REDFORD’S ‘MILAGRO’ PULLS UP STAKES

Producer-director Robert Redford and his production, “The Milagro Beanfield War,” have been chased out of Chimayo, N.M., where Redford had hoped to start shooting in the town’s historic Plaza del Cerro Aug. 4.

(Coincidentally, the script and novel are about local farmers rising up against land developers.)

Businessman Harold Martinez led a small anti-”Milagro” faction, he told Outtakes, because “I don’t want anyone in the plaza for six months--not even Robert Redford. The production company only offered us a measly $500 to $1,500 for use of our property for a minimum of six months--they wouldn’t dare do it to Beverly Hills property owners.”

Some Chimayo residents claimed Martinez’s group was in the minority. Shopkeeper Andrew Ortega: “The movie would have given jobs to Chimayo’s many unemployed and given us an essential economic boost. Most of us wanted the movie.”

Both Gov. Toney Anaya and ex-gov David Cargo tried unsuccessfully to talk Martinez out of his stand, arguing the economic benefits to the community .

“We needed the written approval of all the landowners in the plaza and not everyone signed,” confirmed a Milagro spokesman in Santa Fe, “so we packed our bags and we’ll build our sets eight miles away in Truchas.”