Many extras from the film bought items at the event.

WATERVILLE (AP) – “Empire Falls” lived on in central Maine on Saturday as items that were a part of the HBO movie were auctioned to people looking for lasting memories of the film.

Dozens of people turned out for the auction in a former Central Maine Power building. They bought window shades, pots and pans, clothes, pillows, artwork and numerous other pieces of sets and scenery that were in the movie.

Robert Sezak of Fairfield, who was an extra in the movie, bought some paintings and frames, but didn’t find the portrait of a man sitting in his library that he was looking for.

Sezak said the filming of “Empire Falls,” mostly in Skowhegan and Waterville, provided excitement.

“It was great for the Kennebec River area,” Sezak said. “Hopefully it was an eye-opener for the real estate agents and the people in governance to see what kind of short-term revenue this can generate and to work to bring more movies to the area.”

Producers spent 56 days in Maine filming the movie, which is based on Richard Russo’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. Filming wrapped up Nov. 20.

The backdrop for the novel is struggling Empire Falls, a small mill town in fictional Dexter County, Maine, where residents hold out hope that a shuttered factory will one day reopen. The movie stars actors Paul Newman, Ed Harris, Joanne Woodward and Helen Hunt.

Hundreds of Mainers appeared as extras in the movie, and many of them showed up at the auction. One of those was Maryann Nyman of Winslow, who was first in line when the doors opened at 9 a.m.

“It was just a remarkable experience,” Nyman said. “They were just wonderful people. We just want to take home memorabilia of being part of such a wonderful group.”

Kelly Goulette, a Waterville city councilor, came for a heavy, gray clay cat, but couldn’t pay the price. Marked “specialty cat,” it was priced at $495.

Goulette ran around the room, looking for someone to tell her that the price was wrong. But a woman working the auction told her the price was accurate.

“Who’s going to buy it?” Goulette said to herself. “No one from Waterville is going to buy it.”

Goulette then tracked down a production coordinator, who offered the cat for half price and then $200, but Goulette declined.

“My husband would kill me if I spent $250 for a clay cat,” Goulette said. “I would have paid $50.”

Eight vehicles, including a police cruiser, vans and cars, were to be sold by sealed bid. But late in the day, the crew decided to wait until Monday to open the bids.

Proceeds from the auction went back to HBO to offset some of the production costs of the movie.

AP-ES-12-07-03 1231EST