Waiting for Johnny Depp

Beaver Dam's downtown may have been inconvenienced by the shooting of "Public Enemies" on Tuesday, but the city has something to be thankful for with the visit of Johnny Depp.

"If Johnny Depp wasn't here, the school would have burned down," Beaver Dam High School junior Kelley Stehling said.

Stehling and her friends were leaving the school at 1:30 p.m. to see Depp filming in downtown Beaver Dam when she noticed a fire while walking toward her car.

Her friend BDHS senior Nikkie Letto called the school which then contacted the fire department.

The small fire started in the welding department and was extinguished. The fire didn't stop the girls from heading downtown to join about 1,000 people to attempt to see Depp, who stars in "Public Enemies."

"Public Enemies" is a Michael Mann-directed film about the life of notorious bank robber Dillinger, played by Depp. It is scheduled to be released next summer and co-stars Christian Bale as Melvin Purvis and Marion Cotillard as Billie Frechette.

Although many of the people began waiting early in the morning, they remained there for the entire day as the crowd grew in secured locations around the downtown. Some groups were moved several times to secure a particular scene.


The late start led filming to run into the early morning hours today. Lighting cable and equipment were laying about in downtown Columbus at daybreak today.

The work marks the end of filming in Wisconsin. Public Enemies will be released in 2009.