The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

12 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, September 23, 1986 Film set in Rockport Indianna in the 1950's Port transformed (From page 8) before Don Carmody Productions decided to go with Port Perry. The Arm takes place in a small town called Rockport Indianna, on the banks of the Ohio River in 1957. Rockport actually exists, but pro- - ducers wanted a similar town in Canada, where, among other reasons, production is cheaper. Mr. Newli, along with star Matt Dillon, travelled to Rockport and studied it carefully, taking in the set- up of the town, getting a feel for the ambience and studying the way Rockport looked in the 1950's. And after looking at other towns all over, they finally decided on Port Perry because of its resemblance to Rockport. Both towns have a downtown core facing a body of water, and with Port Perry's old buildings and the cosmetic changes made by the production crew, Port became a dead ringer for Rockport the way it was in 1957. Port Perry's facelift began early Saturday morning, September 13th. Filming was originally set to begin the following Tuesday September 16th, but due to technical problems, it didn't get underway until Thurs- day September 18th. And when filming did begin, the whole town sat up and took notice. The casting call was 7:30 Thurs- day morning, and by that time, Queen Street was blocked off from Perry to Water Streets by off-duty Durham Regional Police, hired by the production company. Old cars and trucks lined the boulevard, camera equipment was set up, and the crowds began to gather. Publicity director Al Ebner, a tanned, bespectacled native of Los Angeles, said he was impressed by the crowds, and by the town itself. "People have been really co- operative. It's been great,' he said. "When you ask people to move back, they move back. They've been super." i \ Al Ebner, publicity director for "The Arm." Mr. Ebner, who comes to "The Arm' with movies like Jaws, Jaws II, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Rocky IV to his credit, called "The Arm' a major studio release that should be in the theatres by August 1987. He figures the filming will con- tinue in the Toronto area until the end of November. ABOUT THE FILM He calls "The Arm" a "coming of age" movie, about the king of local crapshooters, Cully (played by Matt Dillon, star of Tex, The Outsiders and Rumble Fish), who leaves his hometown of Rockport and heads Michael LL. Fowler and Bryan T. Davies are pleased to announce effective September 2, 1986 they have merged to practice law under the name FOWLER, DAVIES BARRISTERS & SOLICITORS and that they will be practicing law at 217 Queen Street, Port Perry, Ontario 988-8411 (formerly Port Perry office; Kelly, Jermyn, Zuly & Fowler) GREYSTONE EQUESTRIAN CENTRE R.R. 2, SHIRLEY ROAD -- PORT PERRY Welcome to Greystone & The King's Plate Lounge (licensed) EVERY SUNDAY - SUPER SPECIAL BUFFET 12:00 noon to 8:00 p.m. OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK! Regular Luncheon Menu plus daily luncheon specials. Superb Dinner Menu - Wednesday thru Saturday Call ahead for Reservations ... 989-9711 OPEN TO THE PUBLIC -- EVERYONE WELCOME Reserve now for your Christmas Party, Banquet, Wedding or Special function. ~ SENIOR CITIZENS ... 10% DISCOUNT (Monday to Friday) for the big time-Chicago (which, ex- cept for outside establishing shots, will be filmed in Toronto). Cully's mentor is Hooker, a fies- ty old character (played by Toron- to actor Don Francks), who runs a Rockport general store and teaches Cully the art of craps in his spare time. : Mr. Ebner says Hooker "has a gruff exterior with a warm interior" who fosters a father-son relationship with Cully, whose real father is dead. Cully, until he leaves for Chicago (where he meets actors Tommy Lee Jones, the bad guy, and Diane Lane, a stripper, and discovers the big time isn't as great as it's cracked up to be), lives with his mother in a white clapboard house with a big front porch (the house on Bigelow Street). With an actor like Dillon, who is most popular among teenagers, "The Arm" is obviously designed to appeal to a younger audience. "It'll be biggest amongst people under 30," Mr. Ebner predicts, 'but there are things in this movie for "everybody." "The Arm" is being directed by Ben Bolt, son of Robert Bolt, the respected author of A Man For All Seasons. Mr. Ebner says it's the director's first movie, and will pro- bably end up being rated PG. While the movie itself stirred up a lot of interest amcr.gst Port Perry residents, it was Matt Dillon himself who attracted the most attention. Although a tight schedule didn't permit him to sign autographs, fans waited expectantly to catch a glimp- se of him in action, cameras, autograph books and pens in hand. And when they did see him, they weren't disappointed. Dillon squinted his trademark squint, smil- ed his trademark smile (a