SCRANTON, Pa. — Paul Sorvino was known for many things. To Scranton, it was his role as Phil Romano in the 1982 movie That Championship Season that got the area buzzing.
The old Hamilton Elementary School on Scranton's West side was the site for the film adaptation of Jason Miller's Pulitzer Prize-winning play.
Evie McNulty, widow to former Scranton Mayor Jim McNulty, remembers that time well.
"The excitement was just booming through the city. It was just unbelievable, and they just brought so much to the city," said McNulty.
As filming wrapped up here at the Hamilton School in West Scranton for That Championship Season, Paul Sorvino left the area but returned decades later to pursue other ventures and pay tribute to Jason Miller.
"Jim and I were at a gas station on Moosic Street. All of a sudden, Paul Sorvino pulled up, and he was getting gas, and of course, he saw Jim was out, and they were reminiscing about old times. Though they didn't see people over the years, that friendship was still there," said McNulty.
After Jason Miller's death in 2001, Sorvino would return to Scranton, where he was commissioned to create a bust of his friend, which still stands on Courthouse Square.
He also brought with him an idea for a new film called The Trouble With Cali.
Just like That Championship Season, this movie was shot in Scranton. It was also partially financed by Lackawanna County tax dollars.
The Trouble With Cali went nowhere, and the county lost its investment. In a 2015 radio interview, Sorvino blamed the media for the film's failure.
Former County Commissioner Bob Cordaro was credited as an executive producer of The Trouble with Cali.
Reached by phone on Monday, Cordaro told Newswatch 16 that "Paul Sorvino had a love for our area and a love for the people in our area, and he wanted to give something back."
"There's just gonna be a lot of sour stuff that people will, but I prefer to look at that and remember the good," said McNulty.
Paul Sorvino also had preliminary plans to bring a movie studio to Scranton.
Former Commissioner Cordaro said that although Sorvino didn't succeed at bringing the movie industry to Scranton, he gave it his best.
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