Book: Theft By Finding: Diaries 1977-2002 by David Sedaris (2017)

p.463-464

October 20, 2001

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

"Where do I start with Wilkes-Barre?My hotel is located on the town square, which is bedecked with hanging electric flags, those interspersed with regular cloth versions  the size of beach towels.  They hang from wires, lampposts, and a huge metal armature built to support the dozens of speakers used to broadcast a looped tape of patriotic songs and marches.  I arrived to 'The Battle Hymn of the republic,' which was followed by 'God Bless America,' 'America the Beautiful,' and, strangely enough, 'Dixie.'  After these came a number of marches, including the song played when the president enters the room and something I recall hearing once on a coffee commercial.  When finished, the tape returned to 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic' and started all over again.  The hotel feels like a indoctrination center.

'Our mayor is crazy,' everyone says.  'He's completely lost his mind.'  Wilkes-Barre is shut tight by six o'clock, but still the music blares, playing for an audience of no one."

Click here to place a hold.

It Happened One Night (1934)

One of the first and best-loved "screwball comedies," Frank Capra's 1934 classic It Happened One Night features a reference to Wilkes-Barre.

Opposites attract with magnetic force in this romantic road-trip delight from Frank Capra, about a spoiled runaway socialite (Claudette Colbert) and a roguish man-of-the-people reporter (Clark Gable) who is determined to get the scoop on her scandalous disappearance.

Released in February 1934 (a mere four months before the Production Code was fully enforced), It Happens One Night was the first of only 3 motion pictures to win "big 5" at the Academy Awards (the other 2 being 1975's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and 1991's The Silence of the Lambs):  Best Picture, Best Actor (Clark Cable), Best Actress (Claudette Colbert), Best Director (Frank Capra) and Best Screenplay (Robert Riskin).

39:25 minutes into the movie, Peter (Clark Gable) and Ellie (Claudette Colbert) are staying overnight at an autolodge, due to a washed-out bridge on their bus trip.   When her father's spies approach their shared room, Peter and Ellie pretend to be a married couple in the midst of an argument:

Peter:

"Yeah, yeah.  I, uh...I got a letter from Aunt Bella last week.  Uh...she said if we don't stop over to Wilkes-Barre, she'll never forgive us."

It Happened One Night is available to borrow on DVD from the Lackawanna County Library System.  You may place a hold by clicking here or clicking here.

A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True 1907-1940 by Victoria Wilson (2013)

Local references related to legendary actress Barbara Stanwyck are numerous on this blog, from movies like Remember the Night and Lady of Burlesque to books like the excellent A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True 1907-1940 by Victoria Wilson.  The first in a two-volume set (Volume Two is due in 2015), this 1000+ page is a thorough exploration of the life and career of the legendary actress.  Alas, a local reference was bound to appear. 

In the early 1930s, between filming movies, Stanwyck would often tour the country with her then-husband, vaudevillian Frank Fay. The following description of one such tour appears on page 358 of the book: 

"Through the late winter and spring (1932-1933), Barbara and Fay traveled with Tattle Tales, a 'gay gorgeous musical revue,' on its 'transcontinental' tour, to Portland, the Metropolitan in Seattle, Spokane, playing each city two or three nights and then moving east to Billings, Cheyenne, Colorado Springs, Denver, Omaha, Kansas City, the Shubert in Cincinnati, the Hanna in Cleveland, Wilkes-Barre, the Lyceum in Rochester, Philadelphia, the Capital in Albany, making their way to the Broadhurst Theatre in New York." 

A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel True 1907-1940 is available to borrow from the Lackawanna County Library System; click here to place a hold. 

The uncensored version of Barbara Stanwyck's 1933 film Baby Face will kick off the upcoming "Ladies of Pre-Code" Film Series at Scranton Public Library on Wednesday, July 30 at 6 PM.  Click here for more information. 

The Purge (2013)

One of the things I really love about doing this blog is the fact that eagle-eyed movie fans like Eric Drago pick up on local references that are easy to miss.  I've seen last summer's sleeper hit The Purge starring Ethan Hawke, but I never noticed the Wilkes-Barre reference hidden on a TV monitor in the background -- Eric did :-)

Directed by James DeMonaco, The Purge refers to a futuristic crime prevention concept of a 12-hour period in which any and all crime is legalized.  During this period, a wealthy family is held hostage for harboring the target of a murderous syndicate.

