Dottie’s House from “A League of Their Own”

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I am pretty sure Penny Marshall had some sort of direct line of sight into my soul.  The late director was behind several of my most beloved films.  And not just movies I enjoy, but ones I find incredibly poignant, moving and enduring – productions that left a mark on my heart and invariably bring me to tears no matter how many times I watch.  Renaissance Man, Big, A League of Their Own, and Jumpin’ Jack Flash all fit that bill.  Unfortunately, most of Marshall’s films were lensed outside of the L.A. area, the latter notwithstanding (you can read about a few of JJF’s SoCal locales here, here and here).  Consequently, I haven’t put much time into researching spots from them.  So I was absolutely shocked to recently come across a mention on The Movie District website that the house where C Dottie Hinson (Geena Davis) lived in A League of Their Own is in Studio City!  Up until that point, I had been convinced that the 1992 dramady was shot entirely in the Midwest, namely Indiana and Illinois.  One look at Google Street View showed me that The Movie District was right, though – Dottie’s home can be found at 4222 Agnes Avenue in Studio City.  Armed with the newfound information, I could hardly wait to head out to L.A. to stalk the place, which I did just a few weeks later.

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The property only actually shows up once in A League of Their Own, in the opening scene in which present day Dottie packs for her trip to the grand opening of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League exhibit at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York.

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As you can see, not much of the residence has been changed in the 27 years since filming took place.  It’s really quite incredible!

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The actual interior of the home also appeared in the film, which I was able to glean thanks to the MLS photos available online from when it was last sold in 2014.  Areas used include the master bedroom;

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the living room;

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and the stairs.

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In real life, Dottie’s picturesque 2-story Cape Cod home boasts 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2,764 square feet of living space, multiple fireplaces, a chef’s kitchen with Miele and Viking appliances, a playroom, hardwood flooring and French doors throughout, a master bath with a standalone tub, a detached 2-car garage, a 0.34-acre lot, a large pool, a pebble garden, and a koi pond.

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Chock full of curb appeal, the residence possesses an insanely idyllic Anywhere, U.S.A. aesthetic.

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It’s like a perfect little slice of Americana.

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I mean, throw on some bunting and you’ve got the quintessential spot to celebrate the 4th of July!

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Considering that halcyon atmosphere, it is no surprise that location scouts have pegged it for numerous roles besides Dottie’s house in A League of Their Own.

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In the 1988 comedy My Stepmother Is an Alien, the property serves as the Mills residence.

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In 1992, it popped up as the supposed Moses Lake, Indiana pad where Clara (Marianna Elliott) babysat – and got killed – in the horror film Candyman.

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The residence appeared as Debbie Jellinsky’s (Joan Cusack) childhood home – which she burnt down – in a slideshow shown at the end of 1993’s Addams Family Values.

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Andy (Justin Kirk) and Silas Botwin (Hunter Parrish) stop by the dwelling to get some fake IDs in the Season 6 episode of Weeds titled “Felling and Swamping,” which aired in 2010.

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And it masked as the Moody family residence in the 2011 film Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer.  Only the exterior of the house appeared in the movie, though.  Per a commenter named Mari, interiors were filmed on a set built at Sunset Bronson Studios and backyard scenes were lensed at a property in Pasadena.

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

Big THANK YOU to The Movie District website for finding this location!  Smile

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Dottie Hinson’s house from A League of Their Own is located at 4222 Agnes Avenue in Studio City.

Red Studios Hollywood – aka Kinograph Studios from “The Artist”

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In early March, my friend Tony, the fellow stalker who has the amazeballs On Location in Los Angeles Flickr photostream, wrote a comment on my post about the duplex where George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) lived in The Artist alerting me to a blog named Silent Locations.  The blog, which is authored by business lawyer/film historian John Bengtson, features a six-part column chronicling several locales that appeared in The Artist and their connection with various silent films made during Hollywood’s heyday.  I highly recommend checking out the feature and the site in general.  It is fabulous!  Anyway, one of the places mentioned in the column was Red Studios Hollywood, the exterior of which stood in for both the exterior of Kinograph Studios in The Artist and Maroon Cartoons in 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out to stalk the place on a very windy Sunday afternoon two weekends ago.

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The site where Red Studios Hollywood now stands was originally founded as Metro Pictures Back Lot #3 in 1915, long before the company joined forces with Goldwyn Pictures and became Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.  During its Metro heyday, such films as Scaramouche, Little Robinson Crusoe and The Champ were filmed on the premises.  Beginning in May 1946, the lot went through a series of different owners, the most prominent of whom were Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.  The showbiz powerhouse couple leased the property in 1953 and turned it into the very first Desilu Studios, where they shot seasons 3 through 6 of I Love Lucy.  In 1974, the lot became known as Ren-Mar Studios, an independently owned and operated facility where various production companies were able to rent out studio space.  Legendary television producer David E. Kelley made his home there in the 80s and shot Picket Fences (one of my faves!), Chicago Hope, The Practice and the first two seasons of Ally McBeal.  In January 2010, the lot was sold yet again, this time to Red Digital Camera Company, who renamed the place Red Studios Hollywood.

