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ANAYLZE THIS 1999
SWIMFAN 2002
FEATURING
ROBERT DE NIRO and BILLY CRYSTAL
FEATURING
JESSE BRADFORD, ERIKA CHRISTENSEN and SHIRI APPLEBY
LOOKS FAMILIAR
PARK ST.
LOOKS FAMILIAR
AFTERGLOW WAY, UPPER MOUNTAIN TRAIN STATION
and MONTCLAIR HIGH SCHOOL
In this pre-Sopranos gangster comedy, Robert De Niro plays a
mobster whose panic attacks prompt him to seek the services of
a psychiatrist, played by Billy Crystal. The PARK ST. home that
serves as the therapist’s residence was not the original choice,
says Paul Kramer. “First, we were going to use the director’s idea
of a nice suburban home, which had a big yard. Vitti, De Niro’s
character, gives Crystal’s character, Sobel, a fountain as a gift, and
we were going to have to move the homeowner’s rose garden to
another person’s property. But then Billy Crystal joined the preproduction team, and he said, ‘No, the gag is that the fountain
needs to be in a tiny yard, so it’s bizarre and ridiculous.’ We had to
say ‘Sorry, Ma’am, we have to put the roses back.’” Kramer recalls
another gift delivery from the mafia don: Tony Bennett, whom
they filmed singing inside the UPPER MONTCLAIR home.
A psychological thriller about a teenage girl obsessed with a
star high school swimmer, Swimfan showcases multiple area
locations, including a “creepy old” mansion on AFTERGLOW WAY,
the UPPER MONTCLAIR TRAIN STATION and MONTCLAIR HIGH SCHOOL.
“We wanted an all-American small town, where an all-American
kid went to a quintessentially all-American-looking high school,”
says Tom Yeager, the film’s location manager. “And the stalker girl
needed to come from a dark place.” To secure the home, Yeager
knocked on doors and left behind letters at large houses that
looked like they’d suit their needs. Shooting at Montclair High
School took place over a weekend. “The teams were around, and
people were chill and curious,” he says. One setting that MHS
couldn’t provide was the swimming pool—it doesn’t have one —
so the pivotal swim scenes were shot at a “cool pool” in Harlem. ➤
MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE MAY 2016
ANALYZE THIS PHOTOS COURTESY MICHAEL AND WENDY STAHL
FILM