See the USA!
Filming Locations
The Grapes of Wrath Filming Locations
3December 11, 2008
by Jennifer
in Filming Locations
Beckham County Courthouse, US 66 – Sayre, Oklahoma
US 66 west of Albuquerque, New Mexico
One day, I was watching The Grapes of Wrath and noticed that this particular view looked very familiar. I checked our Route 66 honeymoon photos from June 2002 and saw the 2nd photo below. I don’t think I could have taken the photo of the same location and had it match more perfectly with a printed screenshot with me! We took this photo without even knowing about this particular scene!
June 2002
Trails Arch Bridge – Route 66, Topock, Arizona
2002. This bridge crossing on Route 66 from Topock, Arizona into California over the Colorado River was discontinued from traffic use in 1947. Today, it supports utility and gas lines.
Men in Black II Filming Locations
0December 11, 2008
by Jennifer
in Filming Locations
My daughter Amber documented the following series of photos from “Men in Black II”
New York Subway – 81st Street Station / Museum of Natural History
June 2008
Hayden Planetarium – New York, New York
June 2008
Famous Ben’s Pizza of Soho – New York, New York
June 2008
Movie Filming Locations
4December 9, 2008
by Jennifer
in Filming Locations
Here’s a random collection of movie filming locations, of which I don’t have enough photos to warrant a separate page.
Big
FAO Schwarz, 5th Avenue & 58th Street, New York, New York
12-year old Josh Baskin, frustrated at his slight stature, turns into a grownup after making a wish with a fortune telling machine called Zoltar. After frantically searching for the Zoltar machine to turn back into a kid, Josh has some time on his hands, while waiting for information from the Department of Consumer affairs as to the location of a Zoltar machine, and gets a job in the data processing department at MacMillan Toys. One Saturday, Josh spends a little time browsing at New York’s famous toy store, FAO Schwarz. Many locations of the store were used here, and I visited the store many times with my then 4-year old daughter. (She was very much into “Hello Kitty” stuff and FAO Schwarz had a huge area dedicated to this cute kitty). At that time (around 1991-1992), the store had changed very little since the movie was filmed.
In one of the movie’s most memorable scenes, Josh runs into his boss, the owner of MacMillan Toys, who spends his Saturdays at FAQ Schwarz observing what toys kids are into. He and Josh spend a little time bonding as Josh explains his likes and dislikes of various toys (much to the bemusement of Mr. MacMillan). They stumble about a large floor model “piano,” where Josh starts to play “Heart and Soul.” Mr. MacMillan joins in, and together they do a well-coordinated routine consisting of Heart and Soul and Chopsticks. Having not had so much fun in a while, MacMillan taps into Josh’s knowledge of toys and makes him vice president….one of them, anyway – they have a hundred of them!
From the movie:
FAO Schwarz, approximately 1991 – 1992:
In May 2013, when the photo below was taken, the clock was no longer in this location, as the store was completely remodeled/renovated. It was hung on a wall above an escalator leading to the lower level. It still played “Welcome to Our World of Toys” every 15 minutes. The store closed on July 15, 2015.
Rye Playland, Rye, New York
Two scenes in Big were filmed at the location below, which is Rye Playland Amusement Park in Rye, New York. It was depicted in the movie to be “Seapoint Park” New York. In one scene, Josh goes to Seapoint Park on a date with his co-worker, Susan.
At the end of the movie, Josh returns to Seapoint Park after discovering that a Zoltar machine is here, so that he could make a wish to turn back to a kid again.
Rye Playland Boardwalk, taken approximately 1991:
Palisades Interstate Park – Fort Lee, New Jersey
Where Josh wishes he were “big” with the Zoltar machine at the carnival.
The site below where the carnival was held and where Josh rode the next day to find the site looking basically like we did. 
Hotel St. James, 109 W 45th St, New York, NY
After finding himself “big” Josh needs a place to stay and selects the Hotel St. James. During our stay here in May 2009, we did not find it at ALL in the condition from the movie. Rooms were pretty small, but that’s about it. I should’ve taken some interior lobby photos, as those scenes were filmed there.
