Category: Movie Locations

Danny’s Apartment from “A Few Good Men”

It is rare when a movie comes along and changes the course of your life. For me, one such movie was A Few Good Men. I walked out of the theatre after first seeing it in 1992 proclaiming that I was going to become a lawyer. I was 15 at the time – a sophomore in high school. I spent the next few years convinced that law was my calling, regularly and passionately professing my love of the film and its climatic “I want the truth!” moment to anyone who would listen. One day, a neighbor who happened to be on the listening end of my diatribe said something very profound to me. He said, “You don’t want to be a lawyer. You want to be a lawyer in a movie.” It was a valid assessment (I guess I did want the truth!) – one that got me thinking about acting. It wasn’t long before I tried out for – and landed a role in – my first play. My love of acting led to my move to L.A. shortly thereafter, which in turn led to the start of this blog. And the rest is history. Needless to say, A Few Good Men has always had a very special place in my heart. So when I learned that we were heading to Washington, D.C. last September, I informed the Grim Cheaper that I wasn’t leaving town without stalking Lt. Daniel Kaffee’s (Tom Cruise) apartment from the film.

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Daniel’s brownstone pops up regularly throughout A Few Good Men.

While blue at the time of the filming, the exterior of his Georgetown-area walk-up has since been painted yellow. Aside from the coloring, though, the place looks much the same today as it did when A Few Good Men was filmed 25 years ago.

According to Zillow, the property, which was originally built in 1900, houses condos in real life.

Because so many scenes took place there, I am 99.9% certain that the inside of Danny’s apartment was a set built on a soundstage at The Culver Studios in Culver City (where many of the movie’s interior scenes were lensed) and that the building’s actual interior was not used.

Cementing my belief is this November 1992 Los Angeles Times article which states that A Few Good Men “was shot almost entirely on a sound stage at Culver Studios in Culver City, with the exception of two weeks of location shooting exteriors in Washington.” Now we know that many scenes were, in fact, lensed on location in the L.A. area, so the article’s information isn’t exactly ironclad. (The column also asserts that because the Defense Department did not sanction AFGM, no filming was allowed to take place on any military bases – another falsehood. The flick utilized several military sites, including the US Coast Guard base in San Pedro, the Naval Air Station Point Mugu – which a later LA Times article does acknowledge – and Fort MacArthur.) Regardless of the erroneous reporting, I do believe that most of the movie’s interiors, including Danny’s apartment and his fridge full of Yoo-hoo, were sets. There’s just no way Tom Cruise was hanging out inside of someone’s actual apartment for the amount of time it would have taken to shoot the many segments. Nor would a studio utilize a real life interior – with no insulation to block out exterior noise and no control of the outside world – to such an extent.

What is interesting, though, and what had me doubting my hunch for a bit is the fact that countless scenes were shot from the outside of Danny’s apartment window looking in.

As unbelievable as it may seem (and it seems pretty unbelievable to me), I think that the production team built an exact replica of the building’s façade, as well as replicas of the neighboring façades, on a soundstage to shoot the window scenes.

While I initially thought that the segments were likely created using special effects, with footage of the actors superimposed behind actual shots of the building’s window, in scrutinizing the scenes further, I noticed that a line was visible in the brickwork running along both sides of the window fame that appeared the movie. As you can see in the photo below, that line is not there in real life, which led to my conclusion about the façades.

It is really too bad that the interior of Danny’s pad was not real. His place was so warm and inviting, though I have to admit I am a sucker for a fireplace and any sort of built-in bookcase.

