|
|
| York filmmaker explores Navy prison |
| By seacoastonline.com |
| Published: 10/28/2009 |
|
YORK — York filmmaker Neil Novello has taken a subject with which all of us are familiar from the outside, but few have seen from within. In two documentaries, Novello tells the story of the Portsmouth Naval Prison, from the viewpoint of a civilian who served as its commander after World War I to its final days in the early 1970s. "The Castle," the second in the series, will air at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, at Traip Academy in Kittery. The prison has been called the "Castle" for its massive, turreted architecture since it opened at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in 1908. It was the Navy's only maximum-security prison, Novello said. No one ever escaped from the Alcatraz-like fortress surrounded by water. The Navy shut it down in 1974. For 35 years, the prison has been sitting as a vacant, concrete landmark atop the southern tip of Seavey Island. Because of asbestos and the dilapidated condition of the building, said Novello, the Navy denied his request to videotape the interior. Novello needed to be resourceful to capture his subject. For "The Castle," he used Navy footage of the prison shot in 1972, intertwined with interviews of those who once worked inside. Subjects include the Rev. Dr. Arthur Hilson, of Portsmouth, N.H., who was a counselor; Hampton, N.H., barber Eric Lamontagne, a former Marine guard; and New Hampshire state Rep. E. Albert Weare, R-Seabrook, a retired Marine guard. Read More. |
MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
|
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think