Maine Silent Film Festival 2024

The second 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. This year’s themes are films that were made here in Maine and a look at war films through time.

Wednesday, July 24^th starting at 7:00pm

Made in Maine

There are many silent films set in Maine but relatively few of them were actually shot here. This evening begins with two short comedies filmed on location in Maine and concludes with a feature drama not only filmed here but written by a Maine author and produced by a Maine-based studio.

Shorts:—

Just Maine Folks (Lubin, 1912)

The Squire hopes to marry his widowed neighbor. After a night of spooky stories, he thinks he has found a way to scare off his rival and win the widow’s heart.

Starring Ethel Clayton and Harry Myers · Directed by Barry O’Neil · 15 min.

The Men Haters Club (Vitagraph, 1910)

When a letter from another woman falls from her boyfriend’s pocket, Florence and her friends form the Men Haters Club.

Starring Florence Turner, Edith Storey, and Rose Tapley · Directed by Laurence Trimble · 11 min.

Feature:—

Timothy’s Quest (Dirigo, 1922)

Timothy and Gay, orphans from the slums of Boston, escape to Maine in search of a home and manage to thaw Avilda’s embittered, grief-stricken heart.

Starring Joseph Depew and Helen Rowland · Directed by Sidney Olcott · 86 min.

Thursday, July 25^th starting at 7:00pm

At War

Whether comedy or drama, historical or contemporary, war has been a perennial topic in silent film. This evening is a chronological look at war films beginning with three short dramas and concluding with a First World War feature comedy.

Shorts:—

Absalom (Pathé, 1912)

Absalom rebels and raises an army to depose his father, King David.

Starring Georges Dorival and Paul Franck · Directed by Henri Andréani · 13 min.

The Victoria Cross (Vitagraph, 1912)

In the Crimean War, a British lieutenant is cast into danger during the disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade.

Starring Wallace Reid and Edith Storey · Directed by Hal Reid · 14 min.

Across the Mexican Line (Solax, 1911)

An American soldier threatened with execution during the Mexican Revolution is rescued by the woman sent to spy on him.

Starring Frances Gibson and Romaine Fielding · Directed by Alice Guy-Blaché · 12 min.

Feature:—

Yankee Doodle in Berlin (Mack Sennett, 1919)

Captain Bob White disguises himself as a woman, vamps his way into the German High Command, and seduces the Kaiser himself into revealing Germany’s war plans.

Starring Bothwell Browne and Ford Sterling · Directed by Richard Jones · 68 min.