Post by Joanna on Nov 23, 2014 23:45:38 GMT -5
Has Hollywood Typecast Maine?
Like lots of film stars, Maine often gets typecast. But maybe that’s a good thing.
When Hollywood filmmakers look for a setting full of rocky, wind-swept ocean grandeur, they often look to Maine. When a story needs a locale that’s creepy and remote, Maine often gets the call. And when the screenwriters are looking for picturesque small-town charm, they are very likely to locate their quaint small town in Maine.
The film version of Dark Shadows, starring Johnny Depp, is set on the coast of Maine, as was the hit TV soap opera of the same name (1966-71). Dark Shadows, the soap, was the story of a strange, haunted family living in an old gothic mansion atop Widow’s Hill, a cliff overlooking the turbulent Atlantic. Dan Curtis got his idea for the show from a dream and when considering a location for his horror story, he immediately thought of Maine. In the second year of the show, regular members of the strange, haunted family were joined by a cousin who turned out to be a 175-year-old vampire, and later came a witch, a couple werewolves and numerous ghosts. All the supernatural hijinks took place in the fictional town of Collinsport, Maine, a small fishing village in the Acadia area.
Neither the film, nor the much more popular TV series, was shot in Maine. The movie was filmed primarily in England and Scotland, and with the exception of a few exterior scenes (which were filmed in Newport, R.I., and Essex, Conn.), the soap opera was filmed in a studio in New York City.
In fact, many of the movies and TV shows set in Maine are shot elsewhere. For example, Murder, She Wrote, starring Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher, was set in the fictional town of Cabot Cove, Maine, but was filmed primarily in California. So when we talk about films set in Maine, we’re really talking about how Hollywood sees and portrays Maine. And Hollywood sees Maine the way the rest of the country sees it, probably thanks in no small part to master storyteller and horror novelist Stephen King setting most of his stories in the Pine Tree State. That’s why Hollywood sets horror stories in remote places (Lake Placid or any King film) and ghost stories (Casper or any King story) in Maine. That’s also why they set farces about quirky small-town life (Welcome to Mooseport), or stories about summer camps or retreats here. The last category includes the Meryl Streep comedy, Hope Springs about a couple undergoing counseling during a Maine getaway.
So is Maine being typecast?
“I think the obvious answer is yes, and that’s what (filmmakers) are aiming for,” said Michael C. Connolly, a history professor at Saint Joseph’s College in Standish and co-editor of John Ford in Focus, about the legendary Maine-born Hollywood film director. Connelly thinks Maine gets typecast because its well-known qualities (coastline, woods, small towns) make it instantly recognizable to audiences. Those are qualities audiences want to see in any depiction of Maine, he said.
The film Dark Shadows was directed by the predictable Tim Burton and seems to have been played for laughs. The gist of the story is that the family of the cursed vampire Barnabas Collins (Depp) came to Maine more than 200 years ago when the coastline was pristine. They founded a fish-canning empire in the small fishing town of Collinsport, which is seen in the film having at least two opposing canneries lining the bay. The town also has Collinwood, the stately old manor house and some typical New England seaport businesses, such as the Blue Whale Tavern.
Of course, there are lots of films wherein Hollywood just stuck to the setting in the original book or story, such as Charlotte’s Web (2006), which was set on a Maine farm, or Richard Russo’s Empire Falls (2005), set in a gritty Maine mill town. (This one was actually filmed in Maine, mostly around Waterville and Skowhegan, because Russo pushed hard for a Maine shoot.) Dark Shadows also falls into this category because the original TV show was also set, but not filmed, in Maine.
Another soap opera set in Maine was Passions (1999-2008). Mainers who watched the series were amused that the stars of the show (particularly the women) wore so little clothing in a state where it can get cold even in summer. At least the Dark Shadows and Murder She Wrote directors knew enough to have their characters don coats or sweaters when they went outdoors!
Here are some other memorable movies to see with stories set in Maine:
Casper (1995): A live-action/animated film take on Casper the friendly ghost, starring Bill Pullman. It takes place in haunted Whipstaff Manor in the small town of Friendship, which is a real Maine town near Thomaston.
Lake Placid (1999): A horror film about a man-eating lake creature in northern Maine. Written and produced by Maine-born TV show creator David E. Kelley.
On Golden Pond (1981): A drama starring Katherine Hepburn and Henry Fonda was set in Belgrade, Maine, but was filed in New Hampshire.
It Happened to Jane (1959): Doris Day is raising two kids while running a lobster business in fictional Cape Anne, Maine, and being courted by Jack Lemmon, among others.
Welcome to Mooseport (2004): A farce featuring Gene Hackman as an ex-president running for mayor of Mooseport, Maine, against Ray Romano.
Wet Hot American Summer (2001): A satire with Janeane Garofalo and David Hyde Pierce set in a fictional Jewish summer camp near Waterville.
The Cider House Rules (1999): Tobey Maguire stars as an orphan in a remote Maine town, with Michael Caine as the orphanage director. Caine won a best supporting actor Oscar for his role, and John Irving won one for best screenplay. A beach scene was filmed in Acadia National Park.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994): Based on a Stephen King story and filmed mostly in Ohio, this film stars Tim Robbins as a Portland banker wrongly convicted of murder who befriends Morgan Freeman in a Maine prison. Salem’s Lot, another King movie, was, of course, set in Maine, but filmed in California. In fact, most of King’s movies are set in Maine, so you can pretty much just grab anything off the shelf with his name on it to see how the state is portrayed. (Hint: It’s not going to be very cheerful.)
Source: Ray Routhier, The Portland Press-Herald.