Atlas Shrugged Part II Opens Friday; Will It Mention Scranton?

Part II of the Atlas Shrugged film adaptation opens Friday, October 12th at Cinemark in Moosic.  The novel includes a brief Scranton reference on page 836.  I'm curious if the intended film trilogy will include the reference.

www.atlasshruggedmovie.com

The Medusa Amulet by Robert Masello (2011)

My colleague and fellow avid reader Michele L. told me about "the most random reference to Scranton" she ever came across in a novel--Robert Masello's latest book The Medusa Amulet.

Check out the description below and you'll see why:

"In this new spine-tingling thriller by Robert Masello, the critically acclaimed and bestselling author of Blood and Ice, a brilliant but skeptical young scholar named David Franco embarks on a quest to recover a legendary artifact: a beautifully carved amulet that was created by Benvenuto Cellini, the master artisan of Renaissance Italy. What begins as a simple investigation quickly spirals into a twisting, turning tale of suspense and intrigue, a race against time that carries Franco across continents and centuries in a desperate search for this ultimate treasure—and a work of unimaginable power . . . and menace.

Aided only by a beautiful young Florentine with a conspirator’s mind and dark secrets, Franco is soon caught up in a life-and-death struggle from which there is no escape. Relentlessly pursued by deadly assassins and demons of his own, in the end he must confront—and defeat—an evil greater than anything conjured in his worst nightmares."

The two Scranton references appear towards the very end of the novel:

p. 437 "Finally, the professor in front decided to pick up where he'd left off. 'I used to teach art in Scranton,' he said, and the group seemed to breathe a sigh of relief."


p. 439 "'That statue represents the apogee of Cellini's career,' the professor from Scranton was declaiming, and quite happily."

The Medusa Amulet is available to borrow from the Lackawanna County Library System; to place a hold, click here.

Much thanks to the ever-amazing Michele L. for this reference.

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.

Atlas Shrugged Now Playing at Great Escape IMAX in Dickson City

Though it remains in limited release, the film version of Atlas Shrugged Part 1 is now playing locally (starting today, April 22nd), only at the Great Escape Theatres in Dickson City.

The film is based on the world renowned novel by Ayn Rand, which features a blink-and-you'll-miss-it reference to Scranton.

For showtimes, click here.

www.AtlasShruggedPart1.com

Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 Official Movie Poster and Trailer

Check out the official theatrical trailer and movie poster for Atlas Shrugged Part 1.

Atlas Shrugged will be released in multiple parts. The first installment, Atlas Shrugged, Part 1, is rated PG-13 and will be released April 15th, 2011.

Being that the film will be released in multiple parts, it's now quite possible that the Scranton reference will be included (it appears on page 836 out of 1168 pages of Ayn Rand's novel), but you never know.

www.AtlasShruggedPart1.com

Long-Delayed Film Version of Ayn Rand's Novel Atlas Shrugged (Featuring A Reference To Scranton) To Be Released April 15th--Minus Angelina Jolie

One Tree Hill actor/director Paul Johansson has just wrapped filming of the long-delayed film version of Ayn Rand's 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged, which features a blink-and-you'll-miss it Scranton reference in the text; Johansson both stars in and directs the novel's first-ever big-screen adaptation.

Although it was originally confirmed in 2008 that Angelina Jolie would be portraying female protagonist Dagny Taggart, The Internet Movie Database confirms that the lead role is actually being played by Taylor Schilling (formerly of the NBC drama Mercy).

Atlas Shrugged will be released in multiple parts. The first installment, Atlas Shrugged, Part 1, is rated PG-13 and will be released April 15th, 2011.

Being that the film will be released in multiple parts, it's now quite possible that the Scranton reference will be included (it appears on page 836 out of 1168 pages), but you never know.

http://www.atlasshruggedpart1.com/

Welcome to Scranton by Greg Halpin (2010)

I recently became aware of a new novel by Scranton native Greg Halpin titled Welcome to Scranton, which is set in the Electric City.

