There was a police chase in Hoboken Thursday, with lights gleaming and sirens blaring - but no crime was committed.

The controlled action was all part of filming for the upcoming action/comedy Forget About It, starring Burt Reynolds and Charles Durning.

While most of the movie was shot out in Arizona, a movie crew was in Hoboken for eight days to film establishing scenes to help set the tone for the movie.

Director B.J. Davis filmed real Hoboken cops in their cars and motorcycles racing through the streets. The crew also planned to be at Mayor David Roberts' inauguration Friday rolling film.

"With its history and architecture, Hoboken lends postcard shots in every frame," Davis said. "After all, it's the home to Frank Sinatra and baseball."

Davis described the film as "fish out of water" story that's a cross between Grumpy Old Men and The Whole Nine Yards. The basic plot follows a couple of mobsters who rob a bank in Hoboken and flee to a seniors' community in Mesa, Ariz. with the mob stash.

While there, feisty local residents discover the money buried near a golf course and start spending. The craziness arises when the Mafia comes looking for their cash. The cast of the film includes Academy Award nominees Durning (One Fine Day, Tootsie, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas), Robert Loggia (Scarface, Big, Jagged Edge) and Reynolds (Boogie Nights, Smokey and the Bandit). The movie will also feature Raquel Welch, Richard Greico, Phil Amato, Wayne Crawford and Kimberley Kates.

According to Davis, the film is being produced by Beverley Hills Film Studios, and they are hoping for a September release.

Reporter chips in

All of the scenes with the movie's talent were shot in Arizona, so there were several scenes where the desert had to stand in for Hoboken. During one of the film's opening scenes, a bank robbery was set in Hoboken but was filmed in front of the Luhrs Tower in downtown Phoenix.

During the robbery, a pair of mobsters with guns raised and ski masks pulled down, race out of the "Bank of Hoboken." As they sprint to the get away car, they pass by a newspaper vendor wearing a Hoboken Reporter apron and holding a stack of Reporters under her left arm.

"By using [the Reporters] during the film's opening, we were able to establish that the action was taking place in Hoboken," said production designer George Costello, "even though we were filming in Phoenix."