Game Warden - [Filmed Locally] by Bradley Towle

MARGARETVILLE — Game Warden is a 1955 RKO Sportscope short documentary film portraying the daily life of New York State "game protector" Bryan Burgin in Margaretville as he goes about his duties. These "duties," while likely representative of Burgin's vocation, are all staged for the 8-minute black-and-white educational film. Burgin checks fishing licenses from local fishermen by a covered bridge, directs tourists from the city looking for a private fishing spot away from the locals, and traps a beaver who has become a town nuisance. His own fishing trip with his son, Bob (playing himself), when he spots a neighborhood cat killing a bird. He gives firearm lessons to youths interested in hunting licenses. It is all done in a very of-the-era production, with a soundtrack and a narrator that, at this point, sound like parodies (oddly, narrator Peter Roberts has only two other film credits to his name). 

Directed by Harry W. Smith, whose credits are essentially a laundry list of RKO educational documentaries from the late 1940s through the 50s. RKO, once a towering presence in the world of film, was mired in lawsuits and flops by the mid-50s, a failing shell of its former self. 

Smith adds some "drama" to the production by turning poaching investigations into a sort of police procedural, with Burgin as the "good guy" who always nabs the culprit. Other Margaretville locals make appearances on screen, including Officer Bob VanBenschoten, Burt Tubbs, Ros and C. A. Sanford, Hal Church and wife, Andy Rosa, and animal handler Niles Fairbairn. A few years before appearing in Game Warden, Burgin was featured in the 1947 August/September issue of The Conservationist. He told the magazine it was "a tough life but a good one" since starting with the department in 1932. "After 15 years on the force, his salary exceeds $2,200, and he gets a monthly expense allowance of $60, from which he must pay for phone calls, mileage on his personal car, and meals and lodging away from home." Burgin reported driving an estimated 18,000 miles in 1946 and walking an estimated 1,000. He cited "running dogs, landowner-sportsman relations, and eyewitnesses unwilling to provide evidence" as his "troubles," and said his favorite part of the job was meeting people and "giving strangers tips on where to find fish and game--provided his advice turns out to be good." Game Warden is available on YouTube and relatively easy to find.