It was 35 years ago that “The Outsiders” opened in movie theaters nationwide, taking Tulsa author S.E. Hinton’s creation from classic novel to a film beloved by young people.
It was three days before that March 25, 1983, date that Hinton was joined by stars C. Thomas Howell and Patrick Swayze for a film premiere in Tulsa at the downtown Williams Center Cinema.
All these years later, many still vividly recall the hoopla that came with Oscar-winning filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola (of the “Godfather” movies) arriving in Tulsa to shoot the movie in Hinton’s hometown for a couple of months in 1982.
And they remember that a cast of young then-unknown actors would go on to become stars like Rob Lowe, Ralph Macchio, Emilio Estevez and a guy named Tom Cruise, among others.
In a combination of nostalgia-meets-civic pride for arguably Tulsa’s favorite movie, here are 35 things to know about the making of “The Outsiders” culled from interviews, DVD commentaries and appearances by the stars at Circle Cinema events.
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S.E. Hinton
The author whose story of competing Tulsa youth gangs in 1965 — the working-class Greasers and the privileged Socs — brought the production to the city and worked closely with the actors, becoming what she described as an on-set “Greasers den mother.”
Pranks and rumbles
The combination of teen boys and no parental supervision meant that pranks were common at the hotel where the boys stayed, with actor Leif Garrett describing “mini-rumbles” in the hotel where several ended up in a lobby fountain.
Tulsa Excelsior
The actors were staying at Tulsa Excelsior (now known as the Downtown DoubleTree, 616 W. Seventh St.), with those playing Socs enjoying the views from the 18th floor and those playing Greasers closer to the ground floor.
Competition
Actors have talked in the past of various competitions that separated the Greasers and the Socs, from flag-football games to the Greasers receiving scripts in ringed binders while Socs got leather-bound volumes.
Seeing a movie
The Williams Center Cinema was the closest movie theater to the hotel, and former manager David Kimball recalled actors like Diane Lane and Matt Dillon coming in as customers and that “Matt was unmistakable, with his pack of cigarettes stuffed under his T-shirt.”
‘Rumble Fish’
Lane and Dillon would go on to star in “Rumble Fish” as Coppola decided during filming that he would make the two films back-to-back, working on a screenplay with Hinton to adapt her novel when they had free time and then shooting it with much of the same crew and carrying over multiple cast members from “The Outsiders.”
Circle Cinema
In the 2005 DVD release of “The Outsiders: The Complete Novel,” Tulsa’s historic theater marquee is seen in the opening moments and the final shot ... coming full circle, if you will.
Director’s cut
Coppola has said that while he shot all the scenes from Hinton’s novel, pressure from the studio pushed him to make decisions that cut scenes, including introductions to several characters. “The Complete Novel” DVD version of the movie is 22 minutes longer.
Restoration
Coppola also said that when his granddaughter asked him to show the original movie to her high school class, he was embarrassed about scenes from the novel missing from the film and that pushed him to add them back to the 2005 version.
Another class plea
More than 20 years earlier, Coppola had never heard of “The Outsiders” until a middle-school class in California petitioned him to make a movie of the book they had read in school — and which teens across the country still read in class today, 50 years after it was first published.
The Outsiders House Museum
The director wanted the actors to be familiar with the house where the Curtis brothers lived at 731 N. St. Louis Ave. — which is being turned into a museum dedicated to the movie — so C. Thomas Howell, Patrick Swayze and Rob Lowe spent a night there and cooked a meal together in character.
Ponyboy
C. Thomas Howell, who had the leading role of Ponyboy Curtis, was appearing in his second film. His first movie was, at that time, the biggest box-office hit in Hollywood history: “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.”
Sodapop and Darrel
“The Outsiders” was Rob Lowe’s first movie, playing Sodapop Curtis, and it was only the second for Patrick Swayze, who played older brother Darrel Curtis.
Johnny
Playing the doomed Johnny Cade, Ralph Macchio was acting in his second movie. His next film, “The Karate Kid,” was his first leading role and the biggest hit of his career.
Steve Randle
It was just the third movie for Tom Cruise, who would break out in his next role. “I remember when the script for ‘Risky Business’ showed up at the hotel,” Macchio said during DVD commentary, “and Tom said ‘This is going to be a good one.’ ”
Two-Bit Mathews
The first two film roles for Emilio Estevez were both in Tulsa. He appeared in “Tex” (also based on an S.E. Hinton book and shot in Tulsa) in 1982 and “The Outsiders” the following year. Coppola knew Estevez from a young age because he’s the son of Martin Sheen, the director’s star of “Apocalypse Now.”
