What a great great night!
You may find it hard to believe but I actually had a conversation with someone who lives in Savannah recently that didn’t know that Stratton Leopold, owner of Leopold’s Ice Cream, was a very successful motion picture producer. It may very likely be one of the worst kept secrets in town. In fact, it isn’t a secret at all. All you need to do is visit Leopold’s Ice Cream (which many of us do regularly) and see so many of the movies Stratton had a hand in creating over his storied career in Hollywood. The photos line the walls. Jennifer Lopez, Tom Cruise, Jimmy Smits, John Travolta. You name it, Stratton Leopold has worked with them.
What most of you may not know is that Stratton is very much active in film making. So much so his latest motion picture is called The Neon Highway. It starts Beau Bridges and Rob Mayes and Pam Tillis. Its World Premiere was held Wednesday night in Nashville and so much of Savannah was there, I wondered who was back here setting up for the parade!
“It was a long road back to Nashville!” Stratton said as he addressed a full house at Nashville’s Historic Belcourt Theatre in Hillsboro Village. There was not an empty seat in the house. Many of those in attendance represented the music ‘business’ in Nashville. Fred Gretsch, of the legendary Gretsch family of guitar makers, as well as members of the Curb family were in the house. The Curbs have a massive presence on the music making scene in Middle Tennessee and that is an understatement.
Also in attendance were well over a dozen members of Stratton’s family here in Savannah. Maybe not blood relatives, but those who are close business associates as well as other close friends. His wife, Mary was there, of course. Savannah Chatham County Public School Board President Roger Moss was there (I’m told with borrowed cowboy boots!) as well as Savannah musicians Jeremy Davis and Clay Johnson of the Fabulous Equinox Orchestra and even Captain Jack himself…owner of Tybee Island Institution, The Crab Shack. All 90 years young of him and enjoying a good film.
The film itself was very enjoyable. It was shot in Columbus, Georgia (made to look like Nashville) and centers around a retired and washed up country music legend trying to recapture some of his past glory with an up and coming talented songwriter. It’s a beautiful story that I would recommend on a rainy Saturday or Sunday morning.
Incidentally, there were two cameos that got a rise out of the crowd. One was Leopold’s Ice Cream being served and discussed in the film. The other was a tiny role by Stratton himself. He plays a record company executive and I can now say I’ve seen something I had never seen before. An angry Stratton Leopold. That was bizarre because I’ve never seen anything remotely close to that in the nearly 2 decades I’ve known him.
Of course, the after party was buzzing with excitement. Stratton and his staff arranged for the largest ice cream cart in the house to be taken to Nashville for scoops for everyone. And wouldn’t you know it, just like Broughton Street, there was a line to get your hands on some scoops.
For his part, Stratton says he doesn’t have any plans of slowing down. He admits he is ‘lowsy at golf’ and plans to continue to pursue his side gig as well as deliver Savannah’s best ice cream.
The Neon Highway will be released nationwide on March 15th.