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A few of the countless other productions that have been filmed on the premises over the years include The Golden Girls, The Dick Van Dyke Show, the first four episodes of Seinfeld, The Andy Griffith Show, Make Room for Daddy, Lizzie McGuire, NewsRadio, Empty Nest, Monk, and, most recently, True Blood. The series Weeds was also filmed on the lot, back when it was Ren-Mar, and during Season 4, after Agrestic burned down, producers had Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) move to a fictional seaside town named “Ren Mar” in honor of the historic studio.  Love it!

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In The Artist, the back entrance of Red was used as the main entrance of Kinograph Studios, where George Valentin worked at the beginning of the flick.

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As you can see above, that area was changed drastically for the movie – so much so that it is virtually unrecognizable today.  A huge false front was built over the actual studio entrance for the filming and the Hollywood Rounder blog was lucky enough to get to watch it being constructed.  You can check out some very cool pics of the construction here and here, the fake security guard kiosk here, and the finished product here.

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Interestingly enough, when Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) is shown being dropped off at a location that is supposedly directly across the street from the Kinograph entrance, she is actually on New York Street at Paramount Studios, in front of the building that is used regularly as the Boston police station on Rizzoli & Isles.

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At one point in The Artist, George is also shown walking in between some of the Red Studios Hollywood soundstages.

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The area where he walked is denoted with a pink circle above.

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In Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Red’s main entrance on Cahuenga Boulevard stood in for the entrance to Maroon Cartoons, where the famous animated hare worked.

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The courtyard just beyond that entrance was also used in the filming.

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That area is denoted with a pink circle above.

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On a Who Framed Roger Rabbit side-note – while doing research prior to writing this post, I came across a blurb in The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations book which, in reference to the flick’s title, stated, “No, there is no question mark, as it’s considered bad luck in a film title.”  I had never before heard that bit of trivia and found it interesting, especially since my good friend Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong grammatical errors blog, had recently written a post which mentioned WFRR’s punctuation error.  Superstition or not, I think the flick really needed the mark in its title and I found myself inadvertently adding one each time I typed “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” in this post.  I guess some habits are hard to break.

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The music video for Britney Spears’ hit 2000 song “Lucky” was also shot at Ren-Mar and the exterior of the studio is visible in the MTV Making the Video special about the production.

You can watch Part I of the Making the Video of “Lucky” by clicking above.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker John Bengtson, from the Silent Locations blog, for finding this location and to fellow stalker Tony, from the fantastic On Location in Los Angeles Flickr photostream, for pointing me to John’s site!  Smile

Stalk It: Red Studios Hollywood, aka Kinograph Studios from The Artist, is located at 846 North Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood.  You can visit the official Red Studios Hollywood website here.  The area of the studio used in The Artist can be found on Lillian Way, in between Willoughby and Waring Avenues.  The studio’s main entrance on Cahuenga Boulevard is the entrance that stood in for Maroon Cartoons in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  Red Studios Hollywood is not open to the public and does not currently offer a tour.

The It’s A Grind Coffee House from Weeds

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Another location that Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I stalked while in the San Fernando Valley a few weeks ago was the It’s A Grind Coffee House featured weekly in the opening credits of the Showtime series Weeds.  I was dying to stalk this location not only because I love anything and everything having to do with coffee, but because of a little bit of trivia that I had read online.  According to IMDB, the It’s A Grind coffee company has had a product placement deal with Weeds since the series began.  Those who watch the show regularly will recall that Nancy (aka Mary-Louise Parker) carries around an iced drink from It’s A Grind in pretty much every scene.  A woman after my own heart, I swear!  Anyway, when it came time to shoot the opening credits, which features a scene where about a dozen businessmen dressed all alike enter and exit an It’s A Grind, for some odd reason producers chose NOT to film at an It’s A Grind location, but at a Starbucks store.  They literally went to all the trouble of redressing the store and removing the Starbucks logo to replace it with It’s A Grind signage for the shoot.  Being that It’s A Grind is a real coffee company with locations dotted all over the L.A. area, I cannot for the life of me figure out why they didn’t just use one of the real stores for the filming!  It doesn’t make any sense!  I guess I just have to chalk it up to the magic of Hollywood!  🙂

