Westbrook High School - Blue and White Yearbook (Westbrook, ME)

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26 we approached it. I thought, Evidently some- one else has been here, too. The sign read: HERE LIE THE BODIES or FIFTEEN RESIDENTS or CASTINE WHo HEROICALLY DIED DURING THE SIEGE or CASTINE AUG. 9, 1735 My first impulse was to run but Harry said, That happened two hundred years ago today. What a coincidence! Let's look around here and perhaps we may find something very in- terestingf' I felt very guilty walking on that soft, thick, green grass under which now lay the bodies of fifteen heroes. They died for America, for lib- erty, and for the happiness of their followers. How much they must have loved our Maine and our Country! Are they pleased with the result of the sacrifice of themselves and thou- sands of others? Do we appreciate them? Is our government as they would have had it? VVill our now care free youths sometime have to defend this country as they did? ' Suddenly I heard a muflied clicking sound. I looked about me. Harry was nowhere to be seen. What should I do? Desperately I ran in the direction of that noise. There were fal- len trees in the way. I tripped and fell hard to the ground. PF all Pk lk Pk wk I was in a room with crude furnishings. There were fifteen weather-beaten men in fron- tier clothing staring at me coldly. One stepped forward and with a heavy bass voice said: Two hundred years ago we fell near where you have just fallen. lVe fell dead. Killed with the bullets and bayonets of people who wanted to make this their land. Why, when we heard that we were outnumbered, did we not retreat inland? W'e loved this land. VVe came here for freedom. No other country was going to rule us while we lived. You, the youth of America, do not appre- ciate this. You have religious freedom. You rarely go to church more than once a week. l I The Blue fr VVhite You have opportunities for splendid educa- tions. You feel abused to be made to go to school. You even throw books around, de- stroying them. You will have a part in the government. Wliat will you do with it? Will your generation respect your country, improve it and defend it ? The room was shaking with the thunder of his voice. The light went out. lkakvkvlfvkvk Are you all right? Gosh! that tumble knocked you right out. You had me some frightened for a minute. Quick, Harry, let's get black to the school. I've got to practice my cello and start studying my history for next year. A. V., '36. CLASSIC MOVING PICTURES For a number of years the moving pictures have not been overseriousg they have lacked in charm and honest .natural expression. Al- though they have satisfied some movie goers, there is a class of movie fans who have been waiting and hoping to see the day when the producers of moving pictures would direct and produce classicsg stories in which lovers of good books have found real depth and mean- ing. Most good books contain in their plot all the pathos of life in a balanced and blended formg that is the reason for a reader's becom- ing so interested in a good story that he ac- tually lives in its environment. We like to feel that we are a part of the storyg sometimes we become so completely engrossed in the book that we see ourselves in the written character of hero or heroine. A book which produces these emotions in the reader is rare- ly ever forgotteng it becomes a part of us and makes a never-to-be-forgotten impression. The same, therefore, can be said of a good classic moving picture. A picture which expresses horror or mystery, or that departs from real- ism, may be enjoyable and still show great skill and ingenuity to produce it.

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VVestbrook High School 4'. 4'A'- 'A ' 25 heavy pedals, and away roared the truck, hum- ming like a dynamo. There was just enough chill in the air this season to make the warmth of the cab com- fortable. joe rather enjoyed his long ride through the night, while the rest of the world was sleeping. Past darkened farmhouses, through deserted villages they sped. To Joe the loneliness of the dark hours seemed to im- bue the truck with a personality which fur- nished him companionship on the journey. To- night the smooth regularity of the motor seemed to urge him to close his eyes and finish that nap. Don't worry, I'll be all right-all right-all right it said. The farther joe drove, the sleepier he became, until finally, after nar- rowly missing a couple of telephone poles, the great load of cargo, now almost completely out of control, plunged from the highway. Fortunately, for both joe and the merchan- dise, the land was on a level with the road at the place where the truck leaped. For miles across this level stretch there was nothing growing but corn. Joe continued to doze! The big truck crashed along at its same terrific pace, mowing down cor.nstalks six feet high. As it plunged, it leaped through that unlucky crop of corn, but Joe slept on, lulled by con- fidence in his big truck. Finally, the bumps in the field became rougher and rougher as the giant wheels crashed again and again. joe awoke with a start. He looked at the speedometer. Fifty miles an hour! I-Ie glanced ahead of the great radiator. and to his surprise, he found the highway to be full of what appeared to him to be trees. Still halfway between the land of dreams and reality, he decided to investigate this strange terrain. He climbed to the top of the load to get his bearings and lo and behold! he was only about ten yards from the direct road to Boston. I-Ie had, unbeknown to him, crashed through tive miles of cornstalks, thus cutting off a large number of miles. joe was the first of the three truckmen to reach his goal. NVhen the other drivers ar- rived with their shipment, joe was questioned concerning his speedy delivery. Ohl it was nothing, 'we' only took a little short cut, he chuckled. . ' A. F., '36. THIS GENERATION Each year on the first Monday of music camp, all of its members Walk the historical paths of Castine to the rock-bound seacoast for a marshmallow toast. A half hour after supper the one hundred boys and girls began the two-mile hike through the grounds of a country club, the backyard of a pretentious summer home, and up an old tote road. Finally, after following a long wind- ing path, we Went down the side of a steep the seashore. Soon all were grouped various fires laughing, talking and singing 'while eating their marshmallows. After we had eaten as much as we could, Harry and I decided to take a walk down the shore and see the new swimming pool. just as we were to go out of sight of the party, I looked back and to my surprise saw that they had left the shore. Harry thought that we should start in the direction of the camp from where we were. This will be a short cut, and probably we'll get back about the same time as the rest, he remarked. ' I hope so, because if we are not back when they check up, I'm likely to be campused for a week, I answered. Here the ledge was steeper and more diffi- cult to climb than the one we had come down. VVe managed to make it. There was no path to follow, so we were forced to hurry through the underbrush as bert we could. Finally we came to an opening. VVhat a beautiful spot! It was smaller than the average house and was surrounded by tall, even pine trees. How odd that there should l:e such a clearing as this in these wild woods! Harry was saying something about his lik- ing to have, later on, a little log cabin there for just him and me, when suddenly some- thing startling caught my eye at the opposite end of the opening. Harry stiffened and I knew he'd seen it, too. lfVith great curiosity cliff to around

