Good article on filming locations

River Rouge docks provide the rust and grime for a film about the Irish mob
Ursula Watson / The Detroit News

The Nicholson Terminal & Dock Co. in River Rouge has just the sort of gritty look that appealed to producers of the film "The Irishman." Which is why on Tuesday, it was serving as the backdrop for the opening scene of the movie, which is based on the life of the late Cleveland mobster Danny Greene, who came to power in the 1970s.

Ray Stevenson, who stars as Greene, and other actors and extras were hard at work trying to capture the hardscrabble atmosphere of working on the docks. And, unlike some Hollywood flicks, the terminal came with its own props -- rusted piles of scrap metal and heat-defying mud puddles.

"We love filming here. Detroit is very authentic," says Bart Rosenblatt, one of the film's producers, pointing in awe at two rusted, faded black cranes from the 1970s that towered over the set.

In the scene, dock workers are unloading bags of grain from a cargo ship that will be computer-generated, hence the large green screens billowing in the breeze. Rosenblatt says temperatures back then on the docks could hit 120 degrees, and those who succumbed to the heat were thrown into a tub of ice.

Don Taylor, an employee at Nicholson Terminal & Dock, was tapped to be an extra in the scene. Taylor and the other extras were dressed in dirt-covered overalls. Makeup gave their faces a sweaty, dirty appearance, with a grain-like substance clinging to their skin.

"My wife has been telling everybody," says Taylor, 50, of being in the film. Taylor, a resident of River Rouge, has been a locomotive engineer at the company for 31 years.

Since filming began May 19 in Detroit, "The Irishman" has shot scenes in Corktown, at the Roma Cafe in Eastern Market, in the Cass Corridor and at the remnants of old Tiger Stadium. To date, more than 100 Michiganians have been hired for film crew positions and 50 people have been used as extras.

In addition to Stevenson, "The Irishman" also stars Val Kilmer, Christopher Walken, Vincent D'Onofrio and Paul Sorvino.

In Tuesday's scene, Greene speaks out against the harsh working conditions and later becomes president of the International Longshoreman's Association, but his tenure wasn't without controversy.

"It is a real piece of Americana," says Rosenblatt, "when the unions were still really in power. Now that has shifted, but it is a great story."

Greene eventually became an enforcer and then started a war with the Mafia, which resulted in 30 bombings one summer that earned Cleveland the moniker Bomb City, U.S.A, says Rosenblatt.

"Danny was the reason for the demise of the Italian Mafia in Cleveland and in the Great Lakes area," says Al Corley, another of the film's producers and a former actor. In the 1980s, Corley played the first Steven Carrington for two years on the hit ABC series, "Dynasty."

"He was an orphan, a boxer, was in the military, a sharpshooter," Corley says of Greene. "Danny was a rough guy in a rough time."

Through it all Greene gained the reputation for being virtually invincible, surviving several attempts on his life by the Mafia.

For producer Tommy Reid, getting Greene's story on film took 12 years. Reid, a native of New Jersey, says he learned about Greene while a student at Ohio State University. Reid went on to buy the options to the book by Rick Porrello titled "To Kill the Irishman: The War That Crippled the Mafia," on which the film is based.

"Friends from Cleveland would talk about Greene," Reid says. "In Cleveland, everybody has a connection with Greene. It is like six degrees of separation."

Filming of "The Irishman" wraps up on June 27.

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090618/ENT02/906180331/River-Rouge-do cks-provide-the-rust-and-grime-for-a-film-about-the-Irish-mob

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