Drew Barrymore – IAMNOTASTALKER

August 3, 2018August 3, 2018

The Great Wall Chinese Restaurant from “I Love You, Man”

In Pretty Woman, Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) states that very few people surprise him. I could say the same about filming locations. One that did recently surprise me, though, was The Great Wall Chinese Restaurant in Reseda. For years I had been under the impression that the engagement party scene from the 2009 comedy I Love You, Man had been shot at Hop Louie. But when I sat down to write my post about the landmark Chinatown eatery back in March, I realized that, despite a misleading establishing shot pictured at the beginning of the segment, the restaurant’s interior most certainly did not match what was shown onscreen. What the wha? I got to Googling and eventually discovered that filming had actually taken place at The Great Wall. What’s more, the eatery’s official website noted several other productions lensed on the premises! So it, of course, went straight to the top of my To-Stalk List and the Grim Cheaper and I headed out there for lunch a few weeks later.

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The Great Wall Chinese Restaurant is one of those rarest of Los Angeles anomalies – an eatery that has been around for multiple decades.

Originally established in 1984, the Mandarin/Szechwan restaurant is a neighborhood landmark.

The site’s rather drab exterior (excluding those fabulous red doors pictured above) belies little of the grandiosity of its interior.

Featuring Mandarin décor . . .

. . . and a striking gilded ceiling, the place is absolutely stunning!

I mean, look at that chandelier!

The restaurant is also much larger than its exterior would have you believe and consists of three areas – a massive main dining room;

a rear banquet room;

and a bar area situated near the entrance.

The eatery is extremely old school – in the best way possible.

The GC and I both commented on the fact that we hadn’t seen a Chinese restaurant like it in ages.

The place even has a Lazy Susan and serves hot tea via ceramic teapots upon entering! Talk about bringing me back to my childhood!

Per LoopNet, The Great Wall, which appears to be for sale, raked in $38,350 in filming income last year alone! And it is not very hard to see why. The restaurant is just begging to be photographed! Somehow, it even manages to come across more beautifully in pictures than it does in real life. As such, location managers flock to it.

Though an establishing shot of Hop Louie was shown at the beginning of I Love You, Man’s engagement party scene and the restaurant was even referred to by that name in the segment . . .

. . . all actual filming took place at The Great Wall.

Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) and Zooey Rice’s (Rashida Jones) friends and family first gather in the bar area in the scene . . .

. . . and then head to the rear banquet room for dinner.

The interior of The Great Wall also pops up a few times as the inside of the Golden Wonton Restaurant & Orphanage in the 2007 comedy Norbit.

That same year, the restaurant appeared in Lucky You as the spot where Huck Cheever (Eric Bana) takes Billie Offer (Drew Barrymore) for a celebratory dinner.

Though the place isn’t referred to by name and is supposedly located in Las Vegas in the flick, “The Great Wall Restaurant” is visible on the menu Huck is holding in the scene.

At the end of the 2011 drama Drive, Driver (Ryan Gosling) meets with Bernie Rose (an unrecognizable Albert Brooks) at The Great Wall.

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 Great Wall Chinese Restaurant, from I Love You, Man, is located at 18331 Sherman Way in Reseda. You can visit the eatery’s official website here.

May 12, 2015May 27, 2015

Vickie’s Diner from “Lucky You”

This year is literally flying by! It seems like just yesterday that the Grim Cheaper and I headed to Las Vegas, but in actuality our mini work trip/vacay took place over two months ago! And I still have yet to post all of the stalking sites we visited while there, including today’s locale, which comes courtesy of my friend/Drew Barrymore aficionado Ashley, of The Drewseum website. A few years back, Ashley posted pictures of Tiffany’s Café, a small Sin City restaurant that was featured in Drew’s 2007 flick Lucky You. One of Ashley’s photos showed a poster prominently displayed on the restaurant’s wall that had been signed by the movie’s cast. Once I saw that, I was, of course, chomping at the bit to see the place in person, so I dragged the GC right on over there to grab lunch while we were in town.

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Tiffany’s Café was originally founded in 1955 (or 1960, depending on which website you’re reading) inside of White Cross Drugs pharmacy. The 1,200-square-foot eatery was so named for the vintage Tiffany-style lamps that dot the ceiling above its central lunch counter.

When White Cross Drugs (where Elvis Presley and members of the Rat Pat regularly had prescriptions filled in the ’50s and ’60s) was shuttered in March 2012, people assumed that Tiffany’s had closed down as well, and the restaurant suffered from a decline in patronage. When longtime owner Teddy Pappas eventually decided to retire, the place was acquired by Vickie Kelesis, a Tiffany’s waitress since 2006. She re-opened the eatery, changing its name to Vickie’s Diner, but the menu (which offers homemade, preservative-free fare), was left the same, aside from a few additions. White Cross Drugs was also re-opened as White Cross Market, an upscale grocery store, in 2013 and, when we were there, business appeared to be on an upswing.

