‘The Legend of Bagger Vance’ is a film starring Will Smith, Matt Damon and Charlize Theron. It was directed and produced by Robert Redford. The movie is based on the 1995 book by Steven Pressfield of the same title. The film is set in 1931, in Savannah, Georgia. It is about a golfer who is trying to recover his game, as well as his life, and gets help from a mystical caddy. The golfer, Rannulph, is played by Matt Damon and the caddy, Bagger Vance, is played by Will Smith. The movie faced some harsh reviews, but was also praised for the way the photography of the film came across. The film was partially filmed in Georgia.
In Savannah, Georgia, the Lucas Theatre was used for a scene in ‘The Legend of Bagger Vance’. None of the movie’s stars were featured in this scene, but about 35 extras were used. The theater had to look like a theater in the 1930s, so it was filled with a type of smoke to give it an authentic atmosphere. The smoke did end up wreaking slight havoc on the set, as the smoke detectors continuously went off. They did eventually disarm the smoke detectors and were able to carry on with the scene. The filmmakers paid about $2,500 to utilize the theater for filming.
Savannah played a part in many other scenes for the film as well. West Congress Street was transformed to look like a 1930’s-era shopping district. Part of the City Market parking garage got turned into a hardware store of the era. The Federal building on Wright Square and the Bank of America on Johnson Square were also locations for filming. Scenes involving the home of Charlize Theron’s character, Adele, were shot at a home on 26 E. Gaston Street and Forsyth Park. City Hall was utilized for shooting as well.
Several scenes were filmed on Jekyll Island, which is just off the coast of Georgia. More specifically, filming took place at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel. The Jekyll Island Club was originally built as a hunting retreat for the elite in 1888 and is a National Historic Landmark. For filming of ‘The Legend of Bagger Vance’, the golf courses were used in scenes. Also at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel, the Lobby Bar that is featured in the film was created by the filmmakers. However, people were so interested in it, that the hotel re-created the bar after production finished. In the film, Jekyll Island represents the story’s fictional, Krewe Island.
‘The Legend of Bagger Vance’ was released in theaters in November of 2000 and is available on DVD.
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