They don’t make movies the way they used to. They don’t show `em like they used to, either. Back in the movie industry’s infancy, several films of varying lengths and live acts were part of an evening’s entertainment. The event would be held at the local nickelodean, or movie theater.

Some theaters just had the bare essentials: wooden chairs, a wooden screen and a hand-cranked projector. Others were more architecturally elaborate, with arched entryways, pillars and even electric signs, looking like a place to escape from the mundaneness of small-town life.

By the 1920s, there were more than 200 such places in Maine, sites where neighbors came together. Some were even big enough to seat the entire town. Previously, people socialized in little groups at churches, schools, lodges or sporting events and as families, but all these types went to the movies.

A new project by Northeast Historic Film is transporting Mainers back to the film-going experience of yesteryear.

“We’re dragging the focus away from urban areas, and retraining it on rural life,” said Karan Sheldon, project director. “We don’t have that (sense of community) anymore, and I think people really miss it.”

“Going to the Movies: A Social History of Motion Pictures in Maine Communities” takes a two-pronged approach, offering both entertainment and sociological and historical studies.

The project is funded with a $17,600 grant from the Maine Humanities Council. Northeast Historic Film needs to raise a matching amount.

Sheldon has recreated an evening at the movies in the 1920s, and is taking that program to cities throughout Maine. The summer tour has played in Biddeford and Portland, and shows are planned at 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 16, at the Camden Opera House and 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18, at the Lincoln Theater in Damariscotta.

The two-hour program begins with Danny Patt of South Portland, a piano player from the silent-film era, playing “Moving Picture Hero of My Heart.” Next comes a short talk by a film scholar. At the Camden and Damariscotta shows, the scholar will be Douglas Goming, author of “Film History: Theory and Practice.”

The film portion of the program starts with the cartoon “Felix in Hollywood,” featuring the popular black cartoon cat.

That is followed by a compiled Pathe newsreel, which includes such sights as President Calvin Coolidge dressed up in an Indian costume, IRS agents smashing moonshine stills during Prohibition and a flagpole sitter.

The action-packed serial episode “Trail of the Octopus” comes next. Similar to its spiritual descendant, “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” the 15-minute serial is about the woes of a man cursed in an ancient temple.

“The Seventh Day,” a one-hour feature film starring Richard Barthelmess, was filmed on the Maine coast. Subtitled “The Love-Log of a Fishing Skipper,” the movie is described in promotions as: “Seven eventful days in a little fishing village of Maine with a thrilling story of deep-sea skippers and society sirens whose yacht has become stranded on the coast of Pemaquid.”

At these performances, a questionnaire will be handed out. Sheldon said the target of the survey would be people who originally went to those early movies, who are now in their mid-70s and older.

“That’s a good segment of the population now,” said Sheldon. “They’re still very active, and have strong memories.”

As the cornerstone of on-going research, the questionnaire covers such areas as location of movie theaters, memories of movie-going, the people who ran the theaters, the audience and the movies themselves. The survey booklets also are being distributed through libraries, historical societies, and schools.

“We’d like to have kids doing interviews of their grandparents, having this get people together,” Sheldon said.

Sheldon also has put together an audience guide of essays by film scholars on “Going to the Movies” in Maine.

He hopes to take the program to older theaters throughout Maine, but some local contributions are necessary to offset the program’s costs of $2,000 to $3,000 a showing. The costs are so high, Sheldon said, because of the effort required to find the films and the need for custom projecting equipment.

But no one ever said time travel was going to be cheap.

People who would like a free questionnaire should write to “Going to the Movies,” Northeast Historic Film, Route 175, Blue Hill Falls, Maine, 04615, or call 374-2736. It is also available at the reference desk of the Bangor Public Library. An audience guide for “Going to the Movies” can be acquired by sending $1 for postage to NHF.