02/19/2010
Movies about Maine
Getting ready for your summer visit to the Acadia area may involve some research; but this research is fun: Rent a movie! Hollywood has been kind to us. We’re so NOT California. The scenery, the way of life, the accents are either particular or peculiar and the film industry does a good job of exaggerating this. Start with some films you can watch with your kids like the classic André (1994), a true story about a harbor seal which swims back each spring to visit the human family that rescued him. Casper (1995) was filmed in Camden and Rockport. Jumanji (1995) starring Robin Williams was filmed partly in North Berwick and Kennebunk. From 2006 was A Lobster Tale, a family fantasy about magical moss found by a Maine Lobster fisherman.
Peyton Place, filmed in Camden in 1957 should lead off the adult movie section. Carousel (1956) starring Gordon McRae and Shirley Jones was shot in Boothbay Harbor and Newcastle. The midcoast area also was the setting for Stephen King’s Thinner (1996) and Mel Gibson’s Man Without a Face (1993). A friend of mine provided the gray station wagon Mel drove around in. The general store scenes were shot in Lincolnville Center. Forrest Gump (1994) was filmed in Pemaquid and Port Clyde, Signs of Life (1989) in South Bristol, Ellsworth, Stonington and Thomaston. Head Above Water (1996) was shot in Phippsburg.
You would expect lots of Stephen King movies to be shot here; he lives in Bangor. Pet 
Sematary, a movie I am too scared to watch a second time was filmed close to home here. Listen to Fred Gwynne’s exaggerated downeast accent. Stephen’s The Langoliers (1995) was filmed in Bangor. Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman liked it here. They have been generous supporters of the College of the Atlantic and their daughter Nell is a graduate. They shot Empire Falls (2005) in Waterville among other places on the coast. Paul also starred in Message in a Bottle (1999), filmed in Phippsburg, Bath, New Harbor and Portland. Portland was also partially the setting for The Preacher’s Wife (1996) as well as Reindeer Games (1996) and The Whales of August (1987) starring Bette Davis, Vincent Price and Lillian Gish.
If I didn’t mention Storm of the Century (1999), I would have a bucket of saltwater 
poured over my head, especially since it was filmed in Southwest Harbor. The Cider House Rules (1999) shows the Hollywood version of Acadia’s Sand Beach, Bernard and Bass Harbor. Finally there are In the Bedroom (2001), Iron Will (1994), Sarah Plain and Tall (1991) and Snow Falling on Cedars (1999), which has one Maine scene featuring the Portland Head Light during our legendary Ice Storm of 1998.
So start your research today! Rent a movie about Maine!
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Filed under Movies and books by on Feb 19th, 2010. Comment.
Comments on Movies about Maine »
How do you come up with all these topics? Do you lay awake nights? I’m impressed.
Sometimes they do come to me after I wake up, like I was working on it in unconscious mode. Right now I’m trying to put one together about Thor Heyerdahl because I have heard lots of rumors about how the protected land down the shore from us (Old Point) was or is owned by the family. I’ve uncovered some interesting stuff about him and his connection to the area but so far I still am missing some key parts. I want to be factual with these posts and not rely on rumor.
Another Maine movie is “The Strange Woman,” starring Hedy Lamarr, and based on the novel of the same name by Ben Ames Williams (1941). An early promotional poster for the book calls its heroine, Jenny Hager, the “Maine Cleopatra,” who thrived during the 1820′s, when “Bangor was one of the wildest towns in America.” Yes, that book was “nearly 700 pages of Adventure, Thrills, [and] Terror.” By the time the book was brought to the big screen in 1946, Jenny had not calmed down at all, according to the Internet Movie Database, where she is called a girl “so shocking she could only be spoken about in whispers,” and one who finds “she can always get what she wants from the men in . . . Bangor, Maine.” It’s a hoot, to be sure! –Tom
Wow, I gotta get that!! Hey, it’s available from netflix as a double feature with Dishonored Lady, also with Hedy Lamarr. Was it shot in Maine or just about a Maine temptress?
Casper had all of 20 seconds of film shot in Maine in it, yes it was set in Friendship, Maine, but the house is not here! The only Maine footage is of Rockport Harbor.