The food at Vickie’s is fabulous! I opted for the chicken strips (natch), which were divine.

The GC ordered a chicken pita, which I sampled and liked almost as much as the chicken strips!

In Lucky You, Billie Offer (Drew Barrymore) accompanies Huck Cheever (Eric Bana) to Tiffany’s Café for breakfast after agreeing to give him a second chance.

While there, they run into Eric’s father, L.C. Cheever (Robert Duvall).

The scene was filmed towards the front of the restaurant, in the bank of booths located near Vickie’s entrance door. The exact booth used in the movie is denoted with a pink arrow in the photograph below.

White Cross Drugs was also visible in the scene.

Vickie’s Diner looks a bit different today, but is still recognizable from its onscreen appearance.

You can check out some photographs of what the restaurant looked like shortly after filming took place on The Drewseum website here.

Sadly, the poster that the cast signed during the filming has faded and Robert Duvall’s autograph is the only one still visible. You can see what the autographs originally looked like on Ashley’s site here.

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

Big THANK YOU to Ashley, of The Drewseum website, for finding this location! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Vickie’s Diner, aka the former Tiffany’s Café from from Lucky You, is located at 1700 South Las Vegas Boulevard in Las Vegas. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here and its Facebook page here.

October 6, 2014September 29, 2017

Anoakia Mansion from “Doppelganger”

There’s no denying that Doppelganger is a pretty horrible movie. But part of the fun of the Halloween season is watching ridiculously terrible horror flicks from years past – and stalking their locations, of course. I had long been on the hunt for the psychiatric institution from the 1993 thriller and was given a tip a couple of years ago that a historic, since-demolished mansion named Anoakia in Arcadia was the right spot. (For the life of me, I cannot remember who gave me the information. To whomever it was, I apologize.) Even though the place is long gone, I figured that it still proved blog-worthy being that several people have asked me about its location over the years.

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Anoakia was originally constructed in 1913 for Anita Baldwin, the daughter of Elias Jackson “Lucky” Baldwin, the founder of Arcadia. The 50-room estate was designed in the Italian Renaissance style and boasted 17,000 square feet of space, a bowling alley, a gym, wood-paneled rooms, etched glass doors, a pool, an aviary, a bee yard, tennis courts and murals painted by artist Maynard Dixon. The 20-acre grounds featured ponds, gardens, stables, a bathhouse and a chapel. Upon Anita’s death in 1939, the property was turned into a boarding school for girls. In 1944, it was purchased by Lowry McCaslin, a former manager of the Baldwin estate. He continued to operate a school on the premises for several decades. Unfortunately, after the Whittier earthquake in 1987, McCaslin was forced to make costly upgrades to the mansion to keep it up to code. Maintaining the site was no longer feasible for the 82-year-old, so he had the school moved and made plans to develop Anoakia’s grounds, keeping the mansion intact.

City officials rejected all of McCaslin’s proposals and Anoakia sat vacant for the next decade and began to dilapidate. In 1999, a developer from Orange County purchased the site from Lowry’s estate (McCaslin passed away in 1995) and came up with a plan to build a gated community of 31 homes on the land. To do this, the Anoakia would need to be demolished. While the developer met with some opposition from preservationists, the city eventually approved of his plans and the historic mansion was leveled in 2000. You can see some pictures of how it looked in its last days here.

Today, the upscale community is known as Anoakia Estates.

The only part of the original property to remain intact are the perimeter wall and a guard house located in the southeast corner of the grounds (circled in the two aerial views below).

I did not know about the guard house at the time that I stalked the location so I did not take any photographs of it, but you can see what it looks like it via the Google Street View image below.

In Doppelganger, Anoakia stood in for Our Lady of Mercy Psychiatric Institute, where Holly’s (Drew Barrymore) brother, Fred, was institutionalized.

True to life, the institute was said to be located in Arcadia in the movie.

Anoakia showed up a couple of times in Doppelganger.

The real life interior of the mansion was used in the movie, as well.

From what was shown in Doppelganger, it is obvious that Anoakia was an absolutely idyllic estate. What a shame that it is no longer standing!

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: Anoakia Mansion, aka Our Lady of Mercy Psychiatric Institute from Doppelganger, was formerly located at around 1200 North Baldwin Avenue in Arcadia.

