It’s an amazingly beautiful day on the streets of historic Snoqualmie. Bindlesticks is busy with long-time residents filling tables and chatting. The coffee bar has a line of people – probably due to the multiple film trucks parked in the King Street parking lot. For the next two days Snoqualmie will be transformed into a movie set. Hollywood is here Snoqualmie Valley.
The movie is called, You Can’t Win, and is directed by Seattle’s Robinson Devor. It will be shot on location throughout Washington State and portions of Montana, with the hopes of securing film festival support and eventual national distribution. For info on the cast and crew click here.
You Can Win is an adaptation of the bestselling memoir of the same name, first published in 1926. It tells the true story of Jack Black, a convict and hobo who spent over 30 years riding the rails and living out the dying age of the Wild West. Forsaking an ordinary, law-abiding life, Jack was in and out of prison several times, but in his later years reformed and worked as a librarian in San Francisco. He wrote the book You Can’t Win as a memoir describing his days on the road and life as an outlaw. It was written as an anti-crime book urging criminals to go straight, but also provides commentary on the futility of the criminal justice system. William S. Burroughs called You Can’t Win one of the novels that inspired him to write, and admittedly “lifted chunks” for his classic novel Junky.
Several scenes are being filmed within the Snoqualmie and North Bend area. Those locations include:
- A clear-cut owned and operated by Hancock Logging, north of Snoqualmie – May 15th
- The Northwest Railway Museum – May 16th & 17th
- The Tollgate Farmhouse in North Bend – May 15th
- The Railroad Trestle west of downtown North Bend – May 18th
Today and tomorrow, filming occurs at the Snoqualmie Railway Museum. Several parking spots are blocked in front of the museum. Movie crew trucks, as well as catering trucks, occupy the King Street Parking Lot. Those trucks should be there from 6:30AM-6:30PM each day. There are about 50 cast and crew members participating in the filming.
Welcome to town You Can’t Win!
