For the second time in about a quarter-century, Farragut Place in Morristown has become a movie location.
On Monday, exteriors were filmed for an independent production, The History of Sound. Current street signs were removed and residents and their vehicles were replaced by extras in period costumes and antique cars, as the Historic District neighborhood was transformed into a community from the early 20th century.
Starring British actor Josh O’Connor (who played a young Prince Charles in the Netflix series The Crown; other credits include Dr. Who, Peaky Blinders and God’s Own Country) and Irish actor Paul Mescal (Normal People, The Lost Daughter), and based on a short story by Ben Shattuck, The History of Sound is described by Variety as a gay romance.
“Two young men during World War I set out to record the lives, voices and music of their American countrymen,” according to the film site IMDB.
A Victorian home on Farragut Place was used for interior scenes of the 1998 movie One True Thing, starring Meryl Streep, William Hurt and Renée Zellweger.
Monday afternoon’s shoot only lasted two- or three hours, and the production is not scheduled to return to Morristown, a crew member told Morristown Green.
Other exterior locations listed for Monday were St. Elizabeth University in Morris Township and Giralda Farms in Madison. Earlier this month, there were reports of filming at a Hoboken restaurant.
The neighborhood is likely to get a lot less screen time from The History of Sound.
Karen Ann Kurlander lives on Farragut, and helps produce an annual Armistice Ball celebrating the end of World War I. She said Monday’s film sequence involved an actor, an actress and a dog.
Alice Cutler said it was cool seeing Farragut Place transported back in time, even if only for an afternoon. “I wish I could have been an extra,” said Cutler, who helps preserve Morristown’s Revolutionary War history as president of the Trustees of the Green.
Mark Wahlberg filmed scenes on the historic town Green last spring for the Netflix movie The Union.
Patrick Dempsey and Morgan Freeman also have done scenes in Morristown in recent years, as film companies have discovered the town’s visual charms.
Director Oliver Hermanus told Variety that The History of Sound “is an unexpected love story that needs to be told — it is a journey through the life of America, across the 20th century and the traditions of American folk music, all seen through the bond between two men immersed in the history of sound. This undeniably powerful story will certainly resonate with audiences the world over.”