On an A Few Good Men side-note – while researching this post, I was shocked to discover that the movie was based on a true story! In 1986, ten Marines stationed in Guantanamo Bay performed a code red on Pfc. William Alvarado, a fellow soldier who had been writing letters to his senator about the illegal discharge of another platoon member’s weapon. (Sounds familiar, right?) Though Alvarado did not die during the code red, his face turned blue and he passed out. The ten men informed the higher-ups and Alvarado was taken to Miami for treatment and survived. While seven of the Marines wound up being dishonorably discharged for the act, three decided to fight the charges in court. One of the lawyers assigned to the case was a man named Don Marcari, who defended Lance Corporal David Cox. It was Marcari’s very first trial. (Again, sound familiar? “So this is what a courtroom looks like!”) Another lawyer who worked on the case was A Few Good Men screenwriter’s Aaron Sorkin’s sister. She told Aaron about the proceedings via telephone one day. Sorkin was working as a bartender at the Palace Theatre in New York at the time and, inspired by what his sister told him, began writing a script based on the story on cocktail napkins during his downtime. That script went on to become a hit play and then a hit movie. But the tale doesn’t end there. Five of the marines involved in the real life case wound up suing Castle Rock Entertainment in 1994. And David Cox, who was planning to join the lawsuit, was murdered under extremely mysterious circumstances that same year. His killing has never been solved. You can read more about the story and Cox’s death here, here, here, and here.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Lt. Daniel Kaffee’s apartment from A Few Good Men is located at 3017 Dent Place Northwest in Georgetown.

May 31, 2017
The “A Few Good Men” Softball Field

I don’t know – or care – much about sports. I do love me some Tom Cruise, though. So when my friend/fellow stalker Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, sent me his list of Washington, D.C./Philadelphia-area locales prior to my trip back east last September, I was thrilled to see the softball field from the 1992 drama A Few Good Men mentioned. As noted in his files (which were extensive!), filming of the AFGM softball scenes took place on the baseball fields at West Potomac Park, just south of the Lincoln Memorial and the Korean War Veterans Memorial. When I went to look at the fields on Google Maps, though, I noticed that they did not match to what was shown onscreen. So I started to do some digging on the subject and came across a comment on the Movie Tourist blog posted by “tahoekid” that cleared things up. Apparently, Movie Tourist had posted the Potomac Park fields information back in early 2013 and when tahoekid went to stalk the site a little over two years later, he noticed that things didn’t match. He investigated the matter further and discerned that filming had actually taken place in a since-dismantled field once situated just northwest of Independence Avenue SW and 17th Street SW in an area that is now part of the national World War II Memorial.

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I was still having a hard time matching things up, though (I am so not good at pinpointing park locations, let alone a since-dismantled park location from a movie over twenty years old!), so I sent my findings over to Owen to ask his thoughts. As it turns out, he had come across Movie Tourist’s A Few Good Men page when it was first posted and had jotted down the West Potomac Park fields information, along with the other addresses, in his Washington, D.C. stalking files, but because he had no trips to the nation’s capital planned at the time, had not done any further research. In looking at the screen captures I sent him in comparison with Street View imagery of the roads outside of the World War II Memorial, he was able to match several things, confirming once and for all that filming took place exactly where tahoekid said it did.

The softball field pops up twice in A Few Good Men. It first appears in the scene in which Lt. Dave Spradling (Matt Craven) threatens to not only charge Lt. Daniel Kaffee’s (Cruise) client with possession of marijuana, but to also hang him from a “f*cking yardarm.”

The field appears once again shortly thereafter in the scene in which Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway (Demi Moore) informs Kaffee that his new clients, Pfc. Louden Downey (James Marshall) and Lance Cpl. Harold W. Dawson (Wolfgang Bodison), have just been imprisoned.

In that scene, the district’s statue of Revolutionary War naval commander John Paul Jones is visible behind JoAnne. It is that statue that helped tahoekid determine where the softball field was once situated.

I was interested in pinpointing the field’s exact former location – Where was first base? Where was home? I am nothing if not a stickler for details. – and Owen, along with an assist from Historic Aerials, was able to do so. As you can see in the 1988 image below (for which Owen provided the graphics), the field was located directly south and slightly west of the Rainbow Pool, which sits at the eastern end of the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool.

An unmarked version of the 1988 image is pictured below. You may have noticed that the field is a bit hard to see. As Owen explained to this sports-challenged stalker, “What’s interesting — and I’m guessing you’re not familiar with this — is that most softball fields are completely dirt in the infield and completely grass in the outfield. A baseball/softball field with an all-dirt infield is pretty easy to spot in Historic Aerials. The field from A Few Good Men, however, is almost entirely grass. The only dirt portions are narrow strips between the bases, a small patch for the pitcher’s mound and a larger section near home plate. That is why the field is difficult to spot on Historic Aerials … but it’s there.”

