A film crew from China stopped at the Boots Motel in Carthage, Missouri, and other Route 66 sites to shoot a movie that will be screened next year, reported the Joplin Globe.
According to the newspaper, other filming sites included the Grand Canyon and Yellowhorse Trading Post at the New Mexico-Arizona border.
Crews with JAJ Productions swarmed the motel property to shoot scenes in the mist and fading daylight on Thursday afternoon. Filming then was to move inside one of the rooms to show a Chinese couple traveling the U.S. on Route 66 in the the late 1960s. The two actors climbed out of a 1968 Buick LeSabre and were greeted in the motel office by Deborah Harvey — co-owner of the Boots — who agreed to an impromptu request to portray the motel manager. […]
Ivy Yu, another producer, described the movie as “a narrative short film” set on Route 66. She said the film will be combined with four others — all produced in other countries — and presented as a feature film in the style of film anthologies with a shared theme, but different characters and settings. The iconic highway is being used as the film’s setting because of its place in the country’s history, she said.
The film’s main characters are portrayed by Machou Wu and Qian Yuang Wang, both well known in China, Yu said. Wu also is a singer and was a finalist on “The Chinese Voice.” In the film, the couple is to travel Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles, and filming has followed the same route.
The film crew rented out the entire motel for the night to ensure it got what it wanted for the scene. Cha-ching, especially during the notoriously slow winter months for most Route 66 properties.
Here’s an on-location video by Ron Hart of the Route 66 Chamber of Commerce:
The motel, which dates to 1939, was closed in 2003 after a local developer planned to raze it for a Walgreens. After the redevelopment plans were scuttled because of outcry, the motel deteriorated until two sisters bought the property and partially reopened it in 2012. Work is ongoing to renovate the rest of the motel.
(Image of the Boots Motel sign by the Missouri Division of Tourism via Flickr)