“RENO and the Romance of Divorce” (Trailer)

 A DOCUMENTARY FILM

BY JOHN CORK AND LISA VAN EYSSEN

The remarkable true story of how a small town in Nevada redefined divorce and marriage, and changed the role of women in American society.

“This documentary will not glorify divorce. It will examine the personal, political and historical aspects of Nevada’s divorce trade, and how changing the  divorce laws created a more equal society between men and women. It’s a great story about a chapter of American history few people know about today.”  –John Cork, Writer/Director/Producer

San Francisco Film Society, Fiscal Sponsor

KNPB (PBS) Reno, Sponsoring Broadcaster

Anticipated Completion 2014

Your tax-deductible contributions of any amount are welcome!

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS 

John Cork, Director/ Producer/ Writer, has directed over 300 documentary shorts and two feature-length documentaries for clients such as the James Bond film producers, MGM, Fox, and Sony. He is the screenwriter of the acclaimed civil rights drama, The Long Walk Home (1990), starring Academy Award-winning actresses Sissy Spacek and Whoopi Goldberg. Mr. Cork is president of Cloverland.

Lisa van Eyssen, Producer, has produced a wide-range of projects for The History Channel, AMC, BRAVO and HBO, as well as writing/producing biographies for A&E on Mary Tyler Moore, Paul Newman, Harrison Ford and Elizabeth Taylor. Lisa joined Cloverland in 2006 and has served as producer, writer and director on over 50 film projects.

Creative Consultants:
Bill McGee and Sandra McGee – Authors of The Divorce Seekers: A Photo Memoir of a Nevada Dude Wrangler
Mella Rothwell Harmon – Nevada Historian and Author of “Divorce and Economic Opportunity in Reno, Nevada During the Great Depression”
Guy Louis Rocha –Nevada State Archivist (ret) and “2012 Distinguished Nevadan”
Deb Geraghty – Reno Events Coordinator

“RENO and the Romance of Divorce” (Poster)

A feature-length documentary

Written/Directed/Produced by John Cork and Lisa van Eyssen

MadeInCloverland
Anticipated completion: 2012/2013

William L. McGee and Sandra McGee Creative Consultants

What’s in a Name — “RENO Reporter”

Where does the name Reno Reporter come from?

In 2003, I was deep into research for the book, The Divorce Seekers: A Photo Memoir of a Nevada Dude Wrangler.   I was at the Nevada State Library and Archives in Carson City, Nevada, looking at rolls and rolls of microfiche when I came across the Reno Reporter, a weekly tabloid published from 1947 to 1950. The tabloid carried a social column that covered the “Reno divorce colony” (as it was called then) and was full of society names, fascinating divorce stories, and — well — gossip. 

It was a different time then and not all divorce stories were sad. Check out this item from 1947:

Marcus Daly III, scion of a Montana copper family that long since has been out of the penny stage, filed suit to sever the martial knot. His wife, Mrs. Florence Daly, was right on the scene and filed a cross complaint. Then she produced her resident witness, none other than husband Marcus, who swore he had seen her every day of their six week stay. There was nothing unusual about this to the Dalys. Last July, they traded husbands and wives with friends in a double divorce and marriage proposition in Missoula Montana. (Reno Reporter, October 31, 1947)

Did you follow this?    –Sandra McGee, Divorce Nevada Style

Interview with Bill McGee, KOLO-TV, Reno (Video)

Ed Pearce of KOLO-TV, Reno, interviews former 1940s Nevada dude wrangler Bill McGee on the site of the famous Flying M E divorce ranch, Washoe Valley, Nevada. November 2004.

 

“Welcome to Reno: America’s Divorce Resort” (Video)

This video documentary short was produced by acclaimed documentary filmmakers John Cork and Lisa van Eyssen for Twentieth Century Fox. The documentary short — or exclusive featurette as it’s called on the DVD – accompanies the re-release on DVD of the 1939 film Charlie Chan in Reno. Former 1940s Nevada divorce ranch wrangler and author Bill McGee provides on-camera commentary. The featurette runs 15 minutes; posted is a 2-minute clip.

The Charlie Chan Collection, Volume 4, is a 4-DVD box set and includes Charlie Chan in Reno, three other Charlie Chan movies, plus many exclusive featurettes. Available from Amazon.

 

Interview on Nevada Public Radio – Take a Listen!

