We’ve uncovered a historic gem – a very strange 1939 Hollywood movie that was filmed in downtown Pinckney. And you can see a clip from it below.
The film was called “The Scarecrow Takes Up Magic,” and although it was technically a Hollywood production, it was mainly an advertisement for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. The plot of the 28-minute film centers around a scarecrow (who looks exactly like the scarecrow from “The Wizard of Oz”) who is trying to convince an old farmer to get new Goodyear tires for his tractor.
One scene in the film called for a big square dance to be filmed on the Main Street of some small town. According to a Detroit Free Press article at the time, the producers came across Pinckney and thought it would be perfect.
The next step was to find a few hundred people to square dance in the streets. For that, the producers enlisted the help of St. Mary’s Catholic Church and the Pinckney Congregational Church, who helped arrange for all the extras.
The filming took place in October of 1939 and the film came out a few months later. All of the people you see dancing in this clip are Pinckney locals.
If you’d like to see the entire film of “The Scarecrow Takes Up Magic,” you can find it here.
And here’s the scene that was shot in downtown Pinckney. Behold:
