As I watched the movie, I looked keenly for the snow-white leather sofa. It was the prop that stood out the most last summer at an auction that sold furniture and accessories from the movie “Dead Man Down,” scenes of which were shot in Philadelphia.
The tufted sofa had two nicks, and one of the owners of the auction house had found two bullet casings marked as blanks beneath the cushions.
The movie opened in theaters across the country this weekend with Terrence Howard, Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace. Farrell and Rapace play two people seeking revenge against those who had wronged them.
I went to the movies not only to see if the film was any good but also to locate items that had ended up at auction.
I wasn’t around last summer when the items were sold, but whoever bought that sofa or the scales with the white substance masquerading as cocaine or any of the other items now has provenance and proof that they played a role in the movie. What better bragging rights than telling folks thatTerrence Howard touched this or Colin Farrell sat there.
Here’s what I found in the film:
- Scales from the set of “Dead Man Down.” The one on the right is dusted with a white powdery substance.
The scales were the first thing I noticed. I saw only one of them – a flat post-office type scale – as the cameras scanned a room where several men identified as Jamaicans were processing and packaging cocaine. Alphonse, a drug lord/kingpin played by Howard, and Victor, his enforcer and unbeknownst tormenter played by Farrell, didn’t touch the scales. But at least, the scales were featured in the movie.
- A dining room set and lights from “Dead Man Down.”
This table and chairs were in the dining room of Beatrice, played by Rapace. Valentine Louzon, her mother played by Isabelle Huppet, sat in one chair and put her feet up in another. In another scene, Victor and Beatrice were sitting at the glass-topped table in two of the chairs.
- Furniture labeled “Beatrice bedroom” from “Dead Man Down.”
In my mind, I keep seeing the vanity (above right) in Beatrice’s bathroom because it showed up right after she told her mother that she was going to take a bath. I must be mistaken. Seated at the vanity, Beatrice pulled one side of the mirror toward her face to see the scars left by a drunk driver. The aqua metal chair was in Beatrice’s kitchen near the door. I don’t recall anyone sitting in it.
- A folding screen and sofa from “Dead Man Down.”
Mom lounged on this contemporary sofa in Beatrice’s living room. I didn’t see the screen in the movie.
- A lamp and vases from “Dead Man Down.”
The two vases were in nooks in the living room of Alphonse’s stone mansion. They make their appearance near the end of the movie. I never saw the chandelier.
- This white leather sofa from “Dead Man Down” had two nicks.
I finally saw the white sofa. It was also in Alphonse’s living room, but he didn’t sit in it during the movie (maybe between takes?). It apparently remained clean and pure through the fusillade of bullets that ended the movie – except for the two nicks.
There were many other items from the auction that either got past me in the film or never made the cut. Some of the nicer pieces, I suspect, were in Alphonse’s house because they would’ve been too classy in the working-class apartments of both Beatrice and Victor.
I found the movie plodding in some spots but I stuck with it, and trying to locate the auction items didn’t interfere with my following the plot (it’s not that deep). If you go to the movie and find yourself drifting, try looking for some them yourself and tell me about it in the Comment box below.
Here are some I didn’t see:
- A bar with barrel stools from “Dead Man Down.”
- White metal bed. Not many scenes were shot in anyone’s bedroom, except for Alphonse’s.
- These nice chairs were likely somewhere in Alphonse’s house. I didn’t see them, though.
- In one scene, Alphonse and Victor sit in two chairs with black leather seats but I never saw these chairs.
- Sconces and more from the set of “Dead Man Down.”
