Saving The Outsiders House: Danny O'Connor.

Moviepilot.com/Warner Bros.

The Outsiders is an american drama movie adaptation of  S. E. Hinton's book with the same title. It was realised in 1983 and had a cast of many familiar faces before they were as familiar and famous as they are today; Matt Dillon, Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze and pre-Karate Kid Ralph Macchio, with C. Thomas Howell as the lead. The film tackled themes of class, brotherhood and murder and caught it all in a gritty, honest and beautiful bubble. Simply unforgettable.

This cult classic was directed by one of the greats Francis Ford Coppola whose name stands against the ever lasting titles of The Godfather, Apocalypse Now and one of my favourites, Bram Stoker's Dracula. With all these fantastic names behind it, from my point of view, I'm surprised it's as cult and underrated as it is. However with that being said, I learnt just how large the ever growing fan base for this movie was  when the key character of the movie was due to be demolished; 'The Curtis Brother's House' and thus, a campaign began.

Danny in front of The Curtis Brother's House/GoFundMe Campaign Photo.

With the house deteriorating into nothing, long time Outsiders fan Danny O'Connor, known for House of Pain, came to save the day and actually brought the house himself. Now, with the house in his possession he has joined together a large team that are now turning this piece of cinema history, into a strong standing museum for life long fans and future ones to come-"My plan originally was to buy the house to save it from being demolished. I would visit the house a couple times a year since 09 and noticed it was in bad shape. I also noticed that a lot of the homes in that neighborhood were being torn down and they were building Habitat for Humanities homes on those properties. So as much as I like what Habitat does I didn't want them to tear down what we believe to be a National treasure (The Outsiders House) and build one there. Now that we've saved the house we are in the process of restoring it and then eventually turning it into a museum that will house our ever growing Outsiders book and movie collection."

Now as you can imagine, this is not a cheap job and as a strong Outsiders fan myself I had to get involved in some way and help out with the live campaign Danny has up! He and his team of hard workers are trying to raise enough money as possible to make sure that this house can be all it can be and as a fan, I am sold to donate, but I asked Danny why others should to-"Well, If they love The Outsiders like I/we love The Outsiders then I need your support in making sure that the house used in the filming of the classic movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola based on the novel by S.E. Hinton stays around for ever to insure that fans and future fans alike can share and enjoy this timeless classic movie location."

Now Danny and co, are putting their heart and soul into this project to make sure the greaser Curtis family name lives on in foundation as well as literature and screen, that's pure dedication to something you love and I understand the obvious reasons why someone would love this movie so much, but still I asked Danny why does he-"I guess its just one of those timeless classics that seems everyone can relate to at one level or another. The whole class struggle between the haves and the have-nots and then that greaser style as well."

Annnnnddd who is his favourite greaser?  "Yeah Dallas Winston was the coolest greaser by far and still is."  It's hard to not have love for Dally, the way he was played by Dillon, as teenagers you can see boys idolising him and girls falling in love with  him and I think in my case I did both. But don't worry, I've never been arrested, in fact it's the afternoon and I'm in my PJ's. Think I'll leave the badass-ness to Dally.

Dillon as Dally/Warner Bros.

Danny also let me know of upcoming events based in Tulsa, US that Outsider fans can get excited about or even just see another way you can help support this glorious campaign-"We have an fund raising event on Aug 6th at the IDL ballroom in Tulsa with C. Thomas Howell and Darren Dalton (Socs) as well as other cast members from the movie and special guests to be announced at a later date."

This is one of those once in a lifetime moments that I wish myself and more people could/would do for other gems of films and books and even though it sadly doesn't happen often; we are lucky that it is happening now!
If you want to know more about the campaign and see regular updates of how the house is coming along please follow the link straight to the GoFundMe campaign page here:
https://www.gofundme.com/theoutsidershouse

Also, if you haven't seen or read The Outsiders I would personally recommend you to do either or both, it is definite a story to consume at least once in your life, because if your like me or Danny or the rest, it will stick with you for life.

Please help spread the word!

VF.