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Joy in the Morning - Chapel Hill World Premiere
by Charly Mann
On May 5th, 1965 Hollywood literally came to Chapel Hill for the World Premiere of movie Joy in the Morning starring Richard Chamberlain and Yvette Mimeux. The reason the premiere was held in Chapel Hill was was that it was based on local writer Betty Smith's novel of the same name. She had been paid $100,000 for the film rights of the novel. This was at a time when few houses in Chapel Hill sold for as much as $50,000.
This is Kemps as the World Premiere Celebrity Headquarters
For weeks leading up to the premiere Chapel Hill was abuzz with preparations for the celebration. Kemp's Record Store became the World Headquarters for the movie's premiere. Mayor Sandy McClamroch temporarily renamed Franklin Street, Betty Smith Boulevard in honor of the occasion. Tickets for the event were hard to come by, but being friends with Kemp Nye helped me secure two coveted tickets. At that time I was in the ninth grade at Durham Academy, a then small private school in Durham that had almost equal numbers of students from Chapel Hill as Durham. I did not have a girlfriend in those days, but was able to convince a very nice and attractive classmate from Durham, named Dianna Brannon, to be my guest at the premiere.
Chapel Hill author Betty Smith
At the time of the movie, Richard Chamberlain was one of the top stars in the United States as the lead in the very popular TV series Dr Kildare from 1961-1966. Everyone was excited about seeing him at the premiere, but he did not attend. The "talk" around Chapel Hill was that some of the movie was filmed there, and that it was based on college life at UNC. Unfortunately this was not true. The movie was semiautobiographical, but it was based on Smith's own romance at the University of Michigan. There is nothing in the movie that sounds or looks like a southern college town. This is probably just as well, since the movie was not very good, and failed miserably at the box office. You can listen to the theme song of the movie, sung by Richard Chamberlain, at the bottom of this article. The quality of the song is roughly equivalent to the quality of the movie. The advertising tagline for the movie may be even worse: "Love is more than a goodnight kiss!" I dare you to work that into a romantic conversation someday.
This is the 1965 graduating class from Durham Academy (then located in downtown Durham, and going up only to 9th grade)
Back Row left to right: Arthur Gordon, Charles Mann, David McGowan, Dan Dye, Peter Anlyan
Front Row left to right: Warrena Delano, Connie Hackel, Daria Witt, Sally Satterfield, Jean Ferguson, Diana Brannon
Comments:
Bob Jurgensen
9:22 PM Sat 9/26/2009
I was a projectionist for the Carolina Theatre during that time in my life and worked there during the Joy in the Morning Premiere - I was however assigned to stage duties that evening and Yvette Mimeux WAS there - I met her personally. One of my best friends, Kemp Nye, bas a bass guitarist for the Nomads... this is a fascinating site...
Phil Hawkins
12:57 PM Sat 4/18/2009
I beg to differ. He did indeed attend, because I got his autograph. I was 13 at the time, and went to the premier without a ticket, just part of the crowd out in front of the Carolina Theater. He appeared on the front stage outside the theater and then went inside to view the movie. I went to the back of the theater as the movie was beginning, and just as I got to the back door area,. he emerged. I was surprised to see I was the only one there, and asked him for his autograph. He was very nice, but in a hurry to avoid any crowds. He gave me his autograph, and dashed into a waiting car for his trip back to the Carolina Inn. I was thrilled! I saved the autograph in the top drawer of my dresser for several years, and one day my mom was cleaning my room, and throwing out old clothes, the autograph was tucked in a rolled up sock I had put it in for "safe keeping" and she threw it out. !!!!!!!!!
Mike Henderson
9:28 AM Mon 3/16/2009
Is that Peter Anlyan the son of the William Anlyan, the former Dean of the Duke School of Medicine?
Terry Jenner
10:08 AM Thu 3/12/2009
The Richard Chamberlain mystery deepens. I did not get into the movie, but stood outside the Carolina Theater waiting to glimpse the stars, and really do not think he was there. You would think if he did come someone would have photos of him in Chapel Hill.
Finally let me say the Nomads are the best band Chapel Hill has ever produced.
