“Billy: the Early Years,” now playing at Capitol Cinemas in Princeton, carries a special allure for four Lyon County residents.
Among the extras in the film, which tells the story of the formative years of famed Christian evangelist Billy Graham, are Eddyville residents Heath and Christi Carlton and A.J. and Julia Littlepage.
Littlepage said she and her husband got the opportunity to be in the film through their support for John Hagee Ministries.
Hagee and his ministerial team were originally supposed to appear in the film, during a tent revival scene where a young Graham accepts Christ and begins his road to greatness.
Hagee Ministries staffers notified the Littlepages in March about the opportunity to be extras in the film.
But rain on the scheduled day of shooting forced its postponement and forced Hagee out of the picture, Littlepage said, expressing disappointment at failing to meet one of today’s widely-followed evangelists.
The extras, though, remained invited by those shooting the movie to participate in the filming, on a rescheduled date in April.
The Littlepages recruited their friends the Carltons, and the quartet made the 2-hour drive to Lebanon, Tenn., on April 20, a cool Sunday afternoon.
Rules for participation required the group to dress in 1930s attire, with period-appropriate hairstyles.
Littlepage wore a navy dress, with gloves borrowed from her mother and a hat borrowed from a friend.
Both of the men wore suits. Christi Carlton’s original outfit was swapped in the wardrobe tent, where each extra also received some makeup.
Littlepage said the group arrived at the site of the production, on the Lebanon fairgrounds, at about 3 p.m. but had to wait several hours before they made it into wardrobe.
From the wardrobe tent, they walked across a field to another tent, where the actual filming took place.
Antique cars parked next to the tent helped give the scene its air of authenticity.
The extras were seated in the tent when the star of the film, Armie Hammer, arrived.
Once the cameras rolled, the tent revival began.
The crowd of extras sang hymns, including “I’ll Fly Away” and “Just As I Am,” the song that Graham would later use during all his altar calls.
When Cliff Bemis, the actor portraying Dr. Mordecai Ham, the evangelist, began preaching, the crowd was invited to praise the Lord as they saw fit, Littlepage said.
Both songs made it into the film, as did the sermon. In all, the scene takes up about 3 minutes of the film.
Three takes of the scene were required, and the shooting dragged into the night.
They remained on the set until about 1 a.m. Monday, waiting in the cold April night.
“It got so cold, you could see your breath,” Littlepage said. Coats and wraps were passed out between takes to keep the extras warm.
They had the opportunity to stay longer to film a few smaller scenes, but rejected the idea in favor of returning home, to catch a few hours of sleep before the workday began Monday.
The Littlepages and Carltons watched the final film at the Capitol on Tuesday.
“We really thought a lot of the movie,” said Littlepage. “It was uplifting.”
The group, watching in the theater, was able to spot Christi Carlton in the crowd, and the Littlepages found themselves onscreen as well.
“The scene we were all in, we were really pleased with,” Littlepage said.
They plan to purchase the film once it is released on DVD, as something to share with their children and grandchildren, who may only know Graham from a historical perspective.
Graham, said Littlepage, “was an important part of my life when I was growing up … a great evangelist of our time.”
