Jackie Gleason and Phenix City

On June 18, 1954, attorney Albert Patterson was murdered outside his office in Phenix City. He had recently won the Democratic primary for the office of state attorney general. If he won again in the November general election, Patterson planned to begin cleaning up the town which had become a mob haven for gambling, narcotics trade and prostitution. 

Patterson's assassination was the culmination of other local efforts to clean up the town that also met with violent reactions. Government responses this time were swift. The mayor banned alcohol sales on Sunday, but Governor Gordon Persons brought down the big hammer. He declared martial law and sent 75 National Guardsmen to work around the clock raids on gambling dens, booze warehouses and nightclubs. Soldiers from Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia, were banned from entering the city. Patterson's son John later ran for state attorney general, won, and prosecuted the men involved in his father's murder. Only one was convicted. 

Events in Phenix City attracted massive media attention. Even Hollywood got involved; the faux documentary film The Phenix City Story appeared in August 1955. The film starred well-known actors John McIntire as Albert Patterson and Richard Kiley as son John. Look magazine called the town "The Wickedest City in America." 

Edwin Strickland's book Phenix City also appeared in 1955. More recent books on the events include Margaret Barnes' The Tragedy and Triumph of Phenix City, Alabama [1999] and Faith Serafin's Wicked Phenix City [2014]. Alabama author Ace Atkins devoted one of his novels, Wicked City [2008] to the story. 

We can even tie actor and comedian Jackie Gleason, Honeymooner Ralph Kramden himself, to the Phenix City story. Born in Brooklyn in 1916, Gleason developed as a nightclub comedian and movie actor by the early 1940's. Later in the decade he moved to television on the DuMont network. CBS lured him away for his own variety series, The Jackie Gleason Show, which became the second highest rated program of the 1954-55 season. Gleason continued a combination of dramatic acting, comedy, and hosting for the remainder of his long career. 

On Sunday, December 6, 1954, Gleason took a break from his own show to appear in "Peacock City" on Studio One, an anthology show that ran on CBS-TV from 1948 until 1958. Many prominent actors appeared in the stories over the years. 

The TV.com site has this description of the plot of "Peacock City": "An unscrupulous politician takes all kinds of short cuts to get what he wants, until a crusading attorney seeking justice stands in his way." The episode was written by Corey Wilber, a prolific author for television who wrote several other scripts for Studio One. For some reason, the episode is also found as "Short Cut". 

I've yet to determine if this particular episode has survived. The Wikipedia entry for the show says many episodes are in the collections of the Paley Center for the Media in New York City and Los Angeles. 

Airing just six months after the events in Phenix City and the resulting publicity, this program no doubt had a "ripped from the headlines" feel even if highly fictionalized. The episode may be Jackie Gleason's one tenuous connection to Alabama. If you know of others, let us hear about them in the comments. 

People gathered on the sidewalk just after Albert Patterson's assassination

Source: Alabama Mosaic

Two men clean the sidewalk after Albert Patterson's assassination

Source: Alabama Mosaic

John Patterson with Richard Kiley, the actor who played him in The Phenix City Story

Source: Alabama Mosaic

Source: Wikipedia

Early publicity photo of Jackie Gleason

Source: Wikipedia

Source: YouTube.com 

Alabama Natives on the Cover of TV Guide

I stumbled into the TV Guide magazine cover archive again recently and decided to look for some Alabama natives who have made one or more over the years. Here's what I found; comments are below the covers. Some of these individuals appeared on more covers than shown here.

TV Guide began national weekly publication in April 1953. I have limited these choices to people born in Alabama; I'm sure there are many with other Alabama connections. Maybe I'll do a post on some of them in the future. I've probably missed some Alabama natives, too. 

December 7, 1957

Well, a photo of actress Tallulah Bankhead didn't make this cover, but her name did! By this time Tallulah was famous for her stage, film and radio appearances.

