PASSAIC, N.J., Oct. 22 — Vincent Oliver stood firm on the gray slab of sidewalk where he has become a fixture much of the past two months. Peering through wire-frame glasses, he finally saw what he was waiting for, and broke into a gleeful metal-mouthed grin.

“Look at Danny Glover, he’s right there — there,” Vincent, a 17-year-old high school junior, half shouted, braces glinting, as a crowd around him pressed in, necks craned. “The old guy. He’s like, ‘Lethal Weapon.’ ”

Across the street from Vincent, another world bloomed. A corner store was illuminated by klieg lights. Inside, Mr. Glover, decked in dowdy clothes and gray hair, was filming a scene. Other actors were with him. Mia Farrow. Jack Black. Mos Def. Real movie stars, the likes of which most people in Passaic have never seen.

Vincent shook his head, half in a swoon. Nothing like this had probably ever happened in Passaic, a struggling, multiethnic city about 12 miles west of Manhattan. Nothing like this might ever happen again.