By G. WAYNE MILLER
Journal-Bulletin Staff Writer

NEWPORT -- For a tiny state 3,000 miles and a world away from Hollywood, Rhode Island has had more than its share of working visits by big stars. Arnold Schwarzennegger came to Newport to film scenes for 1994's True Lies. Dustin Hoffman was in Pawtucket a year later for American Buffalo. Robert Redford, Mia Farrow and Bruce Dern top a long list of others who have gone before the camera in the Ocean State.

But none has had the impact of a man who, in the technical sense of the word, is not even a star.

Steven Spielberg has been in town two weeks to film Amistad, and his presence looms as large as the great white shark that thrilled audiences in his first box-office smash, Jaws. It has been felt in street-corner conversations, increased sales at many local establishments, and the glowing picture of Rhode Island that economic development officials present to outsiders. It has prompted a flurry of media reports. It has led parents to keep their children out of school in hopes of glimpsing the man who brought Jurassic Park, Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T., among many other stories, to the screen.

And all this without granting a single interview, hosting a press conference, or allowing anyone but cast and crew onto the set.

"He's got the magic," said Joe Burke, one of the hundreds of spectators drawn to historic Colony House, where Spielberg was shooting most of last week. Like many of the curious, Burke was more intent on a Spielberg sighting than seeing stars Morgan Freeman and Matthew McConaughey. He got one - and captured it on video - when the director broke for lunch. (Spielberg is expected to film in Queen Anne Square today and tomorrow.)

"I think it's awesome," said Alan G. Hassenfeld, chairman and chief executive officer of Pawtucket-based Hasbro, which has an agreement to produce toys from Spielberg properties. "There's no downside to Rhode Island. This is win-win."

Spielberg's stature in the world of film does not, by itself, account for the buzz out of Newport these days. It's the personality of the man. Forty- nine now and a legend before he hit 30, Spielberg has not been corrupted by money and fame. Actors and crew speak highly of the enthusiasm and dedication he brings to his work, of his patience and courtesy on the set.

Bystanders tell of a man pleased to shake hands and sign autographs on his way in and out of Colony House, virtually on a daily basis.

About the only one heard to complain about the traffic detours and other inconveniences associated with having a 175-member crew transform parts of Newport into a 19th-century city was the owner of a photo-development shop who feared his drive-by business would be disrupted - and even he became complimentary after a blizzard of unflattering publicity that followed the suit he filed.

FOR SOME, the magic is less in Spielberg's good nature than the good fortune he has brought. Spielberg is alone atop Hollywood's A-list, and his pockets are correspondingly deep.

Although no one can precisely quantify the economic impact of Amistad for Rhode Island, it unquestionably is millions of dollars, now - and conceivably millions more in the future if, as believed, Spielberg's visit entices other big-budget filmmakers to Rhode Island. Actors, crews and tourists must eat and sleep. Sets require building materials. Equipment not imported from Los Angeles or New York is rented locally. Such individually minor expenses as phone lines, pagers and fax machines all add up. And spending will not be confined to Newport, for over the next two weeks, Spielberg is also filming in Providence, as well as Boston and Connecticut. Yesterday, he shot in Bristol.

"You can't get much bigger than Steven Spielberg, can you?" says the man that another big-budget outfit is considering Rhode Island for shooting this summer. Smaller productions already are booked to come, he said.

SPIELBERG MAGIC weaves its spell in diverse ways.

Consider Connecticut author David Pesci, who wrote a novel called Amistad, based on the 1839 rebellion. Rumor that Spielberg was considering making a movie on the topic helped Pesci land a publisher last summer - and pushed that publisher, Marlowe & Co., into an early release when the rumor was confirmed.

Spielberg's decision to change the name of his movie from Black Mutiny to Amistad was further luck for Pesci.

"Without him doing this movie," Pesci said last week, "I would not get the level of publicity I've been enjoying the last three weeks. I've been in about 10 papers and I've been contacted by The New York Times."

Pesci was in Newport Saturday for a book signing. Earlier signings in Warwick and Connecticut, he said, have brought sales of 30, 40 or more copies - fabulous numbers for an unknown writer's first novel. "Every book signing I've gone to I've either sold out or nearly sold out," Pesci said.

Or consider Mystic Seaport, which began plans to build a reproduction of Amistad, the ship, long before Spielberg signed on to direct the film. The State of Connecticut designated $2.5 million for the project, but the funds will not be freed until the museum independently raises $300,000.

Needless to say, once Spielberg decided to shoot scenes at Mystic, hopes for speedily achieving that goal soared.

"Being a part of Spielberg's Amistad is especially meaningful for us," said seaport president and director J. Revell Carr. "The movie will propel American maritime history into modern-day, mass-media consciousness and bring tremendous awareness to our building of the reproduction Amistad at Mystic Seaport."

And this being the digital age, is it any surprise that Web Ghosts, a Newport company, has opened an unauthorized Amistad Web site on the Internet? Or that Mystic Seaport and allied historical societies have a site?

THE LOCAL PAPER is agog with Spielberg sightings: His personal purchase of a spinach pie at Ocean Coffee Roasters, near Colony House; his dinner at the Brick Alley Pub with wife Kate Capshaw and several of their children; the family's visit to a Middletown theater, where they supposedly saw the new comedy Jungle 2 Jungle.

These are random events. More predictable has been the noon hour, when the director breaks for lunch. As raw and windy as the weather has been this month in Newport, by 11:30 every morning of Amistad shooting last week a throng of spectators had gathered outside Colony House. As noon neared, the crowd grew - reaching more than 200 on some days. One wondered how large it would have been at the height of the summer season, not the middle of a dreary March.

The side door opened, and out stepped McConaughey, to applause. Morgan Freeman followed, to more applause. The stars were whisked away in vehicles and the extras emerged, bound for lunch at the Hotel Viking. Crew members were next. The crowd had not thinned. They wanted Spielberg.

Finally, there he was: an average-size man with wire-rimmed glasses, tousled graying hair and beard, signature cap, and fur-trimmed parka. Spielberg smiled and waved and the applause was deafening, especially when he crossed to the barricade to cheerfully sign autographs and shake hands.

"I've seen all his films," said Burke. "He's the greatest director of our time."

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