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Civil
War epic: Historic courthouse will become setting for
movie trial
By Matt Hanley
STAFF WRITER
YORKVILLE — Will Kendall County be able to handle Honest
Abe?Sources have told The Beacon News that the tall,
lanky president who starred in such American-history
hits as "The Civil War" and "The Election of 1860" will
be coming to the rural county this October.Apparently,
independent film director Rebecca Sutera will be
glamming up the already A-list Historic Kendall County
Courthouse on Ridge Street here for her directorial
debut, Prairie Rose.Our tipster said that the script
includes the heroine dreaming she meets Lincoln while on
a journey to rescue her
husband from a Union POW camp. The courthouse will be
standing in as a White House stunt double in this Civil
War drama.
"It was a very turbulent time when the country was in
disagreement," Sutera told this reporter, "and kind of a
romantic time when you think of Gone With The
Wind."Sorry readers, don't expect a Rhett Butler and
Scarlett O'Hara invasion. Sutera calls the
feature-length movie "very, very low budget," and word
is that all the actors are fellow Civil War enthusiasts
who are donating their time."We're not like Warner
Brothers coming in here," the director told The Beacon
News.While exact dates are still being worked out,
Sutera expects the courthouse filming to last one
day.And with Henry Fonda (who played the rail splitting
president in 1939's Young Abe Lincoln) already dead, Max
Daniels has been tabbed to portray the 16th president. A
little bird who will be directing the film told this
reporter that Daniels is considered the top Lincoln
impersonator in Northern Illinois.Sutera, a Bartlett
resident, frequently participates in Civil War
re-enactments but shoots wedding videos for a living.
She heard about the courthouse from Bristol farmer Tom
Fletcher, who is lending his land for some other
scenes.After giving the courthouse an extreme makeover
in 2001, Kendall officials are thrilled that a little
bit of Hollywood's magic dust will be floating through
their county."People can tell when a film has heart,"
said County Board member Kay Hatcher. "I think this film
about Lincoln will have heart. I'm just delighted."
For more information on the movie, go to
www.prairiestarproductions.com. |
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