Youngstowners of a certain can age readily recall the scene: George Maharis and Martin Milner, stars of the TV show “Route 66,” are cruising in a Chevrolet Corvette convertible down Poland Avenue past miles of steel mills that once lined that route. “You know, Youngstown is not exactly on our course,” Milner says in the opening minutes of the program.
Youngstown is over 1,000 miles from the legendary highway Route 66, but for a few days in May 1961, the cast and crew of the popular show filmed an episode known as “The Opponent,” in and around the city.
Many of the filming locations are long gone or changed beyond recognition. However, watching the episode opens a window into the grittiness and the urban character of the city during the early 1960s. It captured Youngstown as it was just before urban renewal and mass suburbanization – much as the show captured the atmosphere of American life as it made the transition from the 1950s to the 1960s.
“Route 66” aired on CBS from 1960 to 1964. Though named for “The Main Street of America,” as the highway was often called, most of the show’s 116 episodes took place elsewhere. As the central characters, Maharis and Milner played two clean-cut drifters who moved from town to town, working odd jobs and falling into various adventures.
“It was very, very interesting, because no matter where you went, every town had its own personality. It was totally different from the other town you went to, even if it was only 50 to 60 miles away. That’s not true anymore. You can go a 1,000 miles now, and everyone’s wearing the same clothes, singing the same songs, eating the same food,” said Maharis in a 2007 interview with Route 66 News (route66news.com…).
Youngstown’s personality as a steel town, and especially in this case, as a boxing town, led the show to film in the city. “In the ‘30s and ’40s Youngstown was always associated in the minds of boxing enthusiasts as a great fight town,” said Roger Leonard, administrative assistant to the producer, in a 1961 Vindicator article. “Hundreds of good fighters have come from Youngstown, and that is why we figured this would be the perfect spot to do a fight story.”
The episode follows the duo as they seek out a once-great boxer turned palooka, Johnny Copa, played by Darren McGavin. As the opening credits roll, they drive northwest on Poland Avenue past the Campbell Works (where the Youngstown Sheet & Tube sign is clearly visible) and Republic Steel, turning right by the Castle restaurant.
They make a stop inside an auditorium where Copa later squares off against a Youngstown fighter. The auditorium and final fight scenes were filmed at the Struthers Field House.
Maharis and Milner are next seen walking down East Federal Street as it was before urban renewal. There are several amusing segments when extras stare and turn their heads as the actors walk by. You can clearly see one extra pull another out of the way as the duo walks by. That would’ve never happened in Hollywood, but it gives a good indication of what might’ve happened in the many Midwestern towns and cities where the show filmed.
“We’re big wheels out here,” Maharis told a WKBN reporter before filming began on East Federal Street. “When you do it [film] out in Hollywood, who comes out to meet you with a camera and a microphone?”
The pair discovers McGavin’s character, Copa, and Scully, his trainer, (Ed Asner) on the outskirts of downtown at what’s known as the Crown Hotel in the show.
This was actually the Earle Hotel, a small establishment at the corner of West Federal Street and Belmont Avenue. The interior shots, however, were obviously not taken in the Earle. Views from the inside of McGavin’s room reveal the East Ohio Gas (Harshman) and Ohio Edison (Ohio One) buildings in the background. The Tod Hotel was the location of the interior shots.
(Buz Murdock) George Maharis and (Tod Stiles) Martin Milner discover Darren McGavin’s character, Copa, and Scully, his trainer, (Ed Asner) on the outskirts of downtown at what’s known as the Crown Hotel. The Tod Hotel on Central Square (in foreground) was used as the location of the interior shots.
“I’ve never been in this town before,” the broken-down boxer tells them as he looks out the window. “Scully says at the night the sky is all lit up. The shadows and the clouds, he says it’s from the steel mills. He says the clouds act like mirrors, you know?”
Copa’s girlfriend (Lois Nettleton) follows him from city to city. She takes a job as a waitress at “the hottest club in town,” called the Red Pony in the show, which is actually the Alibi Cocktail Lounge, formerly on Boardman Street next to the Hotel Pick-Ohio.
Copa visits her there during a party for the Youngstown fighter (billed as “the pride of the Langden Steel Corp.”) that he’s set to face in the ring.
While Copa walks into the Alibi Lounge, Milner and Maharis confront local gamblers over a bet on the fight in a smoky poolroom. According to the Vindicator, the scene was filmed on West Federal Street, which makes Federal Billiards the most likely location.
During the filming, the cast and crew stayed at the Congress Inn Motel on Market Street near North Lima. Maharis and Milner bought clothes from Squire Shop downtown, according to former employee Linda Rosenzweig Levine. They even found time, along with McGavin, to award the title of “Miss Youngstown” to Nancy Jean Lancaster of Struthers. Lancaster posed for photos with the three actors during the ceremony in the main ballroom at the Hotel Pick-Ohio.
After shooting on “The Opponent” wrapped, Maharis and Milner flew to Hollywood to attend the Emmy Awards, but they weren’t finished in the Valley. They returned the next week to begin filming a new episode. “We have a job in Kinsman,” Maharis’ character says during “The Opponent,” and filming for the episode “Welcome to Amity” (Kinsman was not identified in the show) began in the village on May 16, 1961.
Peck Prior, one of the show’s agency men, had relatives in town and recommended Kinsman as a location. “Prior convinced us that Kinsman would be the perfect spot,” said Leonard in a 1961 Vindicator article.
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A reporter from WKBN (Channel 27) interviews George Maharis and Martin Milner during filming. (Business and Media Archives of the Mahoning Valley)
The opening scene for the ‘Route 66’ episode ‘The Opponent’ (YouTube)
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© 2018 Metro Monthly. All rights reserved.
Very good video of Youngstown Steel Mills ! 👍♥️