From the website:

It's a wild ride through Scranton in this darkly funny and touching story about friends in their twenties trying to figure out life in their hometown. The boundaries of friendship are tested as one of them hits rock bottom.

Welcome to Scranton paints a portrait of a small town that includes political corruption, a disgraced teacher, and the hilarious antics of young men.

The print edition is available online for $9.95 from Lulu. It will be available from Amazon soon.

Welcome to Scranton is also available for the Kindle device and Kindle App on the iPhone, iPad, Droid, and Blackberry devices for only $4.95.

Click here for the Kindle edition.

Click here for the Nook edition.

The official website for Welcome to Scranton also features some groovy photos of Scranton landmarks.

Thanks to the groovy Bernie Maopolski for this reference.

www.welcometoscranton.com

Zombie00 by Brad Gooch (2000)

"It all started at the Everhart Museum."

This sentence begins the 2000 novel Zombie00 by Kingston native Brad Gooch, who recently released the criticially acclaimed Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor.

Zombie00 is an avant garde novel about a strange young man from the fictional Truckstown, PA which, according to Gooch, is "located near Scranton." A visit to a mummy exhibition and voodoo chamber at the Everhart Museum inspires him to move to New York City, acquire the name Zombie, and ponder the issues of dominance and submission in his journey of "zombification." The novel has heavy themes of homoeroticism and sadomasochism.

The first three pages include many local references, in which "Zombie" journeys with his parents from Trucktown to the Everhart Museum, located in the nearby city of Scranton:

"It all started at the Everhart Museum. The way to the museum was blocked by a huge ugly fountain."

The second paragraph of the novel reads:

"The museum rose before us in a park called Nay Aug Park that never seemed quite right."

Page three decribes "Zombie" seeing the mummy at the museum for the first time:

"It was wrapped in bandages. I was amazed that Scranton, Pennsylvania was important enough to be entrusted with one of the ancient Egyptian dead. That made me feel a lot better about myself, since Truckstown was located near Scranton."

To place a hold on Zombie00, click here.

The Associate by John Grisham (2009)

My extra-ultra-fantastic former colleague and all-around groovy gal RY emailed me with the exciting news that best-selling author John Grisham (The Firm, The Client, The Pelican Brief) includes a reference to Scranton in his latest chart topper The Associate.

Grisham's latest legal thriller, published on January 27, 2009, tells the story of Kyle McAvoy, a second-generation lawyer from York, Pennsylvania with a dark secret from his past and a new job as an associate in the largest law firm in the world--where being a criminal is expected of him.

The Scranton reference appears on page 248, where Kyle is being interrogated by FBI agents in a Holiday Inn hotel room. The topic is a rape victim named Elaine:

''She was troubled. Her grades were a mess. She now claims that the rape brought on severe emotional distress. She lived with her parents for a year or so in Erie, then began drifting. A lot of self-medication, booze and drugs. She saw some therapists, but nothing helped. Have you heard any of this?''

''No. After she left school, there was not a word.''

''Anyway, she has an older sister in Scranton who took her in, got her some help, paid for rehab."

A full-text preview of the first four chapters of The Associate are available on Entertainment Weekly's website. To view the page from Chapter 3 that includes the reference to Scranton, click here (it appears a little past the halfway point of the webpage). To start reading from th beginning of Chapter 1, click here.

Circulating copies of John Grisham's The Associate are available to borrow from the Lackawanna County Library System. To place a hold, click here.

