Dashboards and Saddlebags the Destination Magazine™ Issue 036 March 2014 | Page 24

Film Junkies Guide to North Carolina
Robbinsville - Graham County
Robbinsville is on U.S. 129 and N.C.
143 in extreme western North Carolina
A l l n o t e d N e l l l o ca t i o n s a re i n t h e
d owntown a re a, m ost ke e p d ayti m e
business hours.

T

he theme song from composer Mark Isham’s Golden
Glob e ® -nom i n ated s core
for Nell is called “Welcome to
Robbi n s v i l le,” wh ich i s appro priate, as this beautiful Graham
Count y tow n w ill forever be
linked to t he memorable Jodie
Foster film. Robbinsville is civilization, in contrast to Nell’s wild,
untamed wilderness countr y. It
i s a l s o home to t he goo d doctor Jerr y Lovell (Liam Neeson),
who h a s Nell’s be st intere st at
heart, unlike the cold, hard city
of Ch a rlotte w it h it s un iver sit ie s a nd ne w s me d i a a nd p s ychologist Paula Olsen (Natasha
Richardson).

But Nell wasn’t the first time the
movies came calling. The silent
fe at ure St a rk L ove shot e xclusively in the area. It was written,
produced, and directed by Karl
Brown, a protege of D. W. Griffith.
Brow n insisted on authenticity,
using loc al, unt rained “actors”
(at $25 a week!) a nd shoot i ng
w it hout m akeup. Th i s re al i sm
separated St ark Love from t he
usual silent-film melodrama and
is one of the reasons it is held in
high esteem by film historians of
the pre-talkie era.

24

Of course, film junkies are
more l i kely to rememb er Nel l
which Foster produced as well
as starred in, and for which she
garnered a Best Actress nomination. A good st arting point for
a tou r of R obbi n s v i l le’s M a i n
St re et i s Snyder ’s Dep a r t ment
S t or e , w h e r e Je r r y a n d Pa u l a
take Nell on her tr ip into tow n
to acclim ate her to societ y. In
this memorable scene, Nell
get s a litt le c ar r ied away w it h
her shopping spree. Snyder’s, a
Robbi n s v i l le f i xt ure for ye a r s,
carries a little bit of ever ything,
- t h e fo l k s h e r e a r e h a p p y t o
discuss t heir br ush w it h fame.
Of course, Nell escapes the
little trip and ends up dow n at
t he Blue Be acon Pool & Paw n,
where t he coarser side of an
exploitive society is on display.

Dashboards and Saddlebags The Destination Magazine™