The film Public Enemies, starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, filmed on location in Wisconsin back in 2008. Michael Mann directed scenes in Beaver Dam, Madison, Manitowish Waters, Milwaukee, and Oshkosh, but Columbus, Wisconsin was the most special town of all, at least to me.

All thanks to Mary Poser.

Becoming a Public Enemy

Mary Poser was an amazing octogenarian at the time, a soon to be nonagenarian, bustling with energy and verve. It so happened her home in Columbus was tagged by Universal Studios as a site for the movie shoot. Over weeks to months, her house was transformed into the house where gangster John Dillinger’s girlfriend would be followed, the office where fellow mobsters would turn traitor, the site of a high-speed car chase, and more scandalously, a brothel.

A whole room had been dedicated to storing 1930’s memorabilia. Her kitchen had been downgraded to a microwave in the basement as her real kitchen transformed into a nonfunctional depression era model. Cardboard lined her walls and staircases to prevent any injury to the original wood during the constant moving of furniture.

She saw it as an adventure, plus she would earn some enough cash to fix her roof.

It’s A Small World After All

As anyone who knows me knows, I am a movie buff. When I caught word of the film shoot online, I considered a short trip to Wisconsin. The problem? I was the new physician at a practice in Durham, Connecticut at the time. Would I be able to get a few days off?

Curious as to why I requested the time away, my then partner Brad Wilkinson asked, “Where are you looking to go?”

“It’s a small town in Wisconsin. Only a few thousand people. You wouldn’t know it.”

“Try me,” he said.

“Columbus.”

When he started laughing, I thought he was making fun of my willingness to travel halfway across the country to catch a glimpse of a movie set. The reality was he was about to send me on an even greater adventure. It turned out that his wife, also a Mary, was raised in that very small town. We later learned that Mary had a close family friend — Mary Poser — whose house was being used as a set for the film.

Going Back in Time

I flew into Chicago on May 5 and drove three hours over the Illinois-Wisconsin state line into Columbus. With Mary Poser’s address in hand, I headed for her house and soon found myself conversing with crew members transporting dollies of equipment to the house from a large truck with the Universal Studios logo on it. Interestingly, the crew assumed I was a reporter –- foreshadowing that I would one day write movie reviews for a newspaper. Since Mary was not expecting me until the following day, I snuck off to my hotel for the night.

Things being what they were, the Depp shoot was postponed, but my tour with Mary would go on as planned, better than ever. If there was a more gracious host, I couldn’t imagine one. Mary literally took me in with open arms, hugging this friend of a friend even as her house was ransacked by film crews. As she toured me through the different sets, the cinematographer himself walked through to tweak the staging.

Mary introduced me to her family, offered me dinner, and dazzled me with more hospitality than I have come to expect as a New Englander. She even nudged me to take a nap in her home instead of heading back to my hotel. I coyly asked if I could take a nap on what was to be the brothel bed, and she giggled out a yes. It was the best nap of my life!

Thanks for Everything

Some people are spirited. Others are witty or kind. Then there are people like Mary Poser who are all of the above. She went a step above and opened her home to camera crews and strangers. Her simple act of kindness gave me one of the most memorable days of my life. If only more people could be so generous in sharing their time.

Watching Public Enemies when it hit the silver screen in 2009, I recognized so many details from the sets I had seen firsthand. It felt as if I were back home again at Mary’s house. Mary and I had a tradition of sending each other Christmas cards to catch up on the year. I tore into the envelope with glee every year. She was a special part of my life and was for more than 10 years. Sadly, she passed away on February 24, 2019.

Thanks, Mary Poser. You were a role model for the ages.