Annette Hinkle Shares Sag Harbor Cinema History as Anniversary of Fire Approaches

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East End Press

Dec 05, 2017, 13:15 ET


SAG HARBOR, N.Y. (PRWEB) December 05, 2017 -- Every town needs its local cinema. It’s the meeting place for romance, nostalgia, and contemporary life.
— STEVE MARTIN

One of the things I treasure about Sag Harbor is its thriving arts community .The Cinema has been, both literally and metaphorically, at the center of that creative identity. I fervently hope that it remains so.
—JULIE ANDREWS

As the first anniversary of the fire that destroyed the historic Sag Harbor Cinema approaches it is remembered in SAG HARBOR: 100 YEARS OF FILM IN THE VILLAGE which shares more than the story of one local movie theater. For film buffs and historians it is an integral part of movie history. When the iconic Sag Harbor Cinema burned down on December 16, 2016, tributes from local residents, frequent visitors, and movie-lovers in general poured in. All were agreed: the Cinema must rise again.

Though a tragic event for the community, there are positive things that have risen from the rubble of that fire including the publication of this book. It has unearthed a rich history of film and performance art in Sag Harbor and the other is potential rebuilding of a new Sag Harbor Cinema Arts Center.

If the fire had never happened we would never have known that:

  • There were as many as 3 venues that showed films in Sag Harbor in the early 1900’s. In fact, there has been a movie theater at the location of the Sag Harbor Cinema for over 100 years.
  • That in 1932 Clark Gable and Carol Lombard filmed a movie on location in Sag Harbor called NO MAN OF HER OWN. They stayed in town at the Bayview hotel and a few years later they married in real life. It is said that they fell in love while working on the film in Sag Harbor.
  • Sag Harbor was home to the “the Moylan Sisters,’ who at the ages of 5 and 7 had a weekly radio show. They were so popular that at the height of success, their radio show was second only to THE SHADOW in popularity.
  • The famous poster for the 1962 Stanley Kubrick film LOLITA was shot by Bert Stern in Sag Harbor. And in fact the icon heart shaped sunglasses that actress Sue Lyon wore in the shot were bought for $.39 at the Sag Harbor Variety store.

A homage to a century of movies on Main Street—SAG HARBOR: 100 YEARS OF FILM IN THE VILLAGE traces its history from the silents to the Sag Harbor Cinema’s nearly four decade tenure as the last independent, single-screen theater on the East End. While this book is a cinematic history, ultimately it is a love letter to a cultural institution that has served as the heart and soul of Sag Harbor for generations. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will go to the Sag Harbor Partnership to help rebuild the cinema

Award-winning journalist ANNETTE HINKLE is a former associate editor at the Sag Harbor Express, and currently the community news editor of the Shelter Island Reporter. She is a regular on the “Media Mavens,” a weekly Southampton radio news show hosted by Bonnie Grice.

JAY MCINERNEY is the best-selling writer of novels and short story collections, including Bright Lights, Big City and most recently Bright, Precious Days, and several books on wine.

Price: $35 • 128 pages • ISBN: 978-0-9975304-3-8 • Color and black and white illustrations throughout

Joyce Stein, East End Press, https://www.facebook.com/eastendpressli/, 9149805108, [email protected]