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BERWICK — The legend of George Curry wasn’t solely built on the back of his 455 career coaching victories, six Pennsylvania state championships or three USA Today national titles.
Rather, it was expertly assembled by what Curry did away from the football field — and maybe moreso than what he did on it.
That became clear during a documentary film of his life titled “Curry: God. Family. Football,” shown Thursday during a preview screening at Berwick Theater which brought the late Curry’s human side to life.
“We all know coach Curry’s football, football, football,” said Bo Orlando, who quarterbacked Curry’s 1983 Bulldogs to their first national championship season and attended Thursday’s screening. “But he prepared you for the world. I’m so glad the film brought out what kind of person he was.
“I think his family will be real happy.”
The documentary, which runs approximately an hour, debuts at Berwick Theater with two showings Friday, at 9:30 and 11 p.m. It continues with shows 2 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, and concludes with a 2 p.m. running Sunday. Tickets are priced at $10, with part of the proceeds going to ALS, which took Curry’s life April 1 at the age of 71.
After the weekend showings, the documentary will be available on DVD, according to Jason Genovese, who helped with the film’s production by arranging interviews.
He put together a plethora of playmakers etched in Berwick lore, from star quarterbacks Orlando, Ron Powlus and Dave Robbins to Lance Evina, Curry’s son Cosmo and former Lake-Lehman coach Karl Kern, who played during Curry’s early years at Lake-Lehman High School. The film is also littered with cuts from the beginning of Curry’s career to the end, with a large sampling of Curry clips in between.
“There were so many people, the stories are endless, we could have kept going and going,” Genovese said. “We needed to get the people who were able to tell the stories we needed to get out — how great of a motivator he (Curry) was, how he put the kids first. We’re really happy with it. The reactions have been really positive.”
The film’s main producer, Alfredo Mercuri, weaved Curry’s ideals and beliefs with pulsating game action clips — set to background music used by NFL Films, according to Genovese.
“It was very emotional for me,” said a watery-eyed Orlando, who spent 10 years in the NFL as a defensive back. “Not so much memories, but I’m glad it came out what kind of person he was. I was very, very choked up.
“It’s amazing, the amount of people he helped.”
Curry’s generosity apparently wasn’t limited to the sport of football.
Evina shares on screen how Curry helped him become a better hitter on the baseball field, and about how the coach went to bat for some Berwick swimmers. Hulking offensive lineman Gus Felder, a former All-Big Ten at Penn State who played on Curry’s last state championship team in 1997, tells his own story of triumph through Curry’s guidance. And late Penn State coach Joe Paterno throws plenty of credit Curry’s way through clips taken when both men were at the forefront of different levels of the football world.
Film watchers will find out Curry’s connection to the late Whitney Houston; his indirect influence on New England Patriots four-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady; how his team’s reputation went from Berwick to Baywatch; why Curry never turned up coaching college football at Tennessee or any other big-time NCAA team; and they’ll understand why Powlus suggests that at least one of Curry’s schemes shot out of Berwick’s backfield and into the NFL.
And they’ll discover how the old master of trick plays helped beat a PIAA ban that couldn’t stop Berwick’s famed siren from sounding at a state title game.
“It brought up a couple things you didn’t know about him,” Orlando said. “Like before he came to Berwick, no one bothered to research what he did at Lehman. At one point, he said he knew all the plays when he was in fifth grade —I didn’t know how early he started. That’s something that makes me say, ‘Now I get why he was the way he was.’ “
Of course, the production coudn’t ignore the endless highlights that made people marvel at Berwick’s football success, and the inspiration Curry provided to attain it.
“I’m pumped up,” Orlando said following the screening. “I want to go run or something right now.”