Hollywood picks unspoiled town for Duvall film

Crawfordville —- There are advantages for a town that has remained virtually unchanged for the past 70 years.

For one, it is an ideal setting for a movie with a story that takes place in the 1930s.

The county seat of Taliaferro County in east Georgia is just such a place.

Crawfordville, which has no fast-food chains or other modern distractions from its scenic landscape, will be a backdrop for an upcoming Robert Duvall movie, a 1930s drama called “Get Low.”

“We have no McDonald’s or Burger Kings or greasy spoon avenues here,” said Bob Kendrick, president of the Crawfordville Historical Society and the town’s Hollywood liaison. “I was born here in 1930, and things are pretty much like they’ve always been.”

Mayor Herrman Milner said Hollywood is attracted to a town that provides an early 20th-century setting.

“They like the storefronts for interiors and the whole town for an exterior,” Milner said. He said the last time Crawfordville was used in a major film was for segments in 2002’s “Sweet Home Alabama,” with Reese Witherspoon.

Kendrick says “Get Low” is about “an eccentric old man who’s up in years, wondering if the town will give him a decent burial. So he decides to stage a mock funeral.”

The film is being produced by the Zanuck Co., whose awards include a 1990 best picture Oscar for “Driving Miss Daisy,” set in Atlanta. It is co-written and directed by Oscar-winning cinematographer Aaron Schneider, whose credits as director of photography include “Titanic” and “Kiss the Girls.”

Schneider and his staff have visited Crawfordville several times to plan the shooting, which is to begin late this month or in early February.

“They’re planning to do the town scenes here, with six or seven days of shooting, or maybe more,” Kendrick said.

The cast list is incomplete, but Sissy Spacek has been mentioned for a leading role. Kendrick said plans are to include another prominent male star, possibly Tim McGraw.