Today is all about the movie Slap Shot. More importantly, taking a look back at the city of Johnstown which played the role of Charlestown in the movie. Fan's of the film know what the city looked like back in 1977, but many probably don't know what Johnstown looks like now. Maybe you live in Johnstown and would like to know where some of the filming locations were. Well this is the post for you.
Then and Now.
We're going to look back at several scenes in the cult classic and show you what they look like today.
But first...
Warning:
1. We will not be covering anything from inside the Cambria County War Memorial Arena. We might do a part two during the season and cover what the arena looked like back then and what it looks like now. You'll have to wait and see.
2. Sorry, no nude scenes. We're not going to do a Then and Now of actress Melinda Dillion who played Suzanne Hanrahan, because this is a blog is for families, and the "Now" would have to be an artist's rendering, and I'm not that good of an artists. We will cover the "Mooning" scene, but won't show any of the film stills from that scene. If you need to see that stuff, we'll give you a moment right now to Google it.
Go ahead, we'll wait.
Okay, back to the blog.
3. If there's something we missed that you'd like information on, leave us a comment, we'll do our best to answer it for you.
4. If you enjoy history, like we do, you'll enjoy this post. If you enjoy Johnstown history, you'll really enjoy this post. But we will warn you, you might get a little depressed like we did while writing this. Why did we get depressed? Seeing how the city was and the way it is now can make you sad.
Johnstown used to be a happening place. It could be again, but we'll save that for a rainy day, which around here, could be any moment.
5. The movie also had scenes filmed in Hamilton, Syracuse, Utica New York, and Pittsburgh Pa. We're only focusing on Johnstown Pa, which goes without saying, but we said it anyways.
Let's get started. By the way all pictures and graphics were done myself, unless stated other wise.
Enjoy!
To refresh you memory: Slap Shot (1977) A failing ice hockey team finds success using constant fighting and violence during games. (from IMDB.com)
Hyannisport
The town of Hyannisport is shown briefly in the film. In case you're not sure when, it's when the Chiefs' bus, and the fan's bus, drives through the town, mooning Hyannisport's fans.
In real life, Ligonier Pa played the role of Hyannisport. Ligonier is roughly 22 miles, southwest, from the city of Johnstown.
The above image shows the location where the scene was shot, in downtown Ligonier. On the top right of the roundabout, you'll see a large building with white pillars in the front. That's the one building that can be clearly seen in the film. You can click on this picture or any other picture you see in this post to enlarge them. (left clicks only)
The number "one" in the yellow circle is the city of Johnstown and of course the "two" in the yellow circle is Ligonier.
Johnstown Train Station
The first time we see the Hanson brothers are when they are assaulting a coke machine because "The darn thing took my quarter." Johnstown's train station is located in downtown Johnstown.
show two things, (1) The yellow line connects the Cambria County War Memorial Arena (bottom of picture) to the Johnstown Train station (top of picture). (2) The blue line shows exactly where the train station is and then leads to the bigger picture. The bottom picture shows inside the station in Slap Shot.
I've been alive for 26 years and lived in Johnstown for 24. In all those years I had never been inside the train station. So, to write this post, I decided to go down and get some picture of what the inside looks like today. It looked almost completely the same, which was great. The bad part? All the doors are sealed shut, and the one wall is glassed up, meaning there's no way inside to the main area.
The train station still operates today, with only one train a day coming and leaving the city of Johnstown, so they have you come into the building via a side entrance. On top of that, they now use the closed off section as a makeshift storage area. The building is beautiful and a part of Johnstown's history, it deserves to be more than a storage area, but at least for now, that's all it is.
This picture was taken through that glass wall they put up. In the movie, Newman walks through the doors to the right of this picture, which means the camera would have been to the left out of frame. I was amazed that the giant wood benches were still there. Below is another picture that was taken from the window in the door, the same door that Reg (Paul Newman) would have walked through.