BERT
9:57 PM Wed 3/11/2009
And don't forget that the NOMADS BAND played outside the Carolina Theater on a tall stage with the giant spot lights circling in the sky above. I, however, remember that Richard Chamberlain did come for the premiere and although we didn't get to actually meet him on the stage, he did come on the stage with the band to say a few words. Afterwards, there was a private reception at CH Mayor Sandy & Bett McClamrock's house and we tried to sneak in but it was heavily patrolled by CHPD. Yvette Mimeux was not able to attend. It was a very big deal for the band and one I'll never forget. More on the NOMADS BAND in another thread to come, maybe?
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Investment strategies and advice about Apple Inc. and related technology companies by Charly Mann. www.appleinvesting.com
Investment strategies and advice about Apple Inc. and related technology companies by Charly Mann. www.appleinvesting.com
Chapel Hill is located on a hill whose only distinguishing feature in the 18th century was a small chapel on top called New Hope Chapel. This church was built in 1752 and is currently the location of The Carolina Inn. The town was founded in 1819, and chartered in 1851.
What is it that binds us to this place as to no other? It is not the well or the bell or the stone walls. or the crisp October nights. No, our love for this place is based upon the fact that it is as it was meant to be, The University of the People.
-- Charles Kuralt
Dark Side of the Hill -- Pink Floyd, the creators of the most popular album in history, Dark Side of the Moon, took the second half of their name from Floyd Council, a Chapel Hill native, and great blues singer and guitarist. He once belonged to a group called "The Chapel Hillbillies".
Check out Charly Mann's other website:
Oklahoma Birds and Butterflies
http://oklahomabirdsandbutterflies.com
Oklahoma Birds and Butterflies
http://oklahomabirdsandbutterflies.com
There would probably be no Chapel Hill if the University of North Carolina Board of Trustees in 1793 had not chosen land across from New Hope Chapel for the location of the university. By 1800 there were about 100 people living in thirty houses surrounding the campus.
The University North Carolina's first student was Hinton James, who enrolled in February, 1795. There is now a dormitory on the campus named in his honor.
The University of North Carolina was closed from 1870 to 1875 because of lack of state funding.
William Ackland left his art collection and $1.25 million to Duke University in 1940 on the condition that he would be buried in the art museum that the University was to build with his bequest. Duke rejected this condition even though members of the Duke Family are buried in Duke Chapel. What followed was a long and acrimonious legal battle between Ackland relatives who now wanted the inheritance, Rollins College, and the University of North Carolina, each attempting to receive the funds. The case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court, and in 1949 UNC was awarded the money for the museum. Ackland is buried near the museum's entrance. When the museum first opened, in the early sixties, there were rumors that his remains were leaking out of the mausoleum.
The official name of the Arboretum on the University of North Carolina campus is the Coker Arboretum. It is named after Dr. William Cocker, the University's first botany professor. It occupies a little more than five acres. It was founded in 1903.
Chapel Hill's main street has always been called Franklin Street. It was named after Benjamin Franklin in the early 1790s.
Chapel Hill High School and Chapel Hill Junior High were on Franklin Street in the same location as University Square until the mid 1960s.
The Colonial Drug Store at 450 West Franklin Street was owned and operated by John Carswell. It was famous for a fresh-squeezed carbonated orange beverage called a "Big O". In the early 1970s, I managed the Record and Tape Center next door, and must have had over 100 of those drinks. The Colonial Drug Store closed in 1996.
Sutton's Drugstore, which opened in 1923, has one of the last soda fountains in the South. It is one of the few businesses remaining on Franklin Street that was in operation when I was growing up in the 1950s.
Future President Gerald Ford lived in Chapel Hill twice. First when he was 24, in 1938, he took a law couse in summer school at UNC. He lived in the Carr Building, which was a law school dormitory. At the same time, Richard Nixon, the man he served under as Vice President, was attending law school at Duke. In 1942, Ford returned to Chapel Hill to attend the U.S. Navy's Pre-Flight School training program. He lived in a rental house on Hidden Hills Drive.
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May 1965 I was in the crowd in front of the theater, and I have always thought that I remember seeing both Richard Chamberlain and Yvette Mimeux before going over to the Varsity Theater to see MARY POPPINS.