80s movie filming locations

April 14, 2017April 14, 2017

The Ultimate Guide to the Los Angeles Filming Locations of “Say Anything . . . “

1989. The year the Berlin Wall fell, Disney-MGM Studios opened at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, Game Boy was released by Nintendo, and, on April 14^th, Say Anything . . . debuted. Cameron Crowe’s romantic tale of eternal optimist Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) and his resolute love for classmate Diane Court (Ione Skye) remains a standout teen romance today, almost three decades after its release, and has inspired countless onscreen and real life imitations in the form of trench coat-wearing paramours expressing their love via a boombox held high overhead. Though set in Seattle, Washington, outside of a few establishing shots and some B-roll footage lensed in the Pacific Northwest, the movie was filmed in its entirety in Los Angeles. In honor of the flick’s 28^th anniversary, I teamed up once again with Greg Mariotti, from Crowe’s official The Uncool website, to chronicle the L.A.-area locales featured in the timeless tale.

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1. Corey Flood’s House (2545 Ganesha Avenue, Altadena) – Though an establishing shot of a traditional two-story home at 3627 Northwest 65^th Court in Seattle was used to portray the residence of Lloyd’s gumptious BFF Corey Flood (Lili Taylor), all actual filming took place a good 1,100 miles away at a dwelling in Altadena.

2. Lloyd’s Apartment (318 South Canyon Blvd #3, Monrovia) – The non-descript apartment building where Lloyd lives with his sister, Constance (who was played by Cusack’s real life sister, Joan), and nephew, Jason (Glenn Walker Harris Jr.), is another San Gabriel Valley locale. The two-story complex can be found on a shady street in Monrovia, looking much the same today as it did onscreen 28 years ago. The actual interior of Unit #3, including the bathroom where Lloyd calls Diane for the first time, was utilized in the film.

3. Lakewood High School Graduation – Santa Monica College Amphitheatre (1900 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica) – The large amphitheater where Diane gives her famous “I’ve glimpsed our future and all I can say is, ‘Go back!’” valedictorian speech is sadly no longer standing. Formerly located at Santa Monica College, the arena was razed in 2009 to make way for a student services building.

4. Post-Graduation Meet-Up – Lacy Park (1485 Virginia Road, San Marino) – Following the graduation ceremony, Lakewood High’s Class of ’88 gathers at San Marino’s picturesque Lacy Park to take photos and greet loved ones. While there, James Court (John Mahoney) gifts Diane with a car and Corey snaps a down-low picture of Lloyd stealthily posing with an unaware Diane. The sprawling park also pops up later in the movie in the montage scene in which Diane and Lloyd walk, talk and kiss in the rain.

5. Diane’s House (140 South Norton Avenue, Windsor Square) – Supposedly located in a Seattle suburb, the two-story dwelling where Diane and James live can be found in Windsor Square. Partial views of the exterior and the pad’s real life interior – including the dining room, a bedroom, the living room and kitchen – were utilized in the shoot. Amazingly, the home has remained virtually untouched since filming took place. You can check out some photographs of it here.

6. Golden Seasons Retirement Home – Tierra del Sol (9919 Sunland Boulevard, Sunland) – Two different locations were used to represent Golden Seasons, the retirement home run by James. All exterior filming took place at Sunland’s Tierra del Sol, a support and training center for disabled adults that was originally established in 1971. Though the organization’s kitchen also appeared in the movie, all other interiors were shot at the now-defunct Scripps Home, an assisted living facility formerly located at 2212 El Molino Avenue in Altadena. While Tierra del Sol still looks much the same as it did in Say Anything . . ., Scripps Home was razed in 2008 and a new, larger senior housing project now stands in its place.

7. Vahlere’s House (1686 Homewood Drive, Altadena) – Lloyd refuses to allow Diane to leave the country for her upcoming fellowship without attending Vahlere’s (Eric Stoltz) “graduation thing,” and, after quite a bit of prodding, she finally agrees to be his date. The raucous party was shot at a large 7-bedroom, 8-bath, 6,637-square-foot dwelling in Altadena. Both the interior and exterior of the property were featured in the movie.

8. Mike’s House (4936 Sunnyslope Avenue, Sherman Oaks) – After driving around aimlessly for over three hours upon leaving the party, unwitting “key-master” Lloyd is finally able to drop off a very drunk and very lost Mike (Jason Gould) at his home before continuing on with his date with Diane. Mike’s house can be found on a quiet street in Sherman Oaks, markedly unchanged from its onscreen self. The later scene in which Diane breaks up with Lloyd in his Chevy Malibu (“dissed in the ‘bu!”) was shot nearby.

9. 7-Eleven (11340 Magnolia Boulevard, North Hollywood) – The iconic moment in which Lloyd brushes glass out of Diane’s path, subsequently melting the hearts of female moviegoers everywhere, was an added scene lensed months after initial filming wrapped. The romantic segment took place in the markedly unromantic parking lot of the 7-Eleven on Magnolia Boulevard in North Hollywood.

10. Cameron’s Seafood (1978 East Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena) – Diane shares a rather awkward lunch with her mother at one of Pasadena’s oldest eateries, Cameron’s Seafood, which was originally established in 1984. Little of the locale’s ocean-themed décor has changed since the segment was shot.

11. Flooky’s (5200 Vineland Avenue, North Hollywood) – Lloyd and Diane agree to be “friends with potential” over coffee at Flooky’s, a Valley chain that was founded in 1965. Outposts of the hot dog diner were once dotted all over L.A. and, while most are now shuttered, including the North Hollywood location where Say Anything . . . was filmed, nostalgic fans of the eatery can still grab a wiener at the Woodland Hills and Canoga Park sites.

12. Diane and Lloyd Spend the Night Together – 20^th Century Fox Studios (10201 West Pico Boulevard, Century City) – Thanks to a well-timed establishing shot of a Seattle-area beach, Diane and Lloyd seemingly consummate their relationship seaside in Lloyd’s car. In truth, the scene was shot inside Stage 14 at Fox Studios.

13. Guitar Garage – Voltage Guitars (1513 North Gardner Street, Hollywood) – Oh, Lloyd, don’t you know you should never kiss and tell? But he does just that, informing his friends Corey and D.C. (Amy Brooks) about his dalliance with Diane while at a now defunct outpost of Voltage Guitars, Hollywood’s oldest vintage guitar store, formerly located on North Gardner Street. Originally established in 1982 (ironically enough by a man named Lloyd), today the company is mainly an online business and the Gardner Street space is currently vacant.

14. Kick-Boxing Dojo (5223 Lankershim Boulevard, North Hollywood) – Lloyd doesn’t want to “sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed.” So he instead finds a job teaching kick-boxing to kids at a local “Seattle” dojo. Filming of the kick-boxing scenes took place at a real karate studio in North Hollywood. The site is something of a cinema stalwart, having also appeared as the Cobra Kai dojo in the 1984 classic The Karate Kid and its 1989 sequel, The Karate Kid III. An alternate scene in which Diane and Lloyd get back together supposedly outside of the dojo was actually shot a good 16 miles away at Library Park in South Pasadena. You can watch that segment, as well as many other deleted, extended and alternate scenes, on the Say Anything . . . Special Edition and 20^th Anniversary Edition DVDs.

15. Lloyd Calls His Sister (Fern Dell Drive, Griffith Park) – After Diane breaks up with him, a heartbroken Lloyd pulls over to make a call to his sister from a phone booth situated on a rainy stretch of sidewalk. The memorable, oft-quoted scene (“She gave me a pen. I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen.”) was an additional shoot lensed after principal filming had wrapped at the southern end of Fern Dell Drive, just north of Los Feliz Boulevard, in Griffith Park. The rain visible in the segment was manufactured and the phone booth was a prop, but Lloyd’s conversation was real – he was actually speaking with his sister on the other end of the line while shooting the segment.

16. Gas N Sip – Retro Dairy Mart (4420 West Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank) – After his break-up with Diane, Lloyd seeks solace from some male friends (including a young Jeremy Piven) at the local Gas N Sip. The scene was actually shot in the parking lot of a 1962 Alta Dena Dairy outpost located in Burbank. The site, now a Retro Dairy Mart, recently found onscreen fame once again thanks to its appearance as Ryan Gosling’s favorite breakfast spot in La La Land.

17. Wiener’s Luggage at Westfield Fashion Square (14006 Riverside Drive, Sherman Oaks) – James attempts to purchase a suitcase set for his daughter, as well as hit on a saleswoman (spoiler – he’s unsuccessful on both counts) at the Westfield Fashion Square outpost of the upscale luggage boutique Wiener’s Luggage. Due to the IRS’ investigation into his finances, James’ credit cards are denied and he is forced to leave the shop sans suitcase – and his dignity. Today, the Wiener’s space is home to a Sephora.

18. North Hollywood Park (11430 Chandler Boulevard, North Hollywood) – In what is arguably one of the most iconic movie scenes from the 1980s, Lloyd serenades Diane by standing outside of her house with a boombox held high above his head playing Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes.” Though Crowe initially shot the segment on the street in front of the Court residence in Windsor Square, he was not happy with the footage. Fate later stepped in during the filming of the 7-Eleven scene when cinematographer László Kovács noticed a park across the street that he thought would be perfect for the boom box bit. With only a few minutes of daylight remaining, cast and crew rushed over to a tree-lined stretch of North Hollywood Park and did a quick re-shoot. Cameron loved the way it turned out, the footage made it into the final cut, and the rest is cinematic history.

19. IRS Office – Design Center (433 South Spring Street, downtown Los Angeles) – After the IRS begins an investigation into James’ business dealings, Diane heads to a field office to try to convince an agent of his innocence. Filming of the scene took place at the former Design Center, now Twin Springs, in downtown Los Angeles. Originally built in 1928 as the Title Insurance Building, today the Art Deco structure houses offices for major fashion companies and is used regularly for filming. You can check out some photos of its spectacular interior here.

20. Court Exterior – Spring Street Federal Courthouse (312 North Spring Street, downtown Los Angeles) – An establishing shot of L.A.’s Spring Street Federal Courthouse was used to represent the Seattle D.A.’s office where James’ lawyer discussed his plea deal. Only the exterior of the building was utilized. Interiors were shot at the Design Center, where the IRS scenes also took place.

21. Spokane Correctional Facility – Mira Loma Detention Camp (Avenue I and 60^th Street, Lancaster) – A since shuttered juvenile detention camp in Lancaster masked as the Spokane prison where James was incarcerated. The site was closed in 1990 upon the opening of the Challenger Memorial Youth Center and today is used as a training facility for the Los Angeles County Sherriff’s Department.

22. Stage 747, Universal Studios (100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City) – “When you hear that smoking sign go ‘ding,’ you know everything’s gonna be OK.” So says Lloyd to calm Diane while on their flight to London in the movie’s final scene. The bit was shot at Universal Studio’s former Stage 747, a large soundstage that once housed set versions of a 707 and 747 airplane. The space was converted to a workshop in 2002 and the plane mockups removed, but you can see some photos of what they formerly looked like here.

February 22, 2016February 22, 2016

Beeman Park from “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”

I often get asked if I think that someday down the road I might run out of places that I am passionate about stalking. That is like asking if I will ever tire of shopping! The answer is a definitive no! As long as movies and TV shows continue to be made, this girl will continue a’stalking, passionately so! Heck, even if Hollywood did cease churning out new films and television series, my To-Stalk List would remain full. I am constantly discovering new-to-me productions that warrant stalking, not to mention the fact that there are countless locations from films and shows I have long been a fan of that I have yet to visit. Case in point – Studio City’s Beeman Park which was featured in the 1985 romcom Girls Just Want to Have Fun, one of my all-time favorite flicks. Fellow stalker Chas, of the It’s Filmed There site, tracked down the locale a few years back, but, for whatever reason, I failed to stalk it until recently. When I finally did make it out there, though, I could not have been more thrilled and was immediately brought right back to the first time I watched the movie over 30 years ago!

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Beeman Park, which is also known as Studio City Recreation Center, is a very cute little spot that I had never heard of until Chas discovered it, which is actually quite surprising being that it has appeared onscreen numerous times.

The 4.5-acre park features four baseball diamonds, a jogging path with fitness stations, two basketball courts, a picnic area, a playground, four tennis courts, barbeque pits, and an auditorium.

Studio City Recreation Center is a very peaceful space. While we were walking around, we saw couples jogging, adults reading, kids engaging in pick-up basketball games, and fathers and sons playing catch on the various baseball diamonds. Though there were plenty of people on the premises, it was still quite quiet and tranquil – the perfect spot to spend a shady afternoon.

Beeman Park is also quaintly picturesque and it is not hard to see how it has wound up onscreen so many times over the years.

In Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Studio City Recreation Center masks as the unnamed downtown Chicago park where the Dance TV auditions are held. Though it is only featured in one scene, it is a rather prominent scene and several areas of the park are shown.

Those areas are denoted in the aerial view below.

In the beginning of the scene, Jeff Malene (Lee Montgomery) and Drew Boreman (Jonathan Silverman) drive onto the property via an access way on the park’s eastern side located at approximately 4457 Beeman Avenue. The house visible in the background of the segment is located at 4456 Beeman. The residence’s exterior has been altered in recent years, but you can see what it looked like previously via the Google Street View image pictured below, which was taken in July 2007.

A current photograph of the house is pictured below.

Though the access way that Drew and Jeff drove through is still intact, it is no longer accessible to cars.

After entering the property, Drew and Jeff park on a patch of grass located in the southern portion of Studio City Recreation Center, just south of the baseball diamonds. The same area is pictured in the photograph below, albeit from a different angle. It is there that Drew accidentally hits on a young Maggie Malene (Shannen Doherty) and calls her a punk, which, FYI, is not as cool new wave, but is a lot better than preteen!

The building that was visible behind Drew and Jeff in the scene is still there today, although it currently looks a bit different than it did when Girls Just Want to Have Fun was shot.

The colorful (and definitely ‘80s-style) stage where the actual auditions took place was set up on top of the park’s southwestern-most baseball diamond, in the area pictured below.

And come on, fans of the movie – you can’t look at the screen capture below and not have the lyrics to “Dancin’ in the Street” come pouring into your head, am I right? “Callin’ out around the world, are you ready for a brand new beat? Summer’s here and the time is right, for dancin’ in the street. They’re dancin’ in Chicago (dancin’ in the street), and down in New Orleans (dancin’ in the street), in New York City (dancin’ in the street). All we need is music – music, sweet, sweet, sweet music. There’ll be music everywhere – everywhere! They’ll be swingin’, swayin’ and records playin’ and dancin’ in the street!” I digress, but man, just one glimpse of that scene and all the lyrics come flooding right back!

I have always been obsessed with the Bob Fosse-style arm movements that Janey Glenn (Sarah Jessica Parker) employed during her audition, so I, of course, had to re-create them while I was there. (If I only had a stage!) I mean, it’s no wonder that Jeff fell in love with her in that moment.

You can watch a portion of the Girls Just Want to Have Fun audition scene by clicking below.

Studio City Recreation Center was also where Perry Cox (John C. McGinley) and Jordan Sullivan’s (Christa Miller) divorce ceremony was held in the Season 4 episode of Scrubs titled “My New Game,” which aired in 2004.

Beeman Park was the site of a couple of Laire (aka “Live Action Interactive Role-playing Explorers”) events in the 2008 comedy Role Models.

In the movie, it was made to appear as if “The Burger Hole” was located across the street from the park, but, in actuality, the restaurant, which is a Shakers in real life, can be found about 15 miles away at 601 Fair Oaks Avenue in South Pasadena.

Studio City Recreation Center was also where the Annual Pawnee Easter Egg Hunt was held in the Season 1 episode of Parks and Recreation titled “Canvassing,” which aired in 2009.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Big THANK YOU to Chas, from the It’s Filmed There website, for finding this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Beeman Park, aka Studio City Recreation Center from Girls Just Want to Have Fun, is located at 12621 Rye Street in Studio City. From what I have been able to piece together, the stage was set up diagonally in the eastern portion of the park, in the spot denoted with a pink rectangle below, the parking area was in the southern part of the park, in the spot denoted with a blue rectangle below, and the place where Jeff and Drew drove into the park (which is no longer accessible to cars) is located directly across the street from the house at 4456 Beeman Avenue, and is marked with the purple arrow below.

February 12, 2016February 11, 2016

The “WarGames” 7-Eleven

I am not a spontaneous person by nature. I much prefer planning things out, especially when it comes to vacations. Typically when going on a trip, I investigate any and all filming that has been done in the area we are heading to. As I mentioned in Monday’s post, though, our Big Bear Lake getaway last week was completely last minute. So much so that I was unable to do any sort of location research beforehand, which is a shame being that not only has the region seen copious amounts of filming over the years, but I even own two books which chronicle much of it, Those Magnificent Mountain Movies and More Magnificent Mountain Movies. One area locale that is well-covered online, though, is the 7-Eleven that was featured in the 1983 movie WarGames. So I made a point of stalking it while we were in town.

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The 7-Eleven only shows up once in WarGames, in the scene in which Seattle high school student David Lightman (Matthew Broderick) is arrested by the FBI for hacking into a NORAD supercomputer named WOPR and starting a game of Global Thermonuclear War again Russia.

As you can see below, very little of the 7-Eleven has been changed in the three-plus decades (!) since filming took place, which is absolutely amazing to me.

The surrounding area also remains virtually untouched.

The Foulkes Building, which is located just east of the 7-Eleven, has undergone a paint job, but otherwise looks the same as it did onscreen in 1983.

As does the McDonald’s that is located to the west.

And while payphones are no longer as ubiquitous as they once were, the one that was visible in the background of WarGames is, amazingly, still there!

After the FBI collars David, they usher him into a van and rush out of the 7-Eleven parking lot, making a right onto Eureka Drive, heading north.

I originally learned of this locale thanks to the Washington State Film Locations website, which has a page dedicated to WarGames.

On a Big Bear Lake side-note – I would be remiss if I did not mention how absolutely beautiful the area is.

It is not at all hard to see why filmmakers have returned there time and time again.

We are already planning a second trip up there in the coming weeks – and this time I am going to be prepared with a full stalking list!

I am also desperate to see Big Bear during the summer months. I can’t even imagine how beautiful the city must be when the lake is visible.

Be sure to re-read my post on Falken’s cabin from WarGames, which, thanks to an assist from fellow stalker David of The Location Scout website, I just updated with mentions of its many other onscreen appearances.

And if you happen to be in a bookstore or at a newsstand in the next few days, check out the latest issue of Closer Weekly magazine – a photograph I took of The Golden Girls house is featured in it.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Big THANK YOU to the Washington State Film Locations website for finding this location.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The 7-Eleven from WarGames is located at 41440 Big Bear Boulevard in Big Bear Lake.

