The Deer Hunter

After finally viewing the critically acclaimed The Deer Hunter for the first time (yes, I apparently have had some sort of prejudice against films from the 60s and 70s. .. . my current obsession with Dick Cavett and the feigned despair exhibited by a certain Englishman every time I admitted not having seen a seminal film like Easy Rider or Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid have inspired me to remedy this oversight), I was naturally interested in the importance that my home state played in the making of this Midwestern mentality film. The Deer Hunter may be set in Pennsylvania and Vietnam but Ohio plays a significant role in the filming and creation of this emotional powerhouse. Some of the most important (memorable) scenes were filmed in different Ohio locales.

Production Notes:

Christopher Walken: "What appeals to me most about this film, is we've made it real, made it happen now. For instance, we created an entire wedding reception party with real ethnic types who sing and dance as they do at any of the giant family weddings they have in Cleveland. We've filmed The Deer Hunter right where it would have happened if the story wasn't fictional. We worked in steel mills, community halls, the most beautiful Russian Orthodox church I've seen (St. Theodosius Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Cleveland), and in a tavern which we built as a composite of scores we visited while researching the film."

A Run-down of Ohio locations:

• Some mill and neighborhood shots were of Steubenville, Ohio.
• External house and long-range road shots were taken in Struthers, Ohio.
• The opening steel factory scenes, where the actors were allowed on the floor, were shot in US Steel's Blast Furnace, Cleveland, after nervous studio execs insured the stars at $5 million. The plant is ominously referred to as the Widowmaker.
• The wedding of Steven and Angela was filmed in St. Theodosius Russian Orthodox Cathedral, Cleveland, which is claimed to be an exact replica of the Czar's cathedral inside the Kremlin, Moscow.
• The reception was held in Lemko Hall at Literary Avenue in the same Cleveland district as the cathedral. The hall has been since developed into shops and restaurants.
• The Eagle Supermarket, in which Linda (Meryl Streep) worked, is now Brown's Market and is just down the street from the aforementioned cathedral.
• Welsh's Bar was specially constructed in an empty storefront in Mingo Junction, Ohio for $25,000. It later became an actual saloon for local steel mill workers.
• The bowling alley in the film is actually the Bowladrome Lanes located at 56 State Street, Struthers, Ohio.
• The emotional scene in which Michael visits an embittered and physically injured Steven took place in Louis Stokes Cleveland Veteran's Administration Medical Center, 10701 East Boulevard.

• Fun Trivia on The Deer Hunter
• The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations: The Deer Hunter

Hmmm, now I need to start watching some more important films from this era, after the big film moguls released their grip on the industry, and see if there are any more important Ohio connections to be found.

Say Goodnight, Gracie

One of the most famously happy partnerships was made legally binding in Ohio. After performing together in vaudeville for three years, George Burns and Gracie Allen were married in Cleveland on January 7, 1926.

From George Burns' Gracie: A Love Story:

"We decided to get married in Cleveland at the end of January. But first we were going to break in Lamb Chops. We were both very nervous; getting married was one thing, but breaking in a new act was serious business...

As soon as Izzy and Mary arrive, we hopped into a cab and drove to the justice of the peace. The justice of the peace was ready to leave on a fishing trip when we got there, and he wasn't interesting in spending time marrying folks... He spoke so fast I didn't know if Gracie and I had gotten married or had bought land in Florida. All I remember is he asked, "Do you?" I said, "I do." He said, "Good--I'm going fishing."

Our cab was waiting for us. The entire ceremony had cost twenty cents on the meter."

Burns & Allen Marriage License

'St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture' entry

Notable American Women: Gracie Allen

Joe Gillis: The Most Famous On-Screen Screenwriter

In my teen years, I traded in my star crushes on Michael J. Fox, Corey Haim and Mackenzie Astin for James Dean, Laurence Olivier and William Holden. Two of those three actors were from the Midwest and a favorite character portrayed by one was from Ohio. Joe Gillis, the cynical struggling screenwriter that narrates Sunset Boulevard, is not a heroic figure but an incredibly flawed individual whose story ends before it even begins. As the voice-over begins to explain how he ended up face-down in a swimming pool in Hollywood, we learn of the despair that initiated the events that led to his demise:
“As I drove back into town I added up my prospects and they added up to exactly zero. Apparently I just didn’t have what it takes. The time had come to wrap up the whole Hollywood deal and go home. Maybe if I hawked all my junk there’d be enough for a bus ticket back to Ohio. Back to that $35 a week job behind the copy desk at the Dayton Evening Post if it was still open. Back to the smirking delight of the whole office. ‘Alright you wise guys, why don’t you go out and take a crack at Hollywood.’”