May 14, 2012May 13, 2012

Poquito Mas on the Sunset Strip

Last month, fellow stalker Ashley, from The Drewseum website, wrote a comment on my Pinches Tacos post which stated that her girl, Miss Drew Barrymore, was often spotted at another West Hollywood-area taqueria, this one named Poquito Mas. So, because I am always on the lookout for celeb hangouts, and good Mexican food, I immediately added the eatery to my To-Stalk list and dragged the Grim Cheaper right on over there for lunch a few weekends ago.

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Poquito Mas, which has the look and feel of a Baja Fresh, but with better food, actually boasts ten locations in the Southern California area – including one on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, which Wil Wheaton was apparently thrilled to no end about. (And I would be remiss if I did not mention here that the WB lot also has a Starbucks onsite. Um, yes please! Count me in! But I digress Winking smile ). Drew Barrymore’s favorite branch, though, is the one located right on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood.

I have to say that Ashley’s recommendation was spot on, because Poquito Mas serves up some FABULOUS food! I ordered a World Famous Chicken Tostada, which I absolutely loved (and, as I have mentioned before, I am very picky about my chicken), while the GC opted for a Classic Chicken Taco and a Classic Steak Taco, both of which he devoured. While we were dining, we sat on the eatery’s patio area, which is situated facing the Sunset Strip, and had an absolute blast counting the numerous Hollywood tour buses that drove by.

Besides Drew Barrymore, just a few of the stars who have dined at the West Hollywood Poquito Mas include Bonnie Hunt, Kelly Brook, Jonah Hill, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, Nicky Hilton, Britney Spears, Keanu Reeves, Kris Allen, Adam Lambert, Rebecca Gayheart, and Eric Dane. And Ashley has spotted Fred Durst, Dyan Cannon, Kelly Osbourne, and Art Alexakis from Everclear during her various visits. The chain is such a celebrity hotspot, in fact, that the outposts in Thousand Oaks and Westwood post signs that read, “Please no autographs. No photographs. Cameras, videotaping, filming & recording devices of any kind are prohibited from use on these premises.” WOW! “No shirts, no shoes, no service” is one thing, but no autographs? Puh-leeze! The place is a fast food taco stand, not The Ivy! Winking smile I did not spot any such “no photography” signs at the Sunset Strip branch, though, so I happily snapped away while I was there.

We did spot the sign pictured below, though, which I cannot even being to understand. 10:05? Really? Why not 10:07 or 10:09? Winking smile

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Big THANK YOU to Ashley, from The Drewseum website, for telling me about this location. Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Poquito Mas is located at 8555 West Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

February 16, 2012February 16, 2012

The Redbury Hotel from “Entourage”

Last July, while doing some cyber-stalking, I came across an article on the USA TODAY Travel website about the numerous Southern California hotels and restaurants featured in the eighth and final season of the hit television series Entourage. One of the spots mentioned in the blurb was Tinseltown’s newly-opened The Redbury Hotel, which appeared in the episode titled “The Big Bang”, and, thanks to its dark crimson walls, unique architecture and old Hollywood vibe, I immediately became enamored of the place. I, of course, added the locale to my “To-Stalk” list right then and there, but, for whatever reason, did not make it out there to actually do so until three weekends ago.

And I am very happy to report that the place did not disappoint! To say that I am in love with The Redbury would be a gross understatement. The 57-room boutique hotel, which first opened in November of 2010, was the brainchild of sbe Entertainment Group founder/CEO Sam Nazarian and photographer/music video director Matthew Rolston. The 5-story structure was originally conceived as a high-end, $50 million condominium project by the Palisades Development company, but that venture was forced to be scrapped during the real estate downturn. In February of 2010, at which time the building was about 80-percent complete, it was purchased by the CIM Group, who re-envisioned the locale as an upscale hotel and hired Nazarian and Rolston to manage and design it, respectively.

The name Redbury comes from a combination of “red”, the hue that Palisades Development had already painted the building, and “bury”, in honor of San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district. According to an August 2010 Los Angeles Times article, the hotel’s eclectic style is a mix of “bohemian, 1960s flower power and old Hollywood”. Apparently, Rolston wanted the locale to feel “’theatrical’, a little bit like actually being in one of my photographs or music videos”. And, as you can see above, he succeeded with that vision – in spades! The Redbury is honestly like nothing I have ever seen before and absolutely does feel like a movie set come to life. I so loved it that I was even tempted to book a room while we were there for a spontaneous little stay-cation, but the Grim Cheaper was, of course, having none of that.

