Yeah, Rain Man definitely filmed here

Here’s a compilation of screen shots from the 1988 film “Rain Man” starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman and photos of some of the locations, taken by me.

John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge / Cincinnati – Covington

Here is a scene where they are crossing the Roebling Bridge between Ohio and Kentucky:

Crossing the Roebling Bridge between Ohio to Kentucky

Here is a photo I took of the bridge:

John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge / Cincinnati - Covington Bridge

Pompilio’s Restaurant – Newport, Kentucky

There was a scene filmed at Pompilio’s Restaurant. Here is the exterior from the film:

Pompilio's Restaurant - Newport, Kentucky

I took this photo last year. It looks so much less barren now!

Pompilio's Restaurant - Newport, Kentucky

Here’s the interior of the restaurant, a scene when they are ordering their pancakes from their waitress: Sally Dibbs…Dibbs, Sally. Interestingly, Bonnie Hunt also played another Sally, the Porsche in Pixar’s Cars!

I made an odd observation. If you look carefully, the floor and furniture look so much the same, but yet…different. The chairs were switched from green to red, and the floor was switched from red to green…

Pompilio's Restaurant - Newport, Kentucky

Pompilio's Restaurant - Newport, Kentucky

Here’s a scene from the movie looking from the bar into one of the rooms of the restaurant (from above).

Pompilio's Restaurant - Newport, Kentucky

A close up of that dining room

Pompilio's Restaurant - Newport, Kentucky

The bar in the background

Pompilio's Restaurant - Newport, Kentucky

Pompilio's Restaurant - Newport, Kentucky

The Hearthstone Inn & Cabins – US 52, Metamora, Indiana

This scene where Raymond wouldn’t go out in the rain was supposed to take place on US 60 somewhere in Missouri. In reality, it was filmed at the Hearthstone Inn & Cabins on US 52 in Metamora, Indiana.

This first screen capture, from the movie, is of the restaurant to the left, and the cabin Charlie and Raymond are staying in is to the right (you can see the Buick in front of it)

Hearthstone Inn & Cabins - US 52, Metamora, Indiana

Here is a shot of the restaurant from 2005. Where it says “The Hearthstone Restaurant” in the following photo, was where the cabin sat perpendicular in the movie (the restaurant buildings have been added onto).

Hearthstone Inn & Cabins - US 52, Metamora, Indiana

This screen capture from the movie is essentially the same scene from above, only this is supposed to be the next morning. Also, you can see a number of small cabins up on the hill in back.

Hearthstone Inn & Cabins - US 52, Metamora, Indiana

Here is a closeup of the cabin, which now sits up on the hill, in front of the little cabins.

Hearthstone Inn & Cabins - US 52, Metamora, Indiana

Here is a farther away shot of where the cabin sits now, behind where it was in the movie, and facing US 52.

Hearthstone Inn & Cabins - US 52, Metamora, Indiana

In this scene inside the cabin, Charlie’s impatience is growing as Raymond refuses to go outside in the rain. Note the neon restaurant sign in the background, just to Charlie’s right. That is the Hearthstone Inn sign, which sits along the north side of US 52 in Metamora, Indiana. The view out of this cabin is southeast.

Hearthstone Inn & Cabins - US 52, Metamora, Indiana

Hearthstone Restaurant - US 52, Metamora, Indiana

The Big 8 Motel – US 66, El Reno, Oklahoma

Finally, the rain ends and back on the road they quest. Their next stay is at the Big 8 Motel, billed as “Amarillo’s Finest.” Actually, this motel was located in El Reno, Oklahoma.

Big 8 Motel - Route 66, El Reno, Oklahoma

Unfortunately, sometime after the movie, the property was sold and it became the nondescript “Deluxe Inn.” The beautiful neon sign was gone, the building had a horrendous paint job, and it was anything but deluxe…the condition of the motel in the movie was pretty good, but by the time I passed through in August 2000, it was in decline. It continued to worsen until the motel closed and was finally demolished.

Deluxe Inn - Route 66, El Reno, OK

The gentleman in the screenshot below was the real owner of the Big 8 (he was in at least one Route 66 documentary I have seen). Under his ownership, the Big 8 was in good shape, but after he sold it, in started to decline.

Big 8 Motel - Route 66, El Reno, Oklahoma

Deluxe Inn - Route 66, El Reno, Oklahoma

The following screen captures show the location of their room, 117. Nice touch to have room numbers in neon tubing above the doorways.

