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Clemson History: Hollywood Comes to Clemson

Clemson History: Hollywood Comes to Clemson

By Sam Blackman

It has been 40 years since Hollywood came to Tigertown and Clemson was on the silver screen.

In 1974, The Midnight Man, a detective film was released. Burt Lancaster and Susan Clark starred in the movie.  Historic Riggs Field was seen prominently in the film and offered not only a useful setting but a picturesque backdrop in the movie. Burt Lancaster shared directing credits with Roland Kibbee.  Co-stars included Cameron Mitchell (seen in many TV westerns), as well as the future Daisy Duke, (Catherine Bach), in her first screen appearance, and character actors Ed Lauter and Charles Tyner who would both be featured in The Longest Yard, a football film that starred Burt Reynolds that was also shot in 1974. The movie was shot on the Clemson campus and Anderson along with other scenes in Pickens County in 1973.  The shooting of the movie started on February 13, 1973. The film was released on June 10, 1974 in New York City, and nationwide on June 14.  It premiered at the Astro III theatre, Clemson, S.C., on March 14, 1974 with a red carpet ceremony.

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