Eric emailed me the following:

"In the film The Purge, there are a number of scenes where we are shown camera footage from different locations throughout the country. One such scene shows camera footage belonging to Wilkes-Barre, PA." 

The Purge is available to borrow on DVD from the library; click here to place a hold.   

Much thanks again to the ultra-groovy Eric Drago for this reference. 

Lady of Burlesque (1943) Available To Borrow on DVD From Library

The 1943 classic film Lady of Burlesque, starring Barbara Stanwyck, is now available to borrow on DVD from Scranton Public Library.  Based on the novel The G-String Murders by Gypsy Rose Lee, the film features a passing but memorable reference to Wilkes-Barre, spoken by Stanwyck herself (who plays dancer Dixie).

Eleven minutes into the film, an unnamed burlesque dancer enters the shared dressing room of the strippers and complains of the bathroom facilities at The Old Opera House:

Stripper: 

That settles it! We GOTTA have a new one!

Dixie:

New what?

Stripper:

(gestures towards the off-stage ladies' room)

Dixie:

Oh, the museum piece. I haven't seen one like that

since the Wilkes-Barre Regal.

 

Click here to place a hold on Lady of Burlesque.

If you are a fan of Barbara Stanwyck, Scranton Public Library will be screening the long-lost uncut version of 1933's Baby Face on Wednesday, July 30th at 6 PM in the Community Room (basement of Lackawanna County Children's Library).  Baby Face kicks off a weekly month-long film series devoted to the "Ladies of Pre-Code Hollywood".   Click here for more information on the film series.

Face the Music: A Life Exposed by Paul Stanley (2014)

In April 2014, Paul Stanley published his autobiography Face the Music: A Life Exposed.  Stanley is the last of the four original members of KISS to publish his memoirs.  The book details not only the meteoric rise of KISS, but his overcoming being born with an ear deformity and deafness in his right ear.

On page 171 in Face the Music, Stanley relates a story previously published in Nothin' To Lose: The Making of KISS (1972-1975) involving a bizarre incident with the band's opening act at the Paramount Theater (now the F.M. Kirby Center) in Wilkes-Barre, PA:

"There was no consistency.   One night in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, our opening act was a circus juggler.He rode a unicycle and people in the audience tried to knock him down by throwing coins at him."

Nothin' To Lose identifies the performer as comedian Kenny Kramer.
 
Face the Music: A Life Exposed is available to borrow from the Lackawanna County Library System; click here to place a hold.  

Nothin' To Lose: The Making of KISS, 1972-1975 by Ken Sharp with Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons (2013)

On Monday, September 16th, 1974, Wilkes-Barre became a part of the beginning of KISStory as the legendary band (being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next month) played the Paramount Theater -- now home to the F.M. Kirby Center -- on their first major tour as headliners. 

This information appears on page 247 of the book Nothin' to Lose: The Making of KISS, 1972-1975 by Ken Sharp, with Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons.  The book discusses the very early history of KISS, from its formation in the early 1970s to their struggle to find an audience to their triumphant 1975 double album Alive!

Page 247 of Nothin' to Lose features an image from the 1974 tour ledger of Gene Simmons (pictured above) that lists the Wilkes-Barre date near the final leg of their tour.

Nothin' to Lose: The Making of KISS, 1972-1975 is available to borrow from the library.  Click here to place a hold on the book.

UPDATED 3/29/14 I just finished the book and I highly recommend it.  Pages 386-387 feature a humorous anecdote when comedian Kenny Kramer (the inspiration for Kramer on the TV show Seinfeld) opened for KISS on Monday, December 23, 1074 at the Paramount Theater in Wilkes-Barre (according to previous information in the book--pictured above--they had previously played September 16, 1974).

I Hate Everyone...Starting With Me by Joan Rivers (2012)

It's weird how these things happen.

Last night I was reading Joan Rivers's new book and randomly thought, "I haven't updated the Entertainment blog in over a month, and my Wilkes-Barre/Scranton references have run dry."  Then, out of the blue, I came across a Wilkes-Barre reference on page 153 of the book.

I Hate Everyone...Starting With Me is the hilariously offensive (or is it offensively hilarious?) new book by Joan Rivers in which she comically details what annoys her about every conceivable type of person and situation.  A New York Times Bestseller, the book was also banned from sale by retail chain Costco due to profanity on the book's back cover (on August 8th, Rivers staged a media coup by handcuffing herself to a shopping cart at Costco and selling her book in the parking lot).

