Bath Historical Society Collection

SummaryThe Bath Historical Society Collection consists of a single 16 mm. film called "Movie Queen," made in Bath, Maine. It was produced as part of a local talent production and consists of a welcome parade and a presentation of the key to the city, shots of the town's businesses and people, followed by a short comedic kidnapping. The film was shown in association with a three act play, both featuring local players. The film and the play were directed by an itinerant director associated with the Amateur Theatre Guild of Boston. The opening title is "Extra! Extra! Movie Queen returns home!" Children, adults, and two uniformed groups (officers and boy scouts), stand on the railroad station platform awaiting the arrival of the train carrying the so-called movie queen. An informal parade proceeds from the station through town with camera views from a vehicle and a glimpse of a megaphone on the vehicle announcing the movie queen. Views of the area businesses are edited together with intertitles and scenes relating to a comedy kidnapping, including a trick shot of many men emerging from the back seat of a car. The kidnapping consists of men throwing a sheet with a stout rope over women and bringing them to the female ringleader, who sends men out again to find the intended victim.

Biographical/Historical NotesBath is a port on the Maine coast, with a population around 10,000 people. It was served by the Maine Central Railroad. Margaret Cram, who may have directed the Bath version of "Movie Queen," was connected with the Amateur Theatre Guild, Boston. She arranged Movie Queen events in several Maine towns in the mid-1930s. 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. WorldCat See also "Movie Queen" films in these collections: Movie Queen, Bar Harbor Collection (Bar Harbor, 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.) Sheldon Museum Collection (Middlebury, Vermont).

RepositoryNortheast Historic Film

AvailabilityThe Collection is open for research.

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.