One of these houses is definitely not like the others.

Residents in the neighborhood near Church Street and Darrow Avenue have done their best to ignore the huge spotlights propped against the side of a house on their street, the endless mess of black wire flowing from the house, as well as the mysterious goateed man – wearing a hood over a tiny headset – who greets curious passers-by in front of the house.

“I don’t ask any questions,” said George Whittaker, who lives around the corner from the house.

“They told us they’re just filming a mayonnaise commercial,” said James Cheek, who also lives near the house.

Despite what the goateed man will tell you, neither Hellman’s nor Kraft has invaded Evanston. “Operation Mayonnaise” is just a front for a movie production.

And forget Evanston Police Department drug busts and gun raids. The production, which began Jan. 28, might be Evanston’s most covert operation this year.

The Daily found out about the movie because the crew requested a special detail – officers to watch the area – from EPD.

The Daily was allowed to speak with a crew member, who declined to release his name and gave only bare-bones details about the movie.

“It’s an independent film,” he said. “A full-length feature. A comedy.”

Jennifer Byrne, the movie’s publicist, declined to name anyone involved in the movie, although she did say a Northwestern graduate was producing the film.

“There are some big stars,” Byrne said. “I can’t tell you their names.”

Byrne said she and crew members are worried about passers-by honking and ruining shots.

But this weekend, despite paid security, the house was burglarized. The theft delayed the filming, according to a crew member.

What and how much was taken? That’s confidential, too.

Charlie Sullivan, who lives across the street from the house, said the movie has not inconvenienced him, though he was asked to move his car from a parking lot that the crew had rented.

He said he received a letter from someone involved with the movie.

“They said they wanted to cause as little problem as possible,” Sullivan said.

Despite the black shades that block peeping toms and the large trailers parked across from his house, Sullivan said he has “no interest” in the movie’s production, which will stop after this week but resume later this month.

“Nobody asked me to play a part,” he said.