Citizen Staff-Terri Pederson
Jorie Habenicht, left and Cathy Elling examine one of the antique cars that sat in front of Eastgate Marcus Movie Theaters on Wednesday.
MADISON — Columbus residents fell in love again with the actor who captured their hearts last spring.
"It was well acted," Marlys Weihert said. "It's not my type of movie, but I think Johnny Depp did a heck of a good job."
The Columbus Downtown Development Corporation hosted an event Wednesday night allowing residents to attend a special showing of "Public Enemies" at Eastgate Marcus Movie Theaters. A coach bus trip took ticket holders to the theater. Proceeds benefited the Columbus Main Street Organization.
About 110 people rode on two buses from the Columbus Senior Center. Another 130 people drove themselves to the theater.
"We sold out," Columbus Main Street and Columbus Visitor Center executive director Kim Bates said, on Wednesday afternoon. "Everyone is so excited to see the movie. They have been counting the days and now counting the hours."
Bill O'Donnell traveled on the bus with his wife Liz and convinced many of his friends to dress in period attire. The filming last spring made it a must attend event, O'Donnell said.
"How often does Johnny Depp come to Columbus," he said.
"Public Enemies" opened nationwide on Wednesday. The movie brought huge crowds to the area last year when Johnny Depp walked the streets of Columbus, Beaver Dam, Madison, Milwaukee, Oshkosh and Manitowish Waters.
A majority of the movie was filmed in Wisconsin. It was Columbus where the production first appeared on March 17, 2008. The crews returned on May 12, 2008, to re-shoot some scenes as well as shoot a scene in Beaver Dam over a few days.
In Columbus, the downtown was transformed into a 1930s street scene and the Mary Poser home also was a location for filming. In Beaver Dam, The Rogers stood in for an Arizona hotel.
Poser's home is seen about 10 minutes into the movie. Several more shots featuring Columbus are scattered throughout the movie. The Sharrow Drugstore sign is clearly visible in one scene.
West James Gallery was used in filming the movie, but was not used in the movie.
"I've heard this scene was cut but I don't care," owner Kim Bates said. "I got to watch Johnny Depp all day, be in the middle of Hollywood movie- it's priceless! It continues to be great publicity and exposure for Columbus and that's what really counts."
Columbus resident Melanie Ganta said, "I thought it was good. I liked the love story aspect of it. Columbus had a lot of shots. I was surprised."
Columbus residents cheered and applauded when scenes that were shot in Columbus were shown on the screen. The end of the movie brought another round of applause.
The lone Beaver Dam scene showing The Rogers, formerly Hotel Rogers, appears 47 minutes into the movie.
The first show at 12:45 p.m. at Roger's Cinema in Beaver Dam did not sell out, the theater's general manager Ben Gneiser said.
"It's pretty full and we have had a lot of advanced tickets," Gneiser said.
Although there was very little time when the scene shot in Beaver Dam was in the film, it was evident that the building was The Rogers.
"I really like it," said Lisa Clark, who saw the movie in Beaver Dam. "It's cool to see the structures and how they made modern stuff look old."
Although Todd Smith, felt the movie was historically inaccurate, he said Johnny Depp did well in his role as Dillinger.
"He was excellent," Smith said.
All the scenes in Columbus, Oshkosh and Beaver Dam were very evident, Smith said.
"We stood around for all those things," Smith said.
Rod Melotte has written a blog about the movie since before filming began. He said the whole year was worthwhile for him even if the movie was not as good as it was.
"It's almost a let down now that I've seen it," Melotte said. "I need another movie. All the stuff that has happened since last year has been great. It's been a great experience."
tpederson@capitalnewspapers.com