On my personal blog, I plan to write more about the train station and when I do I'll make sure to place a link here. The station was restored in 1996, and inside this main room, in still appears to be in good condition. The same can't be said for the rest of the building.
Other than the train station, there were two main filming locations in Johnstown. Downtown Johnstown and in Franklin Borough, only a few miles away. The image below shows the two sections of Johnstown. The blue circle shows downtown Johnstown, and the red shows Franklin Borough.
We've made a map that takes a screen shot of the scenes we'll take a look at and drew a line from them to the spot on the map they took place at. As you can see they're all only blocks away from each other, but with movie magic, we're made to think differently. If you go back and watch the film, while looking at this map we've provided, you'll have a little laugh.
1. The Mill
In this scene, Reg and Braden walk down the side walk talking "10,000 steal workers placed on waivers." This is right before Braden waves to a girl that beeps at him while driving by. We'll take a look at that scene next. First, this is a screen capture from the film right as this scene starts.
The streets are packed and the huge factory is in full force. We only get to see a fraction of how big these mills were. If you go to this location today and see the site, it's breath taking on how big the area is. This isn't just the way it looked like for the film, during Johnstown's heyday, this was your average day. So what does it look like today?
Yep, other than the cement wall, and part of the steal fence, it's all gone. In fact, the whole site, except for two or three buildings, has been leveled. In case you were wondering, there are no plans to build anything where these mills once stood.
2. Van Pulls Up
This scene continues from the last we showed. This is right after Braden waves to a passing car. When Reg asks him who that was, Braden says it's slipped his mind. Enter Braden's wife, Lily, speeding down the road, and slamming on the breaks in her big blue van.
Since this is basically the same scene as the one before, only shot from a different angle, you can pretty much guess what it looks like today.
A little more remains in this picture than the last. More of the steal fencing is still in place, and a couple of the power lines inside still stands. On our Facebook page, we did a simple photoshop. We inserted Reg and Braden into the 2013 picture. This is what it would look like for those of you that aren't friends with us yet.
3. Hill Jumping
After picking up Braden and Reg, Lily speeds around launching her van into the air. This is the time you want to watch carefully. If you look at our map and watch were she drives, she's basically driving in circles.
We captured two moments as the van is speeding down the residential streets. The first is when the van almost tips over when it's making a high speed turn. The other is when the van launches into the air.
Just as a quick piece of trivia. The van is coming from a dead end street and if the van would continue straight instead of turning, it would be back at the mill. Oh movie magic.
Now what it looks like today.
Pretty much the same really. Except the building on the corner in this picture is now old and boarded up.
And here's the van jumping.
This is another picture where the Then and Now is very different.
One of the biggest difference you'll notice here is that the bridge is gone, from the picture that is. Last year, maybe it's been two years now, that bridge was moved over, to the right of this picture. The street doesn't look that steep in this picture but trust me, it is. If you drive down to the end of this street and then make a left you'll be at the mill, or at least were it used to be.
Let's say it together this time, "Good old movie magic."
4. Turn Around and Drive Off
These are two quick scenes in the movie, but we thought we'd include them just because they were filmed in Johnstown. Here the first, from the film.
One again in the background of this picture is the main mill site used in the film. In the upper right corner on this picture is the big brick building seen in the first picture we did a before and after of.
Here's what it looks like today, minus the car.
As we've said before, almost all of it is gone now.
Right after this shot, Reg drives away up the street. To refresh your memory this is what we're talking about.
This is one of the few shots in the movie where it's basically the same today.
It's over grown now. There's a nice tree growing where a steal structure once stood.
5. Reg's House
Even though in the film Lily drives all around the city taking Reg home, he only lives about two blocks away from where she picks him and her husband up by the mill. Surprisingly the house, at least the outside portion, is still standing, though it has been updated. I'm not sure if the interior shots of the house were also film at this location or if they were filmed else where. In the film, the shot is a little dark but I think you'll be able to see all the important details.
Reg stands in the middle of the street after being dropped off by Lily. His house is on the left, closest to us. In the background we can see another view of the mills, in full operation.