Perhaps he should have packed it all in and headed back to Ohio but he stays and continues to pursue his dream. It certainly doesn't end happily but one never knows how things will pan out until they try (even if it's done through slightly less than honorable means).

Screenwriting from Iowa: Wonderful Blog about the Midwestern Roots of Film

The Man Who Took On American Football

Cover of Meggysey's controversial book 

I've been on quite a Dick Cavett kick lately and today while watching three episodes of his talk show that featured Janis Joplin, I was wonderfully surprised by an incredibly articulate (and left-winged) American footballer who was promoting his controversial book Out of Their League. Dave Meggyesy left at the height of his career as an outside linebacker for the St. Louis Cardinals in order to address and expose the dehumanizing aspects of the game. The man never gave up on the sport that he loved but tried to improve it and promote player welfare through his work with the NFLPA and Athletes United for Peace. Once Meggysey mentioned to Cavett that he grew up in a cowtown where the cows actually came to watch his high school football games, I had a feeling that he grew up in Ohio. It turns out this this is indeed the case and that Meggyesy (born in Cleveland) grew up on a pig farm in Glenwillow, Ohio and attended Solon High School. This amusing and quaint actuality about the spectator cows is not a strange concept to those of us who have grown up in a small Midwestern town but something about Meggysey seemed distinctly Ohioan to me. Perhaps it was simply his apparent lack of an accent or the fact that even Ohio's capital city is referred to as Cowtown but I think there's something more binding about the innate characteristics of Ohioans, which I may never actually put my finger on. Yet, I like to think that Ohioans, especially those of the Northeastern variety, question the status quo and try to make positive changes to systems from the inside out.

Interview in 2009

Clip of Dave Meggyesy on The Dick Cavett Show

Still On The Outside, Sports Illustrated article from 1987

The Edge of Sports Interview

Superman is from Krypton? Nah. . . . he's from Cleveland

I have often joked with friends across the pond that all Americans want to be like Ohioans. Perhaps it's not so much that we're ideal Americans but that we do a great job of idealizing America. A case in point is "The Man of Steel", who is a universally recognized and a positive image of America created in the Buckeye State. The cultural icon that stands for "Truth, Justice and the American Way" was imagined in 1933 by two Cleveland teenage boys from Jewish immigrant families. Jerry Siegel (October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996) and Joe Shuster (July 10, 1914 - July 30, 1992).  The co-creators of the DC Comics character Superman both attended Glenville High School and worked on the weekly student newspaper, The Torch. Siegel and Shuster together also published what may have been the first SF fanzine, Cosmic Stories.

Cleveland, the True Birthplace of Superman - Smithsonian article by Anne Trubeck

The Flaming Lips - Waitin' for a Superman

The Big Red S

The Goonies: Brainchild of Ohioans

This year marks the 25th anniversary of one of the most beloved children's films of the 80s, The Goonies. Nearly all kids of the 80s, including myself, can recite whole scenes from this endearing classic about a band of misfits searching for pirate treasure in order to save their homes from demolition. Although the film's setting is Astoria, Oregon, the basis of the whole production was on the imagination of two Ohioans. The screenplay was written by Chris Columbus (perhaps better known now as the director of Home Alone and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone), who grew up in Warren, OH, and was based on a story by Steven Spielberg (you really should get out more if you don't know who that is), who was born in Cincinnati, OH.

This should not to be confused with the other Brainchild from Youngstown, Ohio.

Cyndi Lauper - The Goonies 'R' Good Enough (Part 1)

Part 2

My favorite Goonie: Data

Sweet blog entry about the 25th anniversary

Love Rollercoaster

Awww, little brothers, they love to aggravate their sisters even when they're all grown up. The other week, my younger brother tried to instigate an argument/heated discussion by suggesting that Les Claypool of Primus was the best living bass player, knowing full well that my love for Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers would not allow me to remain quiet. Fortunately the discussion was short-lived and a truce declared since we quickly agreed that it wasn't quite fair to compare the two since they have rather different styles. So how does any of this relate to Ohio (other than I've seen both bands perform in Ohio)? Well, the most meaningful connection that popped in my head was that one of my favorite RHCP songs is actually a cover of a #1 hit by a band from Ohio. 'Love Rollercoaster' was originally a hit in 1976 for the funk and R&B band The Ohio Players. As one would imagine, the members are actually from Ohio and the band formed in Dayton, OH in 1959 as the Ohio Untouchables. The band became The Ohio Players when the core members returned to Dayton in 1964, after a breakup in 1963, and added Gregory Webster and Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner. They became the house band for New York based Compass Records in 1967 after adding two more singers, Bobby Lee Fears and Dutch Robinson.

