NORTHAMPTON - Star-struck fans and the merely curious spent the better part of Monday morning standing on Pleasant Street sidewalks watching Tully O'Reilly's Pub intently.
Inside was Mel Gibson, in the first day of location shooting around Northampton for his new movie, "Edge of Darkness."
Scuttlebutt had it that Mel, playing a Boston cop investigating the death of his daughter, was filming a scene with screenwriter William Monahan, playing a bartender.
Outside, real Northampton cops directed traffic and barred pedestrians from the sidewalk whenever the cameras were rolling. Three extras alone had the right to stroll around outside the bar windows during takes.
About noon, Heather Johnson of Ashfield, Colleen Torres of Florence, and Jill Niedzwiecki and her baby daughter Lily caught a much-anticipated glimpse of the star as the cast and crew broke for lunch.
"Hi Mel!" Johnson called out, and was greeted with a wave and a "How you doing?" And just like that, Gibson disappeared inside a Cadillac Escalade and was driven away.
Filming was expected to continue this afternoon at the Northampton Athletic Club, possibly at a house on Elm Street, and was to move Tuesday to the Hampshire County Courthouse.