Lou’s View – July 30, 2015
For the Love of Helen
by Lou Bernard
Imagine it. You go to the movies, pay the sixteen dollars to get in, and take out a loan to get popcorn. You sit down, wait through half an hour of previews, and then the opening credits begin. The title appears on the screen.
“HOLLYWOOD BROUGHT TO LOCK HAVEN.”
This really happened.
It was in March of 1928. The newspapers announced the arrival of a movie director named Salvador Cudia with the headline “Motion Picture Will Be Made In This City.” Cudia arrived at the Garden Theater on March 5, declaring his intent to make a movie based on the history of Lock Haven. He never gave any explanation why he wanted to do this or why choose Lock Haven specifically, simply announced that script ideas and actors would be viewed at the Garden Theater at 232 East Main Street. (I’m told that Napoleon Dynamite had a similar business plan.) The title of the movie was “For The Love Of Helen.”
“Before long Lock Haven will have the air of Hollywood with every day spent in shooting scenes from the production and nights spent rehearsing them,” the paper reported. “Cameras, scenes, and megaphoned directors will attract hundreds. Hollywood will virtually move into Lock Haven.”
The movie would be sponsored by Newton Fredericks, owner of the theater. It was described as a five-reel feature, including a newsreel to be shown at the beginning. It was described as being as good as the ones in professional studios.
By March 12, the production began with footage of the local fire departments. The plan was to have them fighting a fire at 48 1/2 Bellefonte Avenue while the film crews shot their footage. The newspaper then announced that the scene had begun early, because who would have thought it might be difficult to get a burning building to stick to the schedule? Fireman R.L. Bryerton was filmed rescuing young Jessie Hunter, and Harry Pinge, who got screen time by virtue of being an usher at the theater, rescued his own son. This was all somewhat staged, of course, much like today’s reality television.
That night, they began filming the scripted piece, starring Charles Shea as the hero. Shea was the theater’s organist; you can begin to see a theme emerging here. Helen Stewart was the leading lady who gave her name to the title. Byron Brickley, a city politician, played her brother. Isadore Lipez, a high school senior in the Drama Club, got to play the bad guy. Members of World War I’s Troop F 103rd Cavalry played henchmen, making Lipez the only senior to order around a group of retired soldiers.
On the afternoon of March 13th, they casually threw a car over the cliffs across the river for a scene. Presumably the car was more cooperative than the structure fire. The script called for the car to land on the villain, but I assume they let poor Isadore off the hook and used special effects instead.
Other scenes were filmed at the home of Calvin Armstrong, 25 West Water Street, which was portrayed as Helen’s home. Characters entered and left the Lock Haven Trust Company, 102 East Main Street. The Trust Company was managed by Armstrong—Only a few people, apparently, turned up to cooperate with the filming, so they used anyone they could get.
While the actors in the movie appeared to respond enthusiastically, the attitude of everyone else in the city seemed to be “Whatever.” As far as I can tell, it never really gained popularity—“For The Love Of Helen” opened in the Garden Theater in a blaze of no publicity at all, and a few people came to see it at a quarter a seat. And then it was never mentioned again, as far as I can see, except for a quick mention in Helen Stewart’s obituary when she passed away in 1995. Roll credits.
I would love to see this movie, in spite of the fact that it was probably made on that old celluloid film that could explode. At the library, we have stacks of old films in storage upstairs. I went through them all, looking for this movie. The good news is, I didn’t blow myself up, so we don’t have that kind of film. The bad news is, we also don’t seem to have “For The Love Of Helen.”
So if anyone finds a copy of this in their attic, or a copy of the script, call me immediately. And, you know, since it seems all Hollywood does is remakes these days, maybe they should consider rebooting this one. I know a pretty good local historian who would be perfect as the hero. We’ll do lunch.