Much thanks again to the incredibly awesome RY for this reference. I owe you a caramel coffee, RY ;-)

Charm! A Novel by Kendall Hart (2008)

This particular surprise reference was a find of my mother's, Mary C. Mary is a life-long fan of the ABC soaps, particularly All My Children. Mary is also new to the internet and has proudly placed her second order from Amazon.com this past week. Her selection, you ask? A novel written by a fictitious character on All My Children which has crossed over into a general release for soap fans. When the novel, Charm! by Kendall Hart (Erica Kane's illegitimate daughter on the show, originated by Buffy the Vampire Player star Sarah Michelle Gellar and now played by Alisha Minshew), arrived in the mail yesterday, I glanced through it out of curiosity. Randomly opening to page 25, I was quite surprised to see the words Wilkes-Barre. Exploring further, I happily discovered that Wilkes-Barre appears a total of 12 times (on eleven pages) in the novel.

Charm! tells the story of Avery Wilkins, a young Wilkes-Barre native who moves to New York City in the hopes of creating her own perfume line, chasing her dreams while running away from her past:

p. 15
"'It's perfect---elegant yet modern. You're a class act, kid,' Justin said.
A class act. Avery loved hearing those words. In that dingy little house at 9 Mayflower Street in Wilkes-Barre, taste, tact, and black cocktail dresses were in short supply."

p. 25
"Her mother suffered from alcohol-related Alzheimer's disease, lived in a group home in Wilkes-Barre, and was incapable of using a telephone."

p. 41 (Avery is asked to tell her boyfriend Brad about her childhood)
"'Oh, my childhood was pretty uneventful. Middle-class, Wilkes-Barre, PA, usual milestones: ice skating, braces, boys.' There were no ice skates, no braces, no boys."

p. 63 (Avery meets her long-lost sister Lucy)
"She has a famous mother and a sister who went to private schools. She was more than just a girl from the wrong side of the tracks in Wilkes-Barre."

p. 67
"'Where did you grow up? Any siblings?'
'I grew up in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania...very middle-class, ordinary, no siblings.'"

p. 94 (with her boyfriend Brad at the Hotel de Crillon in Paris)
"It was all so lovely and romantic, but Avery felt out of place, as if a mistake had been made and someone was going to knock on the door and tell her the girls from Wilkes-Barre weren't welcome at the Crillon."

p. 122 (meeting Lucy's mother)
"'I'm serious. I want your answer to that question. if I was just some housewife living in Wilkes-Barre, would you have bothered?'"

p. 179
"She reached the outskirts of Wilkes-Barre...As a child, Avery couldn't wait to get out of Wilkes-Barre, but today she was glad to be back."

p. 183 (visiting her mother at the Rhinehart Home)
"But like all of Wilkes-Barre, it had seen better days."

p. 186 (talking to her mother)
"'And that day you told me to get out of Wilkes-Barre. Do you remember that day?'"

p. 215 (Avery wants to move her mother closer to NYC)
"Avery stood on the lovely landscaped lawn, took out her cell phone, and called the Rhinehart Home in Wilkes-Barre."

Charm! by Kendall Hart is available to borrow from the Lackawanna County Library System. Click here to place a reserve; click here to place a reserve on the Large Print Edition.

Much thanks to my mom Mary C. for this reference.

Love Overboard by Janet Evanovich (2005); Originally Published as Ivan Takes A Wife (1989)

My Judilicious colleague Judi K., who is a HUGE fan of mystery author Janet Evanovich, was so excited to tell me that Evanovich included a reference to Scranton in one of her earlier books-- a romance novel titled Love Overboard.

Originally published in 1989 under the title Ivan Takes A Wife, Love Overboard was the second of a series of 12 romance novels Evanovich penned before gaining fame with her numbered mystery series featuring Trenton bounty hunter Stephanie Plum.

Love Overboard also features a Stephanie as its main protagonist--Stephanie Lowe, a woman who agrees to help out on a voyage of Ivan Rasmussen's Maine coastal cruise, and she goes from considering him "Ivan the Terrible" to falling for his looks, touch, and heart.

The Scranton reference occurs on page 104 of the paperback version. Stephanie tries to hide the fact that she is upset that another woman, Melody, is on board the boat with Ivan.

