Maine Silent Film Festival 2026

The fourth Maine Silent Film Festival is a two-day event blending comedy and drama at the historic Alamo Theatre in Bucksport with live accompaniment by Doug Protsik, focusing on rare and unusual films seldom screened theatrically. The Alamo is the the oldest still-operational, purpose-build cinema in Maine.

Wednesday, July 22^nd starting at 7:00pm

Horse & Marriage

A large majority of the silent era is presumed to be lost today—perhaps as much a 95%. But in the case of some films, while they may not be known to exist in complete form, they do exist in the form of home movie abridgements. The evening begins with three of those abridgements, all with themes involving horses and marriages, and concludes with the theatrical premiere of a new reconstruction of Black Beauty that combines a fragmentary original release with the missing material filled-in with its home movie abridgement.

Shorts:—

The Sawdust Ring (Kay-Bee, 1917)

Janet sets out to find her circus ringleader father, who her mother abandoned believing him to be unfaithful. Along the way, Janet and her friend Peter join Colonel Simmonds’s circus, she as a trick horse rider and he as a clown, but Janet cannot help but wonder why she finds Simmonds so familiar.

Starring Bessie Love · Directed by Charles Miller and Paul Powell · 12 min.

The Timber Queen (Ruth Roland, 1922)

After the death of her lumberman father, Ruth Reading inherits one of the most valuable forests of the Far West. Her cousin, James Cluxton, hopes to exploit a strange provision of his uncle’s will to claim the forest for himself. In this episode, Ruth finds herself speeding to what could be an untimely grave on a runaway boxcar.

Starring Ruth Roland · Directed by Fred Jackman · 10 min.

Pioneer Trails (Vitagraph, 1925)

Jack is orphaned as a young child when his wagon train is ambushed by Indians. Twenty years later, he rescues Rose from a runaway stagecoach. The two fall in love, much to the displeasure of Blaney. To put him out of the way, Blaney kills Jack’s adoptive mother and frames Jack for the crime.

Starring Cullen Landis and Alice Calhoun · Directed by David Smith · 34 min.

Feature:—

Black Beauty (Vitagraph, 1921)

Jessie is the eldest daughter of Squire Gordon. Jack Beckett, a scheming adventurer, attempts to use the recent death of her brother and the mysterious disappearance of £1,000 from the Gordon household to blackmail Jessie into marrying him. Meanwhile, Black Beauty slowly descends from the position of a well-loved pet of a country gentleman to that of an overworked London cab horse. Based on the novel by Anna Sewell.

Starring Jean Paige · Directed by David Smith · 70 min.

Thursday, July 23^rd starting at 7:00pm

Perilous Railroads

Nowadays, a damsel tied to railroad tracks by a mustache-twirling villain is thought to be a hallmark of the silent screen. In reality, it is a trope of Victorian stage melodramas and whenever it did appear in silent film, it was in parodies of those plays. The evening begins with three of those parodies, including the rarely-seen Heaven Will Protect a Woiking Goil, and concludes with the feature comedy The Matrimaniac.

Shorts:—

Barney Oldfield’s Race for a Life (Keystone, 1913)

A villainous rival abducts Mabel and chains her to the railroad tracks while Barney Oldfield races to her rescue.

Starring Mabel Normand and Barney Oldfield · Directed by Mack Sennett · 14 min.

Heaven Will Protect a Woiking Goil (Vouge, 1916)

Country girl Nell travels to the heartless city to find her drunken father. While there, she falls into the clutches of a mustache-twirling villain. When she rejects his advances, he and a crooked cop chase her down and tie her to the railroad tracks as a train speedily approaches.

Starring Priscilla Dean and Russ Powell · Directed by John Francis Dillon · 16 min.

Teddy at the Throttle (Keystone, 1917)

Gloria discovers her guardian has embezzled her ex-fiancé’s inheritance and is now after her own. To avoid prison, he dons a top hat and chains her to the railroad tracks. Can Gloria’s dog Teddy stop the train in time?

Starring Gloria Swanson and Bobby Vernon · Directed by Clarence G. Badger · 28 min.

Feature:—

The Matrimaniac (Triangle, 1916)

Jimmie and Marne attempt to elope but are separated on the train, leaving Jimmie and the minister and Marne’s millionaire father and his lawyers both in hot pursuit.

Starring Douglas Fairbanks and Constance Talmadge · Directed by Paul Powell · 60 min.