A more current aerial from Bing is pictured below. As you can see, though the Rainbow Pool is intact and looks much the same as it did in 1988, it has since been integrated into the World War II Memorial, which was built from 2001 to 2004. It was during those years that the A Few Good Men softball field was removed. You can see an image of what the area looked like prior to the memorial’s construction here (though, due to the angle from which the photo was taken, the softball field is not really visible).

The World War II Memorial’s information booth is the best marker as to the field’s former location. It sits pretty much directly on top of where home plate used to be.

Though Owen noted that “The field is long gone, of course, and almost nothing will be recognizable from the movie,” he did manage to pinpoint some things that remain intact (along with the John Paul Jones statue, which was mentioned earlier). The line of trees visible in the background of the first softball scene, which borders the southern edge of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, is still there today. (Because of the information booth and the many buses and cars typically parked in front of the site, the view of the trees from the vantage point from which AFGM was shot is currently a bit obstructed, as you can see below.)

Owen also noted that four fenced notches visible throughout the softballs scenes on the concrete wall that runs along Independence Avenue are still identifiable from their onscreen appearance.

As is the small portion of the Kutz Bridge that appeared in the background of the scene with JoAnne.

A map of all of those landmarks is pictured below.

I am hoping all of my sports-minded fellow stalkers had some fun with this locale. As Owen said after helping me out with it, “I enjoyed looking at this because how often do I get to combine filming locations and softball fields?!”

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

Big THANK YOU to my friend Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, and to tahoekid for finding this location.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The A Few Good Men softball field was formerly located just southwest of where the World War II Memorial is currently situated today, near the spot where the information booth now stands.

May 22, 2017
Kyoto Gardens from “Her”

As a kid, I was pretty much never without a book in hand. (Truth be told, not much has changed since.) One of my favorite childhood tomes was Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 masterpiece The Secret Garden. Reading it made me want nothing more than to unearth a lush hidden idyll of my own. That desire has never left me. So when I learned about a “secret” garden tucked away on the third floor of a downtown L.A. hotel back in 2011, I rushed right out to stalk it immediately. Known as Kyoto Gardens, the site did not disappoint and the Grim Cheaper and I spent quite a bit of time exploring. While I took a myriad of photographs that day, at the time the place had yet to be featured onscreen (at least that I know of), so I never blogged about it. Then last week, while researching my post on the Peace Awareness Labyrinth & Gardens, I was thrilled to randomly come across a mention of Kyoto Gardens’ appearance in the 2013 sci-fi drama Her, which meant that I could finally write about them!

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The 1/2-acre urban oasis was originally created in 1977 as part of Little Tokyo’s New Otani Hotel & Garden.

At the time, the tiny glen was called “Garden in the Sky.”

In 2007, the 21-story, 434-room hotel changed ownership and became the Kyoto Grand Hotel and Gardens. It was sold once again in 2011 and turned into the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Los Angeles Downtown. The garden area is now known as Kyoto Gardens.

Situated atop the hotel’s two-story parking garage, Kyoto Gardens boasts an upper and lower terrace, waterfalls, streams, pathways, incredible views of the city, and a banquet room named Thousand Cranes that overlooks it all.

The garden was modeled after a breathtaking 10-acre site in Tokyo that was created as a private oasis for feudal lord Katō Kiyomasa during the 16th Century. Today, it is part of the Hotel New Otani Tokyo. You can see photographs of it here.

Kyoto Gardens is often used for special events and weddings.

You can check out some great images of the gardens, as well as the rest of the hotel, here.

Kyoto Gardens was transformed into a bucolic restaurant for the filming of Her. In the movie, Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) and Katherine (Rooney Mara) meet up at the picturesque site to sign their divorce papers over lunch.

During the meal, the two get into an argument over the fact that Theodore is currently dating Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), who is actually an operating system.

