Last June, downtown Batavia was in the spotlight as an on-location site for the new movie, "Marshall," which stars Chadwick Boseman as a young Thurgood Marshall, an attorney for the NAACP who later became the first African-American justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
At that time, I wrote a story for The Buffalo News, and it started out as follows:
BATAVIA – If you happen to be in a movie theater late this year (or possibly in the fall of 2017, depending upon the release date), watching intently as Chadwick Boseman in his portrayal of Thurgood Marshall climbs the 17 steps to a 1940’s Oklahoma courthouse door, here’s some insight into that scene: It took place in Batavia, New York around 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 1.
The crew of Marshall Movie Inc., about 70 strong, shot a trial scene and an entrance scene for the feature film, “Marshall,” at the old Genesee County Courthouse at the intersection of Route 5 and 63 in downtown Batavia.
Fast forward to today, and we've learned that the film will open in theaters on Oct. 13. A trailer, which includes a quick shot of the old courthouse, has been released and can be viewed by CLICKING HERE.
The movie focuses on a pivotal case in the career of Marshall, who served on the nation's highest court from 1967-1991. He died in 1993.
In the first shooting at the Old County Courthouse, Boseman – who starred as Jackie Robinson in “42”, James Brown in “Get on Up” and T'Challa in the Marvel Studios film “Captain America: Civil War” – walked up to the courthouse door with a bounce in his step, showing that he was ready to defend his client in the Oklahoma County of Choctaw courtroom.
In the second, he had to walk past five “locals” who formed a wall in front of the steps.
Director Reginald Hudlin said he wasn’t sure which scene would be used, saying he shot the second one after something told him to try a different angle.
“I’m leaning on the first one,” said Hudlin, who said the crew’s two days in Batavia, as well as their time filming in Buffalo, has been a tremendous experience.
The scenes from the Oklahoma trial are a very small piece of this story -- about three to five minutes of a case Marshall defended while traveling across the country for the NAACP.