The Redbury staff was BEYOND friendly and, even though none of the hotel’s restaurants were open while we were stalking the place, I was allowed to go inside to take a peek at each of them and told that I could snap “all of the photographs you want” – six little words that I absolutely LOVE to hear. The areas of the hotel that we visited included the Library Bar – which honestly feels more like the ultra-cozy living room of a very stylish friend’s house than a public bar;

The Glade courtyard lounge – a huge terrace garden complete with teak decking, Moorish-style lanterns and outdoor couches and daybeds;

and Cleo – an ultra-hip Middle-Eastern-style restaurant that is dominated by a large 1917 movie poster of actress Theda Bara dressed as Cleopatra. The Library Bar, Glade and Cleo are all major celebrity hotspots. Just a few of the stars who have been spotted at the one of the three watering holes include my girl Kristin Cavallari, my man Matt Lanter (sigh!), Drew Barrymore, Matthew Lillard, Jamie Foxx, Hilary Duff, Joe Jonas, Ashley Greene, Audrina Patridge, Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Sam Trammell, the entire Kardashian/Jenner family, Courteney Cox, Josh Hopkins, Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Adam Brody, Neve Campbell, Carla Gugino, Nia Vardalos, Jesse Williams, Lauren Conrad, Lo Bosworth, Whitney Port, Busy Phillips, Stacey Keibler, David Beckham, Kirstie Alley, Cheryl Burke, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Jessica Lowndes, Gillian Zinser, Sarah Hyland, Salma Hayek, Mila Kunis, and Ali Fedotowsky.

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In “The Big Bang” episode of Entourage, Cleo restaurant was where Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) ambushed Vanity Fair reporter Sophia Lear (Alice Eve) and tried to convince her that he was not a womanizer. And while the USA TODAY Travel article stated that the series had filmed scenes “throughout the hotel, including its Library lounge”, I did not spot any other areas of the property in “The Big Bang” or in other episodes from Season 8, so I believe that information is incorrect.

The yet-to-be released movie Between Us, which stars Julia Stiles, Melissa George and Taye Diggs, also did some filming at The Redbury.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Redbury Hotel, from “The Big Bang” episode of Entourage, is located at 1717 Vine Street in Hollywood. You can visit the hotel’s official website here.

February 6, 2012February 3, 2012

Café-Club Fais Do-Do from “Crossroads”

One location that I blogged about way back in March of 2009 and had been dying to re-stalk ever since – in order to snap some interior pictures – was Café-Club Fais Do-Do, the supposed New-Orleans-area karaoke bar that appeared in the 2002 movie Crossroads. (For those who did not catch my original post on the place, in the Spring of 2001 I was an extra in Crossroads and spent a full three days filming at the Fais Do-Do – a magical experience that I will never forget.) Because the club is typically only open at night for concerts and events, though, and because the Grim Cheaper has a major aversion to paying any sort of a cover charge, since the filming I had never been able to get back inside. Until last Wednesday afternoon, that is, when I tagged along with fellow stalker Mike, from MovieShotsLA, on a scouting expedition. A couple of months back, Mike actually joined the Location Managers Guild of America under the title of Apprentice and, when I heard that he was in the process of building his portfolio, I immediately (and a bit selfishly) suggested that he visit Café-Club Fais Do-Do – with me accompanying him, of course. Don’t get me wrong – the place is incredibly unique and visually stimulating and I knew that he would not only shoot some incredible photographs of it, but that it would also be a highly useful locale to have in his scouting arsenal. But mostly, I just really wanted to stalk it myself. Winking smile

The Art Deco building which currently houses Café-Club Fais Do-Do was originally constructed in 1930 and is actually comprised of two separate sections – The Club (pictured above) and The Ballroom. In its original incarnation, The Club was a branch of the First Citizens Savings Bank and Trust, which explains the structure’s uniquely rich and ornate interior. Sometime in the 1960s, the bank was converted into a jazz bar/underground club, but thankfully most of its architecturally and historically significant detailing was kept intact. During its years as a jazz club, such musicians as Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, BB King, Pearl Bailey, John Coltrane, and Billy Preston were all said to have hung out there.

The Ballroom (pictured above) was originally constructed as the single-screen Variety Movie Theatre and was where the filming of Crossroads took place. I am unsure of when exactly the Variety ceased showing movies, but in 1990 the entire building was purchased by a new owner who, while still keeping the two distinct areas separate, decided to turn the venues into a nightclub and bar which collectively would be known as Café-Club Fais Do-Do – “Fais Do-Do” meaning “nighty-night” in French. And while this post on the Lon’s Place blog states that The Club area was sold to a new owner in 2010, according the film liaison that we spoke with, the same person who bought the building back in 1990 still owns it to this day.

While we were stalking the Fais Do-Do, I was extremely sad to discover that the huge two-story bar that used to be located in the center of The Ballroom and on which I had sat in Crossroads had since been removed. To me, that bar, which had a dance floor on top of it, was the coolest, most unique aspect of the entire club and I cannot believe the owner did away with it! So incredibly sad.