And this is the site today.
As you can see there's really no difference other than, no more mill, but we've been through that before. Another little piece of trivia, this street is a dead end street. which means, I have no idea where the van was going when it dropped Reg off.
Oh yeah, MOVIE MAGIC.
Well that does it for Then and Now in Franklin, but we're far from done with this post overall. We still have all of downtown to still cover.
Intermission: Right now would be a great time to grab yourself a drink, go to the bathroom, make some popcorn.
Okay. Ready to continue? Let's go. Oh by the way, that popcorn you made smells good.
Downtown Johnstown
People who love history will probably enjoy this part even more just because at one time downtown looked a lot different then it does now. A lot of the scenes off the ice happened around town and we'll be taking a look at most of them, even if it's just briefly.
1. The State Store
Lily Braden was a drunk and was miserable living in Charlestown. In one scene filmed downtown, she's shown leaving the State Store, which of course is a liquor store. She walks across the street taking a drink from the bottle, which is wrapped up in a brown paper bag.
If you follow us on Facebook then you'll know what this looks like nowadays. Incase you didn't see that teaser we put on our page, or you're not friends with us (yet, we'd love to be friends) here's what it looks like in 2013.
The building itself hasn't really changed that much. It's still got the same front window layout, and brick work, except it's now an Alpha Printing store, and not a liquor store. The two buildings that stand beside it, though are different then they were in 1976 (that's when Slap Shot filmed, then came to theaters in 1977).
The building to the right is now a bank, while the building on the left is currently vacant. There is some history here that goes further back than Slap Shot. The building used in the film is one of three historic buildings in a row that survived the most well known Johnstown flood, the flood of 1889.
2. Corner of Main
Staying on the same street we get this view of the Johnstown. This is main street we see and is the street were the parade takes place at the end of the movie. As you'll clearly see, this is another before and after picture that's seen some major changes. First 1977 or 1976 if you want to get technical.
Some times I wish downtown Johnstown still looked this way, or I wish I could travel back in time to experience it myself. Today, the Rite Aid building is gone (well there's still a Rite Aid there, you'll see), and the Revco building is still there, but it's seen better days.
The Revco building is named the Dibert Building. Here is the Dilbert from across the street.
3. King Drugs
This is where the team hangs out a few times in the film. After their huge pre-game fight, this is where Morris Wanchuk describes the injury to his noise as having a "deep cut". If my description is not working for you, and you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's the picture.
This is located right across the street to central park. This building doesn't look anything like it does today, but it still has a hockey connection, as the business that now operates out of the building sponsors the Johnstown Tomahawks.
4. Central Park
Johnstown Central Park is only one city block big, but in Charlestown it's big enough for three rapes and two murders. One of the things that has changed from the film to today is the statue of the dog. The dog that saved Charlestown from the flood is no longer there, it's been moved a block up the street, across from City Hall.
To show you that I'm not lying to you the reader, here's the dog today, and the plaque the city has with it.
Today with the dog moved, central park now has a nice water feature in the center of the park. In the background you can see a few places we've taken a look at during this blog post.
Next to the fountain is the park bench where Lily Braden and Reg talk for a while, and Reg tries to get her back to his place.
Yes it's just a bench but I think it's cool to think at one time somebody like Paul Newman sat in this very spot, sure not the same bench but the same "area".
I have a confession to make. The exact bench might be the one in the background, now that I think about it. Like I said though, it's the same "area".
5. Crossing the Street/ Glosser's Department Store
We combined these two together because, well, they go together. This is right before, Francine tells Reg she's leaving town.
For those not from Johnstown Pa, the Glosser's building is to the left of this picture. Here's a better angle of it from the film. This is when Reg is driving his car.
Today, Glosser's is gone. Now a small restaurant operates on the first floor. Also in the building is a Dollar General.
