Despite a starry cast including Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard and American talents Owen Wilson and Kathy Bates, pre-publicity for “Midnight in Paris” has focused on the supermodel-turned-singer’s big screen debut. Bystanders saw none of the onscreen stars on Monday at the filming location, a second storey Paris apartment in an upscale part of the city’s Right Bank, surrounded by film equipment trucks and screened by black sheets.

But Allen — the 74-year-old actor, screenwriter, director and multiple Oscar-winner most famous for his comedies of manners — was himself briefly spotted leaving the set at around lunchtime. The costumes of extras standing near the flat appeared to confirm that the film will be set in the 1920s. Allen’s agent Shelby Kimlick has said the movie will tell the story of a family shaken up by a Paris business trip.