Mr. Deeds & The Real Mandrake Falls 20 Years Later

How is Adam Sandler connected to the signing of the Declaration of Independence? Read this article to find out.

For a few weeks in May and June of 2001, there were unusual happenings on Bank Street in New Milford, Connecticut. There were red Corvettes parked along both sides of the street, a jewelry store suddenly became a temporary barber shop, and the street was suddenly a winter wonderland even though summer was right around the corner.

How was all of this possible?

It was magic. More specifically, it was movie magic. 

Adam Sandler was in the process of creating a remake of a classic 1936 movie called Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. The movie centers around an ordinary man, Longfellow Deeds, who suddenly acquires a vast fortune and major company after the unexpected passing of an estranged uncle. Longfellow Deeds, a pure hearted yet naive man who spent his days in a small town running a pizza shop, writing greeting cards, and helping others, must navigate the fast paced and unforgiving world of corporation and greed while also staying true to his humble roots. 

The movie features Adam Sandler, Winona Ryder, John Turturro, Peter Gallagher, Erick Avari, Steve Buscemi, Peter Dante, and Conchata Farrell to name a few. The movie was released on June 28, 2002, and it earned $171.3 million at the box office. Although the movie is not one of Adam Sandler's best known films, the movie is still broadcasted on television to the delight of many, even though the movie received horrible reviews from critics and earned several Razzies. 

When producing the film, the writers and producers of the film understood the importance of finding the perfect film location to portray Deeds' cozy, familiar, and classic New England hometown of Mandrake Falls, New Hampshire. Of course, Mandrake Falls is not a real town, but it needed to feel real for the sake of this movie. After all, much of Deeds' morals and values were byproducts of him living in this quiet yet close knit community. 

New Milford's historic downtown fit the bill, and, as an added bonus, the town was in close proximity to New York City. Producers and Columbia worked a deal with the town of New Milford to film their new movie, Mr. Deeds, on Bank Street. 

Filming in New Milford officially began on May 30, 2001. Columbia transformed Bank Street into Mandrake Falls by changing the signs of some of the local businesses, adding trees along the treeless sidewalks, and temporarily converting The Bistro restaurant into Deeds' Pizza. It was hard to believe that just two days prior to filming, the town had gathered in this same space to celebrate Memorial Day with its annual Memorial Day parade. When filming began, remnants of these celebrations were obsolete on Bank Street. 

The presence of the cast and crew shook up the residents of New Milford. Bank Street was closed on some days, residents had the opportunity to meet some of the movie's stars like Adam Sandler and Winona Ryder, and it brought a lot of action and attention to the normally quiet town. In an article published in The New York Times, the editor of the Greater New Milford Spectrum, Art Cummings, is quoted as saying that most of the residents thought, "it's fun and exciting to see a Hollywood movie being filmed here." (The New York Times) Of course, this was not the sentiment of all residents; some were very upset about the disruptions that the production caused for business and traffic. Still, if you ask long time New Milford residents about the filming of Mr. Deeds today, many will talk about that time with great pride and excitement. 

Last year marked the movie's twentieth anniversary. A lot has changed over the past twenty years, and there now exists a generation of young adults who, despite growing up in Connecticut, have little to no memory of the filming of Mr. Deeds because they were either too little to remember or they had not been born yet.

In August 2022, after studying the movie thoroughly, I took photos of specific scenes from the movie in front of the locations at which they were filmed. The purpose was to explore how much has changed in the past 20 years. 

Scroll down to view the final product and read more fun facts that you may not have known about the movie.

Photo #1: Peter Gallagher and Erick Avari share some big, life changing news.

​​Facts:

  • This scene showcases a few real-life businesses that are still in operation. Signs for Joe's Salon and Nordica Toys are visible, and the Bank Street movie theater appears behind the actors in Photo #1. 

  • The barber shop behind both actors is actually a jewelry store. A sign for "Paul Morton Jewelers" can be found on the side of the building behind the fake Police Department sign. As of 2022, this small business is still in operation, but their sign on the side of the building has been updated. 

  • The green building behind Adam Sandler's character when he carries a man over his shoulders is a vintage store that sells gently used items like home decor and clothing. (See Photo #6 for more information.)

Photo #2: Steve Buscemi enjoys a slice of pizza with Oreos and french fries. 


Facts:

  • In this scene, Steve Buscemi's character, "Crazy Eyes", spent time in the Mandrake Falls Police Station after biting the mailman. However, in real life, this building is not a police station. The building was constructed in 1902 after a massive fire destroyed many buildings in downtown New Milford. The building originally housed two banks whose buildings perished in the Great Fire. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 and was taken over by Village Green Investments in 2015. After Village Green Investments took over the building, the former bank was transformed into a venue for major events. As of 2022, the building operates under the name 19 Main, and it is a popular venue for weddings. 

  • Steve Buscemi's scenes were actually filmed elsewhere, but Adam Sandler, Peter Gallagher, and Erick Avari stood next to the building pretending to talk to "Crazy Eyes" from outside of the jail cell. There were windows with bars on the side of 19 Main that faced Bank Street, but the windows were too small to hold an actual jail cell. Additionally, because the 19 Main building is on the National Register of Historic Places, there was no chance that film crew could have been allowed to make drastic changes to the exterior of the building. Through the power of editing and "movie magic", most movie viewers cannot tell that Steve Buscemi's appearances were filmed elsewhere. (Thank you, Myke Furhman for sharing this information with me!)

