I was browsing an auction-house website when I came across this headline: “Remnants of a Movie Set.” I was instantly intrigued because I love movies and I certainly wanted to see what props had been left behind from what movie.
Last year, this same auction house had sold remnants, set decorations, props – whatever you want to call them – from the movie “Dead Man Down,” also shot in Philadelphia and scheduled to be released in March. Both times, parts of the city were a stand-in for New York.
When I arrived at the auction house, I went searching for the remnants, not exactly sure what I was looking for but knowing I’d recognize them when I saw them. I combed the tables for those items and anything else interesting or unique.
I saw very little, except for some items that looked as if they’d been purchased from Marshalls. Which wasn’t so bad because I used to shop there and I have a friend who loves their knick knacks and home goods. On the same table were some African carvings obviously made for tourists and mass-market sale.
I found my way to the furniture room and finally came upon an item that seemed to have a movie-set imprint – nearly 20 stanchions with velvet ropes like the ones you see in a theater. On a table nearby were other ropes in boxes with a label attached: “Paranoia Productions Warehouse.”
The name meant nothing to me, but I inferred that these were part of remnants from a movie. I still wasn’t sure, though, what movie it actually was. I finally asked an auction staffer, who showed me tables of items that she said had been used in the movie “Paranoia,” starring Harrison Ford.
She pointed to two tables that I had already browsed. I thought this stuff came from Marshalls, I said to her. It did, she said, adding that some also came from the Pottery Barn and Ikea. In fact, I later found Ikea labels still on some office products on another table.
“Paranoia” takes place in New York, but many of its scenes were filmed in Philadelphia last summer and later in December. The director Robert Luketic told a local Fox 29 reporter that 80 percent to 85 percent of the movie was shot in Philly.
The movie tells the story of Adam Cassidy (played by Liam Hemsworth), an up-and-coming young corporate exec who is blackmailed by his boss Nicholas Wyatt (Gary Oldman) into spying on the boss’ rival Jack Goddard (played by a buzz-cut Harrison Ford). It is based on a 2004 novel of the same name by Joseph Finder. The release date is scheduled for October.
Several of the items at the auction were marked in black pen on wide blue tape with the characters’ names. Like the computer tower for Adam’s room, a set of four lovely white Adirondack chairs marked Godard (that’s the way it was spelled) and a boxed item marked Wyatt Mobile.
Tim, a co-owner of the auction house, said they usually get this stuff at the end of the shooting of a film, after the movie staff sells some of it back to the company that supplied it. What’s left over finds its way onto the auction tables.
And there was plenty of it waiting for bids this week, most of it as mundane and utilitarian as the stuff that most of us have in our homes. There were boxes of throw pillows, comforters, bath towels, furniture, lamps, men’s shoes, O’Doul’s beer, games, basketballs and much much more.
Tim pointed out a beautiful gray cushioned headboard and footboard, white cylinder lamp and a cabinet with a white front – it cost about $14,000, he said, and was damaged during production, but insured – that would be sold in a upcoming Modern Design sale in February.
I wasn’t around when the items sold, but I’m sure they were snatched up. Not because they had a provenance but because practically everything sells at auction. If I had bought those Adirondack chairs, I could’ve bragged to my friends about how they were on the set of that Harrison Ford movie, the one where he wore the buzz cut.
When I go to see the movie later this year, I plan to look for some of the items on the screen, which shouldn’t be hard because I can spot a Marshalls in a wink. If you see any of them, drop me a line in the Comments box below and let’s share. We get started now by checking out “Dead Man Down” in March and identifying its props, some of which you can see in my earlier blog post.
Here’s a photo gallery of the items at the auction. Click on the first photo to get started.
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