|
|
By
Joe Gardner
Frame
enlargement from 16mm film,
E.B. White Collection. |
On October 16, in over 50 cities around the world, a celebration
of home movies and amateur film took place during the seventh
annual International Home Movie Day.
This year’s Portland, Maine,
event was held at the Maine Historical Society, where people
brought in original Maine-related footage from the 1940s
through 1970s. Films were first inspected by NHF archivists
to insure their safety and then projected for all to see.
Through the fun of Home Movie Day, it is hoped that an awareness
of home movies as a valuable and unique record of memory
and history can be promoted.
E.B. White’s Home Movies
The event began with the first public showing of
selections from our E.B. White Collection, black & white
and color home movies, shot by the author of his family
members and farm animals in North Brooklin, Maine, in the
1930s and 1940s, with some footage in the 1960s.
White is widely known for his New
Yorker magazine writing, for children’s books
Stuart Little and Charlotte’s Web,
and for essays focusing on New York City and Maine, including
the collection
One Man’s Meat.
Martha White Introduces
E.B. and Katharine White’s granddaughter,
Martha White, presented an introduction and lively running
commentary. A sequence of a teenage boy reading in an armchair,
moving in a 360° arc as he reads, is her uncle, Roger
Angell. “It’s a spoof that he and my grandfather
put together. Cartoonist Gluyas Williams at The New
Yorker had a reading series.” Without White’s
knowledgeable annotation the visual delight would be present,
but the genesis is lost.
She noted generational continuities
of writing, reading, and boatbuilding. Summing up her grandfather’s
films, Martha White said, “He shot the lambs or the
new chicks or my father learning to row. These small moments.
He shot his daily life, not the big moments.” Much
of the footage includes farm animals, but an especially
Charlotte’s Web moment occurred with the
closeup of a spider, causing many audience members to gasp
in recognition.
Musician Al Hawkes
More unexpected moments came from other audience
members who brought in original 8mm movies, usually having
little idea ahead of time of what was on them, made by relatives
and friends.
Tim Findlen of Portland brought
in three reels of film shot by Al Hawkes, bluegrass musician
and record producer. Hawkes’s home movie featured
images of a band playing, family skiing, and ice skating
behind his home in Westbrook, Maine. Hawkes, born in 1930,
founded Event Records in 1956 and continues to perform.
Life in Maine
Bonnie Roberts brought in two films which included
1940s and ’50s color footage of her parents in Maine.
They were friends of Raymond Fellows, Chief Justice of the
Maine Supreme Court from 1954 to 1956, who appears throughout.
Coincidentally, Fellows was the great-grandfather of NHF
staff member Jane Donnell. At one point, Jane’s grandparents
and mother as a child were shown on screen. Bonnie and Jane
had never met before and it was a complete surprise when
this connection was discovered.
The Portland, Maine, Home Movie
Day was sponsored by Northeast Historic Film and Maine Historical
Society. Steve Bromage, Maine Historical Society assistant
director, gave a warm welcome. Jane Donnell, Joe Gardner,
Jessica Hosford, Gemma Perretta, Karan Sheldon, and David
Weiss all assisted in putting on the event. For more information
on Home Movie Day, visit www.homemovieday.com. 
|
|
|