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In Crossroads, Café-Club Fais Do-Do’s Ballroom was used for the interior of Club Bayou, where Lucy Wagner (Britney Spears), Kit (Zoe Saldana) and Mimi (Taryn Manning) competed in a karaoke contest in order to win money to fix their car which had just broken down.

That’s me in the blue pants standing next to Ben (Anson Mount) in the above screen capture. Smile

The Fais Do-Do dressing room, which you can see a photograph of here, was featured in the scene in which Kit, Mimi and Lucy get ready to go onstage. Sadly, a film crew was using that area at the time that we were stalking the club so we were unable to take any pictures of it.

The GC and I recently started watching fave show The O.C. again from the beginning and, let me tell you, I just about fell off my chair when I spotted Café-Club Fais Do-Do pop up in a Season 1 episode. In “The Escape”, the Fais Do-Do’s Ballroom stood in for “Boom Boom”, the supposed-Tijuana-area club where Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton) caught Luke Ward (Chris Carmack) cheating on her.

And, while scanning through “The Escape” to make screen captures for this post, I was shocked to discover that the little bar where Marissa almost overdosed on pain pills later in the episode was none other than the Fais Do-Do’s Club! The Club was remodeled in 2010 (as you can see in these photograph on the Lon’s Place blog) and looks a bit different now, but, amazingly enough, the actual bar where Marissa sat still looks exactly the same today as it did when the episode was filmed back in 2003!

After reading my original post on the Fais Do-Do back in 2009, fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, figured out that The Ballroom also stood in for Delloser Hall, the reggae club where Josie Geller (Drew Barrymore) got stoned after inadvertently eating a pot-laced cake, in fave movie Never Been Kissed.

In the extremely odd 2006 film The Gymnast, the Fais Do-Do’s Ballroom was used extensively as the place where Jane Hawkins (Dreya Weber) and Serena (Addie Yungmee) learned aerial fabric acrobatics.

In the flick, you can clearly see the club’s former bar . . .

. . . as well as the dance floor above it.

Café-Club Fais Do-Do’s dressing room also appeared in The Gymnast.

And in one scene, a business card featuring the club’s actual address, fax number, and website was even shown. So incredibly cool!

Fellow stalker Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, also let me know that the Fais Do-Do had appeared in the Season 2 episode of Arrested Development titled “Queen for a Day”. In the episode, the exterior . . .

. . . as well as The Ballroom stood in for The Queen Mary, the bar that Tobias Funke (David Cross) purchased.

The Club was also used in that episode as the restaurant where Byron “Buster” Bluth (Tony Hale) took his new girlfriend, Starla (Mo Collins), out for a milkshake.

And the dressing room stood in for the Hot Cop stripper club, from which Lindsay Bluth Funke (Portia de Rossi) hired strippers to scare her husband into selling The Queen Mary.

Back in February of 2011, while doing research for my post on The Little Door restaurant, I discovered that Café-Club Fais Do-Do’s Club room was used in the Season 2 episode of Entourage titled “The Abyss”, in the scene in which the boys – Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier), Eric Murphy (Kevin Connolly), Johnny ‘Drama’ Chase (Kevin Dillon), and Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) – gather together to watch Saigon perform.

I was shocked to discover (thanks to the Ron’s Place blog) that in 1994’s Reality Bites, The Club stood in for the bar where “Hey, That’s My Bike!”, Troy Dyer’s (Ethan Hawke’s) band, regularly played. The room was heavily dressed for the filming, though, and is almost unrecognizable in the movie.

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The Fais Do-Do Club was also featured in the Jane’s Addiction video for “Underground”.

As was the dressing room area.

Jane’s Addiction “Underground” Music Video–Filmed at Café-Club Fais Do-Do in Los Angeles

You can watch the “Underground” video by clicking above.

The Club also appeared in the Destiny’s Child “No, No No, Part 1” music video.

Destiny’s Child–”No, No, No Part 1” Music Video Filmed at Café-Club Fais Do-Do in Los Angeles

You can watch the “No, No, No, Part 1” video by clicking above.

This Is 40, the yet-to-be released sequel to 2007’s Knocked Up, also did some filming in Café-Club Fais Do-Do’s Ballroom in 2011. And while the Ron’s Place blog stated that The Big Lebowski and American Gangster were also filmed at the Fais Do-Do, I scanned through both movies while doing research for this post and did not spot the place anywhere.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Café-Club Fais Do-Do, from Crossroads, is located at 5253 and 5257 West Adams Boulevard in Los Angeles. You can visit the club’s official website here.

