Hollywood movie “Call Jane,” filmed in Hartford

Neighbors and people in cars lined up near Charter Oak Place in Hartford Monday afternoon to try to catch a glimpse of actresses Elizabeth Banks, Kate Mara and Sigourney Weaver on their last day of filming in the neighborhood for the upcoming film “Call Jane.”

The film, which doesn’t have a release date yet, is centered around the underground abortion movement in the 1960s prior to the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling, where “a married woman with an unwanted pregnancy lives in a time in America where she can’t get a legal abortion and works with a group of suburban women to find help,” IMDb said.

The movie is the second film to be shot in the capitol city in the last six months.

Last November, crews took over different streets in Woodstock, Putnam and Hartford for the filming of the Hallmark movie “One Royal Holiday,” which starred actor Aaron Tveit.

“The City of Hartford has some magnificent architecture and just incredible character, so we’re thrilled that so many production companies are discovering Hartford. We encourage that, and we want as many as possible,” Mayor Luke Bronin said. “It’s a great thing to raise the profile of the city, but it’s also a great boost for the local economy when you have this many members of a production team in the city week after week.”

Bronin is hopeful the city can “establish a reputation where it’s easy to come and film,” he added.

“We want to make sure we’re learning from every experience and getting better every time,” Bronin said. “Obviously there’s lots of different things that we have to do as a city, with permits that have to be issued [and] coordination, whether you’re talking about street closure or filming that has to happen afterhours.”

The production crew was in the Charter Oak area for over a week, neighbors said and it was “one of the best kept secrets that we didn’t tell anyone, we just kept low key,” neighbors told the Courant.

Bronin also added that the crew hasn’t just filmed in the city, but also have been “staying in Hartford for a number of months.”

“Maybe we’ll see them either later today or wandering around town,” Bronin said. “I figure what we would do is take Sigourney Weaver down to Sigourney Street and tell her we have a street named after her.”

The film is being directed by Phyllis Nagy who was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award in directing and writing for her film “Mrs. Harris,” in 2006.

Jessika Harkay can be reached at jharkay@courant.com.