Glosser's
6. Champions Parade
At the end of the film the Charlestown Chiefs hold a parade for wining the championship. In the real world, this was a real parade that the film crew filmed to their favor. Also a little bit of trivia. The year that Slap Shot was released (1977), the city of Johnstown suffered yet another flood, causing the real hockey team, the Johnstown Jets to sit the season out after the area suffered some damage from the flood waters.
Back to the parade.
This is an aerial picture of central park and the area around it. The orange line is the route (that you see in the movie) of the parade, going from left to right. The Red line, is the route that Reg's wife, drives as she leaves town. Why did we include this? Cause there's some super fan out there who will geek over this. If we didn't write this we would probably have been one of those people.
Here are two shots during the parade from the movie.
If you're not too sure what you see here, or know where you're at, let us help you. Where the trees are, that's central park. If the picture captured just a little more on the right you'd see the Rite Aid building. The car that's in the middle of the frame driving away is Francine, driving off to her new life.
The band in the picture is Johnstown High School's marching band. To let you know where this picture is, to the right is central park. If we followed the band guess where we'd wind up? Did you say the Rite Aid? If you did you'd be correct.
Not seen in this picture but is seen briefly in the film, is a shot of a Johnstown theater that was located downtown that had "Deep Throat" on the marquee. That theater is not longer around, but this is what that building looks like today.
The Park Building, which is the brown brick building in the film that houses the Hello Shop, is still in use today. It's not the Hello Shop anymore though, now it houses the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, and offices on the higher floors. Here's what it looks like today.
Well, we've reached the end of this blog post. We hope you enjoyed it and maybe even learned something. Let us know if you enjoyed the blog by making a comment below or tell us on our Facebook and/or Twitter page.
If you really enjoyed it, let us know, and we'll do the second part about the War Memorial Arena (Then and Now) sooner than later.
For those people who've never seen the arena before, other than in the film, here's the outside today. The home of the Charlestown Chiefs and now the home of the Johnstown Tomahawks of the NAHL.
41 comments:
Nice post, Jon. Very cool to see the then-and-now shots.
What about the bars? I've always wondered what bars they used in the movie. I always think of the one as the Old Toll Gate, but I don't think that it actually is. I know they mention the Aces in it. Was it actually filmed there?
I'd love to see an update on that.
The bars I'm not to sure, and didn't want to post wrong information. I'm pretty sure the inside of the bar where Reg dances with his wife is Aces, but I don't believe the outside shot was.
Good job brother. Coming from a area native and growing up watching the chiefs, my dad being a huge hockey fan, and waiting until i was in my later teens to finally sit down drink a beer and watch slap shot with me was a priceless moment in time. Well played sir, well played.
Anonymous,
Thanks for stopping by and taking some time to read the post. That's great that you and your father could enjoy the movie together. I'm sure it's something you'll remember forever.
The bar where Reg danced with his wife was the old Hendler Hotel that stood on Washington Street where the Social Security Administration Building now stands. The hotel rooms there were used in the scene where Reg drops off the Hansons after they first arrive in town. The bar where the players were watching a daytime soap opera was located in Franklin Borough. It was violently destroyed during the night of the 1977 flood. I'm not positive but I believe that two people were killed there the night of the flood. A small playground and a memorial honoring the Franklin Borough victims of the 1977 flood now stands where the bar was located.
This is a great blog. Thanks for taking the time to do this. Please continue with the War Memorial feature. I live here now, but grew up in Boston. I know the film well and continue to learn the history of Johnstown, and it's great hockey tradition.
Thank you for taking the time to check out the blog and for the kind words.
This is amazing.....love it, thank you so much!,,,
Thank you very much. Hope to do a part 2 soon.
Terrific job. Thanks for taking all of us on a tour of a movie that, no doubt, resonates in the minds and lives of every man. I was lucky enough to see it when it was first released though I will admit I shouldn't have since I was only 12. But my dad was cool about it. Your hard work is much appreciated. Thanks!!!!
A great job! As a fan of the movie, these types of retrospectives are always nice! Thank you!
John, Amazing retrospective. I love this movie and have always been interested in the history. Looking forward to a part 2. - Brian from Saco, ME.