Page 153 of the book details why Joan Rivers hates private planes:

"...because I'm a guest that means whoever owns the jet is a lot more rich and famous than I am and if that private jet goes down, the obituary in The New York Times will read: INTERNATIONAL OIL MAGNATE SHEIK ABDULLAH MUCKETY MUCK AND FOUR OTHER (POORER) PEOPLE DIE IN PLANE CRASH.  I haven't spent forty years playing one-nighters in Wilkes-Barre to die as an 'other.'"

Joan Rivers will next be appearing in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday, April 27th at The F.M Kirby Center. Click here for more information on her upcoming appearance. 

Click here to place a hold on I Hate Everyone...Starting With Me.

http://www.joan.co/

Band of Brothers: Episode 10: Points (2001)

Presented by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, the epic WWII miniseries Band of Brothers originally aired in 2001 on HBO in 10 parts to critical acclaim and massive ratings. I know several people who have seen and raved about the series, but no one ever mentioned two references to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania until I got an email from Annie:

"It appears at around 2:36 (the clip is 7:32 minutes long), Harry Welsh is sitting with Carwood Lipton and the voice over narration says:

'Harry Welsh! He married Kitty Grogan, became an administrator with the Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania school system.'"

The Wilkes-Barre reference occurs at approximately 2:36 in the YouTube clip below.

Annie also told me there is a second reference to Wilkes-Barre elsewhere in the Band of Brothers miniseries.

However, Annie also pointed out that Wilkes-Barre is not referenced at all in the book that was the basis of the miniseries--Stephen E. Ambrose's Band of Brothers : E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest--although she points out that a Wilkes-Barre reference was included in another book she read on Company E.

Band of Brothers is available to borrow on both DVD and Blu Ray from the Lackawanna County Library System.

Kindred Spirits by Sarah Strohmeyer (2011)

My wonderful colleague Michele L., an avid reader like myself, has read so many books where she came across local references for this blog. She just finished Kindred Spirits, the latest novel by Sarah Strohmeyer, which features references to both Scranton AND Wilkes-Barre in the text.

From the inside cover:

When life gives you lemons, call your best girlfriends and whip up some lemon martinis. Such is the mantra for the Ladies' Society for the Conservation of Martinis, which was established after one fateful PTA meeting, when four young mothers-Lynne, Mary Kay, Beth, and Carol- discovered they had more in common than they ever thought possible. Meeting once a month, the women would share laughs and secrets and toast to their blossoming friendship with a clink of their sacred martini glasses. The Society was their salvation, their refuge, but when life-shattering circumstances force the group to dissolve, their friendship is never quite the same...until two years later, when a tragic event puts the Society back in session.

When Lynne passes away suddenly, she leaves behind one simple request: that her old friends sort through her belongings. Reluctantly, the women reunite to rummage through her closets. There's nothing remarkable; no kinky sex toys, no embarrassing diary. But buried deep within Lynne's lingerie drawer is an envelope addressed to the Society. And inside they find a letter that reveals a shocking secret and a final wish that will send the women on a life-changing journey...proving that nothing is more powerful than the will of a true girlfriend and a good, strong martini.

Kindred Spirits includes one reference to Scranton on page 68, when the friends are reading Lynn's letter:

"I made it to Scranton, but from there could only afford to go as far as as Waterbury, Connecticut."

The three Wilkes-Barre references appear on the following pages of the novel:

p. 195

"'If you happen to be passing by Wilkes-Barre on your way back to Connecticut, you might want to check out the Crescent Hollow area.'"

p. 227

"Now, exhausted, they headed to a hotel near Wilkes-Barre to recoup."

p. 229

"She pumped the brakes and took a turn down the wooded serpentine road in what, according to her GPS, promised to be a shortcut to 1-84 that would bypass the hassle of going through Wilkes-Barre."

Kindred Spirits is available to borrow from the Lackawanna County Library System. Click here to place a hold; to place a hold on the large print edition, click here.

Much thanks to Michele L. for this reference.

"Lackwanna Twilight" from Honey and Salt by Carl Sandburg (1963)

At the conclusion of his profile of his life in the Aug./Sept. 2010 issue of Irish America magazine, the late actor/playwright Jason Miller excitedly pulled a volume of poems off his shelf and reads aloud a poem to the interviewer, Robert Currin. The volume Mr. Miller selected was Honey and Salt by three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author Carl Sandburg, and the poem was titled Lackawanna Twilight.