The hotel itself has also been featured in numerous productions, but since I did not take photos of anything other than Kyoto Gardens while I was there, I will have to save that info for a future post.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Kyoto Gardens are located on the third floor of the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Los Angeles Downtown, which is located at 120 South Los Angeles Street in Little Tokyo. You can visit the hotel’s official website here.

May 8, 2017
Moody’s Bar and Grille from “Jerry Maguire”

Oh, how this stalker loves herself a dark, wood-paneled bar! There is just something so warm and inviting about them, which is probably why they are featured regularly onscreen. One that I was quite fixated on tracking down for years was the supposed Tempe, Arizona-area “Crocodile,” where Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) got stood up by Cardinals General Manager Dennis Wilburn (Glenn Frey) in the 1996 romcom Jerry Maguire. I finally managed to identify the watering hole as the now defunct Moody’s Bar and Grill, formerly located on the ground floor of the Sheraton Grande (which became the Los Angeles Marriott Downtown in 1997 and then the The L.A. Hotel Downtown in 2012). While the pub was detailed in my two-part post on JM locales in December (you can read Part I here and Part II here), I happened to spot it pop up in an episode of Melrose Place that I was scanning through recently and figured the place was worthy of its own write-up.

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Moody’s first came on my radar while I was researching The L.A. Hotel Downtown for my January 2016 post about the property. In reading about the hotel, I came across a FlyerTalk thread in which commenter “ntamayo” asked which Marriott had been featured in Fatboy Slim’s 2001 “Weapon of Choice” music video starring Christopher Walken. Commenter “Non-NonRev” responded that filming had taken place at the L.A. Downtown Marriott, explaining, “the dead giveaway is the entrance to Moody’s restaurant seen behind Walken early after he begins to dance.”

Upon digging a bit deeper into the location, I came across these photos of Moody’s taken in 2011 and was immediately smitten. As the August 1996 Los Angeles magazine article pictured below describes, the space was “reminiscent of East Coast meeting places” with a “friendly atmosphere and club environment” and a décor “rich with forest green, ivory marble, rich oak woodwork and polished brass.” This website deemed the bar “the Cheers of the West Coast” and, if images of it are to be believed, it definitely gave off that vibe. Moody’s is certainly the type of place I would have loved to grab a cocktail on a cool evening. Sadly though, further research revealed that the lounge had long since closed and, because I had not seen any sort of wood-paneled space when I stalked the the hotel in early 2016, I assumed it had been gutted and revamped into something else during the property’s massive $25-million renovation that took place between 2011 and 2013.

Flash forward to last summer, when I began compiling locations for the Jerry Maguire post. While scanning through the movie, I just about fell over upon realizing that the NFL Draft scene had been shot at the Sheraton Grande.

I immediately got to thinking about the Crocodile scene, during which Jerry is supposed to meet Dennis to discuss Rod Tidwell’s (Cuba Gooding Jr.) new contract. Knowing that location managers tend to shoot as many segments as possible in one spot, I had a hunch that the “Crocodile” might actually have been Moody’s. So I pulled up the 2011 images of the place and compared them to screen captures from Jerry Maguire and, sure enough, the two places were one and the same! I later got confirmation from Greg Mariotti, of The Uncool website, who co-wrote the JM post with me, that the Crocodile segment had, indeed, been lensed at Moody’s. (Interesting side-note – Cameron Crowe named the bar after the Crocodile Café, an actual hangout in Tempe, Arizona that was very popular in the ‘90s. Sadly, that space has also since shuttered.)

Prior to publishing the Jerry Maguire post, I stopped by The L.A. Hotel Downtown once again to see if I could learn the current state of the former Moody’s space and was shocked to discover, thanks to a very friendly receptionist, that, while shuttered, the bar remains intact! The receptionist even called down to the events manager for me to see if a quick tour could be arranged, but, unfortunately, she could not get ahold of him. She did tell me that the lounge was visible through some windows in the front of the hotel, though, which is how I snapped the photos that appear in this post.

Moody’s also popped up in the Season 4 episode of Melrose Place titled “No Lifeguard on Duty,” as the spot where Bobby Parezi (John Enos III) told Peter Burns (Jack Wagner) to stay way from Alycia Barnett (Anne-Marie Johnson).

