Hillbilly Holiday, 2005: Required Viewing, Part II

May 12th, 2005 at 6:16 am (East Tennessee and The South, Travel)

A continuation of Hillbilly Holiday, 2005, Required Viewing, Part II of III. This one is Connections to Appalachia or Nearby Areas. I posted Part I, About Appalachia or Nearby Areas a couple of days ago. The Required Listening post is here.

Note: Video Detective, the source of most of the trailers I linked to in this post and the earlier Required Viewing post, doesn’t seem to be working right. I’ll give them a little bitty while, and if it’s not fixed, I’ll link to somewhere else.
Connections to Appalachia or Nearby Areas
October Sky Amazon Info and Reviews Screen It Content Info
Last of the Mohicans Amazon Info and Reviews Christian Spotlight on the Movies Review
The Fugitive Amazon Info and Reviews Screen It Content Info
Patch Adams Amazon Info and Reviews Screen It Content Info
Ernest [goes to (fill in the blank)] Amazon Info and Reviews No Content Review Available
October Sky is set in Coalwood, West Virginia, about three hours from the Tri-Cities, and was filmed in and around East Tennessee, primarily in Knoxville and The Secret City. The school scenes were shot at Knoxville’s Gresham Middle School and Fountain City Elementary School. Much of the rest of the movie was filmed in Oliver Springs and Petros. The latter town apparently has nothing to do with another East Tennessee favorite — Petro’s, a chili and chips franchise. But I digress.

Incidentally, Homer Hickman, who titled the book Rocket Boys (upon which the movie is based), wanted the film to also be named Rocket Boys. October Sky is an anagram of “Rocket Boys.”

The Last of the Mohicans, The Fugitive, and Patch Adams were all shot in and around Asheville, North Carolina, just a little over an hour from the Tri-Cities. Patch Adams is just one of many films to make use of the stunning Biltmore Estate. The Fugitive and The Last of the Mohicans featured the beautiful mountain scenery in and around Asheville. Although the waterfall scene in The Last of the Mohicans was filmed in an Asheville studio, many of the most dramatic scenes of the movie, including the last 17 minutes, were filmed along Cliff Trail above Hickory Nut Falls in Chimney Rock Park.

Jim Varney, aka Ernest P. Worrell, lived in White House, Tennessee, just north of Nashville. A little-known fact: Varney was doing Shakespeare in professional theater at the age of 16. Talk about theatrical diversity. There are no two opposites more polar than Shakespeare and Ernest P. Worrell. Know whatta mean? Also, note that Varney’s attorney was named Hoot Gibson. Now that’s country.

Required Viewing, Part III — About the South — coming soon.