Film interruptions minimal
By MICHAEL SCHULER, Times Leader Staff WriterArticle Photos
BELLAIRE - The filming of "Unstoppable" moved forward with scenes being filmed primarily on 32nd Street in Bellaire Tuesday.
While Denzel Washington was reportedly not in town, the film's co-star Chris Pine was, but was not filmed in any of the scenes.
One of the scenes that was shot was at a house on 32nd Street, where a large crowd gathered to watch the filming, that appeared to also involve media from the Pittsburgh area, and extras dressed as Pennsylvania State Troopers and firefighters.
Just before filming, crew members would yell, "Rolling," and the film's director, Tony Scott could be heard saying, "Action."
Scenes also involving the use of fire trucks from Neffs and Brilliant fire departments were shot in the morning on 32nd Street, just south of the railroad tracks.
While the filming of the movie has required streets to be temporarily closed for 10 to 15 minutes at a time, most delays have been minimal, traffic disruptions have reportedly been few and people are still able to get to most businesses in town, including those in the downtown area.
At Malibu Bill's, a gift shop on Belmont Street, Monday's film activity actually helped to bring in some new customers.
"Yesterday (Monday) was a nice day," said Bev Hrdlicka, manager of Malibu Bill's. "I had a lot of customers come in yesterday. I have my regulars who come in, but yesterday we had a lot of new faces."
Hrdlicka said some of those new customers were from Moundsville and Martins Ferry.
She also said the traffic hasn't been a big concern.
Save-Rite Pharmacy hasn't had many problems either. According to owner Phil Pata II, Monday and Tuesday were "pretty normal."
"Monday's usually my busiest day and I was a little concerned, but things went well," Pata said. "We had a few delays in the alley because of my drive-thru. Yesterday, somebody complained they couldn't get through the alley, so my wife called (location manager, James Mahathey) and he personally came down and drove through the alley. They've been very cooperative and the delays have been short."
The movie has also brought a few more customers into his business where he also sells some gifts.
"I think it's a good thing for Bellaire myself," he said.
Another business owner, attorney Daniel Frizzi Jr., said it hasn't hampered his practice and with one exception, it's been business as usual.
"I had one client who was held up about 20 minutes, but it wasn't a problem for me and didn't seem to be a problem for her," he said.
He too said the excitement of the filming is a good thing for the village and likes seeing people traveling the streets.
"The town looks like I remember it as a kid," Frizzi said.
On Tuesday, Frizzi also presented Mahathey with copies of his book about the history of the railroads in Bellaire, "An American Railroad Portrait: People, Places and Pultney." Copies of the book are going to be given to Washington, Pine and director Tony Scott, along with copies of the lithograph, "A Bird's Eye View of Bellaire," and the booklets about famous visitors to Bellaire that were printed for the All-American Days Festival.
At the family-owned Rigas Restaurant, Rosalie Rigas-Kovalyk said she thinks the filming of the movie here is a positive for the town.
"How exciting it is for somebody from out of town to pick our town to feature in a film," Kovalyk said. "They picked it for a reason and there is beauty in this town and there is potential, and it's awesome how it's all come together."
One of the things that she has said she's found most interesting are the scenes involving the low-flying helicopters.
"I just want to sit out there and watch that all day long," she said. "Another thing that really impressed me is how nice everyone from the movie has been. They have all been very polite and very appreciative."
The remainder of the filming will focus mainly on scenes involving the train, said the film's publicist Gabriela Gutentag. Today, a stunt double will be used in scenes in place of Washington who was in town on Monday. Washington and Pine will be in other scenes filmed in Bellaire later in the week.
Schuler can be reached at shoe@timesleaderonline.com.