September 25, 1976

Kate Jackson was born in Birmingham, but attended school in Mountain Brook. She started college at the University of Mississippi, and left before graduating to study acting in New York City. She has had a long career, especially in television. After a supporting role on The Rookies, she starred in two very successful programs, Charlie's Angels and Scarecrow and Mrs. King.

February 11, 1984

 

By 1988 Jackson had appeared on at least four more covers of TV Guide.

November 18, 1989

Courtney Cox is another Mountain Brook girl who grew up to become a well-known actress, especially for the television series Friends. She has appeared in numerous other TV programs and theatrical films.

 

June 8, 2002

July 25, 1970

Hiding behind the kid on the left and the piece of watermelon is George Lindsey, who played "Goober" Pyle on the Andy Griffith Show and its followup, Mayberry R.F.D. His character was a cousin of Gomer Pyle, played by another Alabama native Jim Nabors. For the record, we have a cat named Goober. 

March 21, 1964

Jim Nabors was born in Sylacauga in 1930. A few years after graduation from the University of Alabama, Nabors ended up performing an act in Los Angeles in which he could use his talents for both comedy and singing. He was soon discovered by Andy Griffith and made an appearance on the Andy Griffith Show as the character of Gomer Pyle. Intended very as a one-shot, the character turned out to be popular and became a regular. Nabors eventually moved the character to another very successful show, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. 

November 21, 1964

September 20, 1969

Nabors' long career in entertainment has included television, films, touring stage productions, nightclub shows and the release of 28 albums featuring his rich baritone. Nabors has appeared on the cover of TV Guide at least eight times.

Cut! Movies & TV Shows Set in Birmingham

            Recently that gushing fountain of interesting stuff, the io9.com site, ran a piece on “the most popular television show set in every state.” The original list was developed by Business Insider magazine and considered show longevity, audience size, critical response, awards and cultural impact. The list included Bonanza in Nevada, Mary Tyler Moore in Minnesota, In the Heat of the Nightin Mississippi and The Walking Dead in Georgia.

And for Alabama? Why, a show set right here in Birmingham, Any Day Now. That article started me thinking about other tv shows and films set in the Magic City.  Here’s what I’ve found so far.

One category of such productions that may come to mind first is documentaries. Spike Lee’s film 4 Little Girls is a well-known example. Released in June 1997, it chronicles the September 1963 bombing of the 16^th Street Baptist Church and its aftermath. Produced by Home Box Office, the film appeared briefly in theaters and has been released on DVD. The song “Birmingham Sunday” by Richard and Mimi Farina and sung by Joan Baez [Mimi’s sister] is used in the film. Sins of the Father, atelevision docudrama based on the role of Bobby Frank Cherry in this event, was first broadcast in January, 2002.  

Source: Wikipedia

Source: IMDB.com

 

A “reality” television series set in the area premiered on the MTV channel in August, 2006. Two-a-Days explored the on and off-field lives of players on the highly-successful Hoover High School football team. The show consisted of 16 episodes; a second season began in January 2007. A third season was planned but scuttled in the wake of problems that surfaced in the school’s athletic program and in the personal life of head football coach Rush Propst. Both seasons were released on DVD.

Source: Amazon

 

Other documentaries and reality shows have featured Birmingham topics and people. The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement [2011] focuses on the role of African-American barber Mr. Armstrong as he is inducted into the Foot Soldiers Hall of Fame and reacts to the election of Barak Obama. Mighty Times: The Children’s March [2004] chronicles an event in the city in May, 1963; the film won an Academy Award for Best Documentary, Short Subject.  A 1985 Canadian production looked at Jazz in the Magic City.

The 2013 film Skanks tells the story of a local group of actors who produced an original drag musical. She’s a Lady: Memoir of a Downtown Theatre is a 2006 documentary about the Lyric. The Amandas is a 2012 Style Network home makeover program featuring local resident Amanda LeBlanc and her team. The A&E Network crime show The First 48 featured the Birmingham Police Department in episodes beginning in February 2009. City native Robert Clem released one of his documentaries, Jefferson County Sound, in 2012; it profiled several local gospel quartets and has been shown on Alabama Public Television. No doubt many other city people and topics have turned up in film and television documentaries.

