Film and Television
1997, Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Glenn Close
4th highest gross sales movie of 1997
A.F.O. is a story of an American President (Harrison Ford) who, along with his Russian counterpart, strikes a blow against worldwide terrorism by capturing and imprisoning a Russian terrorist, Ivan Stravanovitch (according to Ohio Film Commission). Filming in Mansfield took two days, and 150+ extras were used in the filming at the Reformatory. (Other shooting sites include: Cleveland's Severance Hall, the Cuyahoga County Courthouse, and Rickenbacker International Airport outside of Columbus).
Scenes from "Air Force One"
Fastest Rated "R" movie to break $100 million
Record for the Best Non-Holiday Weekend Gross ($37 million) - beating out "True Lies"
The Shawshank Redemption
Castle Rock
1994, Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman
This all-star cast helped Stephen King's short story Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption receive 7 nominations for Academy Awards. The most rented/purchased video of 1995, don't let the name fool ya, has Tim Robbins as the "innocent" man convicted, and Morgan Freeman as the "lifer". Hope springs eternal in this unforgettable story of love, life, and sorrow. Tim Robbins must keep faith alive as his long journey begins at Shawshank (Mansfield Reformatory). As the majority of the movie takes you through Mansfield's Reformatory, some key scenes were also shot in Ashland County (Ohio), Upper Sandusky (Ohio), Malabar Farm (Ohio), Arizona, and the Virgin Islands, Robbins reminds his colleagues of the hope they once had. A must see! A semi true-to-life representation of prison life. Semi-complete listing of various scenes and where they were shot or view Shawshank Images New, Symbolism in Shawshank. Great Shawshank tribute page!
1989, Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russel
Two top-ranked cops, from separate parts of town and don't get along, get framed and are thrown into the same prison. The two must put aside their attitudes and forge a friendship to survive. Mansfield Reformatory is used for various backdrops throughout the prison scenes. The plot thickens as they learn who set them up and plan an escape.
Harry and Walter Go To New York
1976, James Caan, Diane Keaton, Michael Caine
This is a drama of two off-beat comedians trying to make a buck. When their career goes "down the tubes", they go "up the river. Mansfield Reformatory is used as the middle section of the movie to house Harry and Walter. They befriend a notorious bank robber, steal his plans to rob a bank, and escape. Not to spoil the ending, but the two goofs, the bank robber, and the cops end up in New York in this mixed-up hilarious caper.
M.A.D. (Mad Against Devils)
Prisons or Streets, a rap group out of Pennsylvania/New York shot a few selected scenes around the old cell blocks of the Reformatory in February, 1996. Probably the coldest day of the winter; however, the shoot only took one day, and aired on the major music cable shows in May of 1996 (MTV, BET, The Box, etc).
City Within a City
Filmed by two guards from OSR in 1989, this 17 minute video captures various scenes of the yard. Good footage historically, it's a shame the State removed these buildings from the premises. Contains slight info on the following activities: psychiatric services, Laundry, Living spaces, School/college, Chapel, Hospital including a Pharmacy and Dentist, Fire Dept, Sanitation Dept, Grocery/Commissary, Welding, Shoe Repair, Machine Shop, Auto Body, Meat Cutting, Masonry, Carpentry, the Farm including a slaughterhouse, Maintenance Dept, Recreation facilities, and a cemetery. At the time this was documented, their were around 2400 inmates between the original building, J Dorm and E Dorm.
Tiny Sisters in the Enchanted Land
BeBe Miller and the Dayton Contemporary Dance Co. filmed on location in 1995 for a 28 minute modern dance video. Credits to the MRPS are included at the end and this video can be seen on Broadway, NY (Viewed by interested parties who know the video exists?) Anyway, several board members have seen the video and were delighted at the finished product. The prison never looked so artsy! "Fantastic footage", quoted Dan Seckel.
Blind Justice (Room 101 Productions)
Filming for "Blind Justice", an economical, black & white 1941 era type picture was also filmed in OSR. The Reformatory was rented by Room 101 Productions for a brief period to shoot some scenes.
Music Videos
Marilyn Manson (No video shot at OSR yet)
The December, 1996 issue of Details magazine has an interview and photo layout of this 90's explosion. Quite different for the Reformatory; however, the setting was perfect for this off-beat, industrial, mad-at-the-world, native Ohioan, Marilyn Manson. This one day photo shoot turned out awesome even though it ended up at the end of the magazine (The cover has Chris Cornell of Soundgarden). Interesting questions and photos lead us into a quick overview of the famous shock-rockers world of anger, sense of morality, and aggression. Photos from this session have also turned up on covers of bootleg CD releases of live performances. Though contrary to popular belief the "Beautiful People" was not shot at OSR. Although the video's setting looks like us, it is in fact a different building.
Godsmack "Awake"
Fall of 2000: (As reported by Jan Demyan, our Volunteer/Tour Coordinator) "It was done by Universal Records and produced by Cyclops films. The video is called "Awake". The group is Godsmack. They came in on a Monday morning and were a great bunch of guys. It was a wonderful experience and all went well (except for the storm Wed night during the shoot). I was at OSR for 12 hours on Mon, 19 hours on Tues and 22 hours on Wed. The group and production company left about 9 am on Thurs. They all called me the queen of the castle and all hugged me goodbye. They will be sending a picture for the wall. All in all - a great experience. They restored 10 cells on 2 tiers in the old block." New cd is available and video is in rotation on the MTV and MTV2 networks. Please read the article in "Revolver, Issue #3: Jan 2001", or go to revolvermag.com for more!
Lil' Wayne "Go DJ"
TV Clips
Travel Channel "101 Things to Do Before You Die" & "Scariest Places on Earth"
We made it on their list coming in at Visit a Prison Museum (MRPS was heavily featured in the tv broadcast!), as well as Alcatraz.
Fox Family "Scariest Stories on Earth"
On February 1st, Fox Family Channel filmed four teens from the Mansfield area for their Weekend show entitled "Scariest Stories on Earth". After finding the reformatory website, Fox Family wanted to use our building as a backdrop for filming teens telling scary stories at night. It aired for the first time March 10th, 2001 (Saturday) at 1:00 pm.
Fox Family "Scariest Places on Earth"
We were featured on the Fox Family Channel's program Scariest Places on Earth Wednesday March 28, 2001. The people from Triage Entertainment filmed out here earlier that month and the publicity from that was nationwide.
