We’re in a Golden Era of Documentary filmmaking, and so fittingly this Sunday, Annville’s Allen Theatre will be offering an afternoon of documentaries with some local significance.
The two films that will be shown are The Blue Eyed Six and The Tragic Irony Of Meleanie Hain, both of which were written and directed by brothers Bruce and Brian Kreider.
The Blue Eyed Six recounts the notorious murder of Joseph Raber which took place in Indiantown Gap. Raber was a laborer in his late-fifties when six men; Israel Brandt, Josiah Hummel, Charles Drews, Franklin Stichler, Henry F. Wise, and George Zechman, took out a life insurance policy on Raber, who a short time later was found drowned in a creek.
During the mens’ murder trial, a reporter noticed that all six of the defendants shared a common trait: blue eyes.
The Tragic Irony of Melanie Hain covers a much more recent local story that also drew national attention. Obviously, the film centers on Meleanie Hain, but if that name isn’t necessarily familiar, the nickname bestowed upon her by the national press certainly will be.
Hain became known as “The Gun-Toting Soccer Mom” after she openly carried a loaded firearm to her child’s soccer game in 2008. A little over a year later, in October 2009, she was tragically shot and killed by her estranged husband in an apparent murder-suicide.
Tickets are $10 and includes both films. The Tragic Irony of Meleanie Hain will open the evening, followed by The Blue Eyed Six.