The Scranton and Wilkes-Barre (misspelled in the poem) references occur in the second stanza of Lackawanna Twilight:

"Miner with dinner buckets and
headlamps, state constabulary on
horses, guns in holsters, Scranton,
Wilkesbarre, the Lackawanna Trail.

Honey and Salt by Carl Sandburg is available to borrow from the Lackawanna County Library System; to place a hold, click here. You can also read Lackawanna Twilight on page 4 of the online version of the Jason Miller profile from Irish America by clicking here.

The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow by Joyce Magnin (2009)

My friend and colleague Michele L. is an ace at finding Scranton and Wilkes-Barre references in books because she has eagle eyes and reads everything. She recently told me about a number of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre references in the 2009 novel The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow by Havertown native Joyce Magnin.

Set in fictional Bright's Pond, PA, The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow tells the story of a reclusive woman, Agnes Sparrow, where she is cared for by her long-suffering sister Griselda. Agnes Sparrow prays and when Agnes prays things happen, setting the small town (and its residents) aflutter--then a new town sign is erected with Agnes's name (which makes Agnes aflutter--and angry).

The Scranton references occur on the following pages:

p. 9 "Milton and his wife, Darcy, were fresh from the big city, if you can call Scranton a big city."

p. 108 "'Good news, Agnes,' he said. 'Your sign is all finished and on its way to Scranton. Be here the day after tomorrow.'"

p. 109 "The sign arrived that Thursday on the back of a long flatbead truck with the name Scranton Sign Company in gold letters on the side of the cab."

p. 143 "'How did this come about?' I asked. 'The Pearly Gates only go to big towns like Scranton and Philadelphia.'"

p. 161 "'Stu was down in Scranton making certain they got the name right this time,' Boris said."

Wilkes-Barre is mentioned in the following two passages in the book:

p. 161 "'I have family in Wilkes-Barre so I spent some time there--got a sister and two nieces.'"

p. 227 "The funeral, one of the saddest I had ever attended, took place down in Wilkes-Barre two days after Easter Sunday."

The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow is available to borrow from the Lackawanna County Library System. Click here to place a hold; if you'd rather read the large print edition, click here.

Much thanks to mega-genius Michele L. for this reference.

www.joycemagnin.com

Double Wedding (1937)

Eagle-eyed Don McKeon, who has regularly contributed wonderful Scranton and Wilkes-Barre references to the movie blog, recently told me about a hilarious screwball romantic comedy from the mid-30s, starring Myrna Loy and William Powell (The Thin Man film series), that prominently features a sign reading "YOU ARE NOW LEAVING WILKES-BARRE. COME AGAIN" throughout the film. The film is 1937's Double Wedding and it was produced by Wilkes-Barre native Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who added references to Wilkes-Barre to almost every film he was a part of---from films he wrote/directed such as Oscar winners A Letter To Three Wives to All About Eve , to films he produced such as Reunion in France.

Double Wedding is the story of dress shop employee Margit (Myrna Loy), who is a major overbearing control freak over her sister Irene's (Florence Rice) life--even over Irene's fiance Waldo's (John Beal) life. When Irene, an aspiring actress, falls under the spell of eccentric film director and painter Charles Lodge (William Powell) and suddenly breaks off her engagement to Waldo, Margit is furious and will do everything in her power to make the wedding happen and distance her sister from the crazy director who lives in an auto trailer with a sign reading "YOU ARE NOW LEAVING WILKES-BARRE. COME AGAIN." pasted on the side.

The final 10 minutes of the film are some the funniest scenes I've ever seen in a movie.

Below are several screen shots taken from the film where the "YOU ARE NOW LEAVING WILKES-BARRE. COME AGAIN." sign is prominently displayed in the scene. There are several other scenes in the film where the sign is displayed but partially obscured. Click on any onf the images below for a closer view.

3:33 Irene (Florence Rice) and Waldo (John Beal) leave Charles Lodge's auto trailer after a rehearsal.

23:10 Margit (Myrna Loy) stares at the curious sign on Charles Lodge's auto trailer as she prepares to confront him about her sister.

31:21 Charles Lodge(William Powell) exits his auto trailer in the rain to answer a phone call at a neighboring business (he is alerted to all calls for him by a gong in his auto trailer).

