Several stories about Herman, USA besides the one below are on this web site. Here are links to all of them:
Story 1, Story 2, Story 3, Story 4, Story 5, Story 6, Story 7, Story 8, Photos. The story below appeared in Herman's weekly newspaper, The Herman Review, Thursday, September 20, 2001.
Herman, Minnesota meets Herman, USA <
by Nick Ripperger
After more than three years, Herman, Minnesota has finally met Herman, USA. And both Hermans liked what they saw.
Last Friday evening, the movie Herman USA opened in more than 50 theaters in Minnesota and surrounding states. One of those theaters was the Midway Mall Cinema 7 in Alexandria. Since there is no longer a theater in Herman, the movie's producers chose Alexandria to host the "hometown premier."
The people of Herman didn't disappoint. At least a hundred or so people from the Herman-Norcross area came, as well as many more with Herman ties. A good number of the "locals" from Alexandria showed up as well, leading to a sold-out first showing.
The movie, of course, was inspired by the Bachelormania events of 1994, when a statement from economic developer Dan Ellison was heard literally around the world. Noting that unmarried men considerably outnumbered unmarried women, Ellison concluded that the community needed more economic opportunities for women to help it survive.
That story was picked up by the Fargo and Twin Cities media, and Herman quickly became known as a town full of lonely bachelors looking for wives. Soon Herman's bachelors were being interviewed on radio and national television, and were featured in magazine articles.
The community was amazed by the chord it had struck in the national psyche, and while Hermanites took advantage of the unique opportunity to continue promoting their economic message, they also decided to have some fun and go along with the hype. Hence, Bachelormania at the Grant County Fair in July. Hundreds of women from Minnesota and rest of the country (even a few from other countries), came to see the "romance capital of the world" for themselves.
By the end of the weekend, nearly all had left, but a few women did stay, or at least kept in contact with men they had met. Eventually a half-dozen or so of the area's bachelors got married as a result, including Ellison and Gwen Fredrickson.
Skip to three years later. In late 1997, Twin Citians Jeff Hohman and Bill Semans were throwing out ideas about their next movie project when Herman came up. They liked the concept, and within a few weeks had lined up the financial backing to do a modest movie.
To the disappointment of most Hermanites, they learned that the movie was not going to be shot in Herman. Citing financial considerations, the producers chose New Germany, which is considerably closer to the Twin Cities. Nonetheless, Hermanites eagerly awaited seeing their town portrayed on the big screen. And waited. And waited.
Most of the filming took place in August, 1998, and by the spring of 1999, the producers had a rough cut they began showing in test theaters around the country, especially on the East and West coasts. As they sought a national distributor, they edited and re-edited Herman USA, showed it to more test audiences, and entered it in film festivals.
While sought-after distributors, for the most part, said they liked the movie, none wanted to take a chance on it. Finally, this summer the producers decided to distribute it themselves through a Twin Cities theater booker. In the process, they discovered the real Herman.
In the more than three years since the movie was conceived, no one associated with it had ever set foot in Herman. The public relations firm the producers hired this summer convinced them, however, that the best way to market the film was to connect it to the real events of 1994, and to the community itself.
Among other things, that led to Friday night's events in Alexandria. Hermanites were specifically invited to attend the 7:15 show, and even to show up early for any media that might be there. All Hermanites got a free pass.
The bulk of them showed up in a couple of buses that arrived just after 6:00. The local television stations had just finished interviewing the movie's principals -- Semans and producers Hohman, Patrick WElls, and Sage and John Cowles. For the next hour, Hermanites lined up to get their free movie posters autographed.
Soon it was show time. Before the movie began, Wells and company presented mayor Lindy Churchill with the town sign shown at the end of the movie.
Semans also gave a brief speech. Referring to the motto on the sign which says "Welcome to Herman USA, A Brand New Day," Semans predicted that the real community of Herman would also have another day in the media spotlight if the movie is successful.
After autographing their posters for more than an hour, Semans apparently was captivated by the Hermanites he met.
"I fell in love today," he told the audience.
He recounted that when he decided to write and direct the movie, he thought about the "gentleness, the sweetness, and the yearning," that struck him about the events of 1994. He also admitted that he saw a lot of humor in the situation, which he tried to convey in the movie.
"This movie makes people feel good," he said, then concluded, "We'd like to be adopted."
About the movie. As mentioned, it is based loosely on the Herman story, but only up to a point. While the premise that gets all the women to visit the community is relatively accurate, the story focuses on the relationships that might have happened rather than on the ones that did. None of the characters is based on a real person, even the main character, Denny Hellickson (whose name bears an uncanny resemblance to Dan Ellison's).
The characters are stereotyped to a certain extent. The farmers wear bib overalls, for example, and the bad guy in the movie is the only one who smokes cigarettes. However, it does not make fun of the townspeople (with a couple exceptions), and in fact, portrays them as intelligent, honest, warm, and caring, with a sense of humor. The surrounding countryside is depicted almost idyllically.
The whole plot is fairly predictable, and the movie, of course, has a happy ending - actually a couple of them.
The crowd loved it. Semans' prediction that they would leave feeling better than when they came in appeared to be true.
Afterward, the audience was invited to a reception at the Holiday Inn, where they were treated to hors d'oeuvres and drinks. Semans and the producers mingled with the crowd and talked about the movie's prospects. Hermanites told them which parts they liked best, and got more autographs.
Soon the evening waned, and the only people left were those associated with the movie, savoring the evening they had waited more than three years for, and awaiting word on how it had done in the other theaters on opening night. As time passed, even they grew tired and went to bed.
The next morning, they made good on their promise to finally visit Herman, Around 9:00 an entourage walked into a packed Denny's, ordered home-cooked breakfasts, and talked again with townsfolk about the movie. Semans in particular mingled about, and apparently was quite taken with Ethel VanZomeren, whom he invited to run away with him to the Caribbean. Ethel gave the offer its due consideration.
It turned out that the movie had not done particularly well on its opening night, but in fact, no movies did well over the weekend in light of the tragic events of the week. Many people, it seems, had stayed home to watch television, to be with their families, or to attend prayer vigils.
After breakfast, the movie folks took a stationary tour of the town by standing on the four-way stop corner, and were particularly impressed with the New Horizons grain elevator, which they admitted would have presented some good visuals in the movie.
They dropped off the Herman USA sign at the liquor store, where it will be displayed, and then walked over to the Herman Review for a short tour and some final conversation.
Around 11:00, they left for their homes in the Twin Cities, Semans and the producers vowing that this would not be their final visit to the town that inspired Herman USA.
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