Friday, May 8, 2020

Movies with Alabama Connections: The Revolt of Mamie Stover


One of two films Jane Russell made in 1956 was The Revolt of Mamie Stover, which has an Alabama connection. Let's investigate.

In 1941 Leesburg Mississippi, native Mamie is working as a prostitute in San Francisco. Authorities tell her to leave the city, so she boards a freighter for Honolulu. The only other passenger is Jim Blair [Richard Egan], a writer. They fall in love, but part ways when the ship docks and Jim's sweetheart meets him. Mamie goes to work at The Bungalow, a dance hall, quickly becoming the star attraction. She and Jim renew their relationship until the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Jim joins the army. Meanwhile, Mamie begins buying up real estate from residents returning to the mainland and gets rich selling it to the military. She and Jim meet again, but things don't work out, and as the film ends Mamie is returning to Mississippi.

Marilyn Monroe was first choice to play Mamie Stover, but that didn't work out. She was in the midst of contract negotiations with the studio, 20th Century Fox, at the time and turning down many properties offered to her as a bargaining ploy. I enjoyed the film with Russell, but would have really like to see Monroe in the role. 

Russell handled the hard-bitten aspects of her role pretty well. Mamie tells her story of origins in abject poverty to Blair right away, and as we learn that drives her behavior. She wants to get rich, go back to Leesburg and lord it over all the people who looked down on her and her family. She does get rich, but loses Blair in the end. Apparently, if we go by the ending, she gives it all away before returning to her roots. 

The film is based on the 1951 novel of the same name by William Bradford Huie, born in Hartselle on November 13, 1910. Over his long career Huie wrote numerous novels, non-fiction books and short stories and articles for magazines. Among his best-known works of non-fiction is The Execution of Private Slovik about the only American soldier executed for desertion during the Second World War. By the time he died on November 20, 1986, he had been living back in Alabama for several decades. He is buried in Hartselle, where the public library was renamed in his honor.

Huie served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and his experiences influenced three of his novels. The first was Mamie Stover, followed by The Americanization of Emily in 1959 and then Hotel Mamie Stover in 1963. Americanization was filmed in 1964 with Julie Andrews and James Garner. All three novels have the same narrator.

Some changes were made in the first novel's story on its way to the screen. Mamie left Mississippi for Hollywood to become and actress, but ends up as a prostitute there before leaving for Hawaii. The location was probably changed to San Francisco because the screen version dropped Huie's criticisms of Hollywood. One thing unchanged is Mamie's relentless pursuit of war profiteering. Her poverty-stricken childhood in Mississippi left her with only one desire--to make money. 

Agnes Moorehead [almost unrecognizable as a bleached blonde!] plays Bertha Parchman, the crusty owner of The Bungalow. I've written about her 1973 visit to Birmingham here

Jonathan Yardley, long time book critic for The Washington Post, published an appreciation of Huie and his Mamie Stover novel in 2006. 











Sydney Boehm [1908-1990] was a screenwriter and producer whose career in Hollywood began in 1944 and extended until 1967. 








I think we can conclude Jane looks fabulous in the film, although she does spend most of it with red hair as "Flaming Mamie". 






Money comes between the lovers literally and figuratively. 







This paperback edition from Signet was published in 1964.



This first hardback edition had a somewhat less exciting cover than the paperback.



This inscription appears in my copy of the first edition. 






Thursday, May 7, 2020

Alabama History & Culture News: May 7 edition





Here's the latest batch of links to just-published Alabama history and culture articles. Most of these articles are from newspapers, with others from magazines and TV and radio station websites. Enjoy!


Church marks 200th year since founding
First Presbyterian was also a pioneer in the education of women, with the 1833 founding of the Alabama Female Academy with the church's ...


Former UAB nurse Carolyn Hood recalls 30-year career
Carolyn Hood wasn't so much interested in making history as she was taking care ... Carolyn Hood was a trailblazer in Alabama nursing from Alabama ...


Three Female Alabama Graduates make UAB History
This month's commencement ceremony at the University of Alabama at Birmingham marked the first time in its history that the School of Engineering ...


Alabama native, popular blogger writes first book, 'Mom Babble'
Alabama native, popular blogger writes first book, 'Mom Babble'. Updated 9:49 AM; Today 8:00 AM.


NPR podcast 'White Lies' named Pulitzer Prize finalist
Alabama-based hosts Brantley and Grace traveled to Selma to speak to the people ... Southerners talk about, and sometimes gloss over, the history of the region. Ultimately, the hosts told AL.com last year, the podcast is about race.


Troy Rotary marks 100th anniversary
He recently joined the board of the Pioneer Museum of Alabama. His continuing interest in history and his preparation for the Rotary talk led him to the ...


The Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasis. Look into the details.
... book is based on how she spent her childhood in Huntsville, Alabama. She was awarded the John Leonard Award for her very first book, ” The ...


LOOKING BACK: Memories on the hill
Anne Walker noted in her book The Story Of The Alabama Baptist Children's Home, “The cottages were soon filled to overflowing. And with the ...


ICYMI: Eureka artist uses quarantine to collaborate on alphabet book
Langham, a Eureka High School graduate, now lives in Alabama. Scheer said her daughter's concept was an alphabet book, which would require at ...

WRITING TO REMEMBER: Founder of Trail of Tears Motorcycle Ride pens book
He said most students learn about the Trail of Tears in Alabama through a 30-minute lesson plan. He wants to give students a copy of his book so they ...

Alabama's old bookstores holding on with new strategies, online events
Book sales didn't fall for the Alabama Booksmith in Homewood during Alabama's retail quarantine. Owner Jake Reiss will continue to keep the doors ...


BOOK REVIEW: 'Historic Alabama Bells' and Paul Revere's role
We would be forgiven if we didn't know the role Paul Revere played in Alabama history. Through the tenacious endeavors of Thomas Kaufmann, we ...

Drive-By Truckers release 'Quarantine Together' on Bandcamp
The Drive-By Truckers have a long history of performances in Alabama and recorded their breakthrough album, 2001′s “Southern Rock Opera,” in ...


Are you ready for 'Hunger Games' prequel book and film?
A new book by Suzanne Collins, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” is set ... Collins, a graduate of the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham, ...


The family moved several more times, living in Alabama and Georgia. While in ... She and her husband are buried in St. Luke's Episcopal Cemetery in ...
[Caroline Lee Hentz; she & her family lived more than a decade in #Alabama]

Here, then, are some things you might not know about Harper Lee. Don't Edit. AL.com file photo. FEAR FACTOR. Alabama historian Wayne ...

He will be laid to rest in Herring Cemetery. October 15, 1888—Dr. William Gardner Gill, born April 14, 1819, before Alabama ...


Three women blaze the path as the first females to graduate from UAB with civil engineering ...
Sandra CuttsThis Friday's commencement ceremony at the University of Alabama at Birmingham will mark the first time in its history that the School of ...

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Alabama's Moon Trees

In February 2019 a blog post at the Atlas Obscura site asked, "Whatever Happened to All the Moon Trees?" And the answer is....

First, let's examine what they were. Moon trees were planted from 500 seeds that spent nine days in space and orbited the moon 34 times on Apollo 14 in 1971. U.S. Forest Service biologists conducted the experiment to see if the seeds would germinate. A canister accident during decontamination after return might have meant disaster, but most of the seeds germinated. By 1976 the 420 seedlings obtained were being planted around the country. 

The trees included loblolly pines, sycamores, redwoods, sweetgums and Douglas firs. Seedlings were sent to state forestry organizations and elsewhere and most planted as part of U.S. bicentennial celebrations. One was planted on the White House Lawn; several were sent to other countries including Brazil, Japan and Switzerland. A list of those planted in the U.S. is here

Five were planted in Alabama. You can see photographs of three and more information about them below. A loblolly pine planted August 5 1976, at the Pioneer Museum of Alabama in Troy is listed at the NASA web site documenting living trees, but there is no photo. According to the list at Wikipedia, a loblolly pine  planted October 22, 1976, outside the G.W. Andrews Forestry Sciences Lab at Auburn University has not survived. 

Efforts have been made to document and preserve the trees and their legacy through the Moon Tree Foundation and by Dave Williams at NASA. The Foundation was established by the daughter of Stuart Roosa, the Apollo 14 astronaut responsible for the canister of seeds during the mission. 

You can read about other Alabama trees in Mildred M. Nelson's "Alabama Trees: Chiefly Legendary", Alabama Review April 1953, pp 121-134






This sycamore was planted at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens on February 25, 1976

Source: NASA



Loblolly pine on the state capitol grounds in Montgomery
Planted in April 1976


Source: NASA



Loblolly pine planted October 19, 1976, at Ivy Green, the birthplace of Helen Keller in Tuscumbia.

Source: NASA


A seed from this tree was planted at Cypress Cove, a forest near Red Bay. The land is privately owned, but there are seven miles of trails maintained for public use. 

Source: Laura-Jean McCurdy, "Cypress Cove: A Place of History, Heritage, and Hope" Alabama's Treasured Forests 39(2): 4-6, spring 2020




Friday, May 1, 2020

That Time the Carlisle Indians Played Alabama & Auburn

The Carlisle Indian Industrial School, formally known as the United States Indian Industrial School, opened in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on November 1, 1879, with 147 students enrolled. The institution was the first federally funded school for Native Americans not located on a reservation. By the time the school closed on September 1, 1918, over 10,000 children from 140 tribes had attended the school, but only 150 graduated. In 1951 the complex became part of the U.S. Army War College and today is a National Historic Landmark. 

