VALDOSTA – To paraphrase an editorial headline from The Valdosta Daily Times circa 1985: Valdosta ain’t Hollywood.

Yet, at the time of that editorial, Valdosta was experiencing a bit of Hollywood fever. 

Several scenes from an HBO movie titled “As Summers Die” were being filmed in Valdosta. The movie starred Jamie Lee Curtis, Scott Glenn and Bette Davis as well as, according to the cast list, several names that you’re more likely to find in an old Valdosta phone book rather than on a movie marquee: J.J. Jennings, Fluker Stewart, Ruth Council, Maceo Horne, etc.

Valdosta still isn’t Hollywood but it has again experienced the excitement and traffic delays of a movie production this summer. “Bandit,” a film starring Mel Gibson and Josh Duhamel, filmed scenes downtown and at other locations in Valdosta as well as Tifton, Moultrie and Thomasville in recent weeks.

“Bandit” and “As Summers Die” are only two movies with a Valdosta and South Georgia connection. Yes, a few more movies have been filmed here, a few Valdosta residents have appeared in the movies, and Valdosta has been named in a movie here and there, too.

Today, we take a look at a little place that’s not necessarily the real Valdosta but is part of the Reel Valdosta.

AS SUMMERS DIE

The movie is the tale of an attorney (played by Scott Glenn) helping a Black family’s stand against a town’s powerful white family. The tale is set in 1950s Louisiana, but it was filmed in 1980s Valdosta. In the fall of 1985, a film crew descended on Valdosta, following a shake up in the project’s director, a picket threat by Teamsters and several other delays.

Numerous Valdosta residents auditioned as extras for the movie, which also starred Jamie Lee Curtis and a minor role with Bette Davis. Scenes were shot at the Converse-Dalton House, an Echols County store, the Brooks County Courthouse, Eudora Plantation and The Crescent.

For three chilly November evenings in ’85, numerous local residents waited for hours in their roles as extras during shooting at The Crescent. There is also a tale whispered here and there that the director originally planned to shoot a love scene in one of The Crescent’s historic bedrooms but area residents put a stop to the notion and the scene was filmed in another location.

Shooting lasted for only a few weeks then the movie appeared on TV in 1986. It should be noted that “As Summers Die,” the movie, was based on a novel by Winston Groom, who also wrote the book “Forrest Gump.” 

And, yes, “Forrest Gump” has a Valdosta connection, too.

SONNY SHROYER

Actor Sonny Shroyer lives in Valdosta. 

Best known for his role as Enos in the TV show “The Dukes of Hazzard” as well as a starring role in the short-lived TV show “Enos,” Shroyer has also appeared in numerous films, including “Forrest Gump,” which featured him playing the legendary football coach “Bear” Bryant. Other movies featuring Shroyer include “The Longest Yard” and “Gator,” among others.

GATOR

“Gator” starred Burt Reynolds as a moonshiner in this 1976 sequel to “White Lightnin’”. Portions of “Gator” were filmed in Lanier County and featured the late Jimmy Rainwater (credited as Jim Rainwater), prior to his days of being Valdosta’s mayor, and Johnny B. Lastinger (credited as John B. Lastinger), as well as Shroyer and others. 

“Gator,” by the way, is the name of Reynolds’ moonshining hero of the film. In this movie, Gator is recruited to topple a corrupt political boss, who happens to be his friend. “Gator” marked Reynolds’ directorial debut. And it is considered by many film critics to be an inferior sequel to “White Lightnin’”.

Reynolds also visited Valdosta as part of an area film festival.

RKDS ENTERTAINMENT

RKDS Entertainment hosted the film festival that brought Reynolds to town and a subsequent festival that honored Shroyer.

Valdosta-based filmmakers Roy Kirkland and Doug Sebastian have filmed several movies in the region.

They have written, performed, directed, produced and released the comedy “And There You Are,” the award-winning autobiographical documentary “A Cross Burning in Willacoochee,” the violent thriller “Crazed,” and the comedy “Grandma’s Blessings.”

Filmed in a number of South Georgia settings, “Grandma’s Blessings” opened with a Valdosta premiere at Mathis City Auditorium.

RKDS has also produced the Internet variety program, “The Oh Roy Show.”

DOC HOLLIDAY

Perhaps the most famous Valdosta resident to be portrayed in film is a character who has been played by numerous actors though to the best of our knowledge, Valdosta has never been mentioned in any of the movies about him.

The character is the famous dentist-turned-gunslinger John “Doc” Holliday.

Holliday spent part of his childhood in Valdosta before traveling west to meet Wyatt Earp and become immortalized in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral as well as in numerous movies.

The famed Valdostan has been portrayed by Val Kilmer in “Tombstone,” Dennis Quaid in “Wyatt Earp,” Stacy Keach in “Doc,” Willie Nelson in a TV remake of “Stagecoach,” Victor Mature in “My Darling Clementine,” Cesar Romero in “Frontier Marshal,” Kirk Douglas in “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral,” Jason Robards in “Hour of the Gun.”

Holliday died of tuberculosis in 1887 at a Colorado sanitarium.

JUNEBUG

In the early 1970s, Valdosta must have had some sort of hold on movie producers.

In addition to “Gator” being shot here, a film called “Like a Crow on a June Bug” was made in the region.

Though the movie is best remembered locally as “Like a Crow on a June Bug,” it had a couple of name changes. It was also released as “Sixteen” and “The Young Prey.” “Sixteen” is probably the best-known title. No matter the name, the film is largely forgotten.

