When it comes to movies, town and cities around Maine can lay claim to notable cinematic connections.

Camden has “Peyton Place.” The citizens feared the movie would forever tarnish the community’s reputation. Augusta has the great Coleman Day silent two-reelers. Islesboro was the setting for Mel Gibson and “Man Without A Face,” according to a news release from Bob McIntire with the Historic Hallowell Committee.

Hallowell, not to be outdone, has Dominic Blodgett and his Geese. The description from the WABI Television collection offers this preview, “Farmer discusses geese on his farm in Hallowell.” Dom was the long-time proprietor on the barbershop on Water Street that sports his name. This is just one example of the unique moving images of Maine’s smallest city fresh from the vaults of Northeast Historic Film.

The first program, The Granite City in the Movies, is scheduled feature film and video clips in and around Hallowell at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 18, in the Hubbard Free Library at 115 Second St. It will begin with a short introduction on the importance of film and video archives by David Weiss, the executive director of Northeast Historic Film. The organization is a nonprofit Bucksport-based archives dedicated to collecting, preserving and sharing northern New England’s moving image heritage. The program is one of two picture-focused events sponsored this spring by the library, Row House, Hallowell’s historical society, and the Historic Hallowell Committee.

This program will also feature clips of video recordings including one of the trucks that has crashed through buildings on Water Street. Sam Webber videotaped a train ride through town on the way to Richmond. The program is presented in part to encourage people to search basements and attics for films and videos of Hallowell that can be added to the Hubbard Library collection. Segments shown will also be uploaded to the Maine State Library digital repository for online viewing.

A second program is all about stills and will feature a presentation by Kevin Johnson, photo archivist at the Penobscot Marine Museum, about the collection of more than 35,000 glass-plate and film negatives from the Eastern Illustrating and Publishing Company. The Eastern collection has 28 detailed photographs of Hallowell, a special feature of the presentation. The program will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 22.

The Hubbard Library has a collection of Hallowell photographs. Many were scanned and uploaded to Maine Memory Net, an ongoing project of the Maine Historical Society. The photos can be viewed online by visiting mainememory.net and entering “Hallowell” in the search field.

The Historic Hallowell Committee is also hoping to attract volunteers interested in photography to help scan and catalog the Hubbard collection.

For more information, email historichallowell@gmail.com or visit historichallowell.org.

 

 

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