Robert Downey Jr.'s Movie 'Railroaded' Out of Belmont

No Robert Downey Jr. No Robert Duval. No award-winning cinematographer. Not even a lowly extra will be coming to Belmont this summer. 

What appeared to be summer days of celebrity sightings, hoards of autograph hounds roaming the streets and an army of trucks and trailers invading the streets of Belmont has vanished as quickly as a Penn and Teller card trick as the production team seeking to film scenes for a 2014 Downey Jr. movie at the former Municipal Light Department building decided to pull out of the "Town of Homes" rather than compete against the roar of the commuter rail line that passes just yards by the site.

"It was the trains that was the deal breaker," said the town's Building Services manager, Kevin Looney, Monday morning, May 13.

A lengthy "letter of intent" was withdrawn as the production team, made up of Downey and his wife, could not resolve the issue of the MBTA commuter trains rumbling by the building – located adjacent to the Belmont Police headquarters on Concord Avenue – on the few days in July that the film crew had planned to be shooting scenes for "The Judge," a comedy/drama in which a successful lawyer (Downey) returning to his hometown for his mother's funeral discovers that his estranged father, the town's judge (Duval), is suspected of the murder.

While Massachusetts locations have become popular sites to film movies, Belmont has been largely ignored by Hollywood producers. So far, the most recognizable movie filmed in Belmont has been 1968's "The Thomas Crown Affair" with Steve McQueen playing golf at the Belmont Country Club.

See the scene by viewing the YouTube clip on this Web page.