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| Souvenirs from our trail of the trial in the Upper Peninsula |
A murder trial, a movie and Michigan's upper peninsula made for a road trip trail filled with fascinating facts, food, and fun.
Last summer, my husband, Chris, came upon a rough itinerary of the "Anatomy of a Murder" movie sites and tossed that over to my brother, Ed, and sister-in-law, Sandy - aka, our road trip partners - as a possible trek for the four of us. Reception was immediate and well-received. By October, 2021, we were packed up in Ed's Ford 150 and heading on our journey over the Mackinac Bridge.
"Anatomy of a Murder" is a movie based on the 1952 book by author and attorney, John Voelker. Voelker, was the defense attorney in a murder trial that took place in parts of the Upper Peninsula and the basis of his novel. His book was so successful, it caught the eye of Hollywood, specifically, producer and director, Otto Preminger. His cast included Jimmy Stewart as the defense attorney, Ben Gazzara as the defendant and Lee Remick as the defendant's wife.
Preminger made the decision to film on location and sites included: the home of the defense attorney in Ispheming, the hotel owned by the victim, Thunder Bay Inn (Big Bay Inn), Lumberjack Tavern (where the actual murder took place), Mt. Shasta in Michigamme, and the courthouse in Marquette. On our road trip, we hit all these locations - and some side trips that had nothing to do with the movie, but included amazing scenery and delicious pie.
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| Photo at the Inn, Voelker & Stewart |
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| Thunder Bay Inn |
Our first stop and stay was the Thunder Bay Inn which, as of last Fall, had taken on new ownership. Still in a transition period, while also dealing with CDC guidelines, this Inn is being restored with passion by its current owners. Not only was this inn part of the "Anatomy of a Murder" story, but in its early days was the "home away from home" for Ford executives visiting a nearby plant.
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| Our road trip crew outside the Lumberjack Tavern. |
The charm of the Thunder Bay Inn is that because it is not a chain, the rooms are not standard issue. We had a nice sized room, with a comfortable bathroom, but twin beds. Ed and Sandy had a very large room, with a double and twin bed, but a rather small bathroom. A number of rooms along the second floor hallway are dormitory style and share communal restroom facilities. Again, not the cookie-cutter offering by any means.
In addition to the hotel, there's a delightful restaurant at the front and, in the back, a large gathering room, which, post-quarantine, would make a wonderful event space. There's also a lot of "Anatomy of a Murder" memorabilia and photos scattered around.
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| Tourists can view outline on floor |
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| Note of pride on Lumberjack wall |
It's a short walk from the Inn to the Lumberjack Tavern, a small, very "up-north" rustic bar, with knotty-pine paneling and, for tourists, an outline, in the stylized form taken from the movie's logo, of the murder victim's body, on the hard wood floor. We had a drink and some tasty snacks as the barkeeper pulled out a large photo album full of pictures not only from the movie, but of the real defendant, his wife and the victim.
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| The film's site for Stewart's home |
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| In Ispheming, Ed's truck reenacts film's opening |
From Big Bay, we traveled to Ishepeming to see the actual house used as Jimmy Stewart's home. Although it's a bit shabby in appearance, it wasn't all that glamorous even in 1959. After a drive through the town of Ishepeming and filming our own reenactment of the beginning of the movie, we went to Mt. Shasta, a log-cabin bar/restuarant on US-41. The movie used this as the setting for a crowded-bar scene where Duke Ellington played piano alongside Jimmy Stewart while Lee Remick's character partied by the pinball machine.
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| Mt. Shasta in Michigamme where film's crowded bar scene - including Duke Ellington - was filmed |
For two of the parties on this road trip, Mt. Shasta was a staple in our annual trip from our home in Birmingham to my Dad's hometown, just south of the Keweenaw Peninsula. As we passed it, my parents would talk about the locals' tales of when Hollywood came to the UP. In all those years, we never stopped or went inside (with four kids in a station wagon, unnecessary breaks along the ten hour trip, were not highly encouraged).
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| Finally, inside Mt. Shasta! |
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| Great whitefish cakes with Mt. Shasta mug. |
On this trip, however, we did stop and go in and what a delightful surprise! Like Thunder Bay Inn, it was under relatively new ownership and "Anatomy of a Murder" posters line the wall. But the renovated interior décor is downright adorable - buffalo-check tablecloths are spread on dining tables where guests have views of the stone fireplace, Lake Superior and, in one corner, a TV monitor that runs the movie throughout the day. The food was equally impressive. (I had the whitefish cakes and they were delicious!).
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| Marquette Court House - and, yes, court scenes filmed here. |
Final stop on our A of a M tour was the courthouse in Marquette where, as you would guess by now, the courthouse scenes were filmed. Because of quarantine restrictions, tours were not open when we were there, but we walked around the grounds and the downtown area. As a consolation prize, we picked up a few pies at the nearby Iron Bay restaurant and, among a jury of our peers, we found the bakery's pastries guilty of scrumptiousness.
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| Pies were not in the film |
With all the riding and eating, we concluded our tour on an un-related-to-the-movie stop at Seney National Wildlife Refuge, roughly eighty miles east of Marquette. We hiked along the path and, if you ever question why you live in Michigan, an afternoon spent here will reaffirm, we have one beautiful state. And, although it wasn't the "seney of the crime", we did spot a pie-billed grebe, out of season, but definitely not a jailbird.
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| Seney of no crime, Seney National Wildlife Refuge, where we did spot a pie-billed grebe. |
There weren’t any tea room visits on this trip, but I did
purchase a Mt. Shasta mug, which I fill to the brim with hot tea and enjoy on
our back deck when I want to channel the beauty of the north and reminisce about the trail of the trial
in the upper peninsula.
We highly recommend the "Anatomy of a Murder" movie and the tour. Two warm-mittened thumb's up to both!
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