Kidnappers Foil

[Robert Moulton]

Hadn't heard of this guy before: Melton Barker spent 30+ years starting in the 1930s going from town to town and talking parents into funding a short that would star all the local kids. Unwittingly he created a record of regional accents. Here's a recent article on the man:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/movie ... .html?_r=0" target="_blank

and here's where you can watch some of the local films that have been preserved:

http://www.meltonbarker.org/" target="_blank

[FrankFay]

I've heard of a similar thing- a company that went around variations of a love story in a variety of towns- "A (insert town) Romance". They'd get local merchants to pay to let their stores appear.

[Daniel Eagan]

I've heard of a similar thing- a company that went around variations of a love story in a variety of towns- "A (insert town) Romance". They'd get local merchants to pay to let their stores appear.

Yes there are many examples by other itinerant filmmakers. Orphans Symposium 8 screened an especially weird series last spring from the Paragon Feature Film Company, shot around 1915. They would go to Montgomery, Wausau, Grand Rapids, etc., and film locals in a romance plot that would climax when the hero rescued the heroine from an arsonist who set her house on fire.

Along the way of course many shots of local sights.

[Frederica]

I've heard of a similar thing- a company that went around variations of a love story in a variety of towns- "A (insert town) Romance". They'd get local merchants to pay to let their stores appear.

My Dad "starred" in one. He was the hit of Genoa, Nebraska.

[Jim Reid]

I just received a 35mm print of "The Kidnapper's Foil" that was shot in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas. It was found years ago by a projectionist friend of mine. I'm talking to the folks at LOC to get it to them.

[JFK]

Hadn't heard of this guy before: Melton Barker spent 30+ years starting in the 1930s going from town to town and talking parents into funding a short that would star all the local kids. Unwittingly he created a record of regional accents. Here's a recent article on the man: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/movie ... asure.html
and here's where you can watch some of the local films that have been preserved:
http://www.meltonbarker.org/

Sounds like Melton Barker's life might provide a perfect subject for
1. a film scripted by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, or
2. a musical in the style of Meredith Willson

[Jim Roots]

Hadn't heard of this guy before: Melton Barker spent 30+ years starting in the 1930s going from town to town and talking parents into funding a short that would star all the local kids. Unwittingly he created a record of regional accents. Here's a recent article on the man: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/movie ... asure.html
and here's where you can watch some of the local films that have been preserved:
http://www.meltonbarker.org/

Sounds like Melton Barker's life might provide a perfect subject for
1. a film scripted by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, or
2. a musical in the style of Meredith Willson

Don't let Baz Lehrmann hear about this.

Jim