GREAT ! Thank You for all the time you spent making this for us.
I only have one request.... More!
I think I'll be making another trip to Jtown this summer to take this tour and to stop by Scott's for a taco.
I don't have an exact date yet but I am currently working on Slap Shot Then and Now part two. It'll have it's own post, but I'll also have a link on this page to the second part. Glad you enjoyed it!
Great job...
What memories seeing these photos!
I was an extra and still carry my $42 paystub for 2 days work. My wife was a native and I was from New Haven,CT and a Blades fan but I became a Jets fan. I now live in New Mexico. I sold a load of memorabilia years ago like guest passes for filming that sold for $20 each! I then donated some stuff to Ken Blake who runs a Slap Shot website. I was in the scene where Brophy pees himself, banging on the glass right behind him and also in the parade. For trivia buffs,the first day of filming was
March 18, 1976 when Lindsay and Paul are by the dog in the park. The Brophy peeing scene was filmed March 23 and the parade was filmed May 16. Believe it or not, they couldn't fill the arena in the first days of shooting. They would move us around to give the appearance of being full. Once word got out, it was filled but they didn't have enough to pay people, they gave away prizes. I wonder if I'm one of the few to still have his paystub? A special edition paper was printed in 1977 and about 20 years ago the Hansons were making an appearance in CT. I gave my daughter the paper to show them. They had never seen it before. I have photos of that and the parade and the guest pass which I'll post someday. Thanks for keeping the memories alive. My name is Sherman Warner. Some of you may remember disc jockey Herb Ruth from WCRO. I did an oldies show with him from 1973-1976. Sorry to be so long but I forgot how much I missed the area as I moved after the big flood. I was working at Glosser Brothers that night and got home just before the waters hit town. If anyone is interested in contacting me I'm at sw349@aol.com God bless!!
Grew up in Johnstown. Lived there when they were shooting Slapshot. I know where most of the scenes were shot. Not to sure about the bar scenes in Franklin but did hear about one of the bars being wiped out in the flood. Always wondered where Ned Braden's house was and Anita McCambridge's house was. Any info on that would be cool. The Ace's and the Palm Isle were only mentioned in the movie but not actually seen in it. Been in both a few times. This is a great blog. I just found it by accident. I will check back from time to time.
Thank you for the kind words. At some point I'll be making a second part to this post, just haven't got to it yet.
Tell your friends.
This is amazing. Thanks for your efforts.
How many of us in recent years have asked ourselves: "At what location was that scene filmed at?" Brother, thanks for taking the time to reseach that very answer....... Thank You!
Rick, thank you very much for you kinds words. Means a lot.
Jon
Even though I read this when you first posted it, I took another run through it when you posted the link on facebook today. It's still a great read.
I look forward to part two. Will you be covering anything inside the arena?
As far as I know, the actual organ from the movie is still in its original balcony ("Don't ever play Lady of Spain again!!"). It would be great if the arena would let you climb up to get a picture of that, as well as pop into the locker rooms for a quick shot when they aren't in use.
Keep up the good work. I always enjoy reading your blog.
Brennan,
Thanks for the kind words. Part 2 will be mostly (if not all) Arena stuff and I'm gonna try and get everything I possibly can.
Jon
My husband and I just watched this movie & had a disagreement about where the parade scene was filmed, so I googled it & found this blog. He said it was Syracuse & I said Johnstown. Upon reading this I realized that, I have sat on the fountain in Central Park, attended hockey games in the Cambria County & Syracuse War Memorials and been in the drug store all the while not realizing that these locations where in Slapshot... lol... Thanks for the before and after pictures & the trip down memory lane!
