Nearly 15 years before Greta Gerwig would break box office records as the director and co-writer of “Barbie,” the filmmaker/actor was roaming the beach towns of Delaware filming a super low-budget $55,000 indie film named “The Dish & the Spoon.”
Gerwig (“Lady Bird,” “Little Women”) starred as Rose, a woman spiraling from her husband’s affair with her friend who then finds a British teenager sleeping in a World War II watchtower on Delaware’s coast and befriends him.
The future breakout director behind this summer’s billion-dollar-grossing Margot Robbie/Ryan Gosling smash hit can be seen in scenes filmed in Lewes, Rehoboth Beach, Broadkill Beach and Dewey Beach, along with Milton, Milford and Dover in the R-rated drama, which was released in 2011.
“The Dish & the Spoon” director/co-writer Alison Bagnall imported the film’s stars to Delaware ― Gerwig and Olly Alexander, who has also gone on to bigger things as frontman of British electropop act Years & Years) ― and used real-life Delawareans to play many of the other roles, including Sam Calagione, founder of Dogfish Head Brewery.
Greta does Delaware
If you’re familiar with Delaware’s beaches, “The Dish & the Spoon” is not only a touching drama but also a fun scavenger hunt of sorts as identifiable locations keep coming throughout the 92-minute film.
The movie, which began its monthlong shoot in December 2009, starts with Gerwig driving along Route 1 in Dewey Beach with the former Grotto Pizza in the background as she heads north past Rehoboth Beach, past the Cracker Barrel restaurant.
Following a stop at the former Lloyd’s Deli and Resale Shop in Milford for a six-pack of Dogfish Head India Pale Ale wrapped in now-retro bottle labels, she walks along the coast with a pair of the beach’s iconic watchtowers looming in the distance.
After walking up to the top of the watchtower on a gray winter day and slugging a beer, she discovers Alexander, whose character has just been stood up by a woman whom he had traveled from England to be with.
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Soon, they are off on many little adventures together, starting with a tour of Dogfish Head’s Brewery in Milton with Calagione himself playing the brewer leading the tour.
Calagione has a few lines opposite Gerwig and Alexander before their characters split from the tour. Alexander playfully takes a bottle of beer from the production line as it goes by; Gerwig flips the fermentation tank spigot and gulps the flowing beer like she’s in a boozy “Willy Wonka” film.
Later, the pair walk along Rehoboth Avenue, peeking into Browseabout Books, resting on the white Boardwalk benches and sharing a kiss in a booth at the former Finbar’s Pub & Grill, now Dogfish’s Chesapeake & Maine. In another scene, Gerwig has a moment in front of the Candy Kitchen at the end of Rehoboth Avenue on the Boardwalk.
After a visit to the Sussex Family YMCA in Rehoboth Beach, they end up at Lewes’ Fisherman’s Wharf, complete with a cameo by owner H.D. Parsons as they set off on a chartered fishing trip. Later, the duo dress up for retro photographs at Yesteryear’s Old Time Photos on Rehoboth Avenue with owner Jim Miller himself playing the photographer.
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During his scene, Calagione seems natural as the film’s brewer. It shouldn’t be too surprising since he’s a former model who took a few theater classes in college and spent his post-college years living with actors, including some of the founders of MTV’s “The State.”
He remembers getting an email from Bagnall and was impressed by her credentials: She had co-written Vincent Gallo’s 1998 film “Buffalo 66” and also directed/co-wrote 2003’s “Piggie,” which had a cast including John C. Reilly and musician Dean Wareham of rock act Luna. (Wareham contributed a few songs for “The Dish & the Spoon” soundtrack.)
“We think of Dogfish Head as an art project first and business second, so I said come down,” Calagione says.
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He wasn’t familiar with Gerwig or Alexander, but remembers taking them to Half Full in Lewes for pizza and beer with Bagnall one night.
It was when Gerwig wrote and directed “Lady Bird” in 2017, earning five Academy Award nominations, when Calagione first realized she was a one-time co-star of his.
“I was like, ‘Oh my, God, that’s a name I remember from that movie,'” he says.
As for Parsons at Lewes’ Fisherman’s Wharf, it wasn’t until he got a call from Delaware Online/The News Journal last week that he recalled his day on the boat for “The Dish & the Spoon.” He recalled having to buy a frozen fish at the market for the scene where they reel in a catch.
Even so, Parsons had no idea the woman whom he shared a scene with is now the hottest director in Hollywood with a blockbuster that has grossed more than $1 billion worldwide in less than three weeks ― a film his 17-year-old daughter saw opening night at Movies at Midway on Coastal Highway.
“I’m going to go home and tease her about it,” Parson says of his newfound Gerwig co-star status.
Gerwig: a ‘powerhouse’ even back then
Bagnall says she chose Delaware’s beaches after hearing about the area from a student’s mother at her kid’s school. She didn’t want to use the Jersey Shore; she was looking for a more old-fashioned seaside town and with less of the larger, newer homes that dominate the coast.
“I had never set foot on Delaware’s beaches before,” she says, adding that she used an old cottage that was for sale on Broadkill Beach as the home where Gerwig and Alexander spend some time. “There was an elderly couple selling it and it was unchanged from the ’60s so it had a lot of character.”
After a week of scouting locations in the fall of 2009 while staying at a local motel, she finished her script, making sure to add scenes to fit what she found during her visit like those in the watchtower and at Dogfish Head.
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“I like movies where the location is almost one of the characters, so for me, the Delaware beaches were really one of the characters in the film with those two people” Bagnall adds. “They were all equal.”
Gerwig had been attached to a previous film Bagnall had been working on, but it fell apart. She used the remaining money from that film to make “The Dish & the Spoon.” And since she was contractually obligated to make a film starring Gerwig, she wrote a new script and built a story around her and Alexander.
The pair had previously met on the set of 2008’s “Nights and Weekends,” which was co-directed and co-written by Gerwig with Bagnall playing a reporter in the romantic drama.
“I could tell she was dynamic. Sometimes you meet people and they are just movie stars,” she says of Gerwig. “She’s always been a powerhouse. A force of nature. When you were with her, you felt like you were in the presence of someone extremely special.”
Bagnall has seen “Barbie,” which she knew Gerwig would put her unique stamp on it. However, she didn’t believe she would be able to make it as subversive as she did.
“I had no idea she was going to be able to make it a whole discussion on gender and culture,” says Bagnall, who saw it opening day in the afternoon at a Philadelphia-area art house theater.
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She says she was blown away not only by the film but the experience of seeing women of all ages dressed in pink flooding theaters again for what has become a cultural touchstone event.
“I’m getting emotional just thinking about it,” says Bagnall, who is currently working on her next film, “Mendicants.” “Everybody came together and felt connected at a time when everyone seems to be at each others’ throats and feel so divided. It was so thrilling. I’m so happy for her.”
And, yes, she did shed some tears watching the film, as many moviegoers have in recent weeks: “I didn’t expect to cry at the end of a ‘Barbie’ movie.”
Where to watch ‘The Dish & the Spoon’
“The Dish & the Spoon” is available for free on ad-supported streaming services Tubi, Pluto TV, Vudu and The Roku Channel. It can also be rented ($2.99) or purchased ($7.99) on Amazon Prime.
Have a story idea? Contact Ryan Cormier of Delaware Online/The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier) and Twitter (@ryancormier).
