BEVERLY — George Doherty, 79, watched 10 classic movie and television clips. When asked which was his favorite, he couldn't recall what he saw.
"I don't remember," he said, smiling. "But I know I enjoyed them all."
That's the point of a new kind of treatment for people with Alzheimer's and memory loss, tried out with about 50 people on Tuesday at the Interfaith Chapel at Endicott College. Dr. John Zeisel, president of Hearthstone Alzheimer Care, used the old films to jog the memories of people from Essex Park Rehabilitation Center, Spectrum Adult Day Health Center, Brooksby Village in Peabody and the Hearthstone Foundation in Woburn.
"Science and medicine is doing everything to keep people with Alzheimer's alive longer, but very little is being done to give them a meaningful life," Zeisel said.
First, he engaged them in what they would be watching. When "The Sound of Music" came on, he asked what songs everyone remembered
"She's singing across a field," one woman said.
"Raindrops on roses," said another.
He showed a clip of Julie Andrews teaching the von Trapp children to sing "Do-Re-Mi."
"She played the guitar," Zeisel said when it was over. "Did any of you play instruments?"
"I played the violin, but I never liked it," a woman called out.
"Do you remember why they were in Austria and Switzerland?" he asked.
"Because of the war," another woman said.
They laughed as "The Three Stooges" struggled to fix a leaky pipe, smiled at Gene Kelly "Singing in the Rain" and were sad as Humphrey Bogart put Ingrid Bergman on a plane at the end of "Casablanca."
Zeisel showed 10 clips in about two hours and listened as they began telling stories about being an organist in church and designing jet engines for a living.
Doherty may not have remembered the movies, but he did remember the tail getting shot off his plane while fighting in North Korea.
"These film clips generate emotions," Zeisel said. "After they leave here, they'll feel alive. And they'll remember this event much longer than they will other parts of their life because it's connected to an emotion."
In the next couple of weeks, if someone were to put on a record of "Do-Re-Mi," they may not remember watching it at Endicott College, but it would seem familiar and evoke a happy feeling, he said.
Using movie clips to trigger memories is part of a larger program at Hearthstone called "Arts for Alzheimer's," which includes trips to museums, painting workshops, music and theatrical performances.
"All of it works slightly differently in the brain," he said.
But all of it is engaging, and Zeisel said those in the program tend to be less socially withdrawn and have less depression, aggression and apathy.
"It's embracing life, rather than fearing loss," he said.
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