Among its many notable activities while the school operated was the Carlisle Indians football team. In the early 20th century the teams competed with and often won against powerful college teams across the country. Players were usually smaller than their opponents, which resulted in the adoption of many "trick" plays. Two that have long been standard were fake hand-offs and the overhand spiral forward pass. 

During their 25 seasons the Indians compiled a record of 167-88-13. That 0.647 winning percentage is the best of any defunct major college football program. Over the years Carlisle played away games against these schools and many others and often won: Penn State, Wisconsin, Illinois, California, Virginia, Utah, Northwestern, Ohio State, Minnesota, Harvard, Brown, Army and Cornell. 

The most famous individual associated with Carlisle is undoubtedly Jim Thorpe. In the introduction to his Wikipedia article is this summary of his career:

Thorpe became the first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States. Considered one of the most versatile athletes of modern sports, he won Olympic gold medals in the 1912 pentathlon and decathlon, and played American football (collegiate and professional), professional baseball, and basketball. He lost his Olympic titles after it was found he had been paid for playing two seasons of semi-professional baseball before competing in the Olympics, thus violating the amateurism rules that were then in place. In 1983, 30 years after his death, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) restored his Olympic medals.

Thorpe played football at Carlisle in 1911 and 1912, so he was not a member of the team that played Alabama and Auburn. The 1911 team went 11-1 and the 1912 team 12-1-1 and captured the national championship. 

Thorpe's coach was Glenn Scobey "Pop" Warner, who was also coaching the team in 1914. Warner played football at Cornell and then built a spectacular college coaching career. His stops as head coach included Iowa State, Georgia, Cornell [twice], Carlisle [twice], Pittsburgh, Stanford and Temple. His teams won three national championship at Pittsburgh and one at Stanford. His final record was 319-106-32. He "retired" after the 1938 season at Temple, but spent the next two years coaching the offense at San Jose State.

The 1914 season was not one of Carlisle's best; the team finished 5-10-1. Wins included contests against Albight, Lebanon Valley, West Virginia Weslyan, Dickinson, and the tie against Holy Cross. Carlisle lost to Penn, Pittsburgh and Syracuse among others In their only game against Notre Dame, they lost 48-0 at Camiskey Park in Chicago.  

D.V. Graves coached Alabama in 1914, his final of four years as the school's head football coach. At that time he was early in his career coaching college football, basketball and baseball. He ended up coaching baseball at the University of Washington for 24 years, retiring in 1946. 

In those days Alabama played its home games in two places, the Quad on campus and Rickwood Field in Birmingham. In 1914 the team's record was 5-4, 3-3 in Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association play. Four games were played at The Quad: Howard, Birmingham College, Tulane & Chattanooga. All were won by shutouts except Chattanooga, which managed three points. Four games were played at Rickwood: Georgia Tech, Sewanee, Mississippi A&M & Carlisle. The only win at Rickwood was against Tech, 13-0. Carlisle beat the Crimson Tide 20-3. The Tennessee game, which the Tide lost 17-7, was played at Waite Field in Knoxville. 

Auburn's coach in 1914 became almost as legendary as Pop Warner. As Wikipedia summarizes:


Michael Joseph "Iron Mike" Donahue (June 14, 1876 – December 11, 1960) was an American football player, coach of football, basketballbaseballtennistracksoccer, and golf, and a college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Auburn University (1904–1906, 1908–1922), at Louisiana State University (1923–1927), and at Spring Hill College (1934).
In 18 seasons coaching football at Auburn, Donahue amassed a record of 106–35–5 and had three squads go undefeated with four more suffering only one loss. His .743 career winning percentage is the second highest in Auburn history, surpassing notable coaches such as John Heisman and Ralph "Shug" Jordan. Donahue Drive in Auburn, Alabama, on which Jordan–Hare Stadium is located and the Tiger Walk takes place, is named in his honor, as is Mike Donahue Drive on the LSU campus.
Donahue also coached basketball (1905–1921), baseball, track, and soccer (1912–?)[1] at Auburn and baseball (1925–1926) and tennis (1946–1947) at LSU. He was inducted as a coach into the College Football Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class in 1951.

Donahue was a native of Ireland and attended Yale University where he lettered in football, basketball, track and cross-country. Even though only 5'4" tall, he also played substitute quarterback for the team. He graduated in 1903 and began his first stint as Auburn head football coach the following year. 

The 1914 team became one of Donahue's best, finishing 8-0-1 and outscoring opponents 193-0. They finished their 23rd year of football as champions of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association. James Howell's power ratings system gives Auburn the national championship that year, but the school does not claim it.

