Films Made Here

Lights, Camera, Action
Moviemaking returns to Montgomery County
By K. Bailey Fucanan

A fact little known to most Philadelphia region residents is that Montgomery County and the Valley Forge area played a starring role in the early years of motion pictures and the coming of the silver screen.

In 1921, optician Siegmund Lubin established the Betzwood Motion Picture Studio across the Schuylkill River from what is today Valley Forge National Historical Park and made more than 100 films at the premier facility. But by 1921 the party was over and the movie industry had gone west.

Today the Greater Philadelphia Film Office has helped challenge Hollywood’s hold on the film business through aggressive promotion of the region as a filming site, lobbying and awareness strategies. New state tax incentives have also enticed even more production of shorts, independent films and big budget blockbusters in the region, and development of production facilities in Montgomery County.

Gladwyne native M. Night Shyamalan, whose Blinding Edge Pictures production company is headquartered in Montgomery County, consistently favors shooting in the vicinity. Scenes for his latest film "The Happening," were shot in Lower Merion and at G-Lodge Restaurant in Phoenixville, along Route 23, about four miles from Valley Forge National Historical Park. It’s due out this summer.

“In this thriller, a couple goes on the run from an apocalyptic crisis that presents a large-scale threat to humanity,” says unit publicist Claire Raskind. “The Happening” stars MarkWahlberg as science teacher Elliot Moore, along with Zooey Deschanel,

John Leguizamo and Betty Buckley. G-Lodge Restaurant was renamed "Filbert" for the shoot and the building next door was transformed to resemble a gas station. G-Lodge owner Dennis Dreibeilbis, who has a bit part in the film, says he intends to keep some of the changes the production company made to the building, including an exterior sign, “At least until the movie opens,” he says.

Another movie filmed in the area is the independent "Our Lady of Victory," set for release this year. Pottstown’s Hill School is one of the backdrops for this inspiring story of the Immaculata College basketball team’s improbable run to the national collegiate women’s championship in 1972. Two locker room scenes and the NCAA regional final game against West Chester State College were shot at the private boarding school, chosen for its atmosphere and distinctive architecture. Actors Carla Gugino (“Spy Kids”) and Philadelphia native David Boreanaz (“Bones,” “Angel,” “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer”) star as Coach Cathy Rush and her husband, Ed.

Downtown Royersford was similarly selected to evoke 1970s Norristown in “The Lovely Bones,” a film based on the best-selling novel by Alice Sebold, who grew up nearby in Paoli. It’s the story of 14-year-old Susie Salmon, who is brutally murdered, raped and dismembered by her neighbor George Harvey (Stanley Tucci.)

Susie narrates the story from heaven as she observes her family’s earthly struggle to discover her murderer and keep their lives together. MarkWahlberg and RachelWeisz play her parents.

The movie was shot all over Montgomery County, including inside a Hatfield warehouse and at Valley Forge National Historical Park. There Park Ranger and historical interpreter Ajena Rogers became part of the action. Originally Rogers was to be an extra acting as a park tour guide just mouthing words to some school children. Then a second scene was added at Washington’s Headquarters. As Stanley Tucci is standing in the breezeway, Rogers gives the children “a real talk, the same I would for any student group, introducing them to what this house might have been like when Washington was here,” she says.

“The Lovely Bones” will be released next March and is the first film New Zealand native Peter Jackson (“Lord of the Rings” Trilogy, “King Kong”) has shot in the United State.

Plans are also in motion to develop a full-scale movie production facility in Norristown, with construction anticipated to begin this summer. Logan Square Studios Complex will be one of the largest movie production sites on the East Coast with approximately 250,000 sq. ft. of space, housing six sound stages and support services for each, according to developer Charles Gallub.

Just as Betzwood was the premier studio of its day, Logan Square Studios Complex is poised to once again put Montgomery County and the Valley Forge area in the movie-making spotlight.