October 7, 2011September 29, 2017

The “Doppelganger” Mansion

Another location from the 1993 thriller Doppelganger that I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to stalk this past weekend was the mansion where Holly Gooding (aka Drew Barrymore) grew up in the flick. I found this locale, once again, thanks to Tony, my friend and fellow stalker who has the amazing Flickr photostream which I mentioned yesterday. Incredibly enough, Tony has somehow managed to track down almost every single location featured in Doppelganger and he was kind enough to share them all with me so that I could blog about them during my Haunted Hollywood month – well, every location that is except for the supposed-Arcadia-area Our Lady of Mercy Psychiatric Institute which I have now become just a wee bit obsessed with finding. But I digress. Anyway, last weekend, after stopping by the apartment building featured in the movie, the GC and I headed a short two miles north to Los Feliz to do some stalking of the mansion.

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The Doppelganger mansion is featured twice in the flick. It first pops up in the scene in which Holly and her new roommate, struggling mystery writer Patrick Highsmith (aka George Newbern), meet with Holly’s family lawyer, Mike Wallace (aka George Maharis), in order to get the keys to her former home which has been locked up and sealed since her father’s murder four years prior. While there, Patrick says that the abode is “right out of a Bette Davis movie” – a line which I, of course, loved. Winking smile

The large, English-country-style abode later pops up in the movie’s climactic, rather odd, and definitely spooky final scene in which Holly returns to her childhood home in the middle of the night to confront her evil doppelganger and finally end the nightmare in which she has been living.

Patrick, of course, follows Holly and, carrying a baseball bat, climbs up the side of the house and through a second story window in the hopes that he can save her.

I believe that the interior of the mansion that was shown in the movie was just a set and not the home’s real life interior.

According to fave website Zillow, the Doppelganger mansion, which was originally built in 1923, boasts 5 bedrooms, 2 baths, and 3,500 square feet of living space, although I would have guessed it to be much, much larger. And amazingly, the property still looks almost exactly the same today as it did 18 years ago when Doppelganger was filmed. Even the three large circular trees which flank the home’s front door and front window still look exactly the same. Love it!

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Tony for finding this location! You can check out Tony’s FANTASTIC Flickr photostream, which features countless filming locations, here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Doppelganger mansion is located at 2421 Glendower Avenue in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles. Donna Martin’s house from the B.Y.O.B. episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 is located just two doors south of the Doppelganger mansion at 2405 Glendower Avenue. And the so-called “Los Feliz Murder House”, which I blogged about back in January, is located just around the corner at 2475 Glendower Place.

October 6, 2011September 29, 2017

The “Doppelganger” Apartment Building

Last week, while perusing through my friend and fellow stalker Tony’s Flickr photostream – which is comprised of an absolutely AMAZING collection of pictures of hundreds upon hundreds of filming locations – I came across his photographs of the apartment building that was used in the thriller Doppelganger. And while I had absolutely loved me some Doppelganger when it first came out way back in 1993, I had not seen the movie in such a long time that I had somehow forgotten Drew Barrymore was even in it! So I decided it was most definitely time for a re-watch and ran right out to rent the flick that very night. Unfortunately, it was not nearly as good as I had remembered it to be, especially the ending which I did not understand at all. But I, nevertheless, still had to drag the Grim Cheaper right on out to stalk the apartment building that very same weekend – especially since it fit in so perfectly with my Haunted Hollywood theme!

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In Doppelganger, Holly Gooding (aka Drew Barrymore) migrates from New York to Los Angeles after being cleared of a murder charge, whereupon she moves into an apartment building with a struggling mystery writer named Patrick Highsmith (aka Father of the Bride’s George Newbern).

In the movie, the idyllic little building, which has a central courtyard, a two-tiered fountain, and a communal birdcage, is named “Angel’s Court” and it is supposedly located at 1167 North Orange Grove Avenue in the Hollywood area.

In reality, the building is located just east of Hollywood and south of Thai Town and is, sadly, not nearly as inviting or picturesque in person as it appeared to be in Doppelganger. Don’t get me wrong, the building is by no means unattractive, but the neighborhood where it is located is, unfortunately, a bit on the iffy side and the courtyard that seemed so charming onscreen is rather bare in real life. I am guessing that the fountain and birdcage that appeared in the movie, along with the archway that was situated over the front gate, were just props that were brought in solely for the filming as they are no longer there.

In Doppelganger, Patrick and Holly lived in Apartment #2 and I am guessing that the real life interior of that particular unit was also used in the filming.

And, according to my buddy E.J. over at The Movieland Directory website, the building, which was originally constructed in 1922, was once also home to a few celebrities – cinematographer Harry Zech lived there during the 1920s and silent film actress Frances Deamer lived there in the 30s.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Tony for finding this location! You can check out Tony’s FANTASTIC Flickr photostream, which features countless filming locations, here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Doppelganger apartment building is located at 1165 North Hobart Boulevard in Los Angeles. In the movie, Patrick and Holly lived in Apartment 2 and FBI Agent Stanley White (aka Dan Shor) lived in Apartment 6.

