Paul Duggan’s wife had nicknamed it Tara, the O’Hara family mansion in “Gone With the Wind,” and the Beverly couple would often stroll past the 84-year-old house on Longwood Avenue wondering when it might be theirs.

Then in 1995 the Br. Rice grad and St. Barnabas parishioner who admits he’s never lived west of Claremont Avenue bought the neoclassical Greek Revival house – with its arched doorways, 7,000 square feet of hardwood floors and leaded glass window – and immediately began renovating it.

A few older neighbors still call it the O’Connor house, referring to former owners who sold it way back in 1947 (“Around here it’s not your house until you sell it,” Duggan says), but no matter: Whether it goes by Tara or O’Connor, it has earned its place in cinematic history: Several scenes from “The Merry Gentleman,” Michael’s Keaton’s feature directorial debut that opens Friday, were filmed within its confines.

Duggan, a financial advisor and the movie’s executive producer, says he wanted to film the scenes in and around the house as a gift to the neighborhood. “They filmed ’Uncle Buck’ and ‘Home Alone’ on the North Shore,” he says. “So why can’t we do that here? I love to hype the neighborhood.”

They did. And they did it with a cast and crew that’s largely Chicago-based. Written by Chicagoan Ron Lazzeretti, the film piqued the interest of local independent producer Tom Bastounes, who had worked with Lazzeretti on a 1999 independent romantic comedy, “The Opera Lover.”

Duggan was introduced to Bastounes (who plays the part of Det. Dave Murcheson) over lunch at Gibson’s. “I had no interest in financing a movie. I just thought I’d have a strip steak – that’s how I looked at it,” Duggan says with a laugh. Bastounes, meanwhile, was looking to sell his Chicago produce business to raise cash for the movie. Duggan agreed to buy part of the business, keep Bastounes involved in it and finance the movie as well.

“Ron was going to direct, but he got sick,” Duggan says of Lazzeretti’s ruptured appendix, which put him out of commission for two months. “(Keaton) liked the project, he liked the role – it’s quirky, not traditional, and he brought his philosophy of what he wanted: loneliness and peace and solitude.”

It's a tale of two seemingly disparate souls - one a suicidal hit man and the other a battered wife - who form an unexpected relationship after a strange turn of events.

Keaton tapped internationally acclaimed Chris Seager as his director of photography, who had worked with the Pittsburgh-bred actor in the horror sleeper “White Noise.” Together they chose locations that are uniquely Chicago but not cliché to provide a balance between the beauty and grit that the noir-type film offers.

“I was a total novice. My talent is finance,” Duggan admits. “But I’ll try anything once.” So far he’s owned a car dealership, an expert witness firm, optometry business and burrito restaurant. And he teaches a no-credit course about the stock market every Monday after school at his alma mater.

“We had great expectations, and although it had great reviews, no one bought it,” he says of the movie’s reception at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. No worries, though: Duggan & Co. are distributing it themselves with the help of Samuel Goldwyn Films.

A heady mix of suspense, gentle romance and quiet humor, “The Merry Gentleman” is an intriguing story of redemption and forgiveness set among the stark solitude of a Chicago winter. Along with New York and Los Angeles, Chicago is home to limited screenings of the movie, which opens Friday at the following locations:

-Landmark Century Centre Cinema, 2828 N. Clark St., Chicago (773-509-4949) (http://landmarktheatres.com)
-Cinemark Evanston 18, 1715 Maple Ave., Evanson (847 491-9751) (www.cinemark.com)
-Regal Lincolnshire 20, 300 Parkway Drive, Lincolnshire (847-215-2803) (www.fandango.com)
-AMC South Barrington 30, 175 Studio Drive, South Barrington (888-262-4386) (www.moviewatcher.com)