Take a listen to Tales from Reno’s Divorce Ranches...  This informative interview on March 1, 2011 was aired on Nevada Public Radio’s KNPR in Las Vegas and features the following on-air guests:

• Author Bill McGee - former 1940s dude wrangler on Nevada’s Flying M E divorce ranch
• Author Marilu Norden -divorce ranch guest at Pyramid Lake Guest Ranch in the 1950s
• Beth Ward - former owner of the Whitney Guest Ranch in Reno
• Mella Harmon - Reno divorce historian     Click Here To Take a Listen

RENO DIVORCE JARGON, 1930s to 1960s

 In the heydays of the Reno divorce era, publicity about the Reno six-week divorce — also known as the “quickie divorce” –  generated its own terminology. 

 (Excerpted from Reno Divorce Glossary, THE DIVORCE SEEKERS: A Photo Memoir of a Nevada Dude Wrangler by William L. McGee and Sandra McGee.)

 The Spare                    The euphemistic name for the man or woman a divorce seeker brought with them to Reno for six weeks. The divorce seeker provided accommodations for “the spare” and usually intended to marry them when the divorce was final. Another term for “the spare” was “the cousin”. “Spares” and “cousins” kept the divorce seekers company during the six week residency period.

Alimony Park          The park across the street from the Washoe County Courthouse.

Bridge of Sighs         The  Truckee River Bridge where divorcees were said to toss their wedding rings into the Truckee River.

Divorce                       From the Latin divortium, to turn different ways, to separate.

Divorcé                       A man divorced

Divorcée                    A woman divorced

Divorce Capital of the World            Reno, Nevada

Divorce Mecca            Reno

Divorce Mill                Reno

Divorce Trade             Reno

Divorce Ranch            A term used by the national media during the quickie divorce era for a dude ranch catering to divorce seekers, usually from the wealthy or upper-classes.

Divorcée Special         Any train bringing divorce seekers to Reno

Divorce Seekers           Males or females coming to Reno for a six-week divorce.

Going Reno                 A term for divorce seekers on the loose in Reno.

Golden Age of Divorce   1930s – 1960s.  Also: Heyday of Divorce.

Graduation Day          The day a divorce seeker — or “graduate” as they were called — receives  their divorce decree.

I’m Going to Reno!    A popular phrase used by a wife or husband to announce to their spouse that they’re going to Reno for a divorce.

Quickie Divorce          A divorce granted after a six-week residency in Nevada.

“The Reno”                 A type of bra that both “separates and supports.” The idea is attributed to Ruth Lusch, a colorful Reno publicist in the late 1940s.

Reno Divorce Colony      The Reno social set composed of locals and visiting divorce seekers.

Reno-vation                A term coined by Walter Winchell for the change that despondent spouses went through in Reno. Also: “Reno-vated” and “Get Reno-vated.”

Separation Center of the West            Reno

Severance Stay            Six weeks in Reno

Sin City                       Reno

Six-weekers                 Divorce seekers

State of Easy Divorce             Nevada

The Cure                     Synonym for divorce.  Also: “To Take the Cure”.

The Separator              Washoe County Courthouse

The Women’s Exchange         Washoe County Courthouse

Widow’s Corner         The Corner Bar at the Riverside Hotel, located down the street from the Washoe County Courthouse, where the Reno divorce colony met.

“Mad Men” Season Opener — Betty Draper Gets a Reno Divorce

In anticipation of the fourth season opener of AMC’s acclaimed Mad Men, there was speculation on if we would see scenes with Betty Draper in Reno getting a divorce. This created some buzz about Reno’s glamorous divorce ranch era of the 1940s and ’50s. Check out Priya Jain’s illustrated story, Betty Goes Reno, at Washington Post.

Interview with Bill McGee, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum (Video)

Oklahoma City, OK, June 19, 2009 — Former Nevada divorce ranch wrangler and author Bill McGee talks about his book, THE DIVORCE SEEKERS: A Photo Memoir of a Nevada Dude Wrangler and his time from 1947 to 1950 working on the Flying M E, an exclusive divorce ranch 20 miles south of Reno that catered to wealthy Easterners, socialites, and Hollywood celebrities.

Interviewed at the Western Writers of America Mega-Book Signing
June 19, 2009
The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
Oklahoma City, OK

Interview with Sandra McGee, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum (Video)

Sandra McGee, co-author of The Divorce Seekers: A Photo Memoir of a Nevada Dude Wrangler, shares her perspective on the Reno divorce era.

Western Writers of America Mega-Booksigning

June 19, 2009

The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

Oklahoma City, OK