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Hollywood comes to town The Sioux Falls Argus Leader "Carthage, South Dakota, population 274, is a sleepy little cluster of clapboard houses, tidy yards, and weathered brick storefronts rising humbly from the immensity of the northern plains, set adrift in time. Stately rows of cottonwoods shade a grid of streets seldom disturbed by moving vehicles. There's one grocery in town, one bank, a single gas station, a lone bar - the Cabaret, where Wayne Westerberg is sipping a cocktail and chewing on a sweet cigar, remembering the odd young man he knew as Alex." CARTHAGE - Not much has changed here in the decade-plus since Jon Krakauer wrote those words.There's still only one store to pick up groceries, one place to do your banking, only the Cabaret to go to if you want a drink. And, according to Mayor Kathy Faber, the population now has dipped to 187. But for this one week, at least, what Krakauer called a grid of streets is seeing much more traffic than it has in years. And the vehicles bear alluring lettering on the sides, names such as "Paramount Pictures" and "Sony" and "Hat Trick Catering" out of Los Angeles. On a quiet weekday morning, those trucks parked to the side of the one-story brick Carthage Elementary School sit idle. But as the sun rises in the sky, the vehicles are pressed into service, and more people can be seen on the town's main street. That's because Hollywood has come to Carthage, which briefly was the home of Chris "Alexander Supertramp" McCandless, a young man who ended up dying in the Alaska wilderness just weeks after his stay here. Krakauer wrote about McCandless and the journey that took him across the United States in his book "Into the Wild," and now actor-director Sean Penn is making it into a movie. A documentary filmmaker who wants to retrace McCandless' route and talk to everyone he met was in Carthage about a month ago. His presence "stirred things up" in a town committed to the Penn production. If the documentary ever is made, resident Rich Spurgin says, he doesn't expect Carthage to come off looking good in it. Filming in Carthage, which is expected to end today before the crew moves to Hot Springs and Winner, has been eye-opening, educational and illuminating, residents say. Mostly, it's been just a lot of fun. "The guys that are working on this are real nice," says Pat Stevens, a clerk at the This-N-That grocery store. "They're just as nice as they could be," echoes Brandon Darnell, who had stopped by the store to pick up soft drinks and bottled water. Having Carthage's main street shut off for a few days caused no problems, he says. "Nothing moves fast around here, and it's no big deal to go one block out of the way." Spurgin co-owns the Cabaret with Toni Clarey. His business not only has seen an increase in customers - some days double and triple the usual number - but served as a set. "It's created quite a festive atmosphere in town," Spurgin says. "It's been an awesome time. We hate to see them go." Several vacant houses in Carthage serve as temporary lodging for cast or crew. They can be spotted because of the security guards in blue T-shirts standing outside. Other crew members stay in Mitchell, De Smet or Spring Lake Lodge near Oldham. Cast and crew aren't speaking to the media, a spokesman says. The Cabaret has been closed since Monday; tonight it is going to be filled with extras as shooting in Carthage wraps up. Starring in the movie, scripted and directed by Penn, are Emile Hirsch as McCandless and Vince Vaughn as Wayne Westerberg, former owner of the grain elevator in Carthage. Westerberg, who now lives at Madison, is an adviser to Penn. Dave Hurne snagged Vaughn's autograph and keeps it in a small, red plastic-covered notebook. He had been out working in his garden when the film crew asked if he would take a break so they could film in that area. The crew was filming a chase scene involving the FBI. Krakauer's book makes a brief reference to Westerberg's troubles with the FBI in which he was caught in a sting for building and selling "black boxes" to illegally unscramble satellite-TV transmissions. "It was funny - they did the capture first, then the chase," Hurne says. Hurne has never seen Vaughn in a movie, but he plans to watch for the actor now. Tamra Misner lives in Watertown. On a recent morning, headed home from a trip to Mitchell, she swung through Carthage just to see what there was to see. Other than the signs in front of the school reserving parking spots for the director, producers, art department and production runner, there wasn't much. So, with her cell phone camera, Misner shot a picture of the Paramount Pictures logo on a truck. "I was hoping to see them filming downtown and take pictures," she says. "But this is impressive." For two days, the Carthage elevator served as the site for filming, and owner/manager Russell Dillon became Penn's adviser. "Sean Penn was very particular," Dillon says. "He wants it as real as possible." Both Dillon and employee Randy Lager were amazed at the work it took to shoot the elevator scenes. "They work hard to get their job done," Lager says. "Yeah, I'll look at movies a little differently, now," Dillon agrees. Townspeople and cast and crew mingled at a Fourth of July picnic in the park that concluded with fireworks. It was a chance for "town and gown" to form an even stronger bond, says Faber, the mayor. "We're just enjoying having them here." As mid-morning coffee time concludes at the Prairie Inn, a crew member chats with four gray-haired women. "You ladies didn't go to the party?" he asks. "I'm too crippled and old," one jokes. When he leaves after a late breakfast, she asks, "That going to last you for the day?" Outsiders take more of an interest in what's happening at Carthage, speculating on whether Penn's wife, actress Robin Wright Penn, would visit (she did) and whether Jennifer Aniston had come to see Vaughn (Westerberg says she hasn't, nor was Vin Diesel in town Wednesday). Local residents just swap stories on the latest in filming, says Donna Petersen, a waitress at both the Prairie Inn and the Cabaret. "Everyone comes in and talks about what they've seen," she says. "This is different for us." Long after the action has quieted down, the stories will remain. "I think this will be a tremendous benefit for Carthage," Spurgin says. "It's been nothing but good for the town." Reach reporter Jill Callison at 331-2307 | ||||||
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772-5153 •PO Box 10• 109 N. Main Street• Howard, SD 57349 •
mccr@alliancecom.net |