The history of the Ohio Valley over the past century has its fair share of star-studded twists and turns, all of which have been preserved forever on celluloid.

The area’s occasional brushes with Hollywood always have stirred a fierce interest among local movie lovers and star-struck fans. This month’s Winter Lecture Series at the Bellaire Public Library rewound the highlight reel of the area’s most notable moments that made it to the silver screen, and the topic drew a community room full of these fanatics, former extras and the simply curious.

Acclaimed producers and directors from Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams to Ron Howard and Chris Columbus have worked on location in the area, as have big-name stars like Jimmy Stewart, Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, Michael Keaton, Kurt Russell, Christopher Walken, Daryl Hannah, Denzel Washington and Christian Bale.

Jay Morris, director of media and instructor of film courses at Ohio University Eastern, conducted the presentation “Movies Made in the Ohio Valley and Western Pennsylvania.” For more than 20 years at the university, Morris has taught film courses, including those focusing on world history in film, American cinema, sports films and horror films.

“My love for films and film history started in horror films, back with Chiller Theatre,” Morris said, recalling the late night horror and science fiction movie program that aired in the Pittsburgh-area until the early 1980s. “What I love most about teaching film courses is the discussion we have about films.”

Morris said he learned during a discussion at a recent film lecture in Wheeling that there were at one time no fewer than 11 movie theaters located within a two-block area of the city. When he was later asked to head the lecture on films shot on location in the area, his research into the local history brought into focus a wealth of interesting movie-related facts.

The Bellaire Public Library, set near the on-location crossroads of the fictional movie towns of Belvedere, Ohio (“The Silence of the Lambs”) and Stanton, Pa. (“Unstoppable”), served as the perfect backdrop for the presentation.

“It was really fun to learn more about these films,” he said. Morris presented short film clips and accompanying details from many motion pictures with scenes shot locally. “This is not a comprehensive list whatsoever. Just the highlights.”

Among the earliest major motion picture studio films shot locally was Paramount’s 1925 silent-era film “Stage Struck” starring Gloria Swanson. “It was shot almost completely in New Martinsville, and was one of the first ever shot in Technicolor,” Morris noted.

A seasoned Jimmy Stewart and a young Kurt Russell starred in the 1971 comedy-drama “Fools’ Parade,” which was filmed almost entirely in Moundsville. Morris said much of the filming had to be done in short segments because Stewart’s character had a glass eye, and the prosthetic bothered the actor so much, he had to take breaks from it between shots.

Jim Strope of Glen Dale, who was on hand during the recent lecture, worked as an extra in the film.

“We lived in Moundsville,” Strope said. “I was a freshman in college at the time. My dad, mom … we all were there during filming. I remember the stars sat down and ate with everybody. It was very exciting.”

“Fool’s Parade” was based on a book of the same name written by Davis Grubb, who was a native of Moundsville.

The 1978 war classic “The Deer Hunter” starring Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep was one of the most critically acclaimed movies filmed locally. The film captured five Academy Awards in 1979, including awards for Best Picture, Best Director (Michael Cimino) and Best Supporting Actor (Walken). Many scenes with steel mill backdrops were filmed in Mingo Junction and Weirton.

“They turned an empty store front in Mingo Junction into a bar to film the bar scenes in ‘The Deer Hunter,'” Morris said. “After shooting was finished, it became a bar.”

Also filmed on location in both Mingo Junction and Weirton as well as Steubenville, the 1984 movie “Reckless” starring Darryl Hannah and Aidan Quinn was written by Chris Columbus, who went on to write “The Goonies,” to direct box office smashes and sequels for “Home Alone” and the first “Harry Potter” films.

“For me it’s strange watching the cut of that film,” Morris, a Weirton native, said of “Reckless,” “because in the movie, the characters are shown walking down the hallway of the old Mingo High School, they walk through a door, and it cuts to the Millsop Community Center in Weirton.”

Ron Howard directed the 1986 comedy/drama “Gung Ho” starring Michael Keaton, and parts of the movie were filmed at the Shadyside stamping plant. An outdoor scene at a park originally had been scheduled to shoot in Bellaire, and 2,000 people turned out to work as extras for that shoot. However, because of scheduling conflicts with the actors (George Wendt also was shooting the television show “Cheers” at the time), a decision was made to relocate the shoot to a location closer to Pittsburgh so actors could fly back to Los Angeles more readily.

“The Silence of the Lambs” from 1991 is another highly decorated film, scoring the “big five” for Oscars: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay. Much of the film was shot in Western Pennsylvania, but one memorable shot of the Bellaire Bridge sets the scene in the fictional town of Belvedere, Ohio, where moviegoers are introduced to villain “Buffalo Bill” Jame Gumb, played by actor Ted Levine (who coincidentally is originally from Bellaire).

Attorney Dan Frizzi, local historian and chairman of the Great Stone Viaduct Historical Education Society, said during the filming of “The Silence of the Lambs,” the crew contacted him with interest in filming the bridge shot from his roof. “I was interested and excited about it, but I had just put a new roof on the house, and I told them about it,” he said. “I never heard back from them. I’ve always thought that if it wasn’t for the new roof, they would have gotten that shot from the other side of the river at my house!”

Plenty of scenes from the 2010 Denzel Washington and Chris Pine train movie “Unstoppable” were filmed in Bellaire, as well as Martins Ferry and other local sites. The movie climaxed in the fictional town of Stanton, Pa., where a runaway train was heading for the “Stanton Curve” in what was actually downtown Bellaire. Several days of shooting brought helicopters, A-list movie stars and opportunities for hundreds to appear as extras.

“The film was a box office success, earning around $167 million,” Morris said. “You can just imagine the economic impact a movie like this has on a community. Hundreds of extras got paid to work on the sets for days, and a lot of those scenes didn’t even make the final cut of the movie. Actors were staying up at Oglebay. Undo’s was hired to do catering. It’s just a big boost to the economy.”

An opening scene for the critically acclaimed 2011 sports drama “Warrior” starring Tom Hardy and Nick Nolte was shot at the former West Virginia Penitentiary in Moundsville, as were scenes from the 2013 thriller “Out of the Furnace” starring Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Forest Whitaker, Willem Dafoe and Woody Harrelson.

Before directing “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” J.J. Abrams worked as director and teamed up with Steven Spielberg as producer for the 2011 sci-fi thriller “Super 8,” which was filmed in Weirton. Shooting was kept under tight wraps during on the sets, when parts of town were thrown back to the 1970s and turned into an alien-battling war zone.

“You can watch tanks going through the neighborhood and into my old girlfriend’s yard,” Morris said.

The ominous facade of the Moundsville prison, the rust belt backdrop of industrial mills along the Ohio River or the simple images of a two-story Appalachian town may be the appeal that draws movie companies to the Ohio Valley. But cameras rolling in Ohio Valley communities have traditionally set the scene for movies that offer a slice of hometown, blue-collar Americana that no sound stage or other filming location can capture.

“It’s a very competitive business bringing these major film companies into a community to shoot on location,” Morris said. “There are insurance issues and tax incentives that come into play. But you can see the economic impact it can bring to a community. Not to mention the excitement.”