Big 8 Motel - Route 66, El Reno, Oklahoma

Big 8 Motel - Route 66, El Reno, Oklahoma

The room number was still 117, but all of the neon tubing was gone.

Deluxe Inn - Route 66, El Reno, OK

Guthrie, Oklahoma

The scenes filmed in Guthrie were as Charlie stopped (again) to use a phone booth to conduct business, Raymond leaves the car and attempts to cross a street in search of K-mart. Halfway through the intersection, the “walk” sign changes to “don’t walk,” prompting Raymond to stop in his tracks, disrupting traffic and forcing Charlie to seek medical / psychiatric help…probably as much for himself as Raymond.

Arriving in town…heading east on Oklahoma Avenue from the west end of town

Rain Man filming location - Guthrie, Oklahoma

Rain Man filming location - Guthrie, OK

Oklahoma Avenue, just west of Division Street

Rain Man filming location - Guthrie, Oklahoma

Rain Man filming location - Guthrie, OK

Rain Man filming location - Guthrie, Oklahoma

Rain Man filming location - Guthrie, OK

Rain Man filming location - Guthrie, Oklahoma

Rain Man filming location - Guthrie, OK

Rain Man filming location - Guthrie, Oklahoma

Rain Man filming location - Guthrie, OK

Rain Man filming location - Guthrie, Oklahoma

Rain Man filming location - Guthrie, OK

Oklahoma Avenue and Division Street

This scene was filmed with Raymond walking north on Division Street at its intersection with Oklahoma Avenue (our view is to the south).

Rain Man filming location - Guthrie, Oklahoma

Rain Man filming location - Guthrie, OK

Raymond is still facing north on Division Street, while we are looking east down Oklahoma Avenue

Rain Man filming location - Guthrie, Oklahoma

Rain Man filming location - Guthrie, OK

Charlie takes Raymond to a doctor

Rain Man filming location - Guthrie, Oklahoma

The above scene was filmed inside this space in the building at the northeast corner of Oklahoma Avenue and Division Street. Raymond is sitting in front of the window that diagonally faces the intersection.

Rain Man filming location - Guthrie, OK

You can see the building in the photo below is visible in the window behind Raymond, which is located on the southwest corner of Oklahoma and Division (it’s the same building he passed when he first crossed the street).

Rain Man filming location - Guthrie, OK

All of the above scenes in Guthrie were filmed very compactly at this corner, or steps away.

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9 Responses to Yeah, Rain Man definitely filmed here

  1. Jim says:

    I really enjoyed this. I’d forgotten a lot about this movie until the screen grabs you included reminded me, and then to see these spots in modern day is cool. I am really amazed by all the trees around the once-barren Pomplio’s.

  2. Jennifer says:

    Thanks Jim, I’m having fun finding and photographing locations from my favorite movies. There’s more to come, so stay tuned!!

  3. karen says:

    we went to the town metamora ind and went to the resturant hearthstone just as a get away vacation and never even knew the movie rain man was filmed there. the girls at the resturant let me and dan go inside the motel to get pictsures but they had redid the inside and since the sceen was about the bath tub we did not get pictures of the inside but did get some of the outside. pretty cool we had been in the same place that tom and dustin had been..

    • Jennifer says:

      Hi Karen! Glad you stopped by Metamora, it’s a nice town with fun things to do! Glad you got to go inside the room. The scene with the bathtub was actually not filmed here. That was in a later scene where Charlie and Raymond stopped at the Big 8 Motel (which was formerly in El Reno, OK, but depicted to be Amarillo, Texas, in the movie).

  4. Scott says:

    Hi,
    Hi, Just saw the Rain Man pics. I actually lived next to the Hearthstone Restaurant in Metamora and got to see everyhting that was filmed there in the summer of 1988. Met both Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman and took pictures of the set and while they were filming. I’m going to be putting them on facebook soon as soon as I get them scanned.

    • Jennifer says:

      Hi Scott, that’s awesome! If you have any interesting stories, feel free to share (or a link to your photos would be awesome!). I was surprised that not many people at the restaurant at the time (2005) had any idea of what happened or even that the movie was filmed there! I was mystified considering the photos from the movie along the walls, but I guess they were just young and strictly doing their jobs, and just didn’t know about the movie.

  5. Elaine says:

    I moved to Guthrie a few years ago and Rainman is indeed one of my favorite movies. I love sharing spots in the movie with family, but I have never…until now…been able to just sit back and enjoy the sites in Guthrie that have become so familiar. Thanks for sharing.

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