Old Towne Orange – IAMNOTASTALKER

Another day, another That Thing You Do! locale. It is one of my all-time favorite movies, after all! In early December, the Grim Cheaper and I found ourselves in the O.C. and decided to head out to Old Towne Orange to do some Christmas shopping. While perusing the charming streets and boutiques, I was reminded of a few spots from the 1995 film that I had stalked, but had yet to blog about, namely the Starbucks/Wells Fargo where Chad (Giovanni Ribisi) broke his arm, which I posted about on Monday, and the Army-Navy store where Faye Dolan (Liv Tyler) rather enthusiastically told T. B. Player (Ethan Embry) that his group’s song was playing on the radio for the first time.

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I was especially interested in the latter locale because, unlike several of the other Old Towne Orange spots used in the movie (you can read about a few of those sites here and here), it was not a vacant storefront dressed for the shoot, but was, and still is, an Army-Navy shop in real life.

Orange Army-Navy has been an area staple since originally opening in 1955.

Run by the same family since its inception, the shop sells military-related items in addition to clothing and camping supplies.

Orange Army-Navy was only featured briefly in That Thing You Do!, but it appeared in what is hands-down my favorite scene in all of moviedom – the famous “We’re on the radio!” scene, which you can check out a clip of here. Though I’ve seen it a gazillion times, it makes me deliriously happy – and tear up – each and every time I watch!

For those who have not seen That Thing You Do! and did not click on the link above, the film centers around a local Erie, Pennsylvania garage band named The Wonders during the year 1964. Towards the beginning of the flick, The Wonders secure themselves a manager who claims he can get their single, “That Thing You Do,” some radio play. While out and about in downtown Erie a few days later, Faye, the girlfriend of the group’s lead singer Jimmy Mattingly (Johnathon Schaech), finally hears the song playing on her junior radio. As soon as she realizes what she is hearing, she begins screaming and runs down the street, right into band member T. B., who is leaving the local Army-Navy store. Faye enthusiastically squeals at him, “We’re on the radio!,” while pushing him into the shop’s front doors. The two then race down the sidewalk to find the other members of the band to tell them the good news. Liv Tyler is sheer perfection in her delivery and the scene is so full of energy and excitement that the characters practically jump off the screen. As I said, it is one of the best moments in movie history.

Had to do it!

Orange Army-Navy also masked as Brad’s Sporting Goods in a brief scene in the 2006 comedy The Benchwarmers.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Orange Army-Navy, from That Thing You Do!, is located at 131 South Glassell Street in Old Towne Orange. You can visit the store’s official website here.

“We met at Starbucks. Not at the same Starbucks, but we saw each other at different Starbucks across the street from each other.” So says Meg Swan (Parker Posey) about meeting her husband, Hamilton (Michael Hitchcock), in the 2000 comedy Best in Show. (You can watch the hilarious scene here.) Meg might well have been describing the two outposts of the coffee giant in Old Towne Orange, which are situated across the plaza from each other. As fate would have it, both are filming locations! I blogged about one – the 44 Plaza Square site, which was featured in the 2004 Yuletide comedy Surviving Christmas – last December, and promised to do a post on the second – which can be found at 101 East Chapman Avenue – but never got around to it. So I figured now was as good a time as any. Here goes! The second Starbucks, which is housed alongside a Wells Fargo in a 1928 bank building, made a brief cameo in fave movie That Thing You Do!

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The city’s first bank, the Bank of Orange, was originally established in 1886. The following year, the company constructed offices, a two-story brick building, on the northeast corner of Chapman Avenue and Plaza Square. You can see what it looked like here. The site has been home to a bank ever since.

The Bank of Orange underwent an ownership change in 1905 and was eventually consolidated with another local financial institution, becoming the First National Bank of Orange in 1927. The brick offices were torn down shortly thereafter to make way for a new headquarters building. That property, which was designed in the classical style by architects Morgan, Walls & Clements, opened its doors in 1928.

The stately site, which was expanded twice over the years (first in 1955 and then again in 1963), became a Wells Fargo in 1978. In more recent years, a Starbucks was added to the premises.

Due to the fact that the coffee shop is situated inside of the actual bank, its interior is quite unique.

And quite impressive.

Not a bad place to grab a cup of joe, eh?

I fell in love with the site’s ornate rounded inlaid ceiling.

As you can see below, it’s really quite something.

In That Thing You Do!, the exterior of the Starbucks/Wells Fargo building masked as the exterior of the main branch of The Erie Public Library. You can see a photo of it dressed for the filming here. It was there that, while Jimmy Mattingly (Johnathon Schaech) pontificated about naming his musical group “The Heardsmen,” Chad (Giovanni Ribisi) broke his arm during an attempt to hop over a parking meter. Though it was a short scene, it was significant in that it served as the catalyst for Guy Patterson (Tom Everett Scott) joining the group to replace Chad, which in turn caused them to become famous.

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Filming of the segment took place on the building’s south, East Chapman Avenue side . . .

. . . where there are, unfortunately, no parking meters in real life, so I could not do a re-creation.

Being that I’m a klutz, though, maybe that’s a good thing.

The building’s other side (the west Plaza Square side) was seen briefly in the background of the Season 5 episode of Parks and Recreation titled “Partridge.”

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: The Old Towne Orange Starbucks/Wells Fargo from That Thing You Do! is located at 101 East Chapman Avenue in Orange.

Tag: Old Towne Orange

Orange Army-Navy from “That Thing You Do!”

The Old Towne Orange Starbucks from “That Thing You Do!”