"'Does it bother you to have Melody on board? I can make more of an effort to get rid of her--'

'No. She really wants to finish the cruise. She lied to Ace about her age. She's only eighteen. Graduated from high school in June. But she was telling the truth about the band. She's from Scranton, and I don't think she saw too many options open to her.'"

Love Overboard is available to borrow in many formats from the Lackawanna County Library System. To place a hold on the paperback, click here. To place a hold on the large print edition, click here. You can also get Love Overboard as an audio book on CD, audiotape, or as a download from Overdrive.

Much thanks again to the eternally-lovely Judi K. for this reference.

The Woods by Harlan Coben (2007)

A few months ago, during the Reference Internships our department conducts every year for other librarians in our district, one of the attendees (and if you're reading this, PLEASE email me with your name so I can give credit where credit is due) told me about a recent bestseller, The Woods by Harlan Coben, that she read which references the city of Wilkes-Barre.

In The Woods, county prosecutor Paul Copeland of Essex, New Jersey is inadvertently tied to a murder investigation that he believes may be related to his sister's case--which has remained unsolved for over twenty years.

The reference occurs on page 373 of the novel, which relates the biography and career of Dr. Tara O'Neill, a pathologist:

"But during her years in Philadelphia, O'Neill had returned home every weekend. She eventually ran for coroner and made extra money working for a pathologist in Wilkes-Barre."

To place a hold on The Woods, click here.

For more information on The Woods (including video clips of author Harlan Coben discussing the novel), click here.

Again, I completely forget the name of the person who gave me this reference, but I know it was one of the following: Mary Jablonowski, Denise McManus, Justine Yeager, Meg Galenas, Mary Wickizer, Terri Collins, or Julie Pacheco. So THANK YOU!

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (1957)

The eagle-eyed groovy gal Barb Williams from Memphis, Tennessee (who is becoming one of our regular contributors to the blog) recently sent me the following email:

"Bill,
I was just looking over the site to see if you had the Scranton reference in 'Atlas Shrugged' accounted for. I'm rereading it now to find it. I'm pretty sure it's in the last third of the book, so it may take me a while to get there. My best recollection is that it comes in a quote fom heroine Dagny Taggert saying something about how important it was to get coal moving from Scranton."

First published in 1957, the classic novel Atlas Shrugged was Ayn Rand's last work of fiction before concentrating her writings exclusively on philosophy and politics. It tells the story of a powerful railroad executive, Dagny Taggart, who struggles to keep her business alive while society is crumbling around her. According to a joint survey conducted by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club, Atlas Shrugged is the "second most influential book for Americans today" after the Bible.

Scranton is mentioned on page 836 (the book totals 1168 pages):

"Miss Taggart," said Eddie, in a resonant tone of severity, the tone of slapping the man into the manners of a drawing room he had never entered, "may I present Mr. Meigs?"
"How d' do," said the man without interest, then turned to Eddie and proceeded, as if she were not present: "You just take the Comet off the schedule for tomorrow and Tuesday, and shoot the engines to Arizona for the grapefruit special, with the rolling stock from the Scranton coal run I mentioned. Send the orders out at once."

A film version of Atlas Shrugged is in preproduction and is slated for release sometime in 2008, with Angelina Jolie currently in talks to play the role of Dagny Taggart. Only a year to wait and see if Scranton will be mentioned in passing in the film.

To place a hold on the novel Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, click here.

Much thanks again to the incandescent Barb Williams for this Scranton reference. Keep 'em comin'!

Bestselling Author Lauren Weisberger at The Scranton Cultural Center, Thursday, September 6, 2007

Blogger Bill C. with bestselling author (and Scranton native) Lauren Weisberger before her lecture Thursday night.

Photo by Mary Barna.
Bill C. and his brother JR with Lauren Weisberger.
Photo by Mary Barna

The extra-ultra-fantastic duo of Mary Garm and Mary Barna gave me the wonderful opportunity of meeting bestselling author and Scranton native Lauren Weisberger (The Devil Wears Prada, Everyone Worth Knowing) before her lecture Thursday night. Lauren was incredibly sweet and posed for pictures with me and my brother JR.

