin, near Pau, which borders the Thank you to those who made an invest- Basque region. Castine and St. Castin Penobscot ment in moving image preservation. In have a historical ancestor in the Baron de Some of the film on the Penobscots 2009 we will send out the first appeal in late Saint-Castin (1652-1707). that may interest community summer. Why donate? Your contribution members would be Indian pageant might help to support a new community Note By Note: The Making of Steinway footage on Indian Island from 1940 event at the Alamo Theatre, the transfer of L1037, documentary film with a piano (Patricia W. Messler Collection), a collection in the vault to media readily concert by Eric Stumacher—the last con- Indian Island’s Women’s Club available to the public, or the purchase of cert on our lovely Steinway grand. See marching in the National Recovery new equipment to keep pace with changing Executive Director’s Report. Supported by Administration parade in Bangor technologies. Your gift helps to maintain a Maine Community Foundation grant. in 1933 (Maher Collection), a copy essential funding that sustains the health of of H.P. Carver’s The Silent Enemy the organization. (1930), starring Penobscot actress Keep your eyes on your mailbox later Molly Spotted Elk (Molly Nelson), this summer and please make a gift to the and news broadcasts from the late Northeast Historic Film 2009 1960s to the settlement act in which Annual Appeal. Penobscots were interviewed about www.oldfilm.org 13 Collections: Movie Queen Documents Found

ovie Queen, Lubec, a 16mm Marion Angeline Howlett at the Harvard She kept documentation of a dance film made in 1936 on the Theatre Collection, and discovered back- routine, along with Plot Shots “Gangster Mcoast of Maine, arrived at ground on the Amateur Theatre Guild, Pictures,” outlining 37 individual shots the archives in 1989. It is a short film Boston, and its leader Lauren for the kidnapping drama. Film Data for starring a local girl on the boat from Kenyon Woods. Movie Queen Directors instructs direc- Eastport “returning from Hollywood,” Marion Howlett was a Bostonian tors to order film stock from E.M.F. in followed by a parade through town and a who enjoyed a long association with the Cambridge, Massachusetts, and process tour of Lubec businesses, finishing with Boothbay Playhouse in Maine. In her it at Agfa Laboratories in New York. an attempted kidnapping and comic early days, she had been under con- (Thanks to Albert Steg of Cambridge, heroic rescue. Over the years, Northeast tract to the Amateur Theatre Guild in we recently received the film collections Historic Film received eight more Movie 1937-38 to direct a production titled of E.M.F., which include some home Queens from three states made between The Circus, which did not have a film movies.) 1935 and 1940, adding the towns of component. Her boss, Lauren Kenyon John M.R. Bruner of Groton, Bar Harbor, Bath, Lincoln, Newport, Woods, dispatched young women to Massachusetts (1925-2008), who Van Buren in Maine; Middlebury, small towns to direct his productions. received funding from New York Women Vermont; and Groton and Norwood, We were delighted to read the 16-page in Film and Television to preserve Movie Massachusetts. They arrived one-by- “Movie Queen” Daily Procedure, instruc- Queen, Groton, sought Margaret Cram one, having been unearthed by libraries, tions on how to land in a town and run diligently for years. Lost Movie Queens historical societies, service clubs, a Movie Queen film and live show in included the towns of Bucksport, Dexter, and individuals. under three weeks. The secret to suc- Camden, Eastport, and Madison in The Movie Queen phenomenon has cess? Committees! The film and show Maine; and Exeter and Manchester in become widely known, and is part of a required an advertising committee, ticket New Hampshire. Finding Howlett’s public and scholarly interest in itiner- committee, talent, parade, property, pub- documents encourages us to keep look- ant filmmaking. Andrea McCarty gave licity, and program committees, along ing for the missing films and all things a presentation on Movie Queens at the with a music director, a fashion director, Movie Queen. conference Orphans of the Storm II: and a costume director. Documenting the 20th Century at the Howlett saved scripts for the stage Eager for More? University of South Carolina in 2001, plays Movie Queen, A Musical Comedy Copies of Movie Queen films from Bar and at Orphans West in Los Angeles in Three Acts and The Circus. Harbor, Lincoln, Lubec, Newport, in May 2009. Dwight Swanson Maine, and Middlebury, Vermont, has identifiedMovie are available from Northeast Queen productions Amateur Theatre Guild, 7472 Boylston Street, Historic Film’s loan program, in Indiana, Montana, Boston Mass. www.oldfilm.org/borrow. These New York, North Bulletin 1-200-80 and four more Movie Queens may Carolina, Tennessee, FILM DATA FOR “MOVIE QUEEN” DIRECTORS. be viewed on site at Northeast and Wisconsin. ALL “MOVIE QUEEN” DIRECTORS PLEASE PAY CAREFUL Historic Film. We had failed to ATTENTION TO THE FOLLOWING: locate a images Movie Queen With “Movie Queen” your primary drawing power is in Moving Image Review director who could help the film. Therefore, the details regarding your film and articles on Movie Queens: explain the genesis of is of vast importance, and the information disclosed Bar Harbor and Lubec, Maine, these related films, a in this bulletin must be carefully studied by each Winter 1989, Page 2; Middlebury, “Movie Queen” director. failure despite numerous Always make it a point to take your pictures Vermont, Summer 1992, Page 8; discussions with 1930s just as soon as possible, and get them off so that Lincoln and Newport, Maine, participants and mul- they will be back in plenty of time for your show. Summer 1998, Pages 4 and 16; The mental agony and strain a director goes through- tiple newspaper stories when she doesnʼt send her film out until the last Groton, Mass., Summer 1999, that provided direc- minute does great damage to her frame of mind dur Page 9; Van Buren, Maine, tors’ names: Margaret ing the last few days of her show. Also, when your with a map of located and lost film doesnʼt come back early, there are many wires -and Cram or Margaret Cram telephone calls made, which could have been prevented Movie Queens in northern New Showalter and Doris had you sent the film in on time. Imagine the situa England, Winter 2003, Page 7. Hamel, both associated tion you would be in if the film didnʼt come back in Back issues at with the Amateur Theatre time for her show! http://oldfilm.org/imagereview Guild. So it was a Eureka From a bulletin on pink paper pasted by Marion Howlett into a small album moment in April when labeled Amateur Theatre Guild 1937-38. Did not stage “Movie Queen.” we located the papers of She wrote in red ink, Marion Angeline Howlett Papers, Harvard Theatre Collection. 14 www.oldfilm.org Membership Application