February 3, 2016February 2, 2016

The “Say Anything . . . ” Amphitheatre

Sorry to have been MIA the past couple of days. The Grim Cheaper surprised me on Sunday morning with a two-night trip to Big Bear to play in the snow. We had an absolute blast scurrying around in the frost and even managed to get some stalking in! I will be blogging about those locations soon, but in the meantime, on with today’s post! My recent Say Anything . . . kick is showing no signs of waning. As of late, I have been working with an awesome guy named Greg, who runs The Uncool, Cameron Crowe’s official website, to try to track down some of the 1989 movie’s unknown locales. He has proved invaluable and recently figured out that the graduation scene was lensed at Santa Monica College’s amphitheatre. I had been on the hunt for that darn amphitheatre for what seemed like eons! It was one location (of many) that constantly lingered at the back of my mind, always begging me to find it. I cannot tell you how many Google searches I did for “amphitheatre” and “Los Angeles.” I even thought I had found the right spot a few years back when I happened to walk by Blair High School in Pasadena and spotted its large outdoor theatre. Upon arriving home later that day and comparing photos I snapped to screen caps from Say Anything . . . , I realized it was not the right place. So when Greg informed me that he had found it, I was ecstatic! That happiness didn’t last long, though.

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Late last year, I recruited fellow stalker Michael, of The Golden Spoon Café and Downtown Christmas Shopping District from The Brady Bunch fame, to assist in the search for missing Say Anything . . . locations, so when I received the fabulous news from Greg regarding the amphitheatre, I immediately let Michael know. He quickly shot me an email back, though, that quelled my excitement. While doing some preliminary research on the amphitheatre, Michael discovered that the venue had been torn down. More heartbreaking still was the fact that it was only just razed in 2009! Had I only found it a few years earlier, I could have seen it in person. Despite my dismay over the demolition, I decided it was still a blog-worthy locale and recently set out to stalk where it once stood.

Thanks to a 2007 aerial view of Santa Monica College provided by Michael, I knew that the amphitheatre was formerly situated in the northeast section of the campus . . .

. . . just beyond the wall pictured below.

That area is currently a construction zone (hence the wall surrounding it), but will eventually be the site of a new student services building.

Michael also tracked down the photograph of the amphitheatre that appears below (he seriously did all of my legwork for me – thank you, Michael!), which was featured in a study of the college’s renovation performed by Christopher A. Joseph & Associates.

In Say Anything . . . , the Santa Monica College amphitheatre masked as the outdoor theatre where the supposed Seattle-area Lakewood High School graduation ceremony took place. As you can see, the venue that appeared in the scene is a direct match to the amphitheatre pictured in the image above. Oh, how I wish I had gotten to see it in person!

The amphitheatre was only featured briefly in the graduation scene and was the site of Diane Court’s (Ione Skye) famous “I’ve glimpsed our future and all I can say is ‘Go back!’” valedictorian speech.

The scene that takes place immediately following the graduation ceremony was filmed elsewhere, at a park-like location that I am as yet unsure of.

Santa Monica College was originally established in 1929 and at the time was known as Santa Monica Junior College. It was renamed Santa Monica City College in 1945 and then, in 1970, it underwent yet another name change when “City” was dropped from its title. Today, it is known simply as Santa Monica College.

The campus’ 1,500-seat amphitheatre, which was funded by the Associated Students, was built in 1967.

Besides its appearance in Say Anything . . ., the school has another show biz connection – it boasts many famous alumni, including Dustin Hoffman, James Dean, Hilary Swank, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nia Long, Laila Ali, Penn Badgley, Cam Gigandet, David Geffen, Alison Lohman, Sean Penn, Ryan Seacrest, Gloria Stuart, Buzz Aldrin, and Kristine Sutherland.

Santa Monica College is quite beautiful and, while I figured that it had to have been featured in other productions over the years, try as I might I could not find any information verifying that.

Big THANK YOU to Greg, of The Uncool website, for finding this location and to fellow stalker Michael for his instrumental help in researching it!

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Santa Monica College is located at 1900 Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica. The amphitheatre that appeared in Say Anything . . . was formerly located in the northeast corner of the campus, just north of the Art Complex and northeast of the Theatre Arts building, in the area denoted with a pink arrow below.

December 3, 2013December 2, 2013

Mr. Hart’s Mansion from “Nine to Five”

One of my favorite movies growing up was the 1980 comedy Nine to Five. I would watch it on an almost daily basis (no joke!) and practically had the thing memorized. I can still belt out the theme song to this day, in fact. (I am guessing the majority of my fellow stalkers can, too.) A couple of weeks ago, while rummaging through our DVD collection, I happened to come across the flick and realized I had not seen it in years, so I immediately popped it in. I was a little afraid that it would not live up to my memories of it, so I was floored to find myself laughing throughout. The movie definitely stands the test of time. That garage-door-opener/hang-glider contraption was pure genius! Anyway, immediately after watching, I, of course, headed straight to my computer to do some location sleuthing and was floored to discover that the mansion belonging to Franklin M. Hart Jr. (Dabney Coleman) in the flick had already been identified and that, according to the photos I found, still looked pretty much exactly the same as it did in Nine to Five. So I ran right out to stalk it while I was in L.A. a couple of weeks ago.