April 20, 2011April 20, 2011

Jackie Robinson Stadium from “Never Been Kissed”

One location that I attempted to stalk far more times than I actually care to admit is the supposed Chicago, Illinois-area Municipal Stadium where Sam Coulson (aka Michael Vartan) kissed Josie Geller (aka Drew Barrymore) for the very first time during the final scene of fave movie Never Been Kissed. Fellow stalker Owen had long ago informed me that the filming of the stadium scene had taken place at UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium and the GC and I had ventured out to the school several times to try to stalk the place, but unfortunately we had absolutely zero luck in finding it. I cannot tell you how many wasted hours the two of us spent walking the campus grounds looking for that darn stadium, but I think it is safe to say that we stalked just about every stadium at the University – and there are quite a few of them! – except for the one from Never Been Kissed. What we had failed to realize at the time was that while Jackie Robinson Stadium is a part of UCLA, it is not in fact located on the UCLA campus, but about two miles west of it on Constitution Avenue near the 405 Freeway. It was not until Owen sent me a detailed map that denoted the stadium’s exact location that I realized our mistake. And it wasn’t until a couple of weekends ago that I was finally able to drag the GC back out there to stalk it.

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Jackie Robinson Stadium was named in honor of legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson who enrolled in UCLA after graduating from Pasadena Junior College, which is coincidentally just around the corner from where I live. While studying at UCLA, Robinson became the very first student to ever letter in four sports – football, basketball, track, and, of course, baseball. Robinson left UCLA during the spring semester of his senior year, shortly before he was to graduate, and took an assistant athletic director job with the National Youth Administration. He, of course, went on to become one of the greatest baseball players to ever live and was the first African American to play for the Major Leagues since the 1800s. The Jackie Robinson Stadium was originally constructed just over three decades ago thanks to a large donation from one of Robinson’s former classmates at UCLA, a successful businessman and philanthropist named Hoyt Pardee. The stadium was dedicated on February 7th, 1981 and has served as UCLA’s home baseball field ever since. In 2006, the structure underwent an extensive renovation process whereupon the field surface, lighting system, fan seating, perimeter net, and scoreboard were all upgraded and changed.

Thankfully though, even with all of those major alterations, the place where Josie Geller waited to be kissed for the very first time still looks very much the same in person as it did onscreen.

In Never Been Kissed, the South Glen Rams’ team dugout was located on the eastern side of the stadium, as were the stairs that Mr. Coulson walked down to get to Josie.

Oh, how I wanted to take a photograph standing on the pitcher’s mound where Josie awaited her first real kiss in the movie, but unfortunately there was a practice game going on when we showed up to stalk the stadium, so I could not venture down there. And believe me, I tried, but the GC did NOT think it would be a good idea AT ALL if I disturbed that game by randomly running out onto the field. He’s such a drag sometimes! I mean, I would have waited until there was a break in play. Geez! Winking smile

Sadly, the above photograph is the closest I got. Ah well, it looks like I will just have to go back there and re-stalk the place again sometime in the near future.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Owen for finding this location! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Jackie Robinson Stadium, aka the Never Been Kissed stadium, is located at the intersection of Constitution Avenue and Davis Avenue, one block west of the 405 Freeway, in Westwood. Although it is a part of UCLA, the stadium is NOT located on the actual university campus, so do not make the same mistake I did by looking for it there. The stadium’s location in relation to UCLA is denoted in the above aerial view. You can visit the Jackie Robinson Stadium official website here.

April 15, 2011April 14, 2011

Alverno High School from “Passport to Paris”

As I promised in Tuesday’s post, here is a photograph of me dressed as Buffy the Vampire Slayer for Halloween back in 1992. My mom made the costume for me by hand and she made it absolutely PERFECT, so I was especially excited to tell Kristy Swanson about it when I met her this past Sunday night at the Celebration of Corey Haim’s life. And now, on with the post! Smile

Two weekends ago I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to stalk a location that has long been at the top of my To-Stalk list – Alverno High School in Sierra Madre. The school has appeared in hundreds upon hundreds of productions over the years, but I had been dying to stalk it for one reason and one reason only – it was one of the primary locations featured in the 1999 Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen video Passport to Paris. Being that I was 22 years old when Passport to Paris was released and a full decade older than the flick’s targeted demographic, I can’t really explain why it was that I liked it so much. But the truth is that, as an adult, I absolutely LOVED all of the MK & A videos and would rent them regularly from my local video store. And yes, I know how strange that is. 😉 When in Rome and Winning London are my two favorites out of the twins’ myriad of straight-to-video movies, but Passport to Paris definitely runs a close third. And because the vast majority of the Olsen’s movies were primarily filmed on location in exotic locales around the globe, you can imagine my excitement and surprise when I discovered that the main home used in Passport to Paris was literally right in my own backyard!