Jingle All the Way
Mickey’s Dining Car – St. Paul, Minnesota
36 7th St W, St Paul, MN
The Producers
Bethesda Fountain in Central Park – New York, New York
This is from a scene from “The Producers,” in which down-and-out Broadway producer, Max Bialystock (Lane) is trying to convince his mousy accountant, Leo Bloom (Broderick) to participate in a get-rich scheme. They will oversell shares in a Broadway show, keep the additional money and go to Rio. But in order for the scheme to work, the show must be a “surefire flop.” Leo is too scared to do it, and runs away as Max desperately convinces him that it will work (“We Can Do It”).
August 2008
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
The Sun Motel – Braidwood, Illinois
Del Griffith (John Candy) and Neal Page (Steve Martin) are two very different businessmen who met by chance in New York City when Del “steals” Neal’s cab to the airport. Unfortunately, the simple, short flight from New York to Chicago just before Thanksgiving turns into a two-day ordeal, bringing Del and Neal together as they make their way from New York to Chicago by way of Wichita, Kansas.
In this scene, they are waiting for a ride to the “people” train station, 40 miles away, which they will make sitting in the back of a pickup truck. They just spent the night sharing the last motel room in town, at the fictional “Braidwood Inn.” This motel is actually in Braidwood, Illinois along I-55.
June 2006
From the movie
June 2006
A Christmas Story
The house in the movie “A Christmas Story” is located in Cleveland, Ohio. For more information, click the link for the official site. You can visit it and go on a tour! The house was being restored when we passed through Cleveland in July 2007, we just took a couple of exterior photos.
Moonstruck Filming Locations
17December 9, 2008
by Jennifer
in Filming Locations
Another favorite film of mine is “Moonstruck.” Cher plays Loretta Castorini, an Italian-American widow living with her parents in Brooklyn, who is torn between her fiancé and his brother.
First, here is a video montage created by my daughter Amber, containing her photos, as well as some of mine. Once you have enjoyed that, I have the locations listed below, with the photos. Not all locations in the video are up on this page yet…it’s a work in progress!
19 Cranberry Street, Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn
Here are two views of the Castorini House from the movie.
2004
Loretta walking back to her house on Cranberry Street
May 2008
West on Cranberry Street – Brooklyn Heights
From the movie, looking west on Cranberry Street, heading toward the Brooklyn Promenade, with its views of lower Manhattan.
May 2008
Sackett & Henry Streets – Brooklyn
In this scene, Loretta goes to the Cammareri Bakery to invite her fiance’s brother to the wedding. Loretta is standing on the northwest corner of Sackett & Henry Streets, about to cross to the southeast corner to the Cammareri Bros. Bakery. This view is looking south on Henry Street.
May 2008. View from the northwest corner of Sackett & Henry Streets, looking south on Henry Street. The pharmacy from Moonstruck is still there on the left. On the right is the location where the Cammareri Bakery was located.
Loretta entering the cellar of the bakery to talk to Ronny.
May 2008. This is where the Cammareri Bros. Bakery was located, and the entrance to the cellar is on the right, by the SUV.
W. 4th & 12th Streets (Manhattan) – New York, NY
The fictitious restaurant, the Grand Ticino, is featured at various points in the movie. Its first appearance is during a scene when Loretta and Johnny are having dinner and Johnny proposes. Later, Loretta’s mother Rose (Olympia Dukakis), dines alone and meets Perry (John Mahoney), a college professor with a penchant for getting drinks thrown in his face by the college students he dates.
According to the street signs, the restaurant is located at Hicks & Cranberry Streets. The Castorini home is located at 19 Cranberry Street in Brooklyn, and the characters are depicted as being within a short walking distance. 
May 2009. The actual location for the building is in the West Village in Manhattan, at 4th & 12th Streets.
Lower Manhattan from the Brooklyn Promenade
From the movie.
