C ollectors might describe the Windsor chairs hand-crafted by Frederick Duckloe and Bros. as graceful, authentic - even comfortable.

But scary ?

For more than two weeks, the furniture of this small, Portland company has been cast in an eerie light: it's being featured on the main set of a Stephen King movie. Ten Duckloe chairs grace the set of "The Dark Half", Stephen King’s latest horror flick released April 23. "We’ve never done this before," says President Frederick Duckloe Jr., whose great grandfather, Frederick Duckloe, founded the company in 1859. "We were just sort of honored that somebody would think of us."

In the fall of 1990, producers contacted Duckloe and asked of he would loan them 10 First Boston arm and side chairs for a set on The Dark Side. In return, Duckloe and Bros. Would get a credit at the end of the film.

"We said, ‘Sure.’" Duckloe said.

He sent producers a catalogue and they picked the First Boston chairs, which got their start in 1981 when Duckloe made 1,200 of them for the First Boston Corporation, and investment banking and brokerage firm. Duckloe shipped the chairs to the Dark Half, and they were used in what Duckloe said was the main movie set: the home of an author who writes murder thrillers. Duckloe said at the time he agreed to ship the chairs, he didn’t know who would star in the film. "It’s kind of neat to see Timothy Hutton and Amy Madigan sitting in our chairs.," he said.

Hutton plays Thad Beaumont, a serious author who writes best-selling thrillers under a pseudonym. Madigan ("Field of Dreams") plays Liz Beaumont, his wife. The movie was directed by George A. Romero and produced by Declan Baldwin for Dark Half Productions Inc.

The Dark Half finished filming in March 1991, and producers shipped the chairs back to Duckloe. The company since sold them, at a discount in its warehouse. The chairs, reproductions of 18th century Windsors, normally cost $359 for the arm chair and $249 for the side chair.

Duckloe & Bros. manufactures about 75 pieces of furniture a week, all hand-crafted. Duckloe, who employs about 30 people in a small shop on Route 611, said he isn’t worried people will come to associate his furniture with horror films. "Most people don’t see sets too well, they focus on actors," Duckloe said. What’d he think of The Dark Side? "I haven’t seen the movie yet. We haven’t been able to get a baby-sitter."

Frederick Duckloe Jr. Started working in the family furniture business in high school, doing everything from crafting furniture in the factory to working in the office. Today, he and his sister, Barbara Duckloe Townsend, run Duckloe & Bros. Inc. on Delaware Avenue in Portland, a nationally-known maker of 18th century Windsor chairs their great-grandfather started more than 100 years ago.

Frederick Duckloe started the company in 1859, originally making spokes, rims, hubs and frames of passenger carriages. But then he started to experiment with Windsor chairs, and soon his Windsor orders replaced his carriage sales. In the early 1900’s Duckloe trained his son W.J. Duckloe, in the craft. W.J. make all types of furniture, by he couldn’t resist the lure of crafting Windsors. In a good week, he produced six great comb back" chairs.

The company moved from Jenkintown to Portland in 1937, and in 1938 W.J.’s son Frederick joined the firm. Frederick and his two brothers incorporated as Duckloe & Bros. In 1947.

Today, Frederick Duckloe Sr. Still serves as chairman of the board of the privately-held company, which he does not release sales figures. He spends half the year in Portland, and half in Florida. Meanwhile Frederick Jr. And Barbara run the show, he overseeing manufacturing and marketing, and she handling the retail end of the business. The firm, which employs about 30 people, has a five floor retail store in Portland, as well as a factory about a half-mile away. It manufactures about 75 chairs a week.