  • Just a few months after Steve Buscemi worked on Mr. Deeds, Steve Buscemi volunteered to assist first responders at Ground Zero following the terrorist attacks in New York City on September 11, 2001. According to an interview published in Time magazine in 2021, Steve Buscemi had worked for the New York Fire Department from 1980 to 1984, and he took a leave of absence to focus on his acting career. He returned to his old firehouse seventeen years later on September 12, 2001 to see what had happened and offer to assist in any way possible. Unfortunately no one was at the fire house at the time, so he went down to the site with his gear. He found his company and worked alongside them for the next several days. In the years following the attacks, Steve Buscemi has worked with the Friends of Firefighters foundation. To learn more about the foundation, go to the following website: https://friendsoffirefighters.org/.

Photos #3 and #4: The One and Only Deeds' Pizza




Facts:
  • In real life, Deeds' Pizza was a restaurant called The Bistro  Unfortunately The Bistro is no longer open. Many restaurants have come and gone ever since.

    • A few years after Mr. Deeds was released in theaters, The Bistro closed and in its place was a new restaurant, Forsythia. 

    • Forsythia was sold and eventually became Bank Street Tavern.

    • Bank Street Tavern closed for renovations in 2011, and a different restaurant that had previously been on nearby Railroad Street moved in.

    • This restaurant, Salsa, closed its doors in 2016 when its owners decided to retire from the restaurant business, and a new restaurant called Zaragoza moved in.

    • When I conducted the photoshoot for this project, Zaragoza was still in operation. However, in June 2023, Zaragoza closed for good. The restaurant had recently joined a hospitality group with two other downtown New Milford businesses, but all three businesses closed just a couple months after the group was formed. At the time I am writing this piece, a new restaurant called Sparrow is anticipated to open at this location. 


Photo #5: A Fleet of Red Corvettes!


​Facts:

  • This photo is a direct screenshot of the film. I do not take credit for this photo in any way. I decided to include this screenshot because it provides the best shot of Bank Street in the entire film, and it is the scene that most people remember when talking about the filming process. 

  • Bank Street, the street that was used as a backdrop for Mandrake Falls, is a one way street. This means that the Corvettes that are parked along the left sides of the road are facing the correct direction. However, the long line of traffic driving away from the camera and the cars parked on the right side are facing the wrong direction. 

  • The cars in the back of the scene driving on a street that is perpendicular to Bank Street were following the real-life flow of traffic. 

  • The clock on the street and all of the trees were movie props. 

Photo #6: Paying Homage to Longfellow Deeds

Facts:

  • This photo was taken by me in July of 2023, almost one year after I started this project. This is a window display in a shop on Bank Street called, "The Hunt." The Hunt sells gently used and vintage items, and it happened to have an old television with a functional DVD player. The movie the store managers played on this television was none other than Mr. Deeds. To this day, many people in New Milford take pride in being the backdrop for Mandrake Falls. Since Mr. Deeds, a few other movies have been filmed in the area, but none achieved as much commercial success as Mr. Deeds.

Oh and if you have made it this far, congratulations! I have one more question to answer:

How is Adam Sandler connected to the signing of the Declaration of Independence?

If you look behind the red truck in the photo below, you will see a reddish orange brick building. This building was built in the 19th century on the site of Roger Sherman's former residence. Roger Sherman was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. As of 2022, the building serves as New Milford's Town Hall, and the building is dedicated after Roger Sherman. (Thank you to Justin Krul for clarifying that the building itself was constructed long after Roger Sherman died.)


Sources:

About Us - 19main. 19Main Weddings and Events. (2023, June 20). https://19main.com/about/

Berte, L. (2022, May 18). Nordica Toys. New Milford Chamber of Commerce. https://newmilford-chamber.com/member-directory-listings/nordica-toys/

Brooks, P. (2007, July 15). At a Revolving-Door Spot, Just the Right Formula. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/15/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/15dinect.html

Buscemi, S. (2021, September 9). Steve Buscemi: The Ground Zero Death Toll is Still Rising. Time. https://time.com/6095709/steve-buscemi-9-11-firefighter/

Lyle, K. (2023, June 21). Zaragoza, Cool Hand Duke’s, Duke’s Tavern close down in New Milford. The Middletown Press. https://www.ctinsider.com/newmilford/article/zaragoza-cool-hand-duke-s-duke-s-tavern-18150268.php

Parker, D. (2001, June 10). New Milford Shows Off For the Cameras. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/10/nyregion/new-milford-shows-off-for-the-cameras.html

Rosensweig, R. (2016, May 16). Zaragoza Restaurant Opens in New Milford. Newtown, CT Patch. https://patch.com/connecticut/newtown/zaragoza-restaurant-opens-new-milford-0

Tessier, A. (2012, March 7). Popular New Milford Restaurant, salsa, moving to Bank Street - CT Insider. CT Insider. https://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/Popular-New-Milford-Restaurant-Salsa-Moving-to-16890193.php

Tuz, S. (2011, September 14). Bank Street Tavern Closed for Changes - News Times. News Times. https://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Bank-Street-Tavern-closed-for-changes-2171095.php



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