Bowdoin College

Bowdoin in Literature and Film

• Fanshawe (1828) -- This Nathaniel Hawthorne novel, published only three years after his graduation from Bowdoin, is set at a small college which bears a striking resemblance to his alma mater.
• "Morituri Salutamus" (1875) -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote this poem for his 50th Bowdoin reunion, and recited it on that occasion. One famous passage recalls the College: "O ye familiar scenes,--ye groves of pine / That once were mine and are no longer mine, -- / Thou river, widening through the meadows green / To the vast sea, so near and yet unseen, -- / Ye halls, in whose seclusion and repose / Phantoms of fame, like exhalations, rose / And vanished,--we who are about to die / Salute you; earth and air and sea and sky / And the Imperial Sun that scatters down / His sovereign splendors upon grove and town." *
• The Killer Angels (1975) -- This historical novel by Michael Shaara, which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, focuses in large part on the role played by Bowdoin graduate and professor Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain at the Battle of Gettysburg.
• Glory (1989) -- Actor Alan North plays Massachusetts Governor John A. Andrew, class of 1837, in this film about the 54th Massachusetts.
• Gettysburg (1993) -- Actor Jeff Daniels plays Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain in this movie based on The Killer Angels. There is at least one reference to Chamberlain's academic career at Bowdoin, which he abandoned to lead the 20th Maine. *
• The Man Without a Face (1993) -- Parts of this Mel Gibson movie were filmed on campus. *
• The Cider House Rules (1994) -- In this John Irving novel, a Bowdoin-educated doctor forges a Bowdoin diploma for a young protégé. This role was played by actor Michael Caine in the film version. *
• The Sopranos (1999) -- In an episode entitled "College," Tony Soprano and his daughter Meadow visit Colby, where Tony kills a former associate, and Bowdoin, where he reads an inscription paraphrasing Hawthorne's warning that "no man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true." * Tony's daughter is ultimately waitlisted at Bowdoin and ends up attending Columbia.
• Where the Heart Is (2000) -- The main character in this movie, played by actress Natalie Portman, falls in love with a Bowdoin man. The film, which has a scene "at Bowdoin," is based on a novel of the same name. *
• Gods and Generals (2003) -- This film, based on a historical novel of the same name, is a prequel to Gettysburg. Actor Jeff Daniels reprises his role as Chamberlain; Bowdoin references abound. *
• Kinsey (2004) -- Actor Liam Neeson plays sex researcher Alfred Kinsey, whose father, played by actor John Lithgow, violently opposes his decision to transfer to Bowdoin from the Stevens Institute of Technology. *
• The Aviator (2004) -- Bowdoin goes unmentioned in this Howard Hughes biopic, but Bowdoin grad Ralph Owen Brewster, played by actor Alan Alda, has a major role. *