CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Hollywood came to Southeast Tennessee 50 years ago this summer.
Planning has begun for a June celebration to mark the release of “Wild River,” a film set in the 1930s about the beginnings of the Tennessee Valley Authority. The movie also depicts racial tensions between blacks and whites as a government agent tries to convince everyone to leave before a new dam floods their homes.
Many people here still remember having small roles in the film. Others recall how actors Montgomery Clift, Lee Remick and Jo Van Fleet; director Elia Kazan; and others stayed at what was then the Cherokee Hotel downtown and dined at local country clubs.
Scenes were shot around the Hiwassee River, Birchwood, Charleston and Calhoun.
Plans are coming together, said Melissa Woody, vice president of the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce’s Convention and Tourism Bureau.
“There’s lots of people around town who were involved,” she said, “and we are drawing on their help, too.”
Recently, more than 100 people crowded into a library meeting room to talk about the celebration. There was more talk Sunday at the Charleston/Calhoun/Hiwassee Historical Society.
The Museum Center at Five Points, which will hold a monthlong exhibit on the film, is planning a red-carpet Hollywood-type party.
There will be an outdoor festival with live entertainment at Charleston’s city park and ferry rides to the Hiwassee River island where a scene from the film was shot. Plans also call for a “Wild River”-era car show on the Concrete Highway, a section of the original U.S. Highway 11 now on the National Register of Historic Places.
Dave Swafford is too young to have his own “Wild River” memories, but he grew up hearing about the movie. One Sunday last year, he took his mother for a drive and decided to look up a particular site where a scene was shot.
“I couldn’t remember where it was. I stopped at a convenience store and asked three people. And three people didn’t know where it was at,” Mr. Swafford said.
The Internet was scarce on information, and he couldn’t find a book about the film.
“But I noticed it said release date 1960,” he said.
So he decided the 50th anniversary deserved a celebration. He began collecting people’s stories and copies of photos.
The local historical societies and the museum center, the Chamber of Commerce and the cities of Charleston and Calhoun joined the effort.
Mr. Swafford had help from Wilbur Moore, who owns W&W Restaurant in Charleston and was an extra in “Wild River”; from Charleston Mayor Walter Goode, also a movie extra; and Carolyn Harris, who played a secretary in the TVA office. Her daughter Judy played Ms. Remick’s 5-year-old daughter in the film.
John and Karen Heifner’s Christian-based Wild River Retreat sits on the island used in the film and includes Ms. Remick’s “house.”
Fay Callaway, president of the Charleston/Calhoun/Hiwassee Historical Society, said this year’s celebration could turn into an annual event like the Christmas homes tour. It could become a major fundraiser for the historical society and bring visitors from the region to the area, she said.