Caren McCourtney

Item Data

  • Collection Title: Caren's Collection
  • Item Title: Caren's Movie, 2017
  • ID Number: CMcC-004
  • Date Range: 1977-1993
  • Description: Film memoir by a lesbian mother who lost custody of her daughter in the late 1970s.
  • Biographical/Historical Note: See collection level biographical notes.
  • Genres: Memoir, Amateur Films
  • Places: St. Louis, Missouri; Sarasota, Florida; Blue Hill, Maine; East Blue Hill, Maine
  • Access & Use: Contact Lesbian Home Movie Project (LHMP) info@lesbianhomemovieproject.org. No re-use without permission.
  • Color or B&W: Mix
  • Related Versions:
  • Running Time: 58:44
  • Rights: Lesbian Home Movie Project (LHMP) holds all rights. Participants are entitled to approve uses uses of material they appear in.
  • Sound: Silent
  • Subjects: Lesbians, Lesbian mothers
  • Creators: Caren McCourtney
  • Collaborators & Participants: If you or friends were present for any of these events, we hope you'll email us at info@lesbianhomemovieproject.org & let us know. We'll share your input if that's okay, or just preserve it.
  • Source Format: Super 8mm
  • Format: VHS
  • Viewing Log: Title & explanatory slates. St. Louis friends hanging out, doing carpentry, goofing around. Everyone holds their dogs and waves. Caren's daughter plays on a pound-a-peg. Road Trip & St. Louis C. 1977-1978 Caren behind the wheel. St. Louis zoo. Caren's daughter scrapes paint off a wicker chair. Dances. Caren's dog Pup. Linda dances. St. Louis, Baltimore, DC Spring 1978 Caren's daughter in Groucho disguise. Dances. Train station. Fire on top floor of building. Close up as Caren looks directly into camera. Neon display. Janice "Gal" Perry, inside, then outside in batman cloak & mask playing a glockenspiel. Caren with glockenspiel in bellbottoms. Sarasota, Florida & Environs C. 1978-80 Taxi, Caren's new dog. BUT IF SO THE DATING IS OFF. Another friend always makes up a plate of food for her own dog that almost matches her own plate of food. Close-ups of both plates. Friend delivers the dog's plate. It eats while Caren's dog Taxi looks on. It pees and is taken for a walk. Taxi jumps for a tick. [Problem Taxi is here and Pup is below. . . . ] "Sherlock Bones Strikes Again" Sarasota Lanes. The kids and dogs enact a playlet based on a Japanese manga, Lynda Suzanne, Sharon Fitelson and other friends working on Caren's roof in Florida. Caren working at ground level. Uh-oh there's black and white pup again. Karin Spitfire and other friends walking around. Janice "Gal" Gal Perry imitating a model pointing to the refrigerator, bureau drawers, etc. Caren watching. JGP Pretending to have Popeye muscles. Lynda Suzanne's face being licked by dog. Long haired woman with camera. Karin Spitfire and canoe. Karin and Caren tap dance. Volleyball. Caren's daughter in pool with a friend. Northampton, Massachusetts Seneca Encampment, Seneca Falls, NY Summer 1981 Maine Stonington and East Blue Hill Summer 1983 Blue Hill, Maine Summer 1986 On the rocks playlet St. Louis Spring 1987 Blue Hill, Me Summer 1987 Jordan Pond, Maine 1990 Annapolis, MD Keelie's Graduation St. John's College Spring 1993 Northampton, Massachusetts (29:16) Summer 1980 Trapped in the Body of a Laundromat, an improvisation. Kathryn Robyn crawls over washing machines. Sedgwick, Maine & Thereabout Summer 1980 Sedgwick Beach. Karin Spitfire on steps of New Leaf Bookstore. Friends come out of house they shared with Caren. Deborah Wiggs, Karin Spitfire, Helena Lipstadt. Karin Spitfire tap dances on back deck. Tunnel slides [?]. Caren had decided to move to Maine on that visit but returned to Florida. Florida Winters 1980 & 1981 More dogs. Dorothy Allison like figure. Taxi [so maybe the earlier section also belongs here]