37:14 Slowly warming up to each other, Margit (Myrna Loy) and Charles (William Powell) have a picnic in front of his auto trailer.

40:32 As Charles lay sleeping outside after the picnic, Margit (Myrna Loy) hops into his car and drives off with it and the attached auto trailer.

45:44 Margit (Myrna Loy) angrily storms into Charles's auto trailer after seeing him with her sister, after he promised to stay away from her.

Double Wedding is included on the DVD box set The Myrna Loy and William Powell Collection and is available to borrow from the Lackawanna County Library System. To place a hold, click here.

Much thanks again to Don McKeon for another great reference.

"Rogues' Gallery" Author Michael Gross Cites Scranton Public Library and Scranton/W-B in Entertainment Blog on His Web Site

My mouth is agape at this moment.

Today I posted an entry on the book "Rogues' Gallery" by author Michael Gross, which features a reference to Wilkes-Barre. After lunch, I went to his website (which is awesome, by the way); in a matter of hours, not only has Mr. Gross seen the entry on our blog, but he also made reference to both the Entertainment Blog AND Scranton Public Library on his official web site.

I did a screenshot of his website above. Click on the image for a larger view.

And Mr. Gross? I am absolutely speechless. Thank you :-)

www.mgross.com

Rogues' Gallery: The Secret History of the Moguls and the Money That Made the Metropolitan Museum by Michael Gross (2009)

Who knew Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania played a part (a teeny, tiny part, but STILL a part) in the one of the most renowned museums in the world--the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City?

My colleague Michele L. read this book late last year and was so excited to tell me about the Wilkes-Barre references in the book.

Rogues' Gallery by Michael Gross tells the compelling true story of the coupling of art with commerce (and mystery) that has made New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art what it is today.

The Wilkes-Barre reference appears on page 267 of the text, among biographical information on Charles Bierer Wrightsman, an art collector whose paintings were acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

"After an elite education (Exeter, Stanford, Columbia), Charlie became a naval pilot and met his first wife, Irene Stafford, a socially prominent girl from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in the winter of 1921 in Miami."

Rogues' Gallery by Michael Gross is available in Hardcover for purchase online from Barnes & Noble and Borders. A paperback edition of the book will be available May 11, 2010.

Kudos to Michele L. for this reference.

www.mgross.com

Can Anyone Identify The Title of This Book With a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Reference?

Here is something you can maybe help me out with.

Kathy Avvakumovits, a fan of the blog, is trying to remember a book she read as a child that included a reference to both Wilkes-Barre and Scranton. She sent me the following email:

"I am trying to remember a novel I read as a kid – it takes place near W-B and Scranton, it is about a hard-boiled businessman who whistles “A Pretty Girl is like a Melody” (Irving Berlin) and somehow becomes involved with an orphanage (?) run by a courageous priest. I don’t remember the details, but I do remember a dialogue in the beginning when someone asks him if he’s ever been to (town x) and he says “I’ve been to Scranton and Wilkes-Barre,” and then the other person (probably a pretty young woman) goes , “then you’ve been very close to (town x).

I read this book many times over. I think I got it off my parents’ “reject” bookshelf in the garage. I don’t think it is a towering literary achievement but it was a good read, “inspiring.”

Can you help me remember this book?"

Does anyone out there have an idea what this particular book was titled? If so, please email me at bcronauer@albright.org and let's give Kathy an answer. Thanks :-)

UPDATED 4/7/10 Mystery solved by Kathy herself. The book she was referring to was The Miracle of the Bells by Russell Janney. There is a previous blog entry about the 1948 film version starring Frank Sinatra, Fred MacMurray and (Alida) Valli. The film was also filmed in several parts of Luzerne County, including Wilkes-Barre, Plains and Glen Lyon. The blog entry is at http://wb-scranton-movies.blogspot.com/2006/05/miracle-of-bells-1948.html

Go to the 1:27 mark in the Miracle of the Bells clip below and see the film's first Wilkes-Barre reference.

You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried: The Brat Pack, John Hughes and Their Impact on a Generation by Susannah Gora (2010)

I am totally loving the just-published book about the making of and cultural impact of the teen movies of the 1980s. The book, titled You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried: The Brat Pack, John Hughes, and Their Impact on a Generation by Susannah Gora, focuses on the films that were the Citizen Kane of children of the 80s (like myself) such as Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Pretty in Pink, and St. Elmo's Fire. The book features interviews from the actors and filmmakers responsible for these classic flicks, such as Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, Matthew Broderick, John Cryer and Anthony Michael Hall.

