by L. Pierre de Rochemont
The Whistle at Eaton Falls, produced by Louis de Rochemont and filmed on the New Hampshire Seacoast, was awarded the 2023 Willy Haas Award for Best Film on Blue Ray DVD at the 36th International Film History Conference in Hamburg, Germany on November 22nd.
The Whistle at Eaton Falls was filmed in Portsmouth, Exeter and Dover in 1951….
The Willy Haas Awards honor significant international book and DVD / Blu-ray publications on German-language film and film in Germany. The judges were impressed by the photo quality and storyline of the production as well as the bonus features added to the DVD. This film was the last film directed by Robert Siodmak in the United States. Siodmak fled Nazi Germany for the U.S in 1939.
Great appreciation for classic films in Germany ,….
In announcing the award, the CineGraph judges concluded Siodmak confirmed his status as a master of film noir, with this impressive social drama with an obligatory love story that was a rare example of a Hollywood film that focuses on the working class.
His controversial films earn de Rochemont the moniker of “maverick” by the Hollywood elite….
Louis de Rochemont, the producer, was quoted at the time as saying: “It is our purpose . . . to dramatize in documentary fashion that labor is an indispensable ingredient in our capitalistic system”.
In accepting the award, L. Pierre de Rochemont thanked the CineGraph judges and stated that the de Rochemont family put the film on DVD / Blu-ray to preserve his grandfather’s legacy as an historical documentarian of the Dickensian genre.
The film was ahead if its time…
“The Whistle” endeavored to capture all competing points of view in a labor conflict in the hopes that understanding those varied perspectives would prevent the worst possible outcomes in the future.
The de Rochemont Family is hoping to display the award in the de Rochemont Room at the Newington Town Hall. More on this is the near future.
Flicker Alley, distributor of the film, used a Blu-ray DVD format that allowed Americans and Europeans to enjoy the docudrama, which can be purchased at: www.flickeralley.com/products/432146301-the-whistle-at-eaton-falls.
Historical societies can contact Sue Polidura, Secretary, Louis de Rochemont Heritage Films, a non-profit created to preserve the history of New Hampshire’s most iconic film industry pioneer at spolidura@aol.com to schedule events celebrating his legacy.
