FILM EVENT: Lost Boundaries, 75th Anniversary

Presented in partnership with The Cheshire County Historical Society, with a special introduction by Professor Emeritus in Film, Larry Benaquist

Produced by Louis de Rochemont, this film is a shocking story based on real events in Keene, NH. Dr. Albert Johnston and his family, a black family, passed for white in order to work while living in Keene, NH, in the 1930s and 1940s.

This film won the 1949 Cannes Film Festival award for Best Screenplay. There will be a display of related Mason Library de Rochemont Special Collection materials in the lobby.

Synopsis: Scott Carter (Mel Ferrer) is an African-American doctor who is eager to serve his community by working at a black hospital. However, he encounters unexpected opposition when his light skin color results in him being mistaken for a white man. At the urging of his in-laws, Carter and his similarly pale wife, Marcia (Beatrice Pearson), begin to masquerade as white to more easily find their place (and to find work) in a fiercely segregated society. This shocking story is based on real events that happened in Keene NH.