In researching this post, I discovered a myriad of productions lensed at The L.A. Hotel Downtown that I somehow missed while penning my 2016 write-up – productions like Scandal, Melrose Place, and Criminal Minds. I’ve updated my original post to include the information. You can check it out here.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Moody’s Bar and Grille, aka the “Crocodile” from Jerry Maguire, was formerly located on the bottom floor of The L.A. Hotel Downtown, which can be found at 333 South Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles. Unfortunately, the restaurant is currently closed.

May 1, 2017
The “Why Him?” Gate House

Location managers can be such tricksters! And there’s pretty much nothing I love more than uncovering the various fabrications that go into a particular locale. Such was the case with the gate house supposedly situated at the entrance to the massive manse belonging to millionaire video game creator Laird Mayhew (James Franco) in Why Him? The Grim Cheaper and I recently watched – and thoroughly enjoyed – the 2016 comedy and I went on an immediate quest to track down some of its filming sites. Thanks to the Global Film Locations website, I quickly homed in on Laird’s sprawling estate, which is known as the Summit House in real life. One look at the place on Google Street View, though, told me that Laird’s quaint ranch-style gate house could not be found anywhere on the premises. Ah, the magic of Hollywood! So I set out to find it. And find it, I did.

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Thankfully, an address number of 2253 was visible outside of the gate house on the mailbox containing Laird’s facial recognition security device. I figured that the mailbox and address number were real and began searching for homes with 2253 addresses, first in Beverly Hills near the Summit House and then slowly working my way outward. I eventually found the right spot about seven miles away at 2253 Linda Flora Drive in Bel Air.

As I plopped down into Street View, I was shocked to discover that the mailbox that had facilitated my search was not there in real life! Turns out it was a prop that had been inexplicably fashioned with the home’s real life address for the shoot!

I was further surprised to see that the driveway where the mailbox was placed as well as the gate situated beyond it belong to the neighboring property located at 2251 Linda Flora Drive. So two residences were used to represent Laird’s gate house in Why Him? The trickery was strong with this locale!

The gate house only pops up briefly in Why Him?, in a beginning scene in which Stephanie Fleming (Zoey Deutch) brings her parents, Ned (Bryan Cranston) and Barb (Megan Mullally), and brother, Scotty (Griffin Gluck), to her boyfriend Laird’s home for the first time. As they arrive, Barb, mistakenly thinking that the charming dwelling they pull up to is Laird’s residence, says, “Oh, this is cute.” To which Stephanie explains, “Actually, this is the gate house.” As you can see, the gate house was changed a bit for the shoot. A fence was added to the perimeter of the front yard, a window was installed on the side of the pad, and quite a few trees, shrubs and plants, as well as a garden gnome, were brought in.

Producers also had the gate itself altered for the shoot, completely covering it over with foliage, which nearly obscured it from view. As Barb says when the gate opens upon the Fleming family’s arrival, “The hedge is moving!”

In real life, Laird’s gate house is a regular single family home that boasts 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, and 1,560 square feet.

The driveway and gate next door lead to a newly-built modern residence that boasts 4 bedrooms, 4 baths, 9,300 square feet, a 3.2-acre plot of land, travertine stonework, disappearing glass doors, two separate lawn areas, a detached guest house, a 3-car garage, a reflecting pool surrounded by a pool deck, 14-foot high ceilings, a massive skylight, a chef’s kitchen with Miele and Wolf appliances and electrically-controlled drawers, a library with a glass floor, a wine room, several fireplaces, and a 1,000-foot-long driveway.

You can see photographs of that property here.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Laird Mayhew’s gate house from Why Him? is located at 2253 Linda Flora Drive in Bel Air. The actual gate to his home can be found next door at 2251 Linda Flora Drive. And Laird’s mansion is located at 1159 Summit Drive in Beverly Hills.

April 17, 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.