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In Nine to Five, Doralee Rhodes (Dolly Parton), Violet Newstead (Lily Tomlin) and Judy Bernly (Jane Fonda) hold their “sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot” of a boss, Mr. Hart, hostage (by forcing him into a hang gliding harness strapped to a customized garage door opener) for three weeks at his stately Tudor mansion while they try to find proof that he has been embezzling money.

As you can see below, today the house has quite a bit of foliage blocking its visibility from the street and the western portion of it seems to have been remodeled a bit since Nine to Five was filmed. Otherwise though, little else of the dwelling has been altered in the ensuing years.

In real life, the 1932 mansion boasts seven bedrooms, ten baths (!!!), 9,738 square feet of living space, and a 1.76-acre lot.

I was unable to determine if the estate’s actual interior appeared in Nine to Five, as I, unfortunately, could not find any interior photographs of the place online. In 1984, the abode was featured extensively in the pilot episode of Murder, She Wrote, which was titled “The Murder of Sherlock Holmes.” (Pictured below.) The interior shown in the episode looks completely different than the interior of the house from Nine to Five, though, so either the property was remodeled in between productions or a set was built for the filming of the movie. (It is highly unlikely that a set was built for Murder, She Wrote as the mansion only appeared in one single episode.)

Pictured below is the kitchen that appeared in Nine to Five, as compared to the kitchen that appeared in Murder, She Wrote. As you can see, they do not even remotely resemble each other.

Neither do the living rooms;

or stairways.

Further confusing the matter is that in Murder, She Wrote, a different location altogether was shown in establishing shots of the exterior of the mansion at night. And while I at first thought that interior filming might possibly have taken place at that second mansion, that does not appear to have been the case.

In “The Murder of Sherlock Holmes,” there is a shot of a character walking out of the interior of the residence onto the front porch, in which the exterior steps, arched façade and paneled front door are visible. Those elements match the exterior of the Nine to Five mansion (which you will be able to see more clearly later on in this post). I’ll leave it up to my fellow stalkers to be the judge on this one, but my best guess is that the interior of Mr. Hart’s mansion was just a set.

The exterior of the mansion also appeared very briefly in set-up shots of Bel-Air in the Season 1 episode of Dragnet titled “The Big Jade,” which aired in 1967.

The Nine to Five mansion was also where Jim Rockford (James Garner) and Warren Weeks (a very young Ron Rifkin) hid from the police by crashing a wedding in the Season 3 episode of The Rockford Files titled “The Trouble with Warren,” which aired in 1976.

As you can see below in a screen capture from Murder, She Wrote as compared to a screen capture from The Rockford Files, the front door, brick steps and arched overhang that appear in both episodes match each other perfectly.

A small portion of the interior of the mansion also appeared briefly in “The Trouble with Warren.”

And while the residence was also reportedly used in the 1981 television miniseries Jacqueline Susann’s Valley of the Dolls, I could not find a copy of that production with which to verify that information.

On a sad side note – I was heartbroken to learn that Paul Walker passed away in a car accident on Saturday afternoon. I had the pleasure of meeting Paul last December and he was easily one of the nicest celebrities I have ever encountered. You can read about his legendary kindness in this fabulous CNN article. And you can read about my experience meeting Paul on the Mike the Fanboy website here. Such a tragic loss.

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Mr. Hart’s mansion from Nine to Five is located at 10431 Bellagio Road in Bel-Air.

December 2, 2013December 2, 2013

The Town House Motel from “Vacation”

As I mentioned in last Wednesday’s post, fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, recently got on a kick of tracking down missing locations from his all-time favorite comedy, the 1983 classic National Lampoon’s Vacation. One of the locales he managed to find was the Town House Motel in Glendale, where Clark W. Griswold (Chevy Chase) and his family – wife Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo), son Rusty (Anthony Michael Hall) and daughter Audrey (Beverly Hills, 90210’s Dana Barron) – spent the first night of their road trip from Chicago to Los Angeles. [I also did some digging and pinpointed the gas station where Clark tried to fill the new Wagon Queen Family Truckster (it’s the Little America Hotel at 2515 East Butler Avenue in Flagstaff, Arizona) and the rest stop where he danced with a sandwich (it’s the Shaw Creek Rest Area near 25090 Highway 160, just east of El Dorado Lane, in South Fork, Colorado).] And while Owen informed me that the Town House Motel was, sadly, no longer standing, I figured since I was already in the area stalking the car dealership from the film, I might as well drop by.

