In his very first movie Ernest Borgnine plays a labor union leader with Lloyd Bridges in the 1951 "Whistle at Eaton Falls". This scene was filmed in Dover, NH by Oscar-winner Louis de Rochemont. Here with a co-star (Lenore Lonergan?) they examine a model of the new automated machinery arriving at Doubleday Plastics.

Union leader Abby (Lenore Lonergan) is accused of being a "scab" as she attempts to break an illegal picket line outside what today is an office and shopping area at the Cocheco Mill in downtown Dover, NH.

The confrontation builds as wildcatters confront returning Eaton Falls workers outside the factory.

Union wildcatter Al Brewster (Murray Hamilton) conspires with competing company production manager Dwight Hawkins (Russell Hardie). Actor Hamilton later appeared in The Graduate, Anatomy of a Murder, Brubaker, The Hustler and two Jaws films, to name a few.)

The actual whistle on the factory at Eaton Falls which symbolizes employment in the battle between labor and management. De Rochemont once said that the protagonist of this film was "the job."

Abby (Lenore Lonergan) and Joe London (James Westerfield) watch as the new automated machinery is delivered to Doubleday Plastics, putting them out of work. Actor Westfield may be familiar from his role as an Irish policeman in the two original Flubber movies. He reprised the role in the original Shaggy Dog film, also from Disney.

Brad's wife Ruth Adams (Diana Douglas), is excited by her husband's rise to power, This shot is not used in the scene where Brad returns from a failed business trip to find his wife driving a new car.

© 1951 Columbia Pictures
Photos courtesy of the Portsmouth Public Library

CONTINUE "WHISTLE" FILM STILLS