Auburn played some  games in 1914 at Drake Field and others at Rickwood Field in Birmingham. Auburn defeated Clemson 28-0 and two other teams, Marion Military Institute and West Alabama Athletic Club, at Drake Field. Wins at Rickwood were against Mississippi A&M 19-0 and Vanderbilt 6-0 in bad weather. In the second contest of the season Auburn defeated Florida 20-0 in Jacksonville. In Atlanta the team beat Georgia Tech 14-0 at Grant Field and were held to a scoreless tie by Georgia at Piedmont Park. In the final game of their season Auburn defeated Carlisle 7-0 at Piedmont. 

In 1914 Auburn was a southern football powerhouse. Carlisle played them and the Tide in the waning days of the school's football program; its glory years had come and gone. In the 1920's Alabama would enter one of its periods of gridiron glory.

The South has produced many great football teams over the decades, but few can match the 1899 Sewanee Tigers. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the University of the South, or Sewanee, a small school in the Tennessee mountains, was a dominating force in the region's football. 

That 1899 squad reached a pinnacle, outscoring opponents 322-10 on the way to twelve wins. Five of those shutouts came on a six-day road trip during which the 13-man team defeated Texas, Texas A&M, Tulane, LSU and Ole Miss. The only team to score against Sewanee? Why, the Auburn Tigers, of course! War Eagle! In that year they were coached by the legendary John Heisman in the last of his five years at Auburn. Sewanee was the only team to beat them that year.

Included below are brief contemporary newspaper items about the games Carlisle played with Alabama and Auburn. Unfortunately, I did not find any detailed accounts. However, we can get a few interesting tidbits of information from these pieces. 

Alabama met Carlisle at Rickwood Field in Birmingham on Wednesday, December 2. Carlisle's "superior weight proved too much" for Alabama, and the Indians won 20-3. Alabama could not make consistent gains against Carlisle's defense. The Indians used "variegated delayed passes which were very effective."

Carlisle arrived in Atlanta on Friday, December 4, for the last college game of the season in the South, a "post-season" game as one paper described it. Of course, no bowl games were played in those days. One had taken place in 1902;  an annual bowl did not begin until 1916 with the precursor of the Rose Bowl.

The Auburn team arrived the following morning. The game "which has attracted much interest over the South" probably took place on a soft field due to recent heavy rains. "Football critics" declared Carlisle to be superior in the open style of play and predicted a close game. Carlisle was favored even though Auburn had not been scored upon all season and had a weight advantage. Once again Auburn kept its opponent scoreless in a 7-0 win.

The Carlisle football team had traveled to the Deep South eight years earlier. They challenged Vanderbilt to a game, which was played in Nashville in November 1906. Vanderbilt won by a field goal, the only points scored. 

More information and comments are below the images that follow.





Carlisle pupils ca.. 1900

Source: Wikipedia



Jim Thorpe in his uniform for the professional Canton Bulldogs sometime between 1915 and 1920

Source: Wikipedia 





1914 Carlisle Indians football team

Source



Glenn Scobey Warner [1874-1954] in 1921

Source: Wikipedia



University of Alabama football team in 1914

Source



Alabama football coach D.V. Graves in 1945

Source: Wikipedia



Alabama Polytechnic Institute [Auburn] football team in 1914
You can read player identifications at the source, Wikipedia. Number 1 in the upper left is the coach, Mike Donahue.



Auburn football coach Mike Donahue, ca. 1909

Source: Wikipedia





The final item giving Saturday events includes the Auburn-Carlisle game.

Source: Topeka State Journal  [Kansas] 30 Nov 1914





Source: Norwich Bulletin [Conn.] 3 December 1914





Source: Bridgeport Evening Farmer [Conn.] 5 Dec 1914





Source: Ogden Standard [Utah] 5 December 1914






Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch [Virginia] 5 December 1914






Postcard showing Rickwood Field on opening day 18 August 1910. Rickwood was constructed as a baseball stadium and primarily used for that sport ever since. The Birmingham Barons minor league team played there for many years before moving first to a new stadium in Hoover and then one in downtown Birmingham. 

 The facility is the oldest professional baseball field existing in the U.S. Over the years other sports have been played in it; rock concerts were held there in the in the 1970's. 

Source: Rickwood Field Timeline





A modern day scene at Piedmont Park 

Source: Wikimedia


In 1892 the park was the site of a football game between Auburn and the University of Georgia. Auburn won 10-0 in what has become known as the "Deep South's Oldest Rivalry". In those days Georgia's mascot was a goat; the team did not officially become the "Bulldogs" until 1921. Rumor has it that the goat was barbecued by Georgia fans after the game.