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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 2015)
Big O screens ‘Sometimes a Great Notion’ W What better place to watch the great- est movie ever made about logging than in a real logger bar decorated with chain- saws and saw blades? Well, “Sometimes a Great Notion” is that movie, and the Big O Saloon in Olney is about the best logger bar I’ve ever patronized. It certainly has the biggest chainsaw I’ve ever seen. Ru- mor is: It still works. On Thursday, Feb. 26, the Big O Saloon will reprise its public screening of “Some- times a Great Notion.” The movie, adapted from Ken Kesey’s epic novel about a de- ¿DQWIDPLO\RIORJJHUVVWDUUHG3DXO1HZ PDQDQGZDV¿OPHGRQWKH&HQWUDO2UHJRQ &RDVWGXULQJWKHVXPPHURI7KH¿OP ZDVUHOHDVHGLQWRDQLQGLIIHUHQWQD tionwide audience but remains a cult classic LQWKH3DFL¿F1RUWKZHVWSDUWLFXODUO\LQORJ ging/timber communities. Last year, I approached Dale and Shawrron Searls, owners of the Big O, DERXW VFUHHQLQJ WKH ¿OP LQ WKH EDU WR promote my book about its production, ³6RPHWLPHV D *UHDW 0RYLH 3DXO 1HZ man, Ken Kesey and the Filming of the Great Oregon Novel.” They enthusiasti- cally agreed, and we staged the event on a Thursday night in late January. I thought a dozen people would show up and I might sell one book. I was wrong. The place was jammed; there was standing-room RQO\ 3HRSOH FDPH from as far as Man- ]DQLWD 3RUWODQG DQG Long Beach. One man even bicycled from Astoria. In the dead of winter! After I introduced WKH ¿OP ZH DOO VHW tled in with food and drink and watched a movie containing incredible scenes of logging and log drives of the type that will never hap- pen again because environmental regu- lations and industry The Big O will off er a Hank Stamper Olympia and meatloaf sandwich special, free popcorn, the warmth of crackling woodstove fi re to enjoy the fi lm, and a special musical guest. 4 | February 19, 2015 | coastweekend.com Watch the ultimate logging movie in a logger bar Submitted photo courtesy Nestucca Spit Press The 1971 fi lm “Sometimes a Great Notion” remains a cult classic in the Pacifi c Northwest. Submitted photo courtesy Nestucca Spit Press Photo by Matt Love “Sometimes a Great Notion,” adapted from Ken Kesey’s epic novel about a defi ant family of loggers, starred Paul Newman and was fi lmed on the Central Oregon Coast during the summer of 1970. The Big O Saloon boasts a full bar and is a great setting to watch “Sometimes a Great Notion,” a film about logging, Thursday, Feb. 26. changes disallowed or precluded them in WKH VXEVHTXHQW GHFDGHV )RUW\¿YH \HDUV DJRWKDWZDVQ¶WSDUWRIWKH¿OP¶VLQKHUHQW appeal, but it is today. At last year’s screening, there were members in the audience who logged the old-school way and cut down the monster trees. There were members in the audience who politicked to end that type of logging. There were current loggers, log truck driv- HUV VWDWH IRUHVWU\ RI¿FLDOV WUHH SODQWHUV and members of conservation groups in attendance, too. Quite honestly, it was the most interesting politically diverse audience for any presenta- tion I have ever given. The question-and-an- swer session afterward was respectful and fascinating to moderate. I learned a few things myself. That’s often what happens when you bring people of different perspec- tives together for a conversation about some- thing both sides care passionately about. The Big O will offer a Hank Stamper Olympia and meatloaf sandwich special, free popcorn, the warmth of crackling ZRRGVWRYH ¿UH WR HQMR\ WKH ¿OP DQG D special musical guest. I will introduce the movie and moderate a discussion after the screening if there’s interest. (There will be.) I’ll also discuss new revelations about the legend of whether Newman cut the legs off a tavern pool table with a chain- saw during the production. It’s the story that never seems to die. 7KH HYHQW LV IUHH DQG EHJLQV DW Submitted photo courtesy Nestucca Spit Press SP7KH%LJ2LVORFDWHGPLOHVGRZQ 2UHJRQ+LJKZD\*HWWKHUHHDUO\WR Paul Newman and his wife, Joanne Woodward, enjoy themselves at the wrap party for the fi lming of “Sometimes a Great Notion.” snag a good seat. Matt Love is the publisher of Nestucca Spit Press and the author/editor of 12 books about Oregon, including “Of Walking In Rain,” his account of one of the rainiest winters in Oregon history. They are avail- able at coastal bookstores and through www.nestuccaspitpress.com Coastal Life Story by MATT LOVE