“Like a Crow on a June Bug” (1973) is the story of a young country girl who is tempted by the big city life. A few local names crop up in the film’s credits, such as Jewell Futch, a former Lowndes County sheriff, playing a used-car salesman.

The film starred a young Richard Thomas before he became famous as John Boy Walton.

It also starred Mercedes McCambridge, who had a prestigious start in her acting career, winning a best supporting actress Oscar for her screen debut in “All the King’s Men” in 1942. And 1973 was a memorable year for her. Not only did she get to play Ma Erdly while being filmed in Valdosta, she provided the demonic voice that cursed and growled from Linda Blair in “The Exorcist.”

RAY MCKINNON

The region has also produced an Oscar winner of its own.

Ray McKinnon, an Adel native and a Valdosta State Theatre graduate, has appeared in supporting roles in numerous films and TV shows.

His credits include a scientist in “Apollo 13,” “Long Bill” Coleman in the TV mini-series of author Larry McMurtry’s “Dead Man’s Walk,” a role in “Somersby” starring Richard Gere and Jodie Foster. He was in “The Blind Side,” “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Deadwood.”

He is the executive producer of the show “Rectify.”

Several years ago, McKinnon and some friends made a short film called “The Accountant.” In 2002, “The Accountant” won the best Oscar for short film, and McKinnon was seen worldwide accepting his award.

FRIED GREEN TOMATOES

Though a few movies have been filmed in or around Valdosta, none of them really mentions Valdosta.

It took a movie that was not filmed here to make Valdosta a vital part of its plot. Valdosta is mentioned several times in “Fried Green Tomatoes,” though the city does not particularly earn a pleasant reputation from this free publicity.

In “Fried Green Tomatoes,” Ruth’s physically abusive husband is from Valdosta.

When Ruth and her child return to her Alabama home, the husband gathers up a bunch of Ku Klux Klansmen from Valdosta in an attempt to steal back the child.

The husband is killed and a fictitious and suspicious Valdosta sheriff comes searching for the missing Valdosta resident. Instead of finding a body, the Valdosta sheriff unknowingly becomes a cannibal and eats the evidence. Ruth’s dead, fictional husband from Valdosta has been turned into barbecue.

Valdosta’s part in this beloved movie concludes with a murder trial held in front of a fictional and belligerent Valdosta judge, in a fictional Valdosta courthouse that in no way resembles the interior of the historical Lowndes County Courthouse.

So, Valdosta’s big mention in a movie paints the town as being filled with wife-beating, racist, child-stealing, dim-witted cannibals. And to add insult to injury, “Fried Green Tomatoes” remains a popular movie that is often viewed and broadcast about 30 years after its debut and not a frame of it was filmed here.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Another fictional version of Valdosta made its way into the movies as part of “For Your Consideration,” a 2006 film from Christopher Guest, the man behind irreverent comedy mockumentaries like “This Is Spinal Tap,” “A Mighty Wind” and “Waiting for Guffman.”

As with these other movies, “For Your Consideration” featured the usual cast of performers such as Catherine O’Hara, Fred Willard, Harry Shearer, Michael McKean and Eugene Levy, who co-wrote this movie with Guest.

Unlike the other films, “For Your Consideration” is not a faux documentary. Instead, its conceit is that it is a movie within a movie. As “A Mighty Wind” spoofed folk music, “Best In Show” spoofed dog shows and “Spinal Tap” spoofed heavy metal, “For Your Consideration” spoofs Hollywood’s Oscar buzz and how it can affect a cast and a movie’s production.

The film is set in modern times but is about the making of an independent movie called “Home for Purim.” The main movie is about the actors, producers, etc., making this movie that is generating Oscar talk. “Home for Purim,” the movie within the movie, is a 1940s/1950s drama about a Southern Jewish family getting together for the Jewish holiday; they try to celebrate though the mother is dying.

“Home for Purim’s” story is set in Valdosta. The Valdosta of “Home for Purim” is entirely a Hollywood creation. There may be some real touches of Valdosta, though.

Why choose Valdosta?

The movie’s co-writer Eugene Levy, who is the father in the award-winning sit-com “Schitt’s Creek,” said, “The idea of setting it in Valdosta, Ga., came from an experience that Chris had where he was working in one of the Southern states and ran into some Jewish people who were using Yiddish words with a Southern dialect,” Levy said. “It just sounded funny, so we said, ‘Let’s set it in Georgia and make it a period piece.’”

ZOMBIELAND

Several Valdosta residents did their best walking dead impersonations in the late 2000s when producers for the movie “Zombieland” came to town.

Released in 2009, “Zombieland” starred Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg and Emma Stone in an undead comedy/adventure.

It also featured dozens of Valdosta residents portraying zombies at Wild Adventures, which was portrayed as a California theme park in the movie.

Throughout the filming, area residents reported Woody Harrelson sightings throughout town as he visited area restaurants, pubs and shot hoops.

WE ARE MARSHALL

In 1970, the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team was returning home, by plane, from an away game. The plane crashed and 75 people, most of the team and coaching staff, were killed.

“We Are Marshall” (2006) portrays how the Marshall community dealt with that loss and how the team came back the next season to play again.

The movie’s Valdosta-Lowndes County connection: “Red” Dawson was a member of the Marshall coaching staff who was not on the plane that night. He lived and coached again. Dawson is from Valdosta. He has family still living here. He took an active role in the movie’s production.

Matthew Fox portrayed Dawson in the movie.