The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters March 16, 1982
This is the second movie Shep made for PBS
Funded by:
Corporation for Public Broadcasting (The Program Fund)
Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO)
Jean Shepherd as the Narrator
"Ballad of Ludlow Kissel" Sung by Leigh Brown
Shep's dog Daphne appears in the movie
This movie was comprised of many of the stories which first appeared in Playboy Magazine and were told in various forms over the years on the radio.
In the movie, during the 'blind date' scene, Shep and his blind date Pamela, Schwartz and his date Clara Mae, are watching the movie "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing". Clara Mae says to Schwartz "This is so romantic. It's just like us." In the movie William Holden and Jennifer Jones fall in love and Holden goes off to war and never returns. In real life Schwartz goes off to war and never returns.
The music at the end of the movie is "Blue Hawaii" as sung by Bing Crosby.
The opening sequence had Shep at Pedro's South of the Boarder going through the fireworks.
Story Lines:
Sears Radio
Scragging
Sack races at the picnic