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Alternate Title: VHS DVD

TOTAL www.oldfilm.orgReturn application to: Northeast Historic Film, P.O. Box 900, Bucksport, ME 04416 Or fax to 207 469-7875. 15 Your dues are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. 2008 Annual Fund Donors

Northeast Historic Film gratefully acknowledges the following donors who responded to our 2008 Annual Fund appeal by making a gift between July 1, 2008 and April 30, 2009. Carter & Linnea Andersson-Wintle Hammond Lumber Company Frances M. Bos Mr. & Mrs. Francis W. Hatch Deborah Brewster Robert Hill Donald C. Brown Dr. Charles Houston Neal & Betty Butler Ms. Elizabeth Howard Patrick & Karen Callaghan Dr. Stanley R. Howe Mark Carpentier Douglas Ilsley Lynne Clark Richard D. Jenkins Brenda J. Condon Polly W. Kaufman Tram Ride Round Trondhjem (1907/1908) will be presented by Bjørn Sørenssen, Department of Art and Media Studies, The Don & Linda Cote Lewis Kibler Norwegian University of Science and Technology at the NHF Polly Darnell Laureen Labar Symposium, Ways of Watching, July 24-25. Images courtesy of the Mr. & Mrs. Paul Domincovich Ben Levine Norwegian National Library in Mo i Rana, Norway. Down East RC&D Pamela Lord George Fowler Bonnie Lounsbury John Merriman Sam & Lois Gianni Howard P. Lowell Milne Family Foundation Sally Gibson Sally Lupfer Charles L. Nickerson Lea Girardin Maine: An Encyclopedia Donald & Hilda Nicoll Barbara & Phil Graff Barbara Manning & Greg White James & Rita Phillips Bill Gross & Alicia Condon Alice Markowitz John & Shirley Pierce Frederick & Mary Stewart Hafer Valerie Felt McClead Alice W. Price - Flying Moose Lodge Judy Hakola Caren McCourtney & Elvie M. Ramsdell Cathy Hamburger Gabrielle Wellman Terry Rankine Henry Rines Lucy Roessiger Richard & Kim Rosen Sharon Rosen & John Newton Ronald & Jeanne Russell Nonprofit Org. Dorothy & Elliott Schwartz U.S. Postage PAID Karan Sheldon Bangor, Sierra Communications ME 04401 Laurence & Judy Sisson Permit No. 112 Albert Steg Tim Stone P.O. Box 900 Carol Taylor Bucksport, ME 04416 Seth H. Washburn Ken & Holly Weinberg David Weiss Change Service Requested David Westphal & Patricia Ryan John W. L. White Bruce Wintle Pamela Wintle & Henry Griffin Cynthia Wood Wootten Financial Services