I went to Johnstown in March 2000 to see three games in four days at the War Memorial. Came home with my own custom "Slap Shot" souvenir: As I entered the seating area for a Chiefs vs Toledo Storm encounter, and started down the steps to the row my seat was in, the Storm took the ice for warmups. Right out of the tunnel, one of those cementheads (I know who it was - I was looking right at him when he did it!) wound up a shot and just blasted the puck way over the glass up into the corner where I was. It ricocheted off a chair in the row my shins were even with, and then roll-clattered toward me with determination across the backs of the rest of the chairs in that row. Durn! - no time to run, and nowhere to hide! The high-speed rubber projectile strafed both shins, deflected, and bounced down the steps where somebody else promptly picked up a souvenir. By the time I got home from my trip a few days later, it looked like my swollen shins were tie-dyed: purple, green, yellow, brown, magenta, black...
that was fun...they must have had some of the filming done in the winter , grey skys and rain ( film info says summer 76 ). town still looks a little 50's - 60's dated....love that. JON ( tampa )
Going through the DVD right now since it's been awhile since I watched it with the commentary on.
Hanson's hotel room and the bar scene where Lily walks and Francine walks in is indeed the Hendler Hotel.
The first road game was filmed (vs Lancaster Gears) at Colgate University in New York.
The bar where they were watching the soaps is Johnnie's. I thought it was where Buster's is, but that's what they're going with in the commentary. I don't remember Johnnie's looking like that (no pool tables or pinball games, not all of the wood walls), but I was never in there until about 20-25 years after Slap Shot was filmed. Busters - in a previous version - had the same shape of a bar until the late 90s when they renovated.
Paul Newman's GTO is owned (owned!) by somebody in Somerset. It showed up during a Slapshot reunion in the mid-2000s.
The bar where Francine catches Reg was the Sheraton Hotel (now Holiday Inn.) Paul Newman leaves through the Vine Street exit.
Radio station scenes were filmed at WJAC/WJNL
Stuff I'm unsure about that maybe somebody else can confirm:
The fashion show was filmed in the Penn Traffic building. There was a Penn Traffic building where the current drive-up US Bank ATM is, but I think there was another one closer to where the police station is.
The Amoco station shown right after the "Welcome to Hyannisport" sign would be where the Watkins Grocery store is on the right as you are coming into Ligonier. The building is long gone, but I think they just recently pulled the sign (recent being within the last 5 years.)
When Ned gets off the bus early (about 1:08:48), he's in East Conemaugh with the bus on 271-S. The bus is approaching an uphill, which appears to be the bridge coming into East Conemaugh. Would the bar on the corner be the former(?) Iron Horse? The wood siding doesn't match, but I think that was done sometimes in the 80s.
Thanks so much for posting this article as it answered a majority of questions I had about the present state of Johnstown and how it meshed with the movie. Does anyone know whether the "Aces" bar was an actual bar in Johnstown or just a fictitious set made up on location? The second question relates to Reg Dunlap's trip to see the female owner and Ned Braden's place. Do you happen to know if these scenes were filmed in the Johnstown area as well. Please write an article on the scenes in "All the Right Moves". Thanks
Thanks for checking out the post. Yes, in fact the Aces is a real bar in Johnstown located in Cambria City.
Along with hopefully a part 2 of Slap Shot: Then and Now, I am thinking about doing an All the Right Moves post.
So stay tuned.
Thanks again.
Great job! My buddy and I will be going to Pittsburgh this May, and will be going through Johnstown. We're both big fans of the movie (like millions of others), and look forward to spotting some of these locations. Thank you for your time, and hard work in putting this together. It pleases me to know, that some of these sites, and locations are still around. Again, excellent job!!
I live in Scotland and grew up near the old Parkhead Forge, which was a heavily industrialised part of the east end of Glasgow so I can empathise with rust belt Johnstown. I saw the film when it came out and I have seen it many times since on DVD. It had a big impact here too but not to the extent it had in North America and I doubt if there are too many people here today who would automatically know who the Hansons are. I would like to thank you and metaphorically shake your hand for compiling this because it has answered lots of questions I had about the locations. I viewed the film again recently and this sent me off searching about the film's history and production. I am a History teacher and the post-industrialisation shots of the town did not surprise me because it happened here to Scottish heavy industries in the 1980s but I almost hoped the town had not changed. Everything I have read - and it has been a lot recently - about 'Slap Shot' is that it very accurately portrayed life in minor league American hockey and all that surrounded it. Using real hockey players and a location like gritty Johnstown were all part of that.