Over 400 people were in attendance at last night's event. The lecture itself was a Q&A between Lauren and Library System Administrator Mary Garm. Through Mary's question, plus questions that were submitted in advance by email, Lauren shared her experiences as a writer living in New York City, her similarities to her characters, and her experiences growing up in Scranton. The lively talk was followed by questions from the audience.

After the lecture, Lauren signed copies of her book for over an hour and kindly posed for pictures.

For more pictures of last night's event, click here.

A big thanks again to the incredibly groovy Mary Garm and Mary Barna.

FREE Tickets Now Available for 'Devil Wears Prada' Author Lauren Weisberger - September 6th

FREE tickets for bestselling author and Scranton native Lauren Weisberger's upcoming lecture (Thursday, September 6th at 7 PM at Scranton Cultural Center) are now available at Albright Memorial Library and other locations throughout Scranton. For more information, click here.

Photo of Lauren Weisberger courtesy of press page on Miss Weisberger's official web site.

"A Message from Simon" by Joseph M. Allison

The exquisite Anna Kilcullen, Young Adult Librarian from the Readers Service Department at Albright Memorial Library told me today about a book published last year that is set in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Joseph M. Allison's 2006 novel A Message from Simon is a mystery novel primarily set in Scranton, PA. Below is a description of the book taken from its item page at Amazon.com:

"The senseless, brutal murder of a homeless man in a small northeastern Pennsylvania city starts a chain of disturbing events. A local newspaper reporter sent to cover the story encounters an odd assortment of mourners at the funeral. One of the mourners, a man named Simon, discloses a message to the journalist along with cryptic references to passages in the Bible. Frank Martinelli, a reporter for the Scranton Sun, follows his instincts through a maze of peculiar occurrences and vague allusions to reach a disturbing conclusion to the strange riddle. A series of unexpected events and personal interpretations lead him to conclude that a cataclysmic occurrence will soon befall mankind. Pursuit of the solution to the enigma takes Martinelli and three unlikely friends, an astrophysicist, a Roman Catholic priest and an editorial writer, from the streets of Scranton to New York City where unforseen incidents change their lives forever. "

Author Joseph M. Allison is a Scranton native, graduating from University of Scranton in 1976 and Marywood University in 1978. He currently resides in Scranton with his family.

A Message From Simon is available to borrow from the Lackawanna County Library System; click here to reserve the book.

Much thanks again to Anna K. for this reference.

Scranton Native/Author Lauren Weisberger to Speak in Scranton September 6th

Scranton native and bestselling author Lauren Weisberger (The Devil Wears Prada; Everyone Worth Knowing) with return to the city of her birth in September as a guest speaker of the Lackawanna County Library System 2007 Library Lecture Series.

Weisberger will be speaking on Thursday, September 6th at 7 PM at the Scranton Cultural Center. When available (I'll post a message in the blog when they become available, which should be sometime in August), tickets will be free with a Lackawanna County Library Card and will be available from any Lackawanna County Library, the Scranton Cultural Center box office and the Everhart Museum.

For our previous blog entry on Lauren Weisberger, click here.

www.LaurenWeisberger.com

Photos of Lauren Weisberger and book jacket courtesy of press page on Miss Weisberger's official web site.

UPDATE 7-26-07 FREE TICKETS FOR LAUREN WESIBERGER ARE AVAILABLE NOW AT THE CIRCULATION DESK!

The Love Machine by Jacqueline Susann (1969)

In 1966, Jacqueline Susann shocked the publishing world when her novel Valley of the Dolls, an expose on Hollywood starlets and their experiences with fame, men and "dolls" (sleeping pills), became a #1 mega blockbuster sensation and one of the bestselling novels of all time (it was also made into a 1967 Hollywood film that became a campy cult classic).

