‘Wooster’s Hero,’ other local films appear lost
Often overlooked in cinema history are the local hometown movie films that were produced by itinerant film producers for exhibition in local theaters in semi-rural areas such as Wooster.
In 1923 Wooster was visited by the itinerant movie maker Donald O. Newland.
During the 1920s until his death, Newland traveled throughout the United States to small towns, making films that employed local citizens as stars and actors. He filmed simple two-reeler comedies that utilized the same standard script he took from place to place and customized each film according to its location, and that’s how the movie “Wooster’s Hero” was made.
Operating as the Consolidated Film Producing Co. of Los Angeles, California, he was generally commissioned by local newspapers to produce the films, which always contained the role of a reporter and a prominent look at how the local newspaper was produced. Contests were frequently held in each community to determine who the leading lady would be, and that formula was the one employed in Wooster as evidenced by the local Popular Girl Contest, which was sponsored by the Wooster Daily in March 1923. The winner of the contest was promised the leading lady role in a local movie comedy being produced by Newland.
According to Newland’s Wikipedia page, “Filming usually took place in no more than three days, with Newland directing a cameraman and one or two crew members. A standard bit of action was to stage a head-on car crash on a city street using trick photography — two cars would be placed bumper to bumper and a smoke bomb released under the radiators. The cars would then be backed away from each other, and the film, when developed, was reversed to make it appear to show a head-on collision.
“Developing and editing took another couple of days, and within a week of Newland’s arrival in town, the hero film would be shown to the community at a local movie theater.”
An advertisement to see “Wooster’s Hero” was printed in the newspaper on March 28, 1923, nine days after the contest for the leading lady ended. Miriam Steiner, who became Mrs. Robert W. Ledrich in 1929, won the Popular Girl Contest in 1923. She was the daughter of T.E. Steiner.
It is believed only one print of each of Newland’s films was made. Some have survived and enjoyed revivals in the communities in which they were shot. Unfortunately, “Wooster’s Hero” does not seem to have survived as no copy has ever been brought to public attention since its premiere in 1923.
Currently, only four of these hero films are known to still exist: “Janesville’s Hero,” 1926; “Belvidere’s Hero,” 1926; “Huntingdon’s Hero,” April 1934; and “Tyrone’s Hero,” May 1934. Adding the film “Towanda’s Queen,” only a total of five Newland films survive to this day.
If you are interested in what other films were made in Wayne County, more information can be found on the Motion Picture Filmography of Wayne County, Ohio.
The WCHS asks area residents to check their attics, closets and storage areas for old film reels and to let it know if anybody finds “Wooster’s Hero,” although it is unlikely it survived all these years as nitrate film is very unstable and flammable. Besides that film, the WCHS also is looking for the 1928 Orrville film produced by the National Film Co. of Akron and the 1942 Shreve Band Mother’s Club film.
Editor’s note: Susan Zimmerman is a member of the volunteer documents and archives committee of the Wayne County Historical Society.