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Towards the beginning of Vacation, Clark and the gang spend the night at a roadside lodging somewhere outside of St. Louis, Missouri. They wind up at the motel unexpectedly, after Clark, who has fallen asleep at the wheel, pulls in there accidentally. In the scene, the Griswold’s Wagon Queen Family Truckster (newly-adorned with graffiti that spells out “Honky Lips” LOL) goes careening down West Campus Street, heading south. It then veers across East Colorado Street and straight into the parking lot of the Town House Motel, losing a few pieces of luggage in the process.

While watching the scene, Owen had spotted an address number of “1510” above the property’s front entrance. From there, he did a Google search for “1510,” “motel” and “Los Angeles,” and one of the first results to pop up was an eBay sale for a 1950s matchbook from the Town House Motel located at 1510 East Colorado Street in Glendale. As he quickly discovered via a Street View search of that address, though, the structure had been bulldozed and a new, much larger hotel was now standing in its place. Sadness! You can check out what the Town House used to look like here and here.

The new property is named the Glendale Lodge and, as you can see below, it looks nothing at all like the former Town House.

I am fairly certain that one of the Town House’s real life rooms was also used in the filming, although the vibrating bed was most likely a prop. Winking smile

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, for finding this location! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Glendale Lodge, aka the former site of the Town House Motel from Vacation, is located at 1510 East Colorado Street in Glendale.

November 27, 2013November 26, 2013

Lou Glutz Motors from “Vacation”

Fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, recently embarked upon a mission to try to track down some of the unknown locations from one of his favorite movies, the 1983 classic Vacation. He had quite a bit of success, too, managing to pinpoint two elusive spots, one of which was the Norwalk motel where Clark W. Griswold (Chevy Chase) skinny-dipped with The Girl in the Ferrari (Christie Brinkley) – a place I was absolutely dying to stalk while in L.A. two weeks ago, but unfortunately, the long trek down to that area made it unfeasible to do so. Anyway, Owen’s quest had me reviewing some of the movie’s more well-known locales, including Glendale Dodge Chrysler Jeep, which I had long been aware stood in for the supposed Chicago, Illinois-area Lou Glutz Motors in the flick. Even though I lived mere miles from the dealership for over 13 years, because I assumed it had long since been remodeled, I figured it was not worth a stalk. So when I saw via Google Street View that the spot remained virtually unchanged from its onscreen appearance three decades ago (yes, three decades!) I was absolutely floored and decided that I had to write a blog post on it, stat!

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In the opening scene of Vacation, Clark arrives at Lou Glutz Motors with his son, Rusty Griswold (Anthony Michael Hall), to pick up the Antarctic blue Super Sports Wagon with the CB and optional Rally Fun Pack that he ordered for his family’s upcoming road trip to Los Angeles. After turning in his “ol’ gas guzzler,” he learns from salesman Ed (Eugene Levy) that the car he purchased has not actually arrived yet. And while Ed tries to steer Clark to a “damn fine” Wagon Queen Family Truckster in metallic pea, Clark, who is not your “ordinary, everyday fool,” cannot be deterred from the auto that he originally ordered.

That is until his old car comes back from the wrecking area, completely flattened. As you can see in the photographs above and below, aside from a difference in paint color and the addition of some bright red awnings, the dealership has been pretty much left untouched since Vacation was filmed in 1983! Despite several changes in ownership, the exterior stairway, the plants below it, the screen above the service bay, and even some of the directional road markings all still look exactly the same as they did onscreen.

The exterior of the showroom also remains in its 1983 state, minus the addition of a second set of doors.

The Star Lincoln-Mercury dealership that was visible in the background of the scene also still looks exactly the same as it did onscreen, but I, unfortunately, did not snap any photographs of it.

I honestly cannot express how cool it was to stalk this location and to see in person how closely it still resembles the images of it that are ingrained in my memory from having watched the flick so many times over the years. LOVE IT!

I would like to wish all of my fellow stalkers a very happy Thanksgiving. I will be taking the next few days off to celebrate the holiday with my family, but I promise to be back on Monday with a whole new location. And be sure to check out my latest Los Angeles magazine post, which will be published tomorrow.

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Glendale Dodge Chrysler Jeep, aka Lou Glutz Motors from Vacation, is located at 900 South Brand Boulevard in Glendale.

September 27, 2013September 26, 2013

Dean’s House from “License to Drive”

For no particular reason and seemingly out of the blue, I got on a License to Drive kick a couple of weeks ago and was absolutely floored to come across a page on fellow stalker Geoff’s 90210Locations website that detailed almost all of the locales featured in the movie. The only spot missing was the Shakey’s Pizza Parlor where Les Anderson (Corey Haim), Dean (Corey Feldman), Charles (Michael Manasseri), and Mercedes Lane (Heather Graham) wound up after almost getting into a car accident in the middle of the 1988 flick – a location that I am now bound and determined to track down! Anyway, the place that I was most elated to see on Geoff’s site was the barn-like house where Dean lived in the film as it was a locale that I had always wondered about. So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out to stalk it while the two of us were in Los Angeles three weekends ago.

