Emily Dickinson was one of the most innovative and prolific poets in American history. Unfortunately, Col. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, her literary mentor, did not see the genius of her work. He didn’t even believe it was “real” poetry because she chose to use imperfect rhymes. Their artist conflict becomes evident in Higginson’s first meeting with Emily in my short film SHOWDOWN IN AMHERST.
Choosing the location to shoot the film was easy: Thurber House, the childhood home of humorist writer James Thurber, now a museum, provided the perfect setting. The staff was very accommodating. There was, however, one odd clause in our contract: we were not to taunt the ghost.
My curiosity was piqued. I have witnessed many supernatural occurrences and recalled that Thurber had written the book The Night the Ghost Got In. I had to inquire: who was haunting the house? The staff suspected it was the spirit of Thomas Tracy Tress, owner of Tress Diamonds, a fine jewelry shop located in Downtown Columbus, Ohio, early in the 20th century. Tress owned the house prior to the Thurber family. One evening in 1904, Tress was cleaning his gun. It discharged fatally wounding him and he bled to death in the upstairs bedroom. Thurber House staff and visitors have since seen a man in the museum wearing old fashioned dress who vanished at a second glance.
Having seen spirits myself, I agreed to the museum’s terms. I silently asked for Mr. Tress’s blessing for our filming. As it turns out he had quite a sense of humor. We used authentic late 19th century clothes from my personal collection as costumes for the film. The man’s coat, worn by actor Douglas Fries, had secure buttons when it left my house. During the shoot, one of the buttons fell off. The back of the button was engraved with the name Tress(e), as, I discovered, were all the buttons. After the shoot, I was notified via email that a bookseller had a silk advertising ribbon from Tress Diamonds for sale on Ebay. I purchased and framed the ribbon. In the film credits, I thanked Mr. Tress for his cooperation. I believe he just wanted to be remembered and involved.
This film was made possible by a generous grant from the Greater Columbus Arts Council and the support of the Columbus College of Art and Design. SHOWDOWN IN AMHERST was directed by award winning director and film chair Kingsley Lims Nyarko. His talented students worked on the filming. Tiana Coreus served as script consultant. The film was narrated by Chuck Cooper. Our talented actors were Courtney Lucien as Emily, Douglas Fries as Higginson, Gaynelle Sloman as Mary, and I played the comic role of Emily’s sister Lavinia. The screenplay was named a quarter finalist in the Sunvale screenplay competition.
A screening of the film will be hosted by the Columbus College of Art and Design on
February 22, 2024, with a reception at 6:00 pm, screening at 7:00 pm, and panel discussion at 7:30 pm. CCAD is located at 60 Cleveland Ave., Columbus, OH, 43215.
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