Well done for such an excellent piece of work.
Tom Green
Thanks for the great post. I've driven through the Ligonier diamond hundreds of times and never realized the mooning shot was done there.
I too, still have my paystub for 2 days of "work" I was in the scenes filmed at the War Memorial of the bounty game. As Sherman said, only two or three sections were filled with people, so they'd shoot one scene with those sections in the background, move everyone to the next sections, shoot the next scene, etc.
In the weeks leading up to the start of filming, I remember seeing Paul Newman in the press box at the war memorial with a six pack off Bud taking in the Jets games...very cool.
One correction I need to point out...Morleys' dog was always in the park across Market St. from city hall.. It was moved to central park for the movie then moved back to it's original spot after shooting.
Great article. As a native Johnstowner I loved the before and after pictures. Does anybody have any insight as to the locations for the houses of Anita Mccaimbridge or Ned Braden?
Great Job, I just saw the movie two nights ago on HBO, I started looking up the filming locations and found the park and the old drug store. I found your site today while trying to get info on Reg's GTO, it's great to see what you have done but I do agree it is a little depressing to see most of the mom&pop shops gone from town. The town looked like a nice place to grow up back in the 70's I look forward to Part II
Great pictures it brings back many good memories for me because I grew up in Johnstown and had the opportunity to be an extra when they filmed the movie. Paul Newman and his brother were really nice guys, they even hung out with us one night at the Incline Pub and we saw him and a bunch of his fellow actors at Aces one weekend. One thing I do remember from those days was how long it took to film just a very small segment or scene in the movie. When I watch numerous scenes in Slapshot I always tell my wife where I was standing around behind the scene waiting to be called, I might also add in many of the scenes I was in with Paul Newman for some strange reason he always had me hold his pretzels while he was being filmed in a scene, Paul Newman munched on pretzels 24/7 he always had one in his hand and pocketfuls of pretzels in that tan colored leather suit he wore in the film, he would see me and say can you hold my pretzels while I do this? In someways it was long and boring but still exciting. One piece of trivia never written was the tricky way they used to get hockey fans or extras to wear their winter jackets in May to be part of the crowd scenes in the War Memorial. Universal Studios would advertise in the local newspaper the Tribune Democrat Free Beer Night if you wear your winter coat as long as Universal Studios served free beer in the lobby of the War Memorial they had no problem filling up the place, every seat was filled while filming, most of those old ladies you see in the movie were really half drunk, by 1 am everybody was drunk. I have lived away from Johnstown for about 40 years, but no matter where I go throughout the country if you say Slap Shot people will always laugh and say that is the all time classic comedy movie....little did I know back in those days I would be in a classic movie.
why was the hymn "chester" played by the marching band in the parade at the end of the movie? also, why was the st. louis cardinals baseball cap used in the movie?
Hey Jon,
Impressive site! I worked as an extra in the film for two days at the War Memorial.
Lots of fun! Also seen Paul Newman shoot a scene by Central Park on my lunch hour
hour one day. Also ran into Michael On Keaton one day & had my photo taken with him.
Can send the photo if interested...
Very impressive Jon, always cool seeing this kind of stuff. I was born and raised in the area, we used to always go to Glossers with my grandma back in the 70's, fond memories. indeed. Also the night of the flood my mother and a neighbor lady went into Johnstown to see slapshot at the theater, they were on their way back home when the flood water started to gush into town. I was 12 years old at the time.
I'm trying to find out what movie was playing in Aces Bar when Paul Newman and some of the team were watching .... something about a guy in a hospital bed with amnesia. If you can help, thank you
But that was MY car.
I live in Utica NY if you'd like some inside photos of our Aud i can send you some. Love your article by the way.
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