Cottage Theatre and the Cottage Grove Historical Society are teaming up to show a special historical movie on July 2 in conjunction with the Olympic Track and Field Team Trials.

Ed’s Coed is a cinematic story written and produced entirely by University of Oregon students in 1929.

The film was shot “nearly entirely on campus,” says Lloyd Williams of the Cottage Grove Historical Society, “and shows how the campus looked in 1929. The plot twists revolve around campus life. And because the film was made by students with a very small budget, the cast is made up of students and faculty.”

Such faculty included Bill Hayward, the track coach at Oregon for more than 40 years and the namesake of Hayward Field. Bill Hayward plays the part of (what else?) the college track coach.

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This is the story of Ed, the owner of an Oregon lumber mill who is talked into going to college by his “city-slicker” cousin, Les. The fun-loving Les can’t wait to have the rube Ed around to be the butt of all his college jokes and pranks. Of course, Ed becomes interested in a girl that won’t give him the time of day and he is blamed for something he didn’t do—the plot lines diverge from there.

The young UO filmmakers were so anxious to produce their film “correctly” that they asked the legendary director Cecil B. DeMille for advice. He consented to help by sending his chief cameraman to Eugene to act as advisor to the production.

The movie was originally shot on 35mm nitrate film and was found in a deteriorating state many decades later in the old Heilig Theatre in Eugene. The film was returned to the University, transferred to safety film, and placed in the University’s Special Collections library archives.

“The film certainly does not represent typical lives of real students in 1929,” Williams explains, “but it is a historical snapshot in time. All the old cars, the fashions of the day, the University buildings, the wonderful scenes of the millrace, and footage of Bill Hayward coaching the track and field squad is just priceless.” And how does Williams sum up their efforts? “Well, I think they made a pretty good film—they had reason to be proud of it.”

The program is scheduled for Wednesday, July 2, at 7:30 p.m. at Cottage Theatre, 700 Village Drive, Cottage Grove. Tickets are $5 all ages, available at the door only. Everyone is welcome, with a special invitation to the Olympic Trials visitors who wish to enjoy a quiet, relaxing evening and see the University and Bill Hayward from a retrospective view. For more information, call (541) 942-8001 or visit www.cottagetheatre.org.