rare, shy grin, his full lips slightly lifted on one side), and talked the way Matt Dillon is famous for talking--like a tough street kid with a big heart. Needless to say, he drove the irls wild. : yoo point, members of the technical crew had to hold back a ¢ {k into small American town whole group of youngsters as they attempted to secure the star's autograph. "Not too many locals were lucky enough to speak to the famous Mr. Dillon. Security was tight, and he was pretty well protected. You might just say that Matt Dillon was held at Arm's length. od U.S. Alf FORCE | CAREERS wm ale FUTURE <WGORE © YOURS NOW With the costumes of the extras, and the "U.S. Air Force" backdrop, this photo could have been taken in 1957. But it was actually taken last week during filming of "The Arm." Most merchants pleased with filming of movie in downtown Port Perry Reaction among merchants to the movie production on Queen Street has been mixed, the Star has found in a survey of several local businesses last week. But almost without exception, shop owners and managers on Queen Street said any short-term in- convenience or loss of business is far out-weighed by the positive benefits over the long-term to the communi- ty in general. And most business people inter- viewed by the Star last Friday said it has been 'interesting, fun and kind of exciting" to have the produc- tion crew of 'The Arm" filming scenes right on their door-steps. After all, it's not every day of the year that a Hollywood star like Matt Dillon is on the sidewalk of the main street in downtown Port Perry. WORDS OF PRAISE Without exception, the merchants on the street had high words of praise for the way the film crew and company handled themselves while in Port Perry. The crews were polite, co- operative and in many instances bent over back-wards to ensure that any disruptions to the business routines were kept to a minimum. The negative comments centered mostly around the fact that on Thursday and Friday of last week, vehicle traffic from Perry to Water Streets was restricted, forcing shop- pers to park off-street Other merchants said they were a little disappointed that the filming was not completely wrapped up by Thursday night, as scheduled. (A last-minute change in the director for "The Arm' apparently was a factor in the film schedule being ex- tended to Friday). : Much of Thursday's filming was directly in front of the Standard Trust office (which was re-done as a drug store and bus stop). Rob Wearing, branch manager of Standard Trust said that while he made the recommendation to allow the office front to be made over for the film, the final approval came from head office. -*"The priority for me is'to be a good corporate citizen in this com- munity," he said in an interview. While some of his customers may have experienced short delays get- ting into the trust office last Thurs- day (when the cameras were rolling outside) Mr. Wearing said he per- sonally did not get any complaints. He said he is a little concerned about the fact the film crew had to dig up part of the lawn beside the of- fice, but he has been guaranteed it will be replaced. "I will have no complaints at all if everything is restored exactly as it was. I hope they don't let us down in any way," he said. Would he object if another film company arrived in town some time in the future and wanted to use Queen Street for shooting? "I'm always prepared to listen to a proposal when it comes along," he replied. And he added, if a film pro- duction is going to take place in your front yard, it's best to co-operate. He said Standard Trust is receiving $100 per day in compensation and this money will be used to make im- provements to the office here in Port Perry. - "That money (compensation) will be spent locally," he stated. Beckers Store manager Richard Young told the Star he heard no complaints from customers in his shop last week (other than one in- dividual who didn't like the idea of the big American flag flying on Queen Street). DID NOT SUFFER He said his business did not suf- fer measurably and he noticed that many members of the production crew were buying things in this store. Over the noon hour on Thursday, business actually picked up, thanks to the fact numerous students spent their lunch hour watching the ac- tivities on the street. Mr. Young said his compensation for use of the store front was $200, but that may be in- creased this week because of the ex- tended shooting schedule. At Brock's Department Store, Claudette Brock said she didn't believe normal business was im- pacted in any negative way last week. "It has been great fun for us to watch the filming, and the produc- tion people were very co-operative." she said. And she said she heard no com- plaints from customers coming in- to the store (Turn fo page 16) BRR a L ANA Qo gti Ca don Be, RID TO VE Jy MAAR Wr Uy (REM ngs 7 a dl '¥ A on Ta nl ru ionhnan ii nt HEL SHR Ee 77]