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VVestbrook High School . 4 , 27 At last, our hope and dream of seeing long- desired classic movies seems to' be nearing reality, never before in the history of the mov- ing picture colony have the directors been exerting their utmost energy in producing the great historical and literary stories which all educated people have come to know and love. just imagine your delight, if you like the sto- ries of Robert Louis Stevenson, when you see Long john Silver come to life on the silver screen in the person of the great character actor, Wfally Beeryg or that brave little lad, jim Hawkins, portrayed by Jackie Cooper, whose fame has become a byword among the American children! It would not surprise me in the least if after seeing this picture you were tempted to sit up half the night and dis- cuss the tales of old John Silver and review the incidents of the story, chapter by chapter. The beauty of the Hispaniola, with its sails spread to the wind, is a spectacle never to be forgotten. If you liked the story as you stud- ied it during freshman lligll school days, you cannot help but like Treasure Island, brought to you on the movie screen by those masters of movie kingdom, the M. G. M. studios. After we have seen these great actors and actresses perform such stupendousiroles in the great classics, it will be difficult not to asso- ciate them in years to come with the charac- ters of these wonderful books. Thus Norma Shearer will always be Elizabeth Barrett Browning. To those who are acquainted with the life history of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning, the magnificence of the picture was remarkable. It is a perfect conception in all details of a classic moving picture, in which one feels that he is living over again the story of an ideal love between two very talented people. Robert Browning, portrayed by Fred- eric March, is all that one could wish him to beg when he offers his hand in marriage to the invalid sweetheart and says, Take my hand, dear, I have more strength than one man needsg let me share it with you, one realizes then the real quality of his character. If you were impressed by the ideal romance of the Brownings in biographies, you will be more than impressed when you see their love on the screen. This is also an M. G. M. master- piece. May they continue giving us such works of art, for these pictures are appreciated. VVith the cry for historical and literary mov- ing pictures constantly ringing in their ears, the Paramount producers gave us one of the most outstanding masterpieces of the year, Cleopatra How our hearts beat when we saw this picture on the screen! For years in our study of ancient history we tried, but in vain, to picture the beautiful queen of the Nile as her character was revealed to us in the writ- ten word, but not until the spectacle of C. B. DeMille reached our eyes did we fully realize the influence of her beauty. The triumph of a Caesar entering Rome, the beauty of moonlight on the Nile, the battles of Alexandria and Actium spurred 011 by the love of Anthony for the Egyptian queen-all these incidents made history again on the movie screen against a magnificent and lavish background. The captivating Queen of the Nile portrayed by Claudette Colbert, however, renewed our interest sufficiently for some of us to dig out our history books and review many worthwhile facts. Numerous other classics have been success- ful on the screeng such as, Louisa Alcott's Little Womei1, which won the hearts of all who had opportunity of seeing itg the dra- matic interpretation of George Arliss's per- formance in the House of Rothschild and Charles Laughton's role in The Private Life of Henry VIII. VVe appreciate these recent undertakings and look forward to their future efforts. L. W., '35. The snarling, raging breakers pour Their wrath upon the senseless shoreg The slimy rocks and grey-scarred cliffs With seaweed springing from their rifts, Foretell the doom of coming ships. E. I., '35,