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Dean’s house popped up three times in License to Drive. It first appeared in the scene in which Dean and Charles called Les to congratulate him on getting his driver’s license. I am not sure what room of the house this scene was supposed to have taken place in. While I originally assumed that it was Dean’s room, the fact that there is a water heater and washing machine/dryer visible in the background (LOL!) gives me pause. And while the space looks like it could be a garage, it does not match the garage that is shown later in the movie.

The house next popped up towards the middle of the flick, in the scene in which Les enlisted Dean’s help in removing some dents that Mercedes had made in the hood of his grandfather’s Cadillac. It is during that scene that Dean convinces Les to go to Archie’s Atomic Drive-In (which I blogged about here), where “there’s five girls for every guy – and we’re not talking dogs. We’re talking bunnies!” LOL

And finally, the residence was featured at the very end of the movie in the scene in which Les dropped Dean and Charles off at home early in the morning following their wild night out. In that scene, the property’s real life 6313 address number was visible on both the front curb and light post. Love it!

While quite a bit has been changed in the twenty-five years since License to Drive was filmed, the dwelling is still very recognizable from its onscreen appearance.

As is the garage area.

In real life, the four-bedroom, four-bath, 3,591-square-foot house, which sits on 0.38 acres, was originally built in 1953 and last sold in July 1998 for $715,000.

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Big THANK YOU to Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, for finding this location! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Dean’s house from License to Drive is located at 6313 Riggs Place in the Westchester neighborhood of Los Angeles.

August 18, 2011August 17, 2011

The “Troop Beverly Hills” House

A couple of weeks ago, fellow stalker Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, mentioned that he had recently stalked the residence belonging to the Nefler family – Phyllis (aka Shelley Long), Freddy (aka Craig T. Nelson), and their daughter, Hannah (aka Jenny Lewis) – in the 1989 comedy Troop Beverly Hills. Well, let me tell you, after hearing that I literally just about had a heart attack! TROOP BEVERLY HILLS? TROOP BEVERLY HILLS! How in the heck had I forgotten about that movie?? I absolutely loved it as a teenager and remember renting it countless times from the video store around the corner from my house. Due to some sort of brain lapse, though, I had not thought about or seen the flick in years. So when Mikey mentioned it, I immediately ran to my local Blockbuster to rent it. Shockingly though, the sales clerk informed me that the store did not carry the title! And neither did any of the other Blockbusters within a ten mile radius of my apartment! (Perhaps this is why the chain has been floundering in recent years! I mean, hello! How does a video store not carry a major 80s classic like Troop Beverly Hills????) I was further shocked to discover that my local Borders Books did not have the movie, either. (Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy in 2010, Borders in 2011 – a coincidence? I think not! Winking smile ) Thankfully, Troop Beverly Hills was available for purchase on iTunes (oddly enough, they do not offer the flick for rent), so I immediately purchased it and, because iTunes does not allow one to burn a purchased movie onto a DVD, was forced to watch the entire hour and forty minutes on my tiny computer screen. But I have to say that it was completely and totally worth it! What a fabulous, FABULOUS flick! And, immediately after watching it, I, of course, dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out to stalk the Nefler mansion.

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The 6 bedroom, 6 bath, 7,694-square-foot, Spanish-style abode, which was originally built in 1916, was featured numerous times throughout Troop Beverly Hills.

And, amazingly enough, the residence still looks almost EXACTLY the same today as it did when the movie was filmed over twenty-two years ago! SO INCREDIBLY COOL!

The only difference is that there is now a large, three-car garage located on the northern side of the property.

For some reason, while watching the movie, the inside of the Nefler house just did not look real to me. So, while I could not find any interior photographs of the home online, I am fairly certain that all of the interior scenes were filmed on a set inside of a studio soundstage somewhere in Hollywood and not at the actual residence.

I believe the backyard that was shown in the movie was also a set, as it does not match up to the home’s real-life backyard.

As you can see in the above aerial view, the mansion’s real-life pool is not the same shape as the one that appeared in the movie and its position in relation to the house also does not match up with what was shown onscreen. And while it is possible that the backyard was completely remodeled in the two-plus decades since filming took place, I do not find that scenario to be very likely.

According to my buddy E.J. over at The Movieland Directory website, the house has also had several celebrity inhabitants over the years, including movie star Betty Compson, producer Samuel Goldwyn, silent film star Charles Ray, and actor Charles Smith.

Big THANK YOU to Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, for telling me about this location! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Troop Beverly Hills house is located at 901 North Camden Drive in Beverly Hills.