Frank Sinatra Once Turned This Indiana Town Into Hollywood

For me, a vacation is part relaxation, part discovery. After spending a few days in Cincinnati relaxing and discovering, we decided not to take the straight path home. Instead, we veered north off of Interstate 71 and headed to Madison, Indiana.

That's where more discovery came into play. Madison is home to Miss Madison, the world's only community-owned unlimited hydroplane, and to Clifty Falls State Park, whose bluffs and waterfalls draw visitors throughout the year.

And then there's some really cool movie history that I knew nothing about until I got there. I love this.

When Hollywood Came to Madison, Indiana

In the summer of 1958, Madison didn't just get a visit from Hollywood. For a few months, it became Hollywood—or at least the fictional town of Parkman in Some Came Running. For a town of around 10,000 people at the time, how exciting it must have been to have icons like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Shirley MacLaine spend time there. (Well, to be fair, MacLaine hadn't quite reached icon status by 1958.) According to the official Frank Sinatra Facebook page, Sinatra was on location in August 1958 for filming.

Some Came Running stars Sinatra as a troubled Army veteran and writer who returns to his Indiana hometown, where he becomes involved with two very different women, played by MacLaine and Martha Hyer. The film went on to earn five Academy Award nominations, including three for its cast: Best Actress for MacLaine, Best Supporting Actress for Hyer, and Best Supporting Actor for Arthur Kennedy. It also earned nominations for costume design and the song “To Love and Be Loved,” although it didn't win in any of the five categories.

And if Madison looks familiar in the trailer, there's a reason. The opening sequence takes viewers toward town across the old Milton-Madison Bridge, predecessor to the bridge we crossed during our visit.

Frank Sinatra Causes a Stir in Madison

Madison residents apparently wanted in on the action, too. According to the Indianapolis Star, filmmakers needed about 200 extras, but roughly 1,000 people showed up for a casting call at the Jefferson County Courthouse.

Dave Spencer

According to a recollection from MacLaine cited by Wikipedia, Sinatra was apparently quite the attraction among some of Madison's female residents. At one point, a woman even broke through a rope barrier and rushed toward Sinatra while her husband tried to stop her.

The film's director, Vincente Minnelli (Liza's dad, Judy Garland's ex), also noted that locals weren't quite sure how to interact with a star of Sinatra's caliber and that some friction developed between townspeople and the cast.

Roundaboutmadison.com tells us that most of the cast stayed at the Hillside Inn, while Sinatra and Martin reportedly rented a home next door. The original Hillside Inn burned in 1963, five years after filming, and the hotel that stands there today was built on the same site in 1966.

Dave Spencer

From Madison to the Movie Premiere

And they weren't exactly working with time to spare. Filming stretched from August into October, while Minnelli was under a six-month deadline to get the picture finished in time for an Oscar-qualifying Los Angeles showing before the end of the year. He made it. Some Came Running premiered there on December 18th.

The finished movie also came home to Madison. The Ohio Theatre, which appears in Some Came Running, hosted a premiere of the film in December 1958.

Nearly seven decades later, Madison still wears that little piece of Hollywood history proudly. It has plenty to brag about without Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Shirley MacLaine. But imagine living in a town of roughly 10,000 people and watching those three show up for the summer.

I'd still be talking about it, too.