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A new film discovery adds to the story of Edgar Jones’ work in Augusta and the Colonial Theater. Back in February, Ed Lorusso found a previously unknown Edgar Jones film in the Michael Kesselhon Collection at the Library of Congress. Kesselhon was a collector from Wisconsin. The film, Three and a Girl, was shot in the Gannett Woods area of Augusta and premiered at the Colonial Theater on August 26, 1920.
The plot has three partners (Jones, Carlton Brickert, and Ben Hendricks, Jr.) in a lumber operation hiring a girl (Edna May Sperl) from “the city” to come work as their secretary. The men are infatuated with her, but she cannot make up her mind as to which guy she’s most interested in, so they play a trick on her to make her choose.
Three and a Girl was filmed during the winter of 1919 and 1920, which is quite evident from the frozen breaths of the actors. Three and a Girl is now the sixth complete movie of the twenty-four films Jones filmed in Maine 1919-1921. This find follows Lorusso’s discovery of another silent film, In the River (1920), which the society screened last year.
KHS presenter Ed Lorusso brings extensive expertise in silent film restoration. Since retiring, Lorusso has restored numerous films, with six projects licensed by Turner Classic Movies, including The Enchanted Cottage (1924). His work has been screened at theaters and silent film festivals across the country. Lorusso is collaborating with Boston-based documentary filmmaker Peter Flynn on a new project featuring Edgar Jones, Holman Day, Augusta filmmaking, and the Colonial Theater.
The Kennebec Historical Society presentation is free to the public (donations are gladly accepted) and will take place at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 21, at Augusta City Center, located at 16 Cony Street in Augusta. If you have questions about the program, call Scott Wood, executive director, at 622-7718.
