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READER MAILBAG 
January 2013  
Dear SeacoastNH.com

When I was a young lad living at my grandparents house in Portsmouth (314 Middle Street) we were given a Bouvier puppy by Louis de Rochemont. I have been trying to learn about his involvement with this breed. Can you possibly assist me? My grandfather, Harold M. Smith, was an attorney in Portsmouth (Speaker of the House 1931-33).  He and LDR were friends. If memory serves me (I was but a wee tyke at the time) when Pease AFB was established, they took some of LDR's property, including a barn where the Bouviers were kept.  In any event, I believe it was at that time that LDR gave a Bouvier to my parents.

From John Langdon Hadley in Port Angeles, WA
(See our response below)

SeacoastNH.com Reply

Wow John, that one went right off our radar, but maybe one of our readers knows more about the Bouvier des Flandres connection. Producer Louis de Rochemont has never gotten his due in the annals of film history and we've long been hoping to find the resources to write a book on his complex and diverse film career. Gary Anderson is working on a film even now. I recently completed a piece on LDR's 1949 race film LOST BOUNDARIES that will be published later this year. But details on his family life are few and far between and no biography yet exists. I'm looking now among my files for a profile of LDR that appeared in the Saturday Evening Post that seems the most likely spot for such domestic details as his dog breed preferences. We can only guess that he bumped into the breed during his frequent world tours on March of Time or on films such as Cinerama Holiday, Windjammer, Martin Luther, etc. Pease AFB opened in 1951 when LDR was continuing a string of locally-produced independent films including Lost Boundaries, Whistle at EatonFalls, and Walk East on Beacon Street. Readers who know more should send us a note. (Photo from Wikipedia)

READ MUCH MORE about Louis de Rochemont here