May 2008
Saturday Night Fever Filming Locations
32December 8, 2008
by Jennifer
in Filming Locations
I had fun while in New York back in May 2008 tracing the footsteps of Tony Manero, footsteps that walked the streets of Brooklyn to the pulsating rhythm of “Stayin’ Alive.” Of course, Tony Manero, played by John Travolta, is the main character of the film, king of the (paint) store by day and the disco floor by night.
The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge – Brooklyn, New York
The opening of the film starts with an aerial shot of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, which connects Brooklyn to Staten Island. From the point of view of the camera, Manhattan is visible in the background. There’s alot of significance to the scene. You can’t see Manhattan from down on the streets of Bay Ridge (well, not right here, you can’t). Manhattan is a “far away,” unattainable place to live. Beyond the bridge, and beyond reach of the Brooklyn kids who feel they’ll never get ahead. They can see Manhattan, as they will later climb the bridge and taunt Manhattan as they teeter along the edges of the bridge.
Here’s a photo I took of the bridge…from down on the ground, of course (as well as from the opposite direction).
Here’s an aerial shot of the bridge, taken by my daughter Amber during our flight to New York.
This is a sweet scene where the normally cool, cocky and wisecracking Tony comforts Stephanie by telling her all about the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. It was filmed at a park below the bridge.
May 2008.
The next scene is pretty dark – it was filmed below the Verrazano-Narrows, after one of Tony’s friends, Bobby C, falls from the bridge into the Narrows. After his death, Tony and his friends leave the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.
Here’s a photo of the same location.
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
Here’s the next part of the movie’s opening. It’s not the greatest split-second shot there is, but scene was filmed on 86th Street near Bay 23rd Street in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn (the movie is set in Bay Ridge). This is where Tony Manero, played by John Travolta, walked with the iconic paint can. Tony is just leaving Lenny’s Pizza, after purchasing two pizza slices and eating them “double-decker” style.
May 2008.
Pearson’s Bay Ridge Home Center – Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
Tony’s walk with the paint can was to get a specific color of paint that the hardware store for which he worked didn’t have in stock. After getting the paint and pizza, he arrives back at Brothers Hardware, where he works.
Tony would have worn out a little more shoe leather to get from Bensonhurst to Bay Ridge, where the store is actually located (the film makes the two locations seem closer than they actually are). The store is now Pearson’s Bay Ridge Home Center, and got a makeover.
Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
After Tony meets his match in Stephanie Mangano, they go out for coffee. In this scene, they are walking north on 5th Avenue in Bay Ridge, toward a coffee shop at 94th Street. The area to the right is now a small park and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is visible in the background.
Not quite the same angle, but here I am in the park that was in the barren area above.
As Tony and Stephanie continue their walk north on 5th, they are crossing 94th Street, about to go to the coffee shop.
This photo was not quite at the same angle (I didn’t have the screenshots at the time), but this is from 5th Avenue, looking across the street. The delicatessen is now a bagel shop and the pizzeria is still operating.
I could have definitely used screen captures to get the right angles here, but oh well..here’s what I have.
This scene was shot was through the coffee shop window at 94th Street, looking northeast toward 5th Avenue at a Grand Union grocery store. Our photos are not at the same angles, but the next two photos in the set show the Mazda dealership (which this coffee shop became) and a Staples, which used to be the Grand Union in this photo.
This is the Mazda dealership which now occupies the coffee shop. The glass windows are where the scene above was filmed through. The white building in the background was the Grand Union above and is now a Staples. Compare the above photo of the Grand Union to the 2nd photo below.
Though again, we did not have any screen captures, we randomly took photos in this area, where the coffee shop scene was filmed. The Staples to the right is the Grand Union in our screen capture above, and the corner of the coffee shop (Mazda dealer) is visible to the left.
After leaving the coffee shop, Tony & Stephanie walk past Kelly’s Tavern, immediately to the north.
Kelly’s in May 2008.
