Mr. Flood’s Party

Mr. Flood’s Party is a ten minute dramatic film adaptation of the 1920 poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson about a lonely old man climbing a hillside one October night above Tilbury Town. Under a harvest moon, he parties with himself, a jug of liquor, and memories of better times gone by.  His party ends with the bittersweet strains of Auld Lange Syne, after which he trudges onward to his “forsaken upland hermitage.” 

The haunting strains of Leslie Norton on French horn accompany the images and words, “Like Roland’s ghost winding a silent horn.” Because none of us know where the future leads, this rendering of Robinson’s poem will touch viewers in the heroic center of their beings. Rather than a sad story about a lonesome drunk, it’s a bittersweet lyric about the courage to endure.

 This DVD would make a fine addition for engaging students in any modern American poetry course. It can be be had complete with cover pictured above and printed poem insert for only $10 plus shipping. Use my contact link to request this moving short film.