Belfast Historical Society Collection

SummaryThe Belfast Historical Society Collection consists of a video transfer of two reels of 16 mm. film including fragments from "Movie Queen," made in Belfast, Maine. The original film reels are from the Robert Hall Collection at Belfast Historical Society. The Belfast Lions Club sponsored a musical comedy called "Movie Queen" at the Colonial Theatre on July 26, 1935. The short film was made to promote the occasion with a "movie queen" arriving on the Boston steamboat. The section related to "Movie Queen" begins with an intertitle, "Movie Queen visits school children." The movie queen stands between two children and there are close-up views of children in the sequence. Additional fragments of movie queen footage include uniformed officers looking at the camera and waving their hats; people on the Eastern Steamship Company's wharf waiting for the movie queen's arrival, and a parade. Members of the Belfast Lion's Club give a cheer on the dock. The coastal steamer Belfast arrives with the make-believe movie queen and press agent. In the parade a sign announces "See the Movie Queen at the Colonial Theatre." The collection also contains three other subjects: color footage of a fire department steam engine with men observing it, a parade up Main Street with children as circus performers headed to an outdoor performance area enclosed by fabric, with a sign "Pigmy Circus" [sic]. The final selection is views of the Belfast dam.

Biographical/Historical NotesBelfast, Maine, is located on Penobscot Bay, and has a population of just over 6,000 people. Belfast Historical Society and Museum is on Market Street and is open during the summer. According to the Republican Journal newspaper (July 18, 1935, page 5) Lucy Cooper and Homer B. Kelley played leading roles. "Movie Queen" films were 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 Colonial Theatre, where "Movie Queen" was shown, is in a building that opened in 1924 and now operates as a three-screen cinema. The coastal passenger steamer Belfast, built in 1909, was owned by the Eastern Steamship Co. See also "Movie Queen" films in these collections: Movie Queen, Bar Harbor Collection (Bar Harbor, Maine), Bath Historical Society Collection (Bath, 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.