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George Clooney’s new movie “Leatherheads” is the story of the beginnings of the National Football League, which actually started in the 1920s when the Duluth (Minnesota) Eskimos became the first of the officially franchised teams. In the movie, the Eskimos are called the Bulldogs, and like their namesake, the Bulldogs bulldogged their way to wins with one rule in mind: “There are no rules.” And that’s how it began for the infant league, knowing that to win fans, they needed to put on a show.

“Leatherheads,” released by Universal Pictures, is a comedic look at just how the league got started, from the players who had to find their own transportation to the games, to the manipulations and shenanigans that went on behind the scenes to make sure fans would have something interesting to watch. Clooney not only stars in the film, he produced, directed and shared in the writing on it. His costar is Renee Zellweger.

Clooney and Zellweger decided that it was only appropriate that the first national appearance on the publicity tour on behalf of the movie would be in Duluth, Minnesota, where it all started. So on Monday, March 24, the Historic Union Depot in Duluth was the scene of a well-orchestrated news conference, complete with the stars arriving by train (Universal calls it the “Leatherheads” Whistle Stop Tour), media coverage befitting any political headliner and obvious pleasure on the part of the stars that they had made the film in the first place. Visit Duluth was the local organizer of the news event, in coordination with the Northeast Minnesota Film Board and the St. Louis County Heritage and Arts Center.

Although the movie was not shot in Duluth, but in South Carolina due to the wintertime shooting schedule, Clooney says the aim of the film was to portray the quality found in small towns, but especially Duluth. “I grew up in a small town in Kentucky. I know about small towns. The spirit of it all was about this. We came back here to say ‘thanks.’”

A period piece, the film overall is painted with an element of sepia color for nostalgic effect, along with numerous “rip-offs,” as Clooney calls them, from classic films and directors he admires. “We focused on the ideas and characters out of these other films. I even sent a letter of apology to the Coen brothers for a shot I stole from one of their films. They told me that was okay, because they had stolen it from Frank Capra.”

Hundreds of fans crowded around the Depot to get a chance to talk with the stars or get their autograph. After a 45-minute news conference, both Clooney and Zellweger were more than gracious in the attention they gave the crowd, before leaving in a caravan of black SUVs.

The whirlwind stop in Duluth was the first on a four-city grand-opening tour, with the culmination at the premiere in Greenville, South Carolina, on March 27. Other stops on the Whistle Stop Express tour include Maysville, Kentucky, and Salisbury, North Carolina. The film opens across the country on April 4.

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