By Lori EhdeThe bright lights and long lenses of the Ken Burns documentary film crews were in town again last week, interviewing veterans and families and filming landmarks in Luverne and Rock County.The New York production company, Florentine Films, is working on a documentary film series about the American experience during World War II.The movie will focus on the war-time experiences of four American cities: Sacramento, Calif.; Waterbury, Conn.; Mobile, Ala., and Luverne.Unlike other war documentaries, this one illustrates what was happening at home while the soldiers were away.To do that, producers have solicited help from the respective town residents.Anyone with photographs or home movies of Luverne or Rock County during the World War II era (1935-1945) was asked to share their collections with the producers of the film.A Saturday gathering in Luverne yielded some fruitful results, according to Rock County Historical Society President Betty Mann."People were steady coming in all day from 10 a.m. until about 3:45," Mann said. "It was mostly scrapbooks and pictures."Research started two years agoBut this wasn’t their first stop in Luverne for research. Producers have leaned heavily on Mann and other local historians in the past two years for Luverne information."They wanted to know my recollections of the time period during the Second World War," she said. "But I was too young at the time to have remembered enough."But what Mann doesn’t know first-hand she works hard to find out or uncover for the film"I’m really excited about it. We’re accumulating all these pictures and all this information," she said. "It’s just exciting to know it’s happening to us."Of particular interest has been the Star Herald negative archive. Tollefson Publishing recently donated the collection to the Historical Society, and among the thousands of 4-by-5 black-and-white negatives have been some treasures.More than 100 of these negatives have been printed for use in the film.Tom Hanks will be voice of Star Herald writer Al McIntoshIn the process of poring over Star Herald bound copies, researchers came across personal columns written by former Star Herald editor and publisher Al McIntosh.Script writer for the film, Geoffrey Ward, said it was as if McIntosh was writing for the movie."He’s an absolutely astonishing writer … He’s such a good storyteller, and he writes with such emotion," Ward said Saturday from the front porch of the former McIntosh home.Ward said one column, for example, described the grim duty of the local telegraph man in delivering news of loss from overseas."He wrote about that and the awfulness of it," Ward said. "Everyone could tell something bad had happened by the way he walked down the street and they knew someone was getting bad news."He said that small-town familiarity is what sets Luverne apart from other cities featured in the film."In a larger city, they wouldn’t know the guy who delivers telegraphs from anyone else, but there’s something about a small town where we do know everyone and things affect people more visually," Ward said.Producers said Saturday that actor Tom Hanks heard about the movie and asked to be the voice of Al McIntosh.Luverne role started with Quentin AanensonThe McIntosh information will be a big part of Luverne’s role in the movie, but that’s not what led to Luverne’s inclusion in the production.Luverne native Quentin Aanenson produced "The Fighter Pilot’s Story" in 1993, and it was picked up by PBS and aired in 1994."… it has helped purge some of the devastating memories that have haunted me for almost 50 years," he says at the start of the movie. "So this is my story. It is being told so the children and grandchildren of those who were involved in this mortal storm can have a better understanding of what our world of war was really like."For that reason, Aanenson said he’s honored to be part of the making of "The War." He was also in Luverne over the weekend."It gives me a thrill to realize I can come back here so many years later and still find it’s an area I can relate to."McIntosh and Luverne’s historic appearance have turned out to be icing on the cake, according to Ward."It’s a quintessential American town," Ward said. "All towns experienced the war, but Luverne hasn’t been transformed completely since then. At least remnants appear to be very much the same as they were during the war."Working relationshipsFlorentine Films Associate Producer Meghan Horvath has been assigned to Luverne for the movie.During an early visit Horvath said she was impressed by the national military presence Luverne has had throughout history."Everyone has a sense of Luverne’s military role in the country," she said in a July 2003 Star Herald story. "I was surprised by that, because for such a small town, there are a lot of veterans here."Associate producer Sara Botstein said Friday, "This is our favorite town. Every town has a different reason for being our favorite town. But here, it’s the kindness of the community. … We feel like we know everybody."PBS crews were also in Luverne over the weekend, filming the producers doing their jobs, as were Minneapolis Star Tribune reporters.Film producers shot footage of the palace at night (with the marquee advertising Bing Crosby and Rita Hayworth), 1940s automobiles parked on side streets, Al McIntosh’s former home and rural farm residences.Some specific items they were looking for this time include photographs or home movies of the following:oLuverne places: such as the Omaha railroad bridge, the Luverne train depot at night, Gimm and Brynes’ RestaurantoLuverne people: such as men who were wounded or killed in action in the war or Luverne residents at home or at work.oLuverne war activities or events: VE Day, VJ Day, scrap drives, people saving fat, civil defense wardens in the neighborhood, people listening to the radio for war news, funeral or memorial services.oHolidays in Luverne: ChristmasoSeasons in Luverne: spring and winter especiallyoPost-War Luverne: parades and returning Vets.For more information about possible contributions, call Mann at 283-2913.