Lovely as Morristown is, it’s unlikely to be confused with Paris.
Unless someone tunes in to the Fox TV show America’s Most Wanted.
This weekend, about 40 actors and crew members will use the Morris County seat as a stand-in for Paris, the principality of Liechtenstein and Serbia, said Peter Gillespie, a producer of the 12-minute episode about an international ring of jewel thieves dubbed the Pink Panthers.
“I used to live in Parsippany, and I kept thinking Morristown would work,” said Peter. “It’s not crowded like Montclair. But it’s busy, and we thought it could cover all the locations.”
Shooting is scheduled for Braunschweiger Jewelers, the Morristown United Methodist Church, the Dark Horse Lounge and Provesi of Morristown.
Producers initially were keen on the College of Saint Elizabeth in Morris Township, Peter said, but an alumni event got in the way. He is aiming for a Nov. 6 broadcast.
A foot chase will be filmed, he said, and a European ambulance will drive through Morristown. Police will be hired. Donations will be made to charities at the church, including Joshua’s Friends for Life, in memory of 6-year-old leukemia victim Joshua Arakelian.
Pastor Neill Tolboom, who once had to obtain an actors union card to appear in a commercial filmed at another church (the ad never aired), said he welcomes television exposure for the Methodist Church on the Green.
“They told me to wear a blue sports jacket and an open-necked shirt,” Neill said. “I’m supposed to be The French Person at the Next Table.”
Plans call for the church lobby to be transformed into a French hotel; the back of the church will pass for a hospital.
The script also calls for one of the “bad guys” to scale a wall behind the church and Anthony’s Pizza & Pasta, said Peter, a 1985 graduate of Morris Catholic High School in Denville.
“That’s our magic,” said the producer, who now lives in Washington DC. “Some people see a wall. We see a perfect scene for our show.”
Provesi came to mind, Peter added, because he celebrated his mother’s birthday in the basement dining room of the South Street restaurant a couple of years ago.
Named for the comedy capers of Peter Sellers, the Pink Panthers are believed to hail from Serbia and Montenegro. They include former soldiers who may be responsible for pinching $500 million in jewelry from 120 stores in 20 countries, according to press accounts.
Brazen robberies attributed to the Panthers are fast becoming the stuff of legend: Limousines driven through shop windows, speed boat escapes, freshly painted benches to keep off would-be witnesses. Thieves hid a filched diamond in a jar of face cream, just like in a Pink Panther movie. In another heist, they are said to have dressed as women. There was speculation that they even stole a page from Mission Impossible by donning facial prosthetics for yet another hit.
Peter said America’s Most Wanted is on the case because the Panthers may have struck in Las Vegas and Hawaii. Hosted by John Walsh, the 22-year-old program claims credit for helping catch more than 1,100 fugitives.
The TV shooting on Saturday and Sunday won’t close any Morristown streets or cost taxpayers anything, Peter said. He invited visitors to take a look.
“It’s fun to watch. We won’t say, ‘Hey, get away,'” he promised.
Although actors are scheduled to shatter a fake jewelry counter inside Braunschweiger’s, the real Pink Panthers probably would be smart to steer clear of the jewelry store. A guy who tried dashing off with three Rolexes in 2007 was promptly tackled by employees.
“We just react to a situation as it presents itself,” said Bill Braunschweiger, the third-generation owner of the business.
TV criminals differ from the real thing in another significant way, according to Bill.
“They said they’ll bring a cleanup crew afterward,” he said.
