Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Little Erin Merryweather - the movie

Last week, on our Bridgewaters Project blog, James and I wrote about the film A Small Circle of Friends which includes a scene filmed on the Bridgewater State University campus (as well as some library scenes). In searching for other films with Bridgewater connections, James discovered a recent indy film 



The most important thing to know about Erin is that she works in the college library. The movie was filmed almost entirely on location at Bridgewater State University, with some exceptions including the library scenes, which were filmed at the Middleborough (Massachusetts) Public Library (for interior scenes) and a creepy-looking building (which we believe to be the Pratt Free School) for exterior scenes. For those who are prone to over-analyzing movies from a library standpoint this will be problematic. It is too obviously a public library, and way too small to serve the fictitious Willow Ridge State College campus. However, there were several scenes in which students were directed by their professor to use the library for research, which almost made up for any other inconsistencies.There were some long shots of the campus in which the Clement C. Maxwell Library building was visible, but it was not identified as such. It was actually rare fun to watch this horror film (something that is generally out of my genre set of things to view). The gore was pretty mild, and I was too busy identifying landmarks to be bothered by the blood, anyway.

4 comments:

  1. I have many fond memories of the production of Little Erin Merryweather, a superb film made by-- full disclosure-- my best friend, David Morwick, an actor, writer, and director of the first order. What really struck me was the scale of the shooting-- with all the cameras, trailers, and actors, the college's campus and outlying areas became a vast stage set. Indeed, Bridgewater itself is a character in the film, a point which the filmmaker would not dispute.

    Also, perhaps reeling from anti-Vietnam protests occurring a decade earlier, Harvard can be forgiven for not giving permission to A Small Circle of Friends to film there. However, seven years later, it gave the green light to Soul Man, a reactionary, anti-affirmative action film which revels in the Reagan era and its toxic atmosphere of cowboy capitalism. So, boo, Harvard, hoorays to Bridgewater and Little Erin!

    Jon Curley/NYC

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    1. We did notice the reference to Professor Curley. We assumed it was Tom.

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    2. It was indeed my father extraordinaire! I expect that another film will soon reference him or quote him!

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  2. P.S. Maybe Bridgewater State University and its athletic program should adopt Little Erin Merryweather as a more effective mascot...she is fiercer than any bear. Sure, she murders college students...but she also exemplifies a fury more fundamental to winning games!

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