Kristian Knutsen
A steady stream of classic car owners made their way to the Overture Center on Sunday to an open call for Public Enemies from Universal Pictures.
A steady stream of classic car owners made their way to the Overture Center on Sunday to an open call for Set to shoot from March through May in Chicago and in multiple locations around Wisconsin, this kind of period story requires an authentic setting, which is why a studio scout was in town to take a look at old-school vehicles. "We had about 45 people come by with photos," says the production's picture car captain The first hopefuls to arrive just after the doors opened at 9 a.m. are the owners of a four-door 1931 Ford Model "A" Town Sedan. "We bought the car around 1980 and I restored it myself in 1982," says Ralph Stromquist. "I did all the work, with cleaning and paint scraping by my wife Martha, except for machine shop work. Since then, we have driven it over 20,000 miles." They drove their Model A itself into downtown Madison, parking it next to the main branch of the library on Mifflin Street, and arriving early to avoid getting to much salt on the car as temperatures warmed later in the day. "We brought it to the casting call because we thought it might be fun to be involved, in a small way, in such a project," Stromquist explains. "My brother had his Model 'T' truck in the movie Iron Will some years ago and enjoyed the experience." Bachrach says that persons responding to call understood what he was looking for, namely cars, trucks, and buses from the 1930-35 era. He also makes comments that state film boosters certainly hope will become a common refrain as Public Enemies sets up around Wisconsin. "Being from L.A., the people here can't be nicer," he says, "very sincere, very nice people." Bachrach continues to look for some 100 vintage cars in Wisconsin, and asks owners in the state to email him photos of their vehicles to pechicago (at) gmail (dot) com. He will be in Oshkosh next Saturday and in Milwaukee next Sunday seeking more vehicles, with the specific locations in each city to be set up by Robbe. These cities, along with the state Capitol building in Madison and the period-remnant Little Bohemia Lodge in Manitowish Waters are the leading locations in the state where the production is looking to shoot come spring.