In 1969, Susann followed up Valley of the Dolls with her second bestseller, The Love Machine, which includes a brief reference to Scranton. Set in the world of television broadcasting, The Love Machine centers around Robin Stone, a smart and sexy television executive who's climbing the corporate ladder and breaking the hearts of many women along the way.

More than halfway through the book on page 325, Robin is wandering around the streets of New York City and is approached by a prostitute.

"She smiled too. 'Fifty bucks and I got a room.'

'I got a better offer down the street.'

She shrugged. 'Elsie's breaking in a new one. She's turned only three tricks since she got here. And from what I hear, she still belongs back with the coal miners in Scranton.' "

The Love Machine was another bestseller for Susann. She published one final bestselling novel, Once is Not Enough, before her untimely death from breast cancer in 1974. Another novel, Delores, was published posthumously.

Jacqueline Susann was the first novelist to have three consecutive #1 bestsellers.

Jacqueline Susann's The Love Machine (as well as her other novels Valley of the Dolls - and Rae Lawrence's 2002 sequel Shadow of the Dolls - Once is Not Enough, and Delores) is available to borrow from libraries throughout the Lackawanna County Library System.

City of Light by Lauren Belfer (1999)

The utterly awesome Sameera Redkar from the Ousterhout Free Library in Wilkes-Barre, PA recently sent us the following email:

"I thought you would like to know that in the book City of Light, by Lauren Befler, there is a reference to Scranton, PA and Mr. John J. Albright. You can check the reference on page # 27."

I've read the book City of Light about a year ago upon recommendation of my colleague (the lucious Lenore), and it truly is a book you can't put down--full of mystery, suspense, history and scandal.

Set in the spring of 1901, as preparations for the Pan-American Exposition would seem to promise Buffalo, New York, a permanent place in the world, Lauren Belfer's book is narrated by the never-married headmistress of a fashionable girls' school. At 36, Louisa Barrett does her best to free her charges from their societal shackles. What Louisa is most concerned about, however, is her 9-year-old goddaughter, Grace Sinclair, who has grown increasingly unstable since her mother's sudden death. Meanwhile, Grace's father is heading up Buffalo's hydroelectric power plans with dangerous zeal--much to the chagrin of local conservationists who oppose any exploitation of Niagara Falls. Will Tom's intensity, which smacks of fanaticism, extend so far as murder?

Scranton, Pennsylvania is mentioned in connection with John J. Albright, for whom the Albright Memorial Library was named. In addition, there is a dinner party scene in the book in which John J. Albright and Frederick Law Olmstead (the landscape architect of the Albright Memorial Library gardens, as well as Central Park in New York City) interact with each other.

Three copies of City of Light by Lauren Belfer are circulating throughout the Lackawanna County Library System.

To read more about Albright's and Olmstead's roles in the history of Albright Memorial Library, click here.

To read an interview with Lauren Belfer about City of Light, click here.

Much thanks again to Sameera Redkar for this reference. Also a Great Big Thank You to Lenore from Circulation for recommending the book to me.

The Miracle of The Bells (1948)

The ever-observant Michele Murphy has recently told me about a classic film that makes several references to Wilkes-Barre and Nanticoke.

The film is Russell Janney's The Miracle of the Bells. It was directed by Irving Pichel (Mr. Peabody & the Mermaid), who was born in Pittsburgh. The screenplay, based on the novel of the same name by Russell Janney (of which there are two copies circulating in the Lackawanna County Library System) is by Ben Hecht (1932’s Scarface, His Girl Friday, Hitchcock’s Notorious, as well as uncredited work on 1962’s Cleopatra and Queen Christina with Greta Garbo) and Quentin Reynolds, with additional dialogue (uncredited) by DeWitt Bodeen (Cat People, I Remember Mama and the 1950s TV series “Mr. & Mrs. North)--none of whom hail from Northeastern Pennsylvania.