The 2001 disco has been demolished, as was the White Castle they hung out in. The Manero house is in Bay Ridge, but has been remodeled and doesn’t look like it did in the film.
Hope you enjoyed your visit to Brooklyn! Now let’s head over to Junior’s and have some cheesecake! 
Yeah, Rain Man definitely filmed here
9December 8, 2008
by Jennifer
in Filming Locations
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:
Here is a photo I took of the bridge:
Pompilio’s Restaurant – Newport, Kentucky
There was a scene filmed at Pompilio’s Restaurant. Here is the exterior from the film:
I took this photo last year. It looks so much less barren now!
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…
Here’s a scene from the movie looking from the bar into one of the rooms of the restaurant (from above).
A close up of that dining room
The bar in the background
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)
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).
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.
Here is a closeup of the cabin, which now sits up on the hill, in front of the little cabins.
Here is a farther away shot of where the cabin sits now, behind where it was in the movie, and facing US 52.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The following screen captures show the location of their room, 117. Nice touch to have room numbers in neon tubing above the doorways.
The room number was still 117, but all of the neon tubing was gone.
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
Oklahoma Avenue, just west of Division Street
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).
Raymond is still facing north on Division Street, while we are looking east down Oklahoma Avenue
Charlie takes Raymond to a doctor
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.
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).
All of the above scenes in Guthrie were filmed very compactly at this corner, or steps away.
Fried Green Tomatoes Filming Locations
31August 15, 2004
by Jennifer
in Filming Locations
Juliette, Georgia
During August of 2004 (and again in 2005), we visited Atlanta, Georgia. We also made a side trip to the tiny town of Juliette, about an hour south of Atlanta. Juliette was the location for Fried Green Tomatoes, serving as the fictional Whistle Stop, Alabama.
This shot is from the beginning of the movie, which took place in the 1990’s, when Evelyn (Kathy Bates) and her husband Ed are lost in Whistle Stop on the way to visit Ed’s aunt in a nursing home. Juliette, Georgia actually looked this way before the movie was made.
The movie people cleaned up the kudzu and gave the town a makeover, something that has benefited them even now. Here’s another scene from the movie, which took place in the past.
August 2004
Another view of the cafe from the movie
The building which housed the cafe in the film wasn’t a cafe at all, but a general merchandise store. Click here to visit The Whistle Stop Cafe’s website and for a history of the building. After the movie, it was made into a real cafe. And I tell you, the fried green tomatoes there are awesome! They are dipped in a nice batter, which is thick, but crisp and airy, not heavy and greasy at all. I can’t wait to go back.
Yet another view of the cafe from the movie (last one, honest)
2004
The window of the cafe in the movie
2004
Looking down McCrackin Street toward the Juliette Mill
2004
Another view of Juliette Mill from the movie
2004
The main street
Inside the cafe from the movie
2004
Big George’s barbecue from the movie
2004
The church in the movie
2005
This next scene is in the Collector’s Edition DVD. Idgie is going up to see Ruth on the front porch of their house. What I found interesting about this added scene is that it makes me further believe that in the movie version, the implication is clear that Ninny (in the present day) IS Idgie. I know the book is completely different, and in the book it is explicitly clear that Idgie and Ninny are not the same person. However, I believe the movie was changed from the book, and the fact that Idgie and Ruth’s house is depicted in this scene seals it for me!
Idgie walking up to the front porch of her house.
Here, Ninny is upset that her house is gone. Well, unless Ruth, Idgie, Buddy Jr., Cleo, Ninny and Albert all lived in the same house, Ninny’s house is located in exactly the same spot as Ruth and Idgie’s house!! Ninny is sitting in front of the spot where HER house (where she says she lived for more than 40 years!) is gone. As indicated by the buildings in the backgound, this is the same location where Ruth and Idgie’s house was located.
2004 – A gift shop is located there, where I spent a considerable amount of cash on Fried Green Tomato souvenirs.
Train depot from the movie
McCollum Grocery from the movie
2005