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Because of the Starbucks store’s odd filming history, I decided I just had to stalk the place.  The only problem was that I had no idea where it was located.  According to IMDB, the store from the opening credits was located somewhere in Calabasas.  So, since Mike is familiar with the Valley, I sent him the above screen capture and he recognized its location immediately.  🙂  YAY!  So a few weeks ago, the two of us headed out to stalk the It’s A Grind/Starbucks store from Weeds.  🙂  And, of course, being that it’s a Starbucks, I highly recommend stalking the place!  🙂  And thanks to the numerous amount of stars that live in the Calabasas area, the store is no stranger to celebrity.  I hear that MJ’s brother Jermaine Jackson is even a regular there.  🙂

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Big THANK YOU to Mike for finding this location! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: The It’s A Grind/Starbucks coffee house from Weeds is located at 26531 Agoura Road in Calabasas.  You can visit the It’s A Grind website to find a real It’s A Grind location here.

My Day on the Set of Weeds!

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I absolutely LOVE living in L.A.  You just never know what surprises lay around each corner here!  Yesterday, as I drove up to the Hollywood & Highland Center to meet my good friend Blaze for some coffee, I noticed quite a few of those yellow filming signs that I love so much.  Come to find out, the Showtime series Weeds  was filming on location at the outdoor mall.  I can’t say that I am a huge fan of the show, but my boyfriend absolutely loves it, so I have seen quite a few episodes.  Needless to say, even though I don’t really watch the show, I was floored to be there.  I’m pretty sure I could stumble upon an episode of Sesame Street  being filmed, though, and still be pretty darn excited.  🙂  LOL 

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I pretty much couldn’t have picked a better time to arrive at H&H, since the filming of a large dance sequence was just about to begin right as I was walking up to the complex.  The dance number was being filmed in the mall’s central courtyard area and there were cameras set up all over the top level of the complex.  There was even a camera crew filming from the top of a ladder (pictured above).

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The area where the scene was being filmed was not closed off to the public – much the same as when I watched the filming of The Mentalist a few weeks back – and normal people were walking in and out of the scene not realizing what was going on.  In this case, though, I think that was exactly the producers’ intention.  I believe they wanted to capture the real life reactions of tourists watching the dance sequence take place.  The Weeds  crew was extremely friendly and let people take all the photographs they wanted, so I was in heaven.  🙂 

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Being that I am a sucker for any sort of musical, I really couldn’t have picked a better film shoot to stumble upon.  I can’t tell you how much fun the dance sequence was to watch!  🙂  The scene being filmed actually seemed to be an imitation of the awesome T-Mobile “Life’s For Sharing” commercial that was filmed at the Liverpool Street Train Station in London.   Not only was the set-up of the Weeds  scene pretty much identical to the T-Mobile ad, but the extras were all pretending to be taking photographs of the dancers with their cell phones, just like in the commercial.  Basically the scene consisted of Mary-Louise Parker sitting in Hollywood & Highland’s central courtyard drinking a fruit smoothie, when all of a sudden loud music starts pouring out of the loudspeakers and one by one a large crowd breaks out into a spontaneous dance routine.  It was really very cool to see in person!  I so wanted to get out there and dance myself!  LOL   Amazingly enough, according to one of the extras I talked to, the dancers had only learned the dance a few hours earlier.

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The only series regular acting in the scene was Mary-Louise Parker. I was hoping to see her cutie son on the show, actor Hunter Parish, but sadly he was not there.  Ironically, before Mary-Louise came onto the set, her stand-in walked out and I started immediately snapping photos as I thought it was MLP!  LOL  She looks JUST like her!  It was uncanny!  You can see her stand-in wearing the purple shirt in the above photograph.

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The above are photographs of the real  MLP during the filming of the scene.  🙂  Mary-Louise is very pretty in person and a lot taller than I expected, but extremely thin.  Disgustingly thin, really.  Her arm looked like a bone with skin covering it.  I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen arms that skinny in my entire life. 

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During the filming breaks, Mary-Louise actually had a “personal umbrella holder” who followed her around with an umbrella to shield her from the sun (pictured above).   For those of you who don’t read US Magazine  regularly, some celebrities actually employ what is known as a “personal umbrella holder” – or a P.U.H. – who basically holds an umbrella over their heads for them when it rains.  I’m not kidding!  I guess celebs are just far too important to be holding their own umbrellas.  LOL  I mean, how lazy can someone actually be???  I honestly don’t think I could ever in good conscience allow another person to hold an umbrella for me, no matter how big of a star I was.  I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, but something about that just doesn’t seem right.   LOL

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P.U.H. aside, I had an absolute blast being on the Weeds  set today and cannot wait to watch the episode on TV!!!  It should air on Showtime in about two months.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk ItWeeds  was filmed in the Hollywood & Highland Center’s central courtyard, which is located at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood.  Some filming also took place at Dlush Deluxe Beverage Joint in the Hollywood & Highland Center.