P.S. If my little brother happens to read or hear of this post, he will undoubtedly demand royalties (from what I don't know) for my mentioning of him. Some relationships never change but guarantee ups, downs and curves ;-)

Flea - Funk Slap Bass Lesson (with River Phoenix)

The Silverlake Conservatory of Music: One of the many reasons why I love Flea

RHCP - Around the World (of course Ohio is mentioned ;-)

Les Claypool - Bass solo

Good Morning Dayton and Conan O'Brien

Good or bad, Ohio tends to get a mention or head-nod. According to this clip with Ricky Gervais, 'Good Morning Dayton!' falls just in between the Food Network and satellite radio in status.

Groove is in the Heart (of it All)

There are few better places to spend a Thursday night in Columbus, Ohio than at Skully's Music Diner's Alternative Ladies Eighties Night. You'll find children of the eighties, like myself, dancing along with wannabe children of the eighties (think born in the 90s or tail-end of 80s) with a couple of drag queens/kings thrown in for fun. While I'm always pleased to hear my favorite British artists like The Clash, Billy Idol, Psychedelic Furs, Depeche Mode, New Order and The Smiths being played by the DJ, there are few songs that make me shake my moneymaker, with or without an input of alcohol, like Deee-Lite's Groove is in the Heart. Dee-Lite's funky vixen Lady Miss Kier, the revamped 60s-style psychedelic charteuse that came to personify New York City's early 90s club culture was, wait for it......electronic drum-roll and cowbell.......born in Youngstown, OH.

Slow Hand/God and the English/Ohio Countryside

I've often been asked what Ohio is like by folks in England and I typically reply that it's a lot like where they live. By most of their responses, I suspect that they oftentimes don't believe me. Perhaps they would believe Slow Hand/God/Eric Clapton, who has a home in Columbus, OH and has shared pretty much the same sentiments as I, although in an interview with Larry King: "I have a house in England. I have a house in France, a house in Columbus, and a house in Antigua. (Columbus) is great. Well, it is very much like England to me. It has the same sort of countryside, rolling hills, you know, small kind of civilized communities of people that all know one another."

From Sex and Drugs to Domestic Bliss

Sunshine of Your Love

The Wittiest American was from Mount Gilead, Ohio

I first stumbled upon Dawn Powell just a couple of days ago while reading Donald Ray Pollock's Knockemstiff, which begins with a Powell quote: All Americans come from Ohio originally, if only briefly. This quote made me chuckle since it reminded me of one of my quests this past year while in England, namely explaining the importance of my home to the rest of the world. As you can imagine, many people have no idea where my home state is located in the immense country of America, let alone would they know what was produced there other than myself standing in front of them. Don't get me wrong, some people knew of Ohio because a favorite band, sports team or actor was from there but that's usually where the recognition of the state ended. Therefore my task was typically attempted by my mentioning of famous people, companies or crops (I'm a botanist by training and worked with farmers for my Msc project) and apparently became so rampant in my chats that some friends would anticipate my interjections by saying 'Are they from Ohio too?!?!?' rather sarcastically. Thus, I thought that this particularly endearing quote must be from a fellow Ohioan since we are the only ones who truly understand or appreciate the importance of our humble little abode. This small thought eluded me until strangely enough, I just happened to catch part of a Gilmore Girls episode this morning in which Rory mentions Ms. Powell to her friend Lane. Rory has been reading Powell's Complete Novels and says that no one has heard of Powell and explains that it is a shame since some have claimed that she deserves credit for some of Dorothy Parker's best jokes. This second mention of Powell within just a span of a couple of days made me realize that I should look further into the life of this noteworthy woman. After a quick internet search, I found that this extraordinary woman was born in Mount Gilead, which is a stone's throw away from where my family hails. Although I have yet to read her writings (I have placed holds on books from my library) and learn more about what made her tick, from what I have gathered thus far makes me think that I may have stumbled upon a kindred spirit: a woman drawn to sophisticated cosmopolitans, worldly adventures and the unknown but who still cherishes small-town Ohio.

Story of a country girl