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