John Mellencamp on Small Towns in the Movies

As part of TCM's From Hollywood to the Heartland programming, in which we highlight a number of films set in small towns all across America, Indiana native and singer-songwriter John Mellencamp reflects on classic Hollywood's portrayals of small-town life in films such as Picnic (1955), Paper Moon (1973), East of Eden (1955) and The Music Man (1962).
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[@utubeAgape]

I am a big fan of John Mellencamp and admire his talent and wisdom. I grew up in a small town. I miss many of the childhood memories of those times but I will never miss the small town minds that force conformity and punish with stigma the individuals with different ideals.

[@craig2e46]

I grew up in a small town south of Detroit. It's not really small now but it was then. I've been to Seymour Indiana to visit some of Mellencamp's old stomping grounds. Very nice little town. Saw the places where he filmed a bunch of his music videos got to meet the former mayor of the Town very nice guy. He was working part time at the Welcome Center and gift shop. Really good food at one of the local restaurants. I definitely will be going back for another visit. Also that's where Mellencamp filmed the movie falling from Grace. I ate in the restaurant where he filmed the scene with himself and Claude Akins. Mellencamp fans should try to make the trip and see the city.

[@donnareed9060]

Thank you JCM… ( you will always be JCM to me). Watching TCM always takes me back. I’m sure a lot of towns still have the small town feel in 2021…I wish I could go back to my youth when it always felt like small town living. I guess this is why whenever I watch Peyton Place I cry.

[@mac2phin]

Mellencamp directed a film, Falling from Grace, I believe it was called. Kay Lenz, Claude Akins, Dub Taylor.

[@lynnturman8157]

That was a great movie.

[@LuckyPunkProd]

The Music Man (1962) had one of the best depictions of a small town and its inhabitants in classic movies.

[@thomasbelisle6093]

When I was a teenager we moved to the south suburbs of Chicago which borders the state line of Indiana. I remember when I moved there it was mostly white people there. When I join the army in the mid 1980s and then came back home. The old neighborhood changed drastically. And one of the songs they sing in the Music Man is about a town in Indiana. That's so surreal.

[@LuckyPunkProd]

@@thomasbelisle6093 That would be Gary, Indiana. In both the play and the movie, Prof. Hill says that he graduated from a conservatory there as part of the class of 1905, which is a lie that he uses as part of his con, as Marian (Shirley Jones) discovers that there wasn't a conservatory until 1906. The song is one of the more memorable numbers in the musical.

[@BlackPantherStudios]

Great TCM video

[@alexanderwells4402]

The Music Man is my favorite musical Preston plays Professor Harold Hill a con man who teaches children how to play in a band in the small town of River City

[@skuda9]

I always wondered on the population was roughly in 'Small Towns' in America ? Here in the U.K. we have villages......currently mine has circa 1700 people , I like villages and always related to JMs songs.......Although we are a lot closer to towns around here !

[@HighlandsGatlinburg]

Small town

[@MarshaMarsha885]

I’ll die in a small town

[@fantasyprincessgirl]

Hi

[@BrianandSnoopy1]

Hello :)

[@thunderstruck5484]

The small towns are still there but they are packed with sub divisions turning a 2a school system into a two high school 6a school system and traffic is horrible everywhere