The “Some Kind of Wonderful” Party House

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While I was stalking Steff’s mansion from Pretty in Pink, which I blogged about last Thursday, fellow stalker Mike, from MovieShotsLA, texted me to let me know that the party house from another classic John Hughes-penned ‘80s movie, 1987’s Some Kind of Wonderful, was located literally just around the corner on Hudson Avenue.  So I, of course, dragged the Grim Cheaper right on over there to stalk the place.  I have to admit that I had actually not seen Some Kind of Wonderful in years, so as soon as the GC and I got home that evening, I popped in my DVD of the flick and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it.  I had completely forgotten what a cute movie it is.  Smile

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In Some Kind of Wonderful, Keith Nelson (Eric Stoltz) takes his dream girl, Amanda Jones (Lea Thompson), on an uber-date all over the city of Los Angeles.  One of their stops is the mansion belonging to Amanda’s former boyfriend, mean-boy Hardy Jenns (Craig Sheffer), where a high school party is being held.

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I am fairly certain that the real life interior of the home was used in the filming of the party scene, as well, but I was unable to find any photographs of the place online with which to verify that hunch.

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In real life, the Some Kind of Wonderful party house, which was originally built in 1925, boasts seven bedrooms, six baths, 6,488 square feet, and almost half an acre of land.  As you can see below, the Tudor-style mansion is quite spectacular in person.  While the GC and I were outside snapping pics of the place, the owners happened to pull out of their driveway and, when they saw us, they waved with a look on their face which suggested that fans stalking their home was a regular occurrence.  Love it!  Smile

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As it turns out, Some Kind of Wonderful and Pretty in Pink share more in common than their writer, director (Howard Deutch), and Hancock Park filming locations.  According to IMDB’s Pretty in Pink trivia page, the original ending of the flick had Andie Walsh (Molly Ringwald) and Duckie (Jon Cryer) winding up together.  After a poor reaction from test audiences, though, the studio forced John Hughes to write a new ending in which Andie would choose Blaine McDonnagh (Andrew McCarthy).  Hughes never apparently liked the way the flick turned out and, in response, wrote an almost identical story the following year, but with the ending he wanted.  That story turned out to be Some Kind of Wonderful.  While re-watching the flick, I was amazed at the many similarities it had to Pretty in Pink.  Excluding the ending, the two movies are virtually one and the same.  In another interesting twist, Hughes wanted Molly Ringwald to play Amanda Jones in Some Kind of Wonderful (a role that ultimately went to Lea Thompson), but, hoping to branch out from her teen princess roles, she turned down the part and Molly and Hughes did not speak for the next twenty years.

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My friend Owen let me know that the very same pad also portrayed the residence of Dr. Russell Oakes (Jason Robards) in the 1983 made-for-television movie The Day After.

On a stalking side-note – my good friend Nat set up an IAMNOTASTALKER Facebook page for me a few years back, but, for whatever reason, I never really did anything with it.  Well, all that is about to change!  I finally added a cover photo and will be regularly updating my News Feed.  So, if you get a chance, be sure to head on over there and gimme a “Like”.  Smile You can also “friend” me on Facebook page here.  I just created an IAMNOTASTALKER About Me page, as well, which you can check out here.  And if you are not already following me on Twitter, you can do so here.  Yes, my fellow stalkers, IAMNOTASTALKER is finally taking it to the next level!  Woot woot!  Winking smile

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And on another stalking side-note – while watching Extra being taped last Thursday afternoon at The Grove, I got picked to ask actor Colin Egglesfield an on-air question.  That is me with host Renee Bargh and Colin below.  Big THANK YOU to my girl, Miss  Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, for snapping the pics!  The episode should be airing sometime this week, so keep your eyes peeled!  I have been watching Extra over the past couple of days, though, and it does not seem as if the fan questions ever actually air, but fingers crossed that mine will!

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Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for telling me about this location!  Smile

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Some Kind of Wonderful party house is located at 516 South Hudson Avenue in Hancock ParkLiam Court’s (cutie Matt Lanter – sigh!) house from fave show 90210 is located just up the street at 401 South Hudson AvenueSteff’s mansion from Pretty in Pink is located right around the corner at 366 South June Street in Hancock Park.  The Erle M. Leaf House, aka the Residence of the Los Angeles British Consuls-General where Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, stayed in July 2011, is also located right around the corner at 450 South June Street.

Lance’s House from “Pulp Fiction”

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Last month, fellow stalker Chas, from the It’sFilmedThere website, came to town, along with his super-sweet mom, for a little filming locations vacation, and the three of us spent a whole day together, stalking pretty much all of Los Angeles, from one end of the city to the other.  For this adventure, Chas had compiled an extensively detailed list of various movie locales, along with maps to each and a driving timeline.  I know – it was all so Monica Gellar of him.  LOVE it!  Smile Anyway, one of the locations on Chas’ list was the Craftsman-style residence where drug-dealer Lance (aka Eric Stoltz) and his wife, Jody (aka Rosanna Arquette), lived – and where Vincent Vega (aka John Travolta) saved Mia Wallace’s (aka Uma Thurman’s) life – in the 1994 black comedy Pulp Fiction.  Chas found the house, thanks to a very helpful crew member, in early 2010 while attempting to track down all of the locations from the movie – an endeavor at which, I am very happy to report, he succeeded.  You can check out Chas’ extensive Pulp Fiction filming locations page here.

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Because the Grim Cheaper and I had once dressed up as Vincent Vega and Mia Wallace for Halloween many, many moons ago, I was extremely excited to stalk Lance’s house.  (Sorry for the poor quality of the above photograph – it was taken on actual film so I had to scan it in order to post it here.)

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Lance’s house was featured in a very brief, but very memorable scene, during the “Vincent Vega & Marsellus Wallace’s Wife” portion of Pulp Fiction, in which after visiting Jack Rabbit Slims restaurant, which I blogged about back in March, Mia accidentally overdoses on some heroin that Vincent had stashed in his jacket pocket.  When Vincent discovers Mia on the floor, unconscious and unresponsive, he drives her to his drug dealer, Lance’s, home in the hopes that Lance can help her.  It is there that Vincent winds up giving Mia an adrenaline shot, saving her life.

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In the scene, Vincent crashes his car into the front of Lance’s house, destroying the roof and part of the porch.

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I am very happy to report that the residence’s roof and porch are currently intact and that, despite the property’s shabby appearance onscreen, as you can see above, it is actually quite adorable in person.

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And while the apartment building across the street from Lance’s house still looks very much the same as it did in the movie;

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there is now, sadly, a fence located on the eastern side of the property, which blocks the neighboring lawn that is pictured in the above screen capture from view.

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And while I am fairly certain that the real life interior of the residence was also used in the filming, I, unfortunately, could not find any photographs online to verify that hunch.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Chas, from the It’sFilmedThere website, for finding this location.  You can check out Chas’ extensive Pulp Fiction filming locations page here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Lance’s house from Pulp Fiction is located at 3519 La Clede Avenue in the Atwater Village neighborhood of Los Angeles.