A LL the make-believe glamour of Hollywood came to Bar Harbor in the summer of 1917, when one of its early stars, Annette Kellerman, arrived, ac- When companied by more than 100 actors and actresses. There had not been so much activity in the town since the German lin- er Kronprinzessin Cecilie sought refuge in the harbor on August 4, 1914. Hollywood Came The Fox Film Company had come to this famous watering place to film scenes for its latest million-dollar production, Queen of the Sea. Two months were to be to Bar Harbor spent working at such picturesque loca- tions as Anemone Cave, Spouting Horn, and Schooner Head, along the Ocean Drive. Such settings were ideal for this fantasy featuring mermaids and mer- In the summer of 1917, sea goddesses frolicked men. on Sand Beach, the cameras rolled, The arrival of the screen company was a godsend for Bar Harbor's merchants; it and almost everyone in town turned out to watch. gave employment as well to townspeople who were hired on as extras. While the cast stayed at the St. Sauveur Hotel, Miss Kellerman rented the large Rob- By Gladys O'Neil ertoff cottage into which she moved with a retinue of servants. One summer resident, John Ogden, in the interest of raising money for the Bar 60 Harbor Hospital, arranged to sell tickets not prevail, delayed shooting scenes of summer colony, like the Arthur Wain- to the public, which would assure them of costumed mermaids and seals disporting wrights and the John Ogdens, broiled strategic viewing positions along the on the rocks. A set called "the cavern of enormous mounds of chicken for their Hol- shore. Thus when the filming began despair" was swept away three times by lywood visitors, some of whom arrived in hundreds of people congregated at vari- high tides before it could be properly pho- colorful costumes and makeup, and later ous points on the Ocean Drive. Ogden tographed. joined in a songfest around a bonfire. was not the only booster of the project. Still, it was not all work for the cast. In Another favorite diversion was holding Henry Satterlee, the son-in-law of J. P. a very short time the actors made friends "rock parties" to view the film-making. Morgan, gave the use of his property at with hospitable people in town, who ar- These were sumptuous lunches carried Great Head; and Alessandro Fabbri, a ranged dances and parties in their honor. by car in large hampers and spread out on movie-struck socialite, walked over all The wealthy cottagers, at first cautiously the rocks along the Ocean Drive. Here, the proposed locations with Mr. Fox and withholding close acquaintance, suc- though spared the wounds of barnacles, his director, offering assistance. cumbed at length to the charm of the the parties, too, must have suffered sun- The director, John Adolphi, was en- players and cameramen, and began tak- burn, for they arrived as soon as the chanted by Bar Harbor's scenic beauty- ing them for drives in their elegant, for- workday began and remained through until fog, clouds, and rain, interrupting eign automobiles, even inviting them to the last take of the afternoon. At the end the daily work schedule, somewhat posh parties on great estates. Every so- of the day's "shooting," the parties were dampened his enthusiasm. There were cially important hostess competed for the often entertained by exhibitions of swim- other problems, too. Some actors suf- actors' presence at teas, dinners, balls, or ming and diving by members of the com- fered severe sunburn and were unable to picnics. pany, including Miss Kellerman, an ex- work for days at a time; barnacle- Ernest Lorillard, the tobacco tycoon, pert in water sports. Grateful for the scratched players needed medical atten- invited the entire cast to a clambake at friendly welcome bestowed by Bar Har- tion; and seasickness overcame those in Sand Beach, where he himself undertook borites, the cast entertained members of small boats. Then, for actors required to the bake, piling hundreds of clams on top the YMCA on Labor Day, with fancy div- swim in Maine's infamously icy water for of a huge mass of steaming seaweed. Her- ing, fencing, and tumbling acts. And, long periods of time, lifeguards had to be bert Saterlee, appointing himself keeper once, Annette Kellerman gave a special on hand as well as trained nurses operat- of the fire, steadily hauled loads of drift- exhibition at the Bar Harbor Swimming ing pulmotors. Ebb and flood tides, over wood to replenish the cookout. Other Club for the benefit of the local hospital. which even omnipotent Hollywood could prominent members of Bar Harbor's By September, the filming that re- 61 Photographs from the Bar Harbor Historical Society Collection quired a Maine background was almost finished but for the sinking of a ship just off the rocks at Great Head. Two vessels took part in this, one of them Charles Moseley's Brilliant which, made over to resemble a tenth-century ship, was painted gray. Masts were fitted with crow's-nests and yardarms, and wooden "guns" placed on deck. The stern was built fifteen feet in height; her bow built up fourteen feet, with a long, serpent- shaped head fitted to it; and the rail amid- ships made seven feet higher than the water. A smaller ship was rebuilt in the same manner. Crowds watched from the shore as the gray vessel, known as the "phantom ship" crashed into the bowsprit of the smaller boat, cutting it cleanly in half, even as the "soldiers" aboard dived into the water and swam away. (The ship, of course, had been cut into two sections before the action began.) Since the next section of the movie was to be filmed in New York, most of the ac- tors departed Bar Harbor, much to the regret of the townspeople. Not only had the cast provided unique entertainment at a time when the movie industry was in its infancy ("talkies" were not to come for another decade), but the summer-long enterprise had dropped some $75,000 in- to the coffers of local merchants. Miss Kellerman remained to do the most spectacular scene in The Queen of the Sea. Though it was to be a dangerous feat for the star, she refused to use a stunt man, preferring to practice her wire-walking act tirelessly at Schooner Head, where Mrs. George Hale had given the use of her property. Fifty-cent tick- ets were sold for the actual filming, and no one was allowed to witness any prac- tice sessions. While the day of shooting this thrilling scene was a sunny one, there was more of a breeze than the director would have liked. A steel cable was stretched 125 feet from a sixty-foot wooden tower, just re- cently erected by a crew, to an anchorage on the rocky face of Schooner Head. The star stepped from a room at the top of the structure and walked across the cable, carrying a parasol. Reaching an appoint- ed place out on the cable, she made a beautiful dive into the ocean while hundreds of people applauded her daring act. Two days later, the tower was blown up by twenty sticks of dynamite, sending a storm of flying debris into the sea. It was a fitting finale. A large crowd was at the wharf on Sep- tember 26 when Annette Kellerman boarded the steamer for New York. Well-wishers stayed to watch the boat disappear from sight. Though grateful for the rare entertainment that had come their way, they were sad to see the major excitement in Bar Harbor, summer of 1917, come to an end. 62 Star-struck by The Queen of the Sea, Bar Harbor's townspeople and rusticators held "rock parties" (top left) to watch the filming of mermaids and seals as they lolled on the beach (above and top right). In some scenes, maidens were borne ashore by helmeted Vikings (left), but among the most popular scenes was that of a collision between two vessels made to resemble tenth-century ships (below left). When the filming drew to a close, the departing cast left behind auto- graphed photos (below) and other me- mentos of their newfound friendships. The star, Annette Kellerman, remained to do the movie's most spectacular scene, walking a tightrope (right) strung from a sixty-foot, artificial stone tower (below right). She concluded the performance with a crowd-pleasing dive into the sea. 63