Sheldon Museum Collection

SummaryThe collection contains "Movie Queen, Middlebury," a short production about a local girl returning to her home town as a Hollywood movie star. Scenes include a parade, local streets, shops and townspeople. The "movie star" and other parts were performed by Middlebury, Vermont, residents. A script of "Movie Queen," a play, by Lauren K. Woods and associated production documents from the Amateur Theatre Guild is in the Marion Angeline Howlett Papers, Harvard Theatre Collection, Harvard University. See also "Movie Queen" films in these collections: Movie Queen, Bar Harbor Collection (Bar Harbor, Maine), Bath Historical Society Collection (Bath, Maine), Belfast Historical Society Collection (Belfast, Maine), John Bruner Collection (Groton, Mass.), Daniel Lapointe Collection (Van Buren, Maine), Lincoln Memorial Library Collection (Lincoln, Maine), Movie Queen, Lubec Collection (Lubec, Maine), Newport Historical Society Collection, (Newport, Maine), Norwood Historical Society Collection (Norwood, Mass.) . Collection also contains [unidentified--home movies], 8 reels of 16 mm. film acquired at a church flea market; the creator may be B.A.W. Mason. One label reads, "Mason. New York World's Fair 1939," and shows fireworks. The footage was shot in 1939-1940 and includes Mt. Mansfield State Forest in Vermont and travel including Bermuda.

Biographical/Historical NotesTraveling directors connected with the Amateur Theater Guild, Boston, arranged Movie Queen events in the mid-1930s. In each town players helped to put on a stage show, and a film was made with local people. Sponsored by the Middlebury Chamber of Commerce, the film in this collection was shot on 1 November 1939; it was shown with a complementary three-act stage play at the high school auditorium. The Sheldon Museum is located in Middlebury, Vermont. The identity of B.A.W. Mason is unknown.

RepositoryNortheast Historic Film

AvailabilityAccess is restricted; consult repository for detail.

Conditions Governing Reproduction and UseAuthorization to reuse and/or reproduce must be obtained from Northeast Historic Film. See http://oldfilm.org/content/stock-footage-licensing for more information.