April 15, 2004

Turning back time

Almaden Family cast in film based on 1933 San Jose lynching

By Kymberli W. Brady
Staff Writer

In a film that ripped its plotline from the archives of San Jose history books, one Almaden family recently traveled 71 years back in time to become part of an angry mob that stormed the county jail behind the old courthouse on First Street, reenacting the events that led to the city's last recorded lynching on Nov. 26, 1933.

Nancy and Rick McEachern, their 14-year-old daughter Leah and 12-year-old son Michael were cast as extras in “Night Without Justice.” The film chronicles the vigilante killings of Harold Thurmond and Jack Holmes. The two men were arrested after the murdered body of 22-year-old Brooke Hart, son of a wealthy department store owner was found in the San Francisco Bay. The two later admitted to killing Hart after kidnapping him for $40,000 in ransom.

According to Nancy McEachern, who home schools her children, Leah had set a goal to be an extra in a movie by the time she was 15. Upon researching the possibilities, she signed with Integrity Casting in Santa Clara and then began attending workshops and going on auditions. After a cold-read for “Night Without Justice,” she soon learned that she got the part. But along with it came an unusual invitation for her family to participate as well.

“They love using families,” said Nancy. “And we were the only real one there. They kept saying, ‘put the family in the front,' and they were trying to put more together because the actual night was full of families who witnessed it.”

The 21-minute short film is the work of San Jose native and first-time filmmaker Michael Azzarello. He wanted to reconstruct the story based on his grandfather's recollection of the executions he attended as a young boy on his father's shoulders. The lynching has also been the subject of the book “Swift Justice” by Harry Farrell, a former Mercury News reporter.

Six years in the making, “Night Without Justice” was filmed last fall in San Jose, Los Gatos and Los Angeles, using costumes from Universal Studios and cars from the Santa Clara Valley chapter of the Model A Ford Club of America. The Alma Bridge and part of Santa Cruz Avenue were also closed off for shooting.

Azzarello completed the $17,000 project for his thesis at Columbia College in Hollywood, working closely with History San Jose, the San Jose Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the San Jose Film Commission. He hopes to someday expand the film into a feature.

Clad in era-appropriate costumes and armed with “foam” rocks, the McEachern family joined 94 other extras at San José's History Park to recreate the infamous scene. The enraged community stormed the jail, attacked police and FBI agents and then seized Holmes and Thurmond to lynch them in St. James Park. An estimated 10,000 people witnessed the execution and the story continues to be told three generations later.

“We looked like we were right out of the time,” said Rick. “It's funny, since then, we've run into people all over the place whose grandparents were at the actual event and they've passed the story down to their families. Apparently a lot of people were there—they even knew when it was going to take place.”

“We were throwing them [foam rocks] at the police and they were bouncing off the walls,” said Michael. “They were too light, but they put make-up on them to make it look like they were bleeding.”

“We were told to yell, ‘lynch them,'” Rick added. “But we felt bad being an angry mob, so we yelled, ‘luncheon' instead. No one noticed.”

According to Rick, the shooting schedule consisted of a lot of set up and a little bit of action—complete with retakes and testing camera angles. “Then they'd get the smoke going, pick up the rocks and pass them out again,” he said. “All that stuff takes a lot of time. The actual shooting takes only a couple of minutes. You can only imagine how long it takes to shoot a full-length picture.”

“There was only about 100 people, but it looks like way more than that in the film,” added Nancy, who was surprised to find that the scene did in fact look very real in the final cut.

“It was really fun how they made the film and how they deal with extras,” commented Leah. “It's fun to say you have done it.”

The McEachern's admit to having been bitten by the acting bug and auditions are now a family affair. Although Michael had no interest at first, Nancy explained that he had so much fun doing the movie, she registered him with the casting agency shortly afterwards. Two weeks ago, the four auditioned for a second movie together and wait for word from the producers of “Gravit y ,” an epic science fiction film that is scheduled to begin shooting next February.

“This was all brand new for us,” Nancy said. “But the most fun was listening to others during the breaks—people who really are extras all the time. We sat next to a guy who won an Academy Award 25 years earlier and another—a marketing guy in L.A., who does this in his spare time. It's fun to sit around and listen to all their stories.”