Noticeably absent from the list of actors interviewed for the book is Wilkes-Barre native Michael Schoeffling, who played "dreamy" Jake Ryan in the seminal teen 80s film Sixteen Candles. Schoeffling now leads a quiet and private life with his family in northeastern Pennsylvania.

However, pages 30-31 gives a brief biography and description of Schoeffling's career up to the filming of Sixteen Candles:

"Michael Schoeffling was born December 10, 1960 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and grew up in southern New Jersey, the second of three brothers."

You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried: The Brat Pack, John Hughes, and Their Impact on a Generation is presently not available to borrow from Albright Memorial Library. But who knows? Maybe I'll donate my copy to the collection after I finish reading it. To purchase a copy of the book from author Susannah Gora's website, click here.

For a previous blog entry on Michael Schoeffling, click here.

www.SusannahGora.com

Long Live the Queen by Lisa Lampanelli (2008/2009)

Lisa Lampinelli is a top name on the comedy circuit; she even played Wilkes-Barre's FM Kirby Center on May 2, 2008. Her humor has often been described as raunchy, vulgar, and extremely un-PC. My brother is a HUGE fan of hers and lent me her most recent comedy CD, 2009's Long Live The Queen, this past weekend. In between my huge guffaws and expressions of shock, I was also pleasantly surprised to hear her say "Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania" on one of the track.

Long Live The Queen is taken from Lisa Lampanelli's very first HBO special of the same name, which was recorded on November 21, 2008 in Santa Rosa, CA and first aired on HBO on January 31, 2009. The live CD and DVD of the performance were both released on March 31st, 2009.

Track number 8 on the CD, titled "Bagging A Bear," details Lisa's very first date with a professional athlete, a player for the Chicago Bears; in Lisa's words, the date was a "one hour stand". She then expresses some words of wisdom gained from her experience to her audience:

"So seriously, Santa Rosa b____s, BEWARE!
Tonight you'll get some good lovin'. HMMPF.
The next night, you'll be on stage in
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania!"

Much thanks to my brother JR for this reference.

Video Clip of Vivien Leigh Singing "Wilkes-Barre, PA" from Broadway musical Tovarich (1963)

Here is an unexpected find from YouTube--A black-and-white TV clip of Vivien Leigh (with Byron Mitchell) performing the song Wilkes-Barre, PA from the 1963 Broadway musical Tovarich, for which Ms. Leigh won a Tony.
For the original blog entry on Tovarich, click here.

Wild Boys of The Road (1933)

Be it consciously or unconsciously, director William Wellman frequently puts tracking shots of maps to show his characters' journeys in his pre-Code Hollywood films. By some coincidence, these maps tend to highlight Pennsylvania, with Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and Honesdale identified in big, bold print. He did it in 1933's Heroes for Sale, and he does it again in 1933's Wild Boys of the Road.

Wild Boys of the Road stars Frankie Darro, Edwin Phillips and Dorothy Coonan (who would marry director William Wellman after filming was completed) as everyday middle class teenagers hit with the realities of the Great Depression. As their parents lose their jobs, the teens no longer want to put financial burdens on their families. So they hop aboard a train and journey east to look for work. Along the way, they meet large groups of teens also facing the burdens of the Depression, and they set up makeshift communities at various stops, at the ire of local police and authority figures who run them off at every stop.

As the three make their way to New York and their dream of securing honest jobs, a map charts their journey---and, sure enough, there in big bold print on the screen, are the cities of Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, and Honesdale.

Unfortunately the Lackawanna County Library System does not have Wild Boys of the Road on DVD; if you'd like to see it, feel free to make a purchase request for Forbidden Hollywood: Volume 3 (which includes 5 other pre-Code films directed by William Wellman, including 1933's Heroes for Sale, which also references Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and Honesdale in a "map panning shot") by clicking here. However, the library does have the first volume of Forbidden Hollywood (featuring Jean Harlow in Red-Headed Woman, Mae Clarke in Waterloo Bridge, and Barbara Stanwyck in the shocking-even-by-today's-standards Baby Face); to place a hold, click here.

To purchase Forbidden Hollywood: Volume Three, click here.

On an interesting side note, William Wellman also directed 1945's Lady of Burlesque, which also features a reference to Wilkes-Barre.