Plymouth, Pennsylvania 1925 (silent movie)

"Our Town" movies like this are a priceless time machine that we're fortunate to be able to see. In 1925, merchants paid a Wilkes Barre photographer to make a 20 minute movie which was shown in the Shawnee theater during Christmas. The film starts out with construction of the theater, significant because it must have been a big event in the Susquehanna River town. You can see a tour of the local sights, followed by shots of interesting citizens. Since it's a silent movie, you'll have to use your imagination to hear laughter and comments shouted from the audience over music from the theater organ.

I found this film, literally thrown under a pile of rubbish in an old shed along with several other "Our Town" movies. Ten years ago 4K digital restoration was still in the experimental stage, so I built a machine to make a high quality digital copy frame of it by frame. Since the film had been badly damaged from improper storage and is the only copy, sections were painstakingly retouched using After Effects and Photoshop. For me, finding this movie was a thrilling opportunity to save a glimpse into the past that might easily have been lost forever, so I hope you enjoy it.