Assyrian SigAlert : Tempers Fade to Red as Filming Along Freeway Backs Up Traffic

It was a question on the minds of about 60,000 motorists Tuesday: What kind of yahoo would film a movie next to the busy Santa Ana Freeway at the height of the morning rush hour?

Yahoo Serious, that’s who. Seriously.

He’s an Australian actor who brought commuter traffic to a near-stop in the City of Commerce as he directed a scene for his new movie, “Reckless Kelly,” in front of the Citadel outlet shopping center.

The scene depicted the center, which resembles an Assyrian palace, as the entrance to the fictional “Delance Studios.” In the film, Serious portrays an outlaw turned movie star who encounters a line of 20 identical white stretch limos driving through the studio gate.

Freeway motorists slowing to gawk at the spectacle caused a 15-mile backup in the northbound lanes of the freeway that lasted for hours.

Car radiators boiled over. So did tempers.

“It was just bumper-to-bumper all the way. I saw cars overheated. I threw up my hands and got off the freeway,” fumed motorist Ella Weinger, who lives in Yorba Linda. “They shouldn’t be filming out there during the rush hour.”

Motorist Julie Muer, who lives in Los Angeles’ Fairfax area, said: “They should have put something up to block it from drivers’ view. That would have prevented all this grief.”

California Highway Patrol officials--who spent the morning denying rumors that the freeway was closed--agreed.

“They ought to put up some tarps or something so the looky-loos can’t browse,” said CHP Officer Lou Gutierrez. “I’m going to bring it up, tarping the freeway fence. Today was a pain in the butt.”

Operators of the Citadel said the movie was the first produced outside the ornate, 63-year-old walls since the center was converted from a defunct Uniroyal tire factory into a 45-store shopping mall 18 months ago.

Scenes for the 1959 movie “Ben-Hur” were shot there in its tire factory days. But the current owners will take Tuesday’s traffic jam into consideration the next time they are asked to rent the premises out for filming, Citadel property manager Troy Gordon said.

“I got a call from one person calling from their car phone out there who said, ‘You stink. . . . I hate you,’ ” Gordon said.

Serious--who wrote, directed and starred in the Australian film “Young Einstein” three years ago--was busy lining up camera angles and positioning himself and other actors around the limousines. But other crew members apologized for the stir they were causing.

“You’d think people had never seen a movie crew before,” said Amanda DiGiulio, U.S. production supervisor for “Reckless Kelly.”

Producer Warwick Ross said the air-horn honks from angry truckers caught in the jam would be edited out of the film’s soundtrack.

“If this was Australia, I’d figure traffic would slow down. People there are not used to seeing movies made. But this is Los Angeles,” he said.

Officials of the City of Commerce, who are used to living in the shadow of Los Angeles, said they were happy with the filming.

“We love the publicity,” said city spokeswoman Judy Rambeau, who said the city was paid a $25 fee from the Larrikin production company for a filming permit.

Ira Gwin, the city’s director of community development, added: “As long as they’re stuck on the freeway, motorists might as well get off and check out the bargains here in town. Commerce is pro-business. Even the movie business.”

Bob Berkus, a production specialist with the state’s Film Commission, urged motorists to adopt the same attitude. Movies are a $5.25-billion-a-year business in California, he said.