TO WONG FOO, THANKS
FOR EVERYTHING!
THE DEVIL’S OWN 1997
JULIE NEWMAR 1995
FEATURING
PATRICK SWAYZE, WESLEY SNIPES and JOHN LEGUIZAMO
FEATURING
HARRISON FORD and BRAD PITT
LOOKS FAMILIAR
UPPER MOUNTAIN AVE.
LOOKS FAMILIAR
EDGEMONT ROAD and WATCHUNG PLAZA
Patrick Swayze, Wesley
Snipes and John Leguizamo
star in this comedy about
three New York drag queens
who embark on a crosscountry road trip to Los
Angeles. UPPER MOUNTAIN
AVE. reveals itself when the
trio drive through the
neighborhood where
Swayze’s character grew up;
estranged from his parents
since coming out as gay, they
can only cruise by without
stopping. “We were looking
for an affluent suburban
neighborhood to show his
privileged upbringing,” says
Paul Kramer, the film’s assistant location manager.
This thriller about an IRA gunman who
hides in the home of an American family
stars Harrison Ford as policeman Tom
O’Meara, and Brad Pitt as Irishman Rory Devaney. Montclair
provided two locations for this film: THE EDGEMONT ROAD house
where the O’Mearas unwittingly shelter a terrorist, and the
WATCHUNG PLAZA OFFICE where Tom’s wife Sheila works. “We
wanted a well-kept American middleclass house, and it was nice
that it was a little excursion to the small business district,” says
Paul Kramer, assistant location manager for The Devil’s Own.
Several adjustments were made to the house, where crew
members worked in multiple rooms. The filmmakers built a
front porch, and put a hole through the kitchen wall to create a
window. The house next door was the “wrong color,” so they
made a deal with the owners to hire their painter, change the
color, and restore the original when they were done. Sometimes,
Kramer says, homeowners are put up in a hotel for several days.
They’re always invited to watch the filming, though on occasion,
crowd control is necessary. He recalls that “Crowds gathered
around Ford and Pitt, so we had to set up perimeters for safety.” ➤
MAY 2016
MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE
33