Alverno High School was originally built as a private home for physician Walter Jarvis Barlow in 1924. The manse was designed by legendary architect Wallace Neff and was modeled after a Tuscan-style mansion located in Tavainuzze, Italy named Villa Collazi. Barlow dubbed his new residence Villa del Sol d’Oro, which roughly translates to Manor of the Golden Sun. After Barlow passed away in 1942, his widow, Marion Patterson Barlow, sold the property to the Sisters of St. Francis while she promptly moved into the Huntington Hotel (now the Langham Hotel and Spa) in Pasadena, where she spent the remainder of her days. Not too shabby of a place to spend your final years! Anyway, for the next 18 years, Villa del Sol d’Oro was used as a novitiate – a home where nuns live during a probationary period before taking their vows. In 1960 a high school named Alverno Heights Academy was founded on the property. The name was later changed to Alverno High School, as it is known today. Several buildings have since been constructed on the school grounds, but Villa del Sol d’Oro, which is a historical landmark, has thankfully been left untouched. And while classes are not held in the actual Villa, the building is used regularly for special school events.

Because Alverno is a working school, I did not expect to be able to get onto the property and was beyond FLOORED to discover that the side gate was standing open and several people were walking around the grounds. One lady that I spoke with told me that she comes to the school each weekend just to walk around and appreciate the beauty of the place. And it is not very hard to see why. As you can see in the above photographs, Villa del Sol d’Oro is absolutely breathtaking!

And, amazingly enough, there was a photo shoot taking place on the property when we showed up to stalk it, so all of the Villa’s doors were open. And even though the SUPER nice staff member who was on duty at the time thought I was EXTREMELY odd for liking Passport to Paris so much, he allowed me to go inside to take a quick peek around and snap a few pictures, which I could NOT have been more excited about!

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In Passport to Paris, Alverno High School stood in for the American Embassy in Paris, France, where Ambassador Edward (aka Peter White), the grandfather of Melanie “’Mel’ Porter (aka Mary-Kate Olsen) and Allyson ‘Ally’ Porter (aka Ashley Olsen), lived. And while the exterior of the property (pictured above) shown in the flick was a building in Paris . . .

. . . Villa del Sol d’Oro was used for all of the interior scenes.

I am fairly certain that the girls’ bedroom in the movie was also located at Villa del Sol d’Oro, but because I did not get to see the upstairs portion of the property I am not able to verify that.

In 1992’s Poison Ivy, Villa del Sol d’Oro was the high school that Ivy (aka Drew Barrymore) and Sylvie (aka Sara Gilbert) attended.

Alverno High School also appeared at the very beginning of 1996’s Executive Decision as a Chechen Mafia safehouse supposedly located just outside of Trieste, Italy.

In Legally Blonde, Alverno stood in for the Delta Nu sorority house where Elle Woods (aka Reese Witherspoon) and her “sisters” lived.

And while a private home in San Francisco, which I blogged about back in April of 2008, stood in for the exterior of the San Francisco-area Anthony P. Grove High School in 2001’s The Princess Diaries, Alverno’s courtyard was used for all of the courtyard scenes in the movie.

It was the convent where Christina Crawford (aka Diana Scarwid) was sent to live in the 1981 movie Mommie Dearest.

In 1995’s A Walk in the Clouds, the interior of Villa del Sol d’Oro stood in for the interior of the Las Nubes vineyard home where the family of Victoria Aragon (aka Aitana Sanchez-Gijon) lived.

The Villa was used as the Los Angeles Visitor Security Headquarters in the 1984 television mini-series V: The Final Battle.

Although they changed the property’s exterior gate for that production quite a bit. LOL I just about died laughing when I scanned through V and saw the above-pictured pseudo-space-age electronic gate. Could it be any more ‘80s?

The Villa’s actual gate is pictured above.

The Villa was also the site of Axl Rose and Stephanie Seymour’s wedding reception in the Gun ‘N Roses “November Rain” music video . . .

November Rain–Villa del Sol d’Oro

. . . which you can watch by clicking above.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Alverno High School, from Passport to Paris, is located at 200 North Michillinda Avenue in Sierra Madre. We entered the school via its Wilson Street gate. Please remember that Alverno High School is an active learning institution and you should not trespass or visit the grounds during school hours. You can visit Alverno’s official website here.