Dallas Winston
Matt Dillon was a veteran among the young actors, and he would star in three consecutive movies shot in Tulsa, all based on S.E. Hinton novels: “Tex,” “The Outsiders” and “Rumble Fish.”
Nurse Hinton
Lying in a hospital bed in “The Outsiders,” Dillon’s character playfully threatens a nurse who is played by S.E. Hinton, who recommended Dillon to Coppola after she enjoyed his performance in “Tex.”
Cherry Valance
Diane Lane played the Soc girl Cherry, and several actors admit to having had a crush on her. During a DVD commentary, she said Tom Cruise asked her be in his next movie, “Risky Business,” and play the Rebecca DeMornay role. “My father said, ‘There’s no way my daughter is going to play a prostitute,’ ” Lane said.
The first punch
Accidents happen during filming, as with the first punch thrown in the big rumble scene in the rain. “There was this stunt man at the very start who slipped and punched me right in the face,” Howell told a Circle Cinema audience in 2016. “That wasn’t supposed to happen. So the scene that I had prepared for ended up being Matt Dillon dragging me off.”
They can laugh now
Howell has always shown a sense of humor during Q-and-A sessions after screenings with Circle Cinema audiences, such as this welcome: “Hey, how was it? Any surprise ending? Did Johnny live this time? I keep hoping that one of these days, Johnny is going to make it.”
The Greaser and the Soc
Howell played Ponyboy the Greaser, and during filming, he became friends with actor Darren Dalton, who played Randy the Soc. The two became even closer over the years, working on more than 10 films together, including writing and directing between them.
Cold shoulders
In multiple scenes, Ponyboy appears to be cold, and at one point says, “It’s freezing out here!” at the Admiral Twin Drive-In. It reportedly was near freezing during that shoot, about 3 a.m. or so, and Howell was told to not wear a jacket over his sleeveless shirt.
Will Rogers High School
In the “Complete Novel” DVD version of the film, Ponyboy can be seen walking outside of Will Rogers High School, which S.E. Hinton attended while writing “The Outsiders.”
Sodapop’s fate
On a DVD commentary, Rob Lowe said he asked Hinton where she saw his character, Sodapop, going after the events of “The Outsiders.” He said she told him that Sodapop is drafted, goes to fight in Vietnam and dies there.
The Tulsa World
A movie-prop issue of the newspaper is seen in the film, with a story about three of the boys as heroes following a fire rescue.
Newspaper story
A Tulsa teenager was working as a copy clerk at the Tulsa Tribune when she saw an ad asking for extras for the local 1982 filming of “The Outsiders.” Her name was Heather Langenkamp, who would star in the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” series of movies. She made the cut as an extra, but her scenes were cut.
Gailard Sartain
In a brief performance, Gailard Sartain (known to Tulsans for his “Mazeppa” days on local TV but already a veteran of multiple Hollywood films) appeared near the end of the movie herding children away from a burning home.
Another Coppola
Making a cameo appearance in “The Outsiders” was the director’s young daughter, Sofia Coppola, who Rob Lowe recalled as “publishing a newsletter, ‘The Dingbat News,’ about all the goings-on on set, that she’d give out to the cast and crew.”
Double-dipping
In addition to Matt Dillon and Diane Lane, actors who followed up this film by appearing immediately after in “Rumble Fish” included Tom Waits, William Smith, Glenn Withrow and cameos by Sofia Coppola and S.E. Hinton.
Auditions
Among those seen on the “Complete Novel” DVD auditioning for “The Outsiders”: Helen Slater, Kate Capshaw, Adam Baldwin, Anthony Michael Hall and Catherine Mary Stuart. Among those mentioned as auditioning: Val Kilmer, Scott Baio and Dennis Quaid.
Both were cast
Patrick Swayze said in a DVD commentary that he felt he had lost out on the role of Darrel, the oldest Curtis brother, to Mickey Rourke. Swayze won the role, and then Coppola brought Rourke to Tulsa for a lead role in “Rumble Fish.”
Fairground sunset
Coppola wanted a sunset background for Ponyboy and Johnny to act against that lasted longer than Oklahoma sunsets. So he recorded the sunset, built a large screen at the Tulsa State Fairgrounds inside the Pavilion and projected the recorded image onto the screen for the actors.
In order
Multiple actors have commented on “The Outsiders” being filmed in large part chronologically, a rarity for Hollywood productions then and now.
Introduction
In a DVD special feature, Hinton recalled her first time meeting the Oscar-winning director and telling him, “I’ve got a problem with you doing the movie,” she said. She told him that “The Godfather” film was better than the book, and his “The Black Stallion” was better than the book, and she wondered if that was going to happen to her.
