DECATUR " A movie filled with Hollywood A-list actors is well under way down in Louisiana. But look closer when the film hits theaters later this year, and you might just catch a glimpse of historical Decatur.

"All the King's Men" is based on author Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. It stars Sean Penn as Willie Stark, a charismatic - some say demagogic - Southern politician. The movie follows Stark's rise and fall through the eyes of a disillusioned journalist and narrator played by Jude Law.

Also featured in the film are well-known Hollywood names: Kate Winslet, Patricia Clarkson, James Gandolfini and Anthony Hopkins, to name a few.

But the film also likely will feature props, scenery and background materials from Decatur's own Associated Office Furnishings. And downtownn;Decatur businesses from generations past could play a supporting role in re-creating the film's historical Southern world.

"There's a little bit of Decatur down in Louisiana," said John Ballog, owner of Associated Office Furnishings.

Actually that's an understatement. Ballog's crew loaded up two semitrucks with furnishings to help make the movie.

"Those semis were packed," Ballog said. "They took so much - it was some big pieces."

1940s Louisiana look

Old display cases and fixtures from Michl's Cigar Store, H. Post & Sons Jewelers and the Hotel Orlando were shipped down.

A pharmacy sign, pill bottles, prescription boxes, and a soda fountain from Roth-Johnson Drug Co.n;could help create a pharmacy for the movie.

A lunch counter and stools from Woolworth's also were packed up.

Sales associate Shane Whitaker helped round up the historical furnishings. His mission: Re-create Louisiana in the 1940s.

"They said, 'It needs to look old, it needs to look dirty, it needs to look like Louisiana,' " he said. "We've got a pharmacy; we've got a couple of bars. Find what you can."

Whitaker scoured Ballog'sn;warehouses in search of the right decorations: furnishings for several bars and nightclubs, light fixtures, metal milk cans, typewriters, aluminum chairs, printing equipment, old office papers, washtubs, shuffleboard and bowling equipment, pharmacy supplies, a boar's head, deer heads, even mounted trout.

"A lot of this stuff was sitting in place for quite a while," Whitaker said. "We had to do a little climbing to get all this stuff. We had probably seven guys grabbing stuff for a week solid from the warehouses."

So how much will actually make it into the movie?

"We expect to see a lot," Whitaker said. "But then again, these set decorators will get way more than they need depending on their budget. And then it's whatever the producer's in the mood for that day."

Whitaker has had ample

opportunity in recent weeks to hone his skills as an unofficial set director.

Just recently he has been busy gathering supplies for "Il Mare," starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. The movie likely will require furnishings for an architect's office and some retro-style furniture, Whitaker said.

The romantic drama is expected out next year.

Other starring roles

This isn't the first time Hollywood has come knocking at Ballog's business.

Ballog supplied the bar and pool tables in "Early Edition," a TV show where the star gets tomorrow's newspaper today and tries to save the day with the information.

Remember those locker-room commercials with Michael Jordan for Hanes underwear? Ballog supplied the lockers.

Look closely and you can see a pool table Ballog supplied for "Road to Perdition," a Depression-era hit man story starring Tom Hanks, Jude Law and Paul Newman.

"They seem to always like something that's old," Ballog said. "The modern stuff? They can get that. But when it comes to a desk that's 40 or 50 years old, nobody keeps those but silly John. And I've got them in the warehouse, you see."

The barber chairs in "Barber Shop" and its sequel? Yep, Ballog had those on hand, too.

Historic furnishings also helped decorate the sets for the thriller "Chain Reaction," starring Keanu Reeves, and "Ali," a depiction of the boxing legend, starring Will Smith. Ballog's desks and chairs were used in "The Untouchables" TV series. The character who played Al Capone even sat in one of his chairs.

Chances are Ballog's got what Hollywood needs to re-create a scene from the past. He has been collected historical business interiors for decades.

"Usually they'll tell us it has to be in a certain era - and they're very particular about that," Ballog said. "There are people who watch movies who will call them immediately if a scene is supposed to be in 1925 and they've got a 1945 telephone sitting on the desk. They'll catch them on it."

When Hollywood places an order, it thinks big.

"That's really the secret," Whitaker added. "The name of the game is quantity. If they call and only need one desk, they're going to ask for five of them.

"Because they want to smash one, they want to take one, they always want quantity. If we call them and say we have three, they usually pass on it. They want 50 or 60 - as many as they can get."

Good business opportunity

Lending office furnishings to the stars has opened a new market for the supplies when they're returned to Decatur.

After all, if you're a basketball fanatic in search of a locker, would you want any old locker or one featured in an underwear commercial with Michael Jordan?

What Ice Cube fan could resist a barbershop stool used in "Barbershop"? What gangster and mob movie fan could pass up a sofa used in the "Untouchables" or a pool table from "Road to Perdition"?

"It's good for business," Ballog said. "There are people who like to buy something they saw or know was in a movie."

Usually, Hollywood sends a detailed list outlining exactly what supplies are needed for the movie. But that wasn't the case for "All the King's Men."

"I've got extra pride in this one," Whitaker said. "I'm anxious to see it because I got to help set decorate this one.n;I didn't just pick out the items they wanted - I actually picked the items out myself.

"It'll be interesting to see if they like my taste."

Mike Frazier can be reached at mfrazier@;herald-review.com or 421-7985.