The film stars Fred MacMurray (Double Indemnity; TV’s My Three Sons), (Alida) Valli (Orson Welles’s The Third Man, Les Yeux sans Visage), and recording legend and Oscar winner Frank Sinatra (From Here To Eternity).

Furthermore, location shoots for The Miracle of the Bells were done in three areas of Luzerne County--Wilkes-Barre, Plains and Glen Lyon.

The film begins at a train station in Nanticoke, PA. Determined to fulfill her final request, a Hollywood press agent (MacMurray) brings the body of an actress (Valli), who died from tuberculosis after making her first and only film, back to her hometown of Coal Town, Pennsylvania for burial. The film tells in flashbacks how fate threw Olga and Bill together, their reunion in Hollywood where Olga (originally a double for the lead actress) is herself cast in the lead role of Joan of Arc in a major Hollywood film, and her death from tuberculosis a day after filming was completed. To arouse public interest, and to get the reluctant studio head to release the film, Bill teams with a local kindhearted parish priest (Sinatra) and creates national publicity when they urge (and bribe) the priests of 5 Coal Town churches to rung their church bells nonstop for three days. The result is, indeed, a miracle.

The first reference to Wilkes-Barre occurs during a flashback on Christmas Eve in Ming Gow’s Chinese Restaurant following a chance meeting between Olga and Bill after a performance. After dinner, Olga and Bill have the following exchange:

Olga
I was born in Poland. When I was quite young, we came to America to a place in Pennsylvania called…Coal Town. Little Poland.

Bill
Near Wilkes-Barre?

Olga
Yes.

In the following scene, back in present day, a shyster funeral director Nick Orloff (played by Harold Vermilyea), who is exorbitantly arranging Olga’s funeral, has the following exchange with Bill after returning from organizing the service:

Nick
Didn’t keep ya’ waiting too long, I hope?

Bill
Ya' got everything fixed?

Nick
Yessiree. I had a big talk with Father Spinsky, and he worked everything out fine. He’s gonna’ give ya’ a solid requiem mass. And I got hold of a singer from Wilkes-Barre. She just happened to be in town.

Later in a montage of newspapers headlines showing the nationwide publicity for the 3 days of ringing bells, a copy of the Wilkes-Barre Sun appears with the headline:

“PENNSYLVANIA’S OWN MOVIE STAR HONORED BY BELL CEREMONY”

When the other parish priests are trying to convince Bill to hold the funeral at a larger church to accommodate the growing crowds of mourners, funeral director Nick exclaims at one point:

Nick

There’s a busload of sightseers in from Wilkes-Barre already.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In additional to the Wilkes-Barre references, there are also several references to Nanticoke, PA in Miracle of the Bells.

The railway station Bill arrives at with Olga’s body is in Nanticoke, PA. A sign also states this fact.

The Nanticoke Journal is mentioned several times as their newspaper.

Nanticoke is also mentioned twice in the following scene between Bill (MacMurray) and Father Paul (Sinatra):

Bill
Father, how much is the bus fare to Nanticoke?

Father Paul
It’s 10 cents.

Bill
Will, a dollar oughta cover it.

Father Paul
Will that be enough?

Bill
Not quite. I need another $490.99, but I may be able to pick it up in Nanticoke. See ya later.

THEN

(FADE INTO)

NANTICOKE TELEGRAPH OFFICE

Bill (to clerk)
Are you sure there isn’t a night letter lying around Wilkes-Barre?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The 1946 novel Miracle of the Bells by Russell Janney, which mentions Wilkes-Barre, Scranton or Nanticoke on practically every page, is also available to borrow from the Lackawanna County Library System. Click here to place a hold on the novel.

Much thanks to Michele Murphy for this reference.

UPDATE 4/7/10 I found this clip of Miracle of the Bells on YouTube. The 1:27 mark begins Valli's speech where Wilkes-Barre is first mentioned in the film ("I was born in Poland.".