[Belfast Movie Queen footage] Reel 2

Date1935

AbstractLabel on can "Fire Dept. Steamer, Boston Boat, Steamer Belfast, Pygmy Circus,-Parade & Show, Belfast Dam Bursts" Color footage of fire department steam engine and hose demonstration. Men working on engine and feeding fire in firebox. Many standing around watching, one blowing the engine whistle. Policeman walks down road near steam engine demonstration site (looks like early-mid 1950s), crowd around the engine, pond in background, and fire hoses being tested. Black and white footage of individual and a group of firemen in dress uniforms on the Belfast, ME, dock pose for the camera. 1930s cars are parked along the dock side. Women and others are dressed up for the event, standing on the dock. Shots of men in military uniforms carrying flags marching toward camera; military band follows and another uniformed band marches on the dock. Spectators gather on the dock. A group of Lions Club members do a cheer for the camera, and one holds a banner: "Lions Club Belfast Maine". Long shot of the steamer Belfast moving toward the camera. Pans of the ship as it approaches, showing several decks with people waving. The camera focuses on one woman and her male companion as she waves to people on dock. She is the "Movie Queen". According to a local newspaper report, the musical comedy "The Movie Queen" with singing and dancing choruses, under the auspices of the Belfast Lions Club was to be shown at the Colonial Theatre in Belfast on July 26, 1935. The principals in the cast were Miss Lucy Cooper and Homer B. Kelley, the make-believe movie queen and her make-believe press agent (perhaps seen here). The newspaper noted the Movie Queen would arrive from Hollywood and land from the Boston steamer at the Eastern Steam Ship company's wharf, with a parade headed by the Legion Drum Corps as it left the wharf. The movie was to be a benefit for the American Legion Park and the annual Christmas Dinner for Belfast needy children. Movie Queen greets "officials" on the dock, uniformed fireman gather, people move along the dock and bands march toward the camera. The Movie Queen sits in an open convertible with her male companion, firemen follow on their truck and cards in the parade leave the dock. LS crowds leaving the dock. Black and white footage views of downtown Belfast (Main Street?) with cars lining the street and views of a Pigmy (sic) Circus. Children in costumes with wagons, pets, miniature horses or pony, wagons, and an "elephant". The parade enters a fenced-in area with sign "Pigmy Circus". Views of tents and circus area, with visitors sitting around the edge of the fenced area, with children performing circus acts, several on trapeze bar and rings, one dressed as a Punch and Judy character chased off by a policeman, one dressed as a giraffe or ostrich, several dancing on a stage, one descending a zip wire, etc. A boxing match is staged between two young boys. Views of rushing water over a broken area of the Belfast Dam, views of the pump house structures, pumping equipment, and closeups of the walls of the dam. Flooded farmland around dam. Total length 18:50 Belfast Historical Society collection # BHS # 16-6