Several fictional film and television productions have also featured Birmingham. The earliest one I have been able to find is Camp Meetin’, a 17-minute short released in 1936. A church congregation has an open-air tent meeting to raise money so their pastor can be sent to a conference in Birmingham. Acting in the film are members of the African-American Hall Johnson Choir, a group famous at the time. Johnson and his choir were associated with Marc Connelly’s play The Green Pastures, which had great success on Broadway and in national and international tours. A film version was released in 1936, and Camp Meetin’ may have been made to capitalize on their fame. Since I haven’t seen this short, I am not sure any scenes are actually set in Birmingham.

A film released in April 1976 has plenty of Birmingham connections. Stay Hungry is based on the 1972 novel of the same name by Charles Gaines, a graduate of Birmingham-Southern. The film is entirely set in Birmingham and extensive filming was done in the city. Jeff Bridges plays Craig Blake, a young man who needs one more parcel to complete a shady real estate deal. He visits the gym located there and is attracted to both the receptionist played by Sally Field and the lifestyle of the bodybuilders including one played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, who won a Golden Globe award for his acting debut. An article about the filming can be found here and of course at the Bhamwiki site.

Source: Wikipedia

Source: Bhamwiki.com

 

Local filming was done around the city and included such places as the Bank for Savings Building, a house on Mountain Brook Parkway, Joy Young Restaurant, the Country Club of Birmingham, Boutwell Auditorium and the fire escape of the Lyric Theatre. The movie’s Olympic Gym was located downtown on 2^nd Avenue North .

Sally Field has noted that the film furthered her career by showcasing her talent beyond The Flying Nun sitcom and other tv work she was known for at the time. Arnold Schwarzenegger has described how friendly his reception as “Mr. Universe” was in the city. Other well-known people in the cast include Fannie Flagg, Joanna Cassidy, Scatman Crothers, Robert Englund and Ed Begley, Jr. The gym owner was played by R.G. Armstrong, born and raised in the Birmingham area, who had a long career as a character actor in numerous films and television episodes.

A more recent film is also set in the Magic City. Clubhouse was released last October and according to the Internet Movie Database description, “is set in a stately old home in Birmingham, Alabama.” “Sinister characters” attempt to take the home from its “humble” owner.  Unfortunately, the IMDb entry does not say where the movie was filmed. Has anyone seen it?

And what about Any Day Now? As far as I know, it’s the only scripted television series set in the city. The CW’s current series Hart of Dixie is set in a fictional small town in south Alabama. These may be the only two scripted television series set in the state.

Source: epguides.com

Any Day Now ran on the Lifetime network from August 1998 until March 2002 for a total of 88 hour-long episodes. Annie Potts and Lorraine Toussaint played middle aged versions of two childhood friends—one white, the other black—who grew up in Birmingham in the 1960s. Potts’ character has remained in town, where she and her husband and two children struggle financially. Toussaint’s character has become a successful attorney in Washington, D.C., but when her father dies she moves back, sets up a practice, and resumes the friendship.
Each episode featured scenes from the lives of the two women in both the past and present. The show ended after four seasons because Potts chose not to renew her contract so she could spend more time with family. According to the IMDb entry, at least some filming was done in Birmingham.  The show does not seem to have been released on DVD but is apparently available on HuluPlus.

This past spring Moms' Night Out appeared in movie theaters. The comedy was filmed in various locations around Birmingham and Shelby County.

Source: IMDB.com

 

If you have seen any of these productions and have information or comments, please feel free to leave them below. I’m sure I haven’t included some productions available, as well as single episodes of series that were set in Birmingham. There may be an update posting in the future. And then there’s a potential post on movies and tv shows filmed but not set in Birmingham, and another one on novels and short stories that take place here, and yet another one on the poetry about Birmingham, and…who knows?

 

A version of this piece appeared on DiscoverBirmingham.org in February 2014.