Home to Keene; The Reunion of "Lost Boundaries"
- Series
- Home to Keene
- Producing Organization
- New Hampshire Public Television
- Contributing Organization
- New Hampshire Public Television (Durham, New Hampshire)
- AAPB ID
- cpb-aacip/298-687h4gk7
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- Description
- Description
- 40 years ago, the film "Lost Boundaries" premiered in New Hampshire. Like many films of 1949, it was a "problem film" -- a film which dealt with an important social issue. In the case of "Lost Boundaries", the problem was racism... the story of a NH family, with an African-American heritage, that had "passed" for white in order to be accepted into the community. The film was based on the life of Dr. Albert Johnston, from Keene (he had also lived for a time with his family in Gorham). After Dr. Johnston was refused a commission into the navy because of his racial heritage, he decided to reveal to his children and to his communitiy the truth about his race. It was a difficult admission which forced Keene to come to terms with the fact that one of their most respected citizens was black. For the Johnston children, it led them on a quest to better understand their heritage and identity. 1949, "Lost Boundaries" was considered a major motion picture. It made the NY Times Top-Ten list. The screenplay was honored at the Cannes Film Festival. Yet "Lost Boundaries", along with the story of the Johnston family, has disappeared over time. Censored in the South, the film eventually went out of distribution and has been almost unknown since then., forty years later, "Lost Boundaries" will again be screened in Keene, and this time all of the surviving actors (including star Mel Ferrer) are coming to New Hampshire to meet up with the relatives of Dr. Johnston. It is, in many ways, a bittersweet reunion. A celebration of family, community, and friendship, but also a coming to terms with the quiet truth of racism.
- Description
- Version 2 (Doc. Only)
- Asset type
- Program
- Subjects
- Albert; Albert Johnston; Arthur; Arthur Cooper; Astor; Beatrice; Beatrice Pearson; boundaries; Cooper; DeRochemont; Doc; Doc Johnston; Ferrer; General; Gorham; Hospital; Johnston; lost; Lost Boundaries; Louis; Louis DeRochemont; Maine; Maine General Hospital; Mel; Mel Ferrer; passing; Pearson; Racism; residency; the; The Astor; Thyra; Thyra Johnston
- Rights
- Not Cleared
- Media type
- Moving Image
- Credits
-
-
: Fritz Wetherbee, H. James Gilmore, Larry Wegman, Steve Salniker
Producing Organization: New Hampshire Public Television
- AAPB Contributor Holdings
-
New Hampshire Public Television
Identifier: ARC 30-20 (Tape Number)
Format: Betacam: SP
Duration: 29:11:00
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New Hampshire Public Television
Identifier: (unknown)
Color: RGB
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- Citations
- Chicago: “Home to Keene; The Reunion of "Lost Boundaries",” New Hampshire Public Television, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed May 29, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-298-687h4gk7.
- MLA: “Home to Keene; The Reunion of "Lost Boundaries".” New Hampshire Public Television, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. May 29, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-298-687h4gk7>.
- APA: Home to Keene; The Reunion of "Lost Boundaries". Boston, MA: New Hampshire Public Television, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-298-687h4gk7