Mr. Deeds was released on June 28, 2002. A remake of the 1936 Gary Cooper film, Mr. Deeds Goes To Town, it was mostly eviscerated by critics. These critics were probably suffering from a case of “crazy eyes”. This Reel Trivial list covers 36 verified facts about the film and its production.
1. The original film, Mr. Deeds Goes To Town, was in turn based on a short novel by writer Clarence Budington Kelland called Opera Hat. The story was serialized in six monthly parts in The American Magazine, from April to September 1935.
2. While location scouting, crew members stopped for lunch at The Bistro Cafe in New Milford. The restaurant was later redressed for the film as “Deeds’ Pizza” for both exterior and interior shots. The Bistro Cafe has since closed.
3. In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shot, Adam Sandler’s fire-resistant glove made to resemble a hand can be seen as he picks up the cat engulfed in flames during the apartment fire scene.
4. The original 1936 film is set in Mandrake Falls, Vermont, while the remake sets the town in New Hampshire. It was changed as an homage to Adam Sandler, as he grew up in New Hampshire.
5. The scene where the reporter takes a photo of Deeds before jumping off the rooftop is set against a backdrop of New York. The sequence was actually shot on a ground-level airstrip with the city backdrop added using CGI.
6. Though Winona Ryder is known for sporting darker hair, she dyed her hair blonde for the film. Her brown hair in the beginning of the film is a wig.
7. The Mandrake Falls scenes were shot in New Milford, Connecticut. Actor Peter Gallagher, who plays Chuck Cedar, lived close by and still maintains a second home in New Milford.
8. Production designer Perry Blake added the trees seen along Mandrake Falls’ main street to make the town look even more idyllic.
9. The actor who plays the “Fake Cop” in Deeds’ Pizza is played by J.D. Donaruma, a long-time assistant of Adam Sandler’s. Donaruma has also made appearances in other Sandler films, notably in 50 First Dates (2004), where he plays the beanie-wearing clinic resident who attends Lucy’s art class near the end of the film.
10. The fountains that stream Hawaiian Punch instead of water was a last minute idea by Adam Sandler the day before shooting the scene.
11. The scene where Deeds slides down the stair bannister was performed by stuntman Paul Eliopoulos. A harness was used to pull him down and off the bannister with the correct trajectory, allowing him to fall “up” before onto the floor.
12. Most of the crowd extras during the scene where Deeds leaves for New York were all real residents of New Milford.
13. Deeds wears a Mandrake Falls Fire Department T-shirt in several scenes. Director Steven Brill later had more of these shirts made at his own expense and handed them out to the crew after filming wrapped.
14. Adam Sandler actually threw actor Alan Covert during the scene where Covert’s character pretends to rob Babe Bennett (Winona Ryder). Covert fell and hit his head on the first take and suffered a concussion. Paramedics had to be called and a stunt performer was brought in to reshoot the scene.
15. Another of Adam Sandler’s collaborators, Kevin Grady, appears as one half of the “Anniversary Couple” who end up dancing with the cash Deeds gives them in the restaurant. Grady has helped produce many Sandler films, as well as appeared in various bit parts.
16. Producer Sid Ganis appears as the homeless man taking a painting from Deeds’ suite.
17. The helicopter’s pit stop was filmed at a real Wendy’s in Carmel, New York. The helicopter was really parked in the front lot for the scene. Director Steven Brill said the Wendy’s staff brought out free food for crew members during the shoot.
18. The Blake Media helicopter was, at the time, a new prototype under development by Sikorsky Aircraft called the Sikorsky S-92. One was rented to the filmmakers under the condition that no one was allowed to fly inside except the pilots, as it was still considered an experimental craft. All interior shots of the helicopter were sets designed by production designer Perry Blake. The S-92 was eventually introduced in 2004, two years after Mr. Deeds released.
19. Babe Bennett, pretending to be a school nurse, lies to Deeds over the phone that one of the children in her office is “little Billy Barty”. Billy Barty was an actor who stood 3′ 9″ and had a long career in Hollywood, appearing in Bride of Frankenstein(1935) Ralph Bakshi’s The Lord of the Rings (1978), and TVs Frasier.
20. Writer Tim Herlihy plays the firefighter who Deeds introduces himself to as the volunteer fire chief of Mandrake Falls.
21. Adam Sandler didn’t use a stunt double for his climb up the building on fire. The scene was shot on the Paramount lot with Sandler strapped to a harness.
22. The dog that catches one of the cats after it’s tossed from the window by Deeds is director Steven Brill’s pet Border Collie.
23. Rob Schneider appears as his Big Daddy (1999) character, Nazo, when one of the cats flies from the window and into his bicycle basket. He is also seen near the film’s end, reading Deeds’ Hallmark card to the cat.
24. Steven Brill stated that Deeds calling the opera singer “Mr. French” was improvised by Adam Sandler. Mr. French is a character played by Sebastian Cabot on the 1966-71 series Family Ties.
25. Craig Costaldo, known as Radio Man, appears as the homeless man who shouts “….Look at me!” to the kids from whom Deeds’ buys the bicycles. Radio Man is a well-known film extra and bit player, who even got his own documentary film in 2012, Radioman.
26. The tattoos seen on Alan Covert’s back and arm during the shower scene are Covert’s real tattoos.
27. Veteran makeup artist Rob Bottin created the effect of the old Winchestertonfieldville resident’s injured knee. Bottin created the creature effects for films such as The Thing (1982), Robocop (1987), and Tim Curry’s “Darkness” character in Legend (1985).
28. Winona Ryder told W Magazine in 2002 that she broke her arm while filming the bike riding scene.
Actually, I never broke a bone until the movie, until I did Deeds. I broke my arm. We were shooting a scene where Adam and I are riding bikes down a long flight of stairs in Central Park. I was in heels and my heel got caught in the pedal….
29. Director Steven Brill plays the violinist at Madison Square Garden when Deeds is preparing to propose to Babe. Brill is an amateur violin player.
30. The violin music heard while Deeds rehearses his proposal with Emilio is “Salut d’Amour” by Edward Elgar. The piece was composed as an engagement present for Elgar’s fiancé, Caroline Alice Roberts, in 1888.
31. The fight scene between Babe and Jan (Conchata Ferrell) at Deeds’ Pizza was the last day of shooting.
32. When Babe and Mac McGrath (Jared Harris) argue in the newsroom after Babe has fallen in love with Deeds, a TV screen in the background displays a picture of Adam Sandler with a goofy expression on his face. Steven Brill said the photo was taken while Adam Sandler was still working on Punch Drunk Love (2002). The filmmakers visited Sandler on that film’s set and asked him to do a face for the scene, which was the first sequence filmed for Mr. Deeds.
33. The scene where Emilio dances after learning he is the rightful owner of Blake Media was John Turturro’s first day of shooting.
34. The song “Goin’ Down to New York Town” that plays as the second end-credits song was written for the film by Counting Crows.
35. Babe Bennett references the fact that she fell out of Boo Radley’s apple tree in Winchestertonfieldville. She later calls a woman and her dog walking out of her apartment building “Mrs. Finch” and “Atticus”. Boo Radley and Atticus Finch are characters from Harper Lee’s 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird.
36. The movie was released on VHS and DVD on October 22, 2002.
Mr. Deeds Home Video Release Trailer
Sources/Further Reading
- Mr. Deeds (2002) DVD audio commentary & bonus content
- Sikorsky Helo Goes Hollywood
- “Winona Ryder: Ryder on the Storm”, from W Magazine
- Opera Hat, the original story by Clarence Budington Kelland
