ATTEND FESTIVAL. GET BOMBED.
I had no idea.
No idea that South Lake Tahoe made international news 46 years ago when a bomb was set inside Harvey’s Casino, with a $3 million ransom demand.
So I sat in thrall as I watched the documentary feature, “I Got Bombed at Harvey’s,” which makes its West Coast premiere this Sunday at the Mammoth Lakes Film Festival.
Because I couldn’t figure out what might happen next, and what did happen next was always beyond my imagination.
So stop here if you plan to go see it at 2:45 p.m. at the USFS Welcome Center theater (2500 Main St. in Mammoth).
If not, I may give away a few plot details here, but not enough to discourage a future viewing.
The tale involves a father, John Birges Sr., and two sons.
The father possesses a bit of a shadowy past. He was a native Hungarian who was drafted into the Luftwaffe during WWII, and claims to have recorded 13 kills before his plane was downed and he spent the remaining years of the war in a Russian prison camp.
He has the prison tattoos to make the story credible.
Post-war, Dad marries, immigrates to the States, and becomes an American success story. He owns a popular restaurant as well as a landscaping business in Fresno. He employs 26 people. He’s a millionaire – back when a million dollars meant something.
Until he develops a gambling habit, loses everything, gets 86’d from Harvey’s Casino and vows revenge.
He decides to build a bomb, and enlists his sons’ help to do it.
His youngest son is a mere 18 years old.
Along the way they steal 1,000 lbs. of TNT, and create a homemade, albeit complex, bomb with eight different triggers.
And then roll the bomb into the casino under a blanket (claiming it’s a photocopier) and even get help from security to load it into the elevator.
Gotta love the ‘80s …
In the ensuing negotiations with law enforcement, Dad asks for $3 million and comes up with an elaborate plan to make the money drop.
The plan crumbles in Keystone Cop fashion.
The FBI then decides it’ll try to disarm the bomb.
Bad idea. The bomb explodes, and causes $20 million damage (About $80 million today).
In the aftermath, the FBI initially offers a $175,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the bombers. That figure is later raised to $500,000. Which ultimately loosens some lips.
Casino owner Harvey Gross initially draws scrutiny as a possible suspect because he had wanted to expand the casino and had been denied by the city.
The explosion and resulting property damage afforded him the opportunity to rebuild higher in the same spot.
Meanwhile, Birges Sr., who lost out on his $3 million ransom, literally steals another 1,000 lbs. of TNT (from the same hydroelectric construction project) and vows to build another bomb.
He’s finally arrested before that happens, defends himself at trial, and cross-examines his sons, who testified avgainst their father in exchange for immunity from prosecution, during that trial.
On Sunday, Jim Birges, the youngest son, and an FBI agent who worked the case, Bill Jonkey, will be on hand for a post-screening Q & A.
