Bob Bestler | McClellanville heads to big screen as site for ‘Sophie and the Rising Sun’

The normal population of McClellanville is roughly 400 humble souls.

This month that number has about doubled, as an entire company of motion picture makers set up camp just down the block from my home, inside the long-abandoned McClellanville Middle School.

They are in town to film a movie based on a 2001 novel by Augusta Trobaugh, “Sophie and the Rising Sun.”

The novel is set in a small Georgia town called Salty Creek and over the past month McClellanville has been transformed into Salty Creek, Ga.

Why McClellanville? Let me borrow from a Facebook entry written by director Maggie Greenwald:

“Our fantastic location scout Steve Rhea showed us around the area for a few days, taking us to some very beautiful waterside towns. Lovely, yes, but not right for our story.

“Day Three he brought us to McClellanville. All I can say is, it was as though we arrived in Salty Creek and there it was, waiting for us.

“Perfect houses for each of our characters, empty, waiting for us to move in. … A small town, it was the perfect size and scope for our low-budget movie. … “Waterside, we realized we could shoot the entire film, walking from location to location.

“The local people welcomed our production and have been generous and supportive throughout,” she wrote “We are so lucky to have them as neighbors and participants in our film. And the local food is some of the best I’ve eaten.’’

No one could say it better.

The story takes place in 1940-41 and concerns a woman named Sophie and her romance with a Japanese-American named Mr. Oto, who ended up in Salty Creek quite by accident and became known as a Chinese gardner.

When Pearl Harbor is bombed, Mr. Oto’s true heritage is revealed and he comes under suspicion by the locals and is forced into hiding.

The book is basically a look at small-town racism, a kind of microcosm of the racism that existed throughout the United States in the days after Pearl Harbor.

Film-makers held a casting call in McClellanville in early April and a few of my neighbors got parts as extras, donning 1940s hats and jackets and huddling around vintage autos.

A store in McClellanville was transformed into “Salty Creek General Store” and traffic was tied up during a couple of days of filming. My wife was stopped on her bike one of those days and told by a police officer that if she was dressed in 1940-clothing he’d let her through — kidding, of course.

The only name I recognized among cast members was Diane Ladd. She played Flo in “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.” She was married to Bruce Dern. She’s the mother of Laura Dern. OK, that’s all I got.

This is the second Hollywood production filmed here since I moved to McClellanville. The first, starring Kevin Costner, turned out to be one of the all-time worst movies I’ve ever seen, a horror story called “The New Daughter.” I’m just glad it didn’t kill his career — although there’s never been another “Bull Durham.’’

That production took over the town, too, but only a couple of scenes were actually filmed in McClellanville. This time around, I’m expecting much better.

The movie is scheduled for release next year and I’ll be one of the first in line — to look for all the familiar faces and places.

This story was originally published May 22, 2015 at 1:46 PM with the headline "Bob Bestler | McClellanville heads to big screen as site for ‘Sophie and the Rising Sun’."