Looking back in time: ‘The Firm’

Everyone talks about the ‘good old days’ when times were simpler. Take a look at these pictures from yesteryear and see if you can spot places, people and scenes you recognise.

Shooting ‘The Firm’ in Cayman
The year was 1993. Bill Clinton was sworn into office as the 42nd President of the United States; Super Bowl XXVII was won by the Dallas Cowboys; Buckingham Palace was opened to the public for the first time; and ‘The Firm’, starring Tom Cruise and Gene Hackman, was filming in Grand Cayman.

Cruise was already one of the hottest movie stars on the planet, with ‘Risky Business’, ‘Top Gun’, and ‘Days of Thunder’ under his belt, so when word got out that he would be working in our very backyard, fans on the island collectively went crackers.

The film was to be the John Grisham book of the same title brought to life for the big screen. The story specifically mentioned the Cayman Islands, and apparently the studio – or whomever wrote the cheques – made the decision to actually shoot it here.

It may not have seemed a big deal to those who lived in cities where film crews were fairly regular sights, but in Cayman, where there was only a two-screen cinema at the time, it was very exciting news.

As if that wasn’t enough, it seemed that a host of local extras would be needed for some of the scenes, so aspiring thespians applied in droves to be part of the production. I remember one of my workmates being asked to bring in a selection of suits on his ‘audition’ to see if he would work as Distinguished Gentleman #3 or something.

The main filming locations included the Holiday Inn (where The Ritz-Carlton now resides), the Hyatt Regency and the fictional Abanks Diving Lodge.

Of course, with it being a small island, it was impossible to keep the whereabouts of the crew and cameras a secret. As soon as the lights went up on the sets, groupies assembled behind the barriers to try and catch a glimpse of the action.

My friend Lynne and I, then in the early days of what would be become a long-term friendship, headed out to the Holiday Inn one night to see what the fuss was all about. Lynne, much like she is now, was very cool and calm about the whole thing. I was the one who was prone to dramatic outbursts. That all changed when she managed to see a flash of Tom Cruise’s hair from a distance. He was by the bar for the evening beach scene. She began jumping up and down like a woman possessed. And she wasn’t the only one.

This was our first semi-encounter with a bonafide celebrity actor – he was THERE! Tom Cruise was THERE! Maverick himself!

I don’t even recall how long the production team was on the island, but I know that there were regular stories in the Cayman Compass (the Caymanian Compass, at the time) capturing sightings of the stars, and mentioning any notable appearances by residents who had been singled out for on-camera moments.

James ‘Sunny Jim’ White, known for his guitar playing and singing at The Hyatt, was the troubadour in the background for a particular scene and, of course, you could clearly hear Barefoot Man and his band playing at the Holiday Inn – his stomping grounds in real life.

Bartenders and servers that we knew from our local hangouts were serving Jerry Weintraub in a shot with Cruise and Hackman, and others were eating dinner or ordering drinks in various other scenes. A host of our friends played tourists and locals dancing at a bar, and whether they would make it into the final cut or not depended on how close to the main stars they were boogeying down.

Hackman was a big diving enthusiast, so he was keen to spend any down time under the water, which meant a number of scuba folk got to interact with him. Cruise was married to Nicole Kidman back then, who also came to the island, much to the delight of islanders. They could occasionally be found at popular hotspots.

In retrospect, now I’m more mature, I would have tried to seek out the late, great Sydney Pollack, who directed ‘The Firm’. Now he would have been an amazing character to meet.

After the crew and the actors left, everyone eagerly anticipated the release of the film, which was scheduled for June that same year. Due to Cayman’s significant participation, a special premiere night was held at Cinema 1 & 2 (now where Office Supply is located). Lynne and I were lucky enough to get tickets; anyone who got them felt like VIPs.

It was thrilling watching it there, but hilariously, we couldn’t pick up one word of dialogue in any of the Cayman scenes. Every time the plot shifted back to the island, the auditorium erupted with yells of joy, laughter, and individual yelps from those who recognised themselves on the screen.

Fingers jabbed out constantly, accompanied by revelations, like, “Look! It’s me!” and “Oh my gosh, that’s James!”.

Ordinarily, you’d be annoyed if surrounding noise was drowning out your film-watching experience, but we were all excited and reacting the same way. I think Lynne and I went back to see it after the initial rush finally died down.

It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly 30 years since ‘The Firm’ came to town, but those who were here have never forgotten it. Every time we watch it, it brings the memories back. It is also a small time capsule of how Grand Cayman looked, decades ago, and those we knew when we were growing up.

Were you there? Tell us more!

If you have some old photos that you’d like to submit, we’d love to see them to consider them for publication. Be sure to include the credit for the image and any information you have about it. Email to [email protected].