Film ‘Little Pink House’ Tells Eminent Domain Story From New London

A story that began in a modest neighborhood in New London in 1997 and ended in front of the United States Supreme Court in 2005 is the subject of a major motion picture opening nationwide this month.

“Little Pink House” is based on the book “Little Pink House: A True Story of Defiance and Courage” by Jeff Benedict. Benedict chronicled the saga of Susette Kelo and her neighbors in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood. The New Londoners’ homes were seized and condemned by eminent domain to make way for a big development by Pfizer Corp.

Kelo fought the decision as the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case, which was lost by a 5-4 vote. Nevertheless, her little pink house survived the aggressive acquisition campaign by New London Development Corp. Kelo made a deal with then-Gov. Rell to save the house in exchange for vacating. Ironically, after the lively neighborhood was reduced to an empty field, Pfizer left New London and abandoned plans to use the site. Kelo’s house later was moved by the Institute for Justice, which represented her pro bono, to a different location in New London. Kelo lives in another town in Connecticut now.

The world premiere screening of “Little Pink House” will be Sunday, April 15, at 5 p.m. at the Garde Arts Center in New London. Benedict will be there, as will Kelo and other former Fort Trumbull residents. The film opens nationally in limited release on April 20.

Courtney Balaker’s movie stars two-time Oscar nominee Catherine Keener as Kelo. Jeanne Tripplehorn portrays the head of New London Development Corp. In real life, that was Connecticut College President Claire Gaudiani. In the film, she has been renamed Charlotte Wells, president of the fictional “Walthrop College.” Aaron Douglas portrays the “governor,” modeled after John Rowland but never spoken of by name.

Benedict, a resident of Lyme who has written opinion pieces for The Courant, has been in the news recently for his new book, the unauthorized biography “Tiger Woods,” which he wrote with Armen Keteyian. He took a break from his “Tiger Woods” press junket to talk about “Little Pink House.”

Benedict had already published “Without Reservation: How a Controversial Indian Tribe Rose to Power and Built the World’s Largest Casino,” a book about Foxwoods Resort Casino, when the New London eminent domain case hit the news. At the time, he was running for Congress against Joe Courtney.

“It was a hot, contested issue in the 2nd District. I kept getting asked about it on the campaign trail,” he says.

After he failed in his bid to unseat Courtney, Benedict focused on casinos while the eminent domain case made its way through the courts. Then the Supreme Court agreed to take the case.

“I was shocked the Supreme Court took this case. They hardly ever take eminent domain cases. It’s an established area of law,” Benedict says. “As soon as they took it, I thought whether the homeowners win or lose, it would be a good book topic. If the homeowners win, it’s a great story with a great ending. If the homeowners lose, it’s a tragic story with a tough ending.”

He started his research by visiting Kelo’s house.

“I knocked on the door. … We had never met before. All I knew about her was that she was tough and confrontational,” he says. “She answered and I said ‘I’m Jeff Benedict’ and she said ‘I know who you are. What took you so long?’ ”

Three hours later, he was still sitting with her in her kitchen, and the book was born. “There was a lot about the story that I didn’t know,” he says.

For the next two and a half years, he spoke to as many people as he could find on both sides of the case.

“It was a big sweeping story with lots of characters,” he says. “I wanted it to be well-rounded. I was not just interested in what was happening to [the homeowners] but also to what was driving Pfizer, Connecticut and the New London Development Corp.”

Talking to displaced homeowners was easier, he says, than talking to those on the other side.

“This was a triangle with three power centers — Rowland, George Milne from Pfizer and Gaudiani — with the unified goal of bringing Pfizer to New London,” he says. Rowland never participated in the book, but Milne and Gaudiani eventually did.

“It took longer to get them to talk to me. But once Milne decided to talk, then Claire decided to talk,” he says. “She tried to shape what she thought I was trying to write. She has a reputation for doing that.”

In the film and the book, that “triangle” falls apart when the NLDC decides to employ eminent domain.

“The state of Connecticut became uncomfortable when they realized that they were going to resort to this as a tool, a weapon to take the neighborhood,” Benedict says. “[Rowland] didn’t like that. The optics aren’t good.”

Benedict — who now runs the Institute for Writing and Mass Media at Southern Virginia University — said he tries at all times for objectivity in his writing. “People look at this as ‘whose side are you on?’ As a writer, I try not to be on a side,” he says.

However, the film comes down squarely on the side of the homeowners. It depicts “Charlotte Wells” as a ruthless cliché-spewer and closes with a shot of the “governor” in a prison cell. Kelo is the heroine. Footage of the real-life Kelo speaking about eminent domain is shown over the closing credits.

Unlike many book writers, Benedict was a hands-on participant in the making of the film, which was shot primarily in Canada, with establishing shots taken in New London and Hartford. “They wanted me to be involved. I wanted to be involved, not just in name but to work with the producers,” he says.

Balaker, who adapted the screenplay, sent him drafts for comments. “It’s an extremely hard book to adapt, hundreds of pages with thousands of facts, to turn it into a 100-page script,” he says. “That’s not a skill set I have.”

He developed new skills during the making of the film, however, including rewriting dialogue on tight deadline.

“I’m used to deadlines of two years, not two minutes,” he says. He brought the new dialogue to Keener. “She hadn’t met me. She read it and liked it. She said ‘Who’s this guy?’”

LITTLE PINK HOUSE will be shown, before its nationwide release, on April 15 at 5 p.m. at Garde Arts Center, 325 State St. in New London. Benedict will sell and sign copies of “Little Pink House” and “Tiger Woods.” Admission is $20 and $25. gardearts.org.