Hollywood came to Oklahoma in the summer of 1988 and left its signature emblazoned on the Big 8 Motel. The motel's sign shoots into the El Reno sky like a glorious icon from the town's rich, colorful past. "Amarillo's Finest," it announces in lively script, typical of an era remaining mostly in dusty flea markets and faded photographs. Scenes from the movie, Rain Man, were filmed in room 117 of the Big 8, and the film crew left behind the "Amarillo" sign when they made the motel a part of Hollywood film history.
I have watched Rain Man many times and feel a strong connection to the film because so much of it was shot in Oklahoma, including the turning point of the film, which takes place inside the Big 8 Motel. In that scene, Tom Cruise's character, Charlie Babbit, undergoes an awakening in which he realizes that his autistic older brother, Raymond, played by Dustin Hoffman, is his imaginary childhood friend and savior, the Rain Man. Charlie and Raymond are in the midst of a journey across America, and at that point in the film, Charlie has only recently learned that he has a brother. I find it interesting that Charlie, who has been isolated from his family and the rest of the country, returns to his roots through delving into his family’s past and meeting his estranged brother. Along the way, Charlie and Raymond travel across the back roads of small town America, and become re-acquainted with their broader, cultural roots as well. Appropriately, the filmmakers selected the Big 8 Motel, in the heart of Oklahoma, to herald Charlie's epiphany.
Ironically, the scene filmed at the Big 8 Motel in El Reno was set in Amarillo, Texas. There stood a motel in Amarillo that the filmmakers had wanted to use for that scene, but sadly, the motel was torn down shortly before the filming began. The filmmakers then chose the Big 8 in place of the destroyed motel because of its nostalgic quality that evoked feelings of rooted, rural America. Hence, the sign "Amarillo's Finest" still hangs in front of the Big 8 Motel as a memento of the filming.
I often wish I could have seen the Amarillo motel before it was destroyed, and it saddens me to know that one less dusty relic remains in the world. I take comfort in believing that perhaps somewhere, the Amarillo motel has joined the White Way Café in that place wherever old buildings go when they die.
