Tyrone lit up the big screen in all of its glory on May 15, 1934, at the Wilson Theatre. “The spectacle of Burgess Hagerman taking a ‘snooze’ in the parlor of his (Mr. Henpeck’s) spacious home, and Mrs. Tom Fisher (Mrs. Henpeck) seeking him there, pounding him over the head with a broom, grasping his collar and putting him to work, constitutes real comedy in the introduction of Tyrone’s Hero, an all-talking movie of local color, local settings, and local characters,” according to the Tyrone Daily Herald, which was also a sponsor of the film.
The two-reel comedy had been shot the previous week, despite some delays in shooting the exterior scenes because of rain. Director Don Newland filmed scenes at the Pennsylvania Railroad Station, George Gillam’s home in Hillcrest, West 15th Street, Janesville Pike, and Sink Run. The film played to packed audiences May 15-17 at the Wilson Theatre and because of the large number of people who still wanted to see Tyrone’s Hero, it was played again on May 21.
The Itinerant Filmmaker
Newland traveled from city to city as an “itinerant filmmaker” from the mid-1920s to the mid-1930s. His films used a stock script cast with the sponsoring city’s residents as the actors. Even after movies became “talkies” like Tyrone’s Hero, Newland adapted his silent film script to have dialogue and songs.
What appealed to local communities was Newland’s use of local scenery as the setting for his films. Each production took a couple of weeks to make; then, the filmmaker was off to the next city. Newland filmed in dozens of cities throughout Maryland, Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, New York, Florida, Indiana, and Georgia.
The films also had a stock title that generally used the name of the sponsoring city in it. The most common title featured the name of the city and Hero. However, he is also known to have titled films My Hero or the name of the city and Queen. His Keystone State films were: Wellsboro’s Hero (1928), Greenville’s Hero (1930), Huntingdon’s Hero (1930), Connellsville’s Hero (1930), Scottsdale’s Hero (1930), Wellsboro’s Queen (1933), Lebanon’s Hero (1934), and Tyrone’s Hero (1934).
Casting Call
Newland came to Tyrone at the beginning of May 1934 to select the local residents he would turn into movie stars. He had to choose from hundreds of people who had submitted their names for consideration. The cast for Tyrone’s Hero was:
- Mr. Henpeck: Burgess A. Hagerman
- Mrs. Henpeck: Mrs. Tom Fisher
- Baby Ethel: Blanche Singler
- Katrinka, a country flapper: Mary Elizabeth Vanneman
- Billy Brown, the hero: John Stroup
- Newspaper reporter: Jack Chamberlain
The Daily Herald described the cast’s screen presences, writing, “Close-ups in the film revealed a handsome, heart-stirring hero (John Stroup), who would have made a Hollywood lover feel amateurish. Then there was Burgess Hagerman, who played a real ‘he-man’ part as long as he was out of sight of his domineering wife, Mrs. Henpeck (Mrs. Tom Fisher). Miss Blanche Singler was clever and beautiful, and had a way of making her eyes draw attention. Miss Mary Elizabeth Vanneman, as Katrinka, did more stunts on her roller skates than are ordinarily seen at a circus. Jack Chamberlain had his work cut out for him in his search for a good news-story.”
Six Days of Shooting
Once the film was cast, Newland was joined by a cameraman, a sound engineer, an assistant sound engineer, and a script girl. The film was shot in just a few days, with the public invited to come out and watch the filming. This allowed even more locals to have their faces appear in the film. “All in all it was excellent work for amateurs, who were assembled, tutored and rehearsed, ‘shot,’ and screened all within the brief space of six days,” the newspaper reported.
More than a thousand people turned out to watch the filming of the big crash scene at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 10th Street. Each Hero movie had a similar scene that when watched on-screen, appeared to show two cars crashing head on. The crowd wanted to see how two cars could be made to look like they crash on film, but in actuality aren’t damaged. The crash starts with the cars head to head, and then they back away from each other. It’s filmed at faster-than-normal speed so that when it is played back at normal speed, it looks like the cars are rushing toward each other.
With Newland’s talking films, singing and music were also included. Tyrone’s Hero includes the song “Not for All the Rice in China,” from the movie As Thousands Cheer.
The Daily Herald also noted that during the filming there was one comedic scene that never made it to the movie screen. “John Stroup was busy putting a little extra pep into one scene when a suspicious sound was heard and John’s face assumed a rather embarrassed expression. Investigation revealed one rather large hole in the seat of John’s pants. However, by walking backwards and sitting down frequently he managed to finish the day’s work,” the newspaper reported.
The Hollywood Premiere
For the world premiere of Tyrone’s Hero, the Wilson Theatre hosted a “Hollywood-style” premiere and encouraged people to dress up as their favorite actor or actress that night. An emcee for the evening then introduced each impersonator and had each person come onto the theater stage and play the actor or actress who was being impersonated. Newland had an additional duty that evening: to pick the best impersonator.
The film itself got good reviews in the newspaper. “Laughs came thick and fast through the show. And then there was the mystery element: How in the world did those people ever jump across Sink Run?” the Daily Herald inquired.
Newland’s process assured both good press and high attendance for his films. Since local newspapers sponsored the film, it was unlikely that they would be critical of it. Also, by casting locals, particularly hundreds of children used in an orphanage scene, he was assured that the children’s families would come to see the movie during its short run. More than 300 children from the Tyrone area got to walk past the camera in one scene in the movie.
According to the Canton Independent Sentinel in Ohio, it is believed that only one print of each film was made, and while communities held onto their copies, most have been lost due to neglect and time. Another reason for the loss could also be that the films were nitrate-based, which made them highly flammable, and they tended to degrade within a few decades.
Tyrone is lucky enough to have one of the three known surviving copies of a Newland film. The full, 20-minute-long Tyrone’s Hero is available on DVD and VHS at the desk of the Tyrone-Snyder Public Library.
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