From Cleveland's Dorothy Dandridge to Warren's Warner Brothers, Ohio is highlighting its Hollywood connections as part of America’s 250th birthday.
All 88 Buckeye counties are participating in “Ohio Goes to the Movies,” part of the official commemoration of America’s Semiquincentennial. More than 250 screenings include films made in Ohio or by Ohioans - everything from “Gone with the Wind” to “Draft Day.”
The first program salutes Thomas Edison in his birthplace, Milan, on what would have been his 179th birthday, Feb. 11.
“I'm making a bold statement here, but I honestly believe … that after L.A. and New York, Ohio has probably given more to the film industry than any other state in the country,” said Molly Kreuzman, series director.
The program includes several titles by Cincinnati native Steven Spielberg and the Russo Brothers from Cleveland. There are also movies that might have less conspicuous Buckeye roots: The Oscar-winning classic “The Deer Hunter” screens at Youngstown State’s Steel Museum, not far from where it was shot. “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie” will run twice in Champaign County, birthplace of Clarence James Brown III, the voice of Mr. Krabs.
Screenings run through the summer, which could be why the most-selected film for the series is 1989’s “Major League.” Kreuzman said every screening is free and open to the public, and she plans to make them “an event.”
“There will be some kind of a pre-gathering,” she said. “Anything from a red carpet to trivia to special cocktails. And then afterwards there'll be some kind of an audience participation Q&A.”
The Cedar Lee Theatre in Cleveland Heights welcomes Paul Newman’s daughter, Melissa, for “Cool Hand Luke.” The Kent State University Museum plans to display Katharine Hepburn costumes when screening “The Philadelphia Story.”
Because some Ohio counties no longer have any cinemas, some libraries and museums were chosen as venues, Kreuzman said. Her research included creating the interactive Ohio Movie Database. Visitors to this year’s screenings can also participate by filling out My Movie Journal.
“It'll be a little 5-by-8 notebook with all kinds of prompts,” she said. “Each film that you go to, you'll be able to fill out all kinds of information about that film. And then you can score it - instead of stars, of course, we use Buckeyes.”
“Ohio Goes to the Movies” ends in October. In the fall, Kreuzman is planning an exhibit at Warren’s Medici Museum of Art, highlighting Ohio film composers.
“Henry Mancini is from Ohio,” she said. “For quite a while, he was the go-to for movie music. Trent Reznor has now won two Oscars, and I will be surprised if he's not nominated for ‘Tron: Ares.’”
The second day of screenings in the series, on Feb. 12, includes Great Northern Mall in North Olmstead ("Close Encounters of the Third Kind") and the Lyric Theater in Wooster ("Raising Arizona"). On Feb. 21 at Hudson's Regal Cinema, film-lovers can see "The Big Short," followed the next day by "Unstoppable" at Atlas Cinemas in Aurora.
