Cold Turkey

Dropping the cigarettes onto the crowd, in the last midnight town square gathering, was actually done by putting 8" diameter, 25'-long pipes against the trees in the town square. The pipes were then filled with cigarettes. Then, on cue, air was blasted into the pipe bottom, shooting them into the air and onto the crowd. After each take everyone was asked to gather up the cigarettes from the ground and turn them in so they could be reloaded into the cigarette canons and rained down again. The filming of this final scene took several weeks in the late fall in Iowa where it is pretty cold. In the movie it is supposed to be summer time so the actresses are dressed in summer dresses. Between takes, everyone (actors and extras) were huddled in winter coats sucking on ice cubes. The ice cubes kept their mouths and breath cold so there would be no visible vapor when they exhaled.

Bishop Manley calls Dearborn, Michigan "General Motors country." Actually, Dearborn is the home of Ford Motor Company, its world headquarters and its flagship River Rouge plant. No GM facilities have been located in Dearborn.

Featured in Casting By (2012)