April 14, 2017
The “Why Him?” House

I don’t like to think of myself as a brat, but I’d be lying if I did not admit to having brat-like tendencies when it comes to choosing what movie to watch with the Grim Cheaper on any given Saturday night. Typically I veto all of his recommendations straight out of the gate and we wind up watching a flick of my choosing. That was not the case on a recent evening in, though, when the GC had his heart set on viewing the 2016 James Franco/Bryan Cranston comedy Why Him? Even though I didn’t have high hopes for the film after watching the trailer, for whatever reason, I acquiesced – and wound up eating crow because not only was the movie great, but it gave me a new obsession, Alaskan King beds. (If you don’t know what they are, here ya go! I know, right? Simply amazing!) I also became quite obsessed with the flick’s locations, especially the massive modern mansion belonging to Laird Mayhew (Franco). Thankfully, it was an easy find. A quick Google search for “Why Him?” and “house” let me to this page on the Global Film Locations website which provided the address – 1159 Summit Drive in Beverly Hills.

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I was only further intrigued when I headed over to check out the property on Google Maps and dropped into Street View. As the little yellow cartoon man showed me, the pad is completely visible from the road, not hidden behind tall walls and gates like so many other Beverly Hills properties.

In person, the residence is even more impressive.

Built in 2011 by Whipple Russell Architects for a sports agent and his family, the sleek contemporary residence replaced a sprawling Mediterranean-style pad that Architectural Digest described as “hodgepodge” in a December 2015 article. That property is pictured via a 2007 Google Street View image below. As that home was demolished, its materials were gathered and donated to Habitat for Humanity. Then Whipple Russell began production on the new manse.

The completed project, which is known as the “Summit House,” is a work of art.

Per Zillow and the Architectural Digest article, the 6-bedroom, 11-bath, 10,000-square-foot estate boasts a 2-story entry, glass walls, a formal living room, a library with mahogany paneling, a gym, a master suite with dual closets (yes, please!) and dual baths (again, yes, please!), maid’s quarters, a 5-car garage, a motor court with room for 20 cars (!), several terraces, a rooftop deck, a rec room with a bowling alley and windows looking into the adjacent pool, a media room, a 1.26-acre lot, and a tennis court.

In Why Him?, college student Stephanie Fleming (Zoey Deutch) brings her parents, Ned (Cranston) and Barb (Megan Mullally), and brother, Scotty (Griffin Gluck), out to Silicon Valley during the holidays to meet her new boyfriend, millionaire video game creator Laird. During their visit, the Flemings bunk at Laird’s sprawling – and “paperless” – home.

The movie made extensive use of the Summit House.

I am fairly certain that the inside of Laird’s mansion was a mix of both the actual residence and studio-built sets. I believe that the entry;

rec room;

and kitchen/dining room shown in the movie were those of the actual Summit House . . .

. . . while the living room;

. . . . bathrooms . . .

. . . and bedrooms were sets. (There’s that Alaskan King bed I became so enamored with below!)

You can check out some images of the actual interior of the Summit House here and here.

Thanks to fellow stalker Gonzague, I learned that the mansion also appeared as the home of Maximo Reyes (Arturo Castro) in the Season 6 episode of Silicon Valley titled “Blood Money,” though an atrium of sorts was digitally added to the roof of the home for the shoot.

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

Big THANK YOU to the Global Film Locations website for finding this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Laird Mayhew’s mansion from Why Him? is located at 1159 Summit Drive in Beverly Hills.

April 12, 2017
Baltimore’s Washington Monument from “Sleepless in Seattle”

Most people know about the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., but what few realize is that there is another memorial honoring America’s first president located nearby and that it actually predates the District one. It is a filming location, to boot – from Sleepless in Seattle, one of my favorite movies, no less! So I just had to do some stalking of it while I was back east last September.

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The original Washington Monument, which was constructed from 1815 to 1829 and was the first public memorial to pay homage to George Washington, stands about forty miles outside of the nation’s capital in Baltimore, Maryland’s Mount Vernon neighborhood. The structure was designed by architect Robert Mills, who also designed its D.C. counterpart, though that one did not begin to take shape until 1848 and was not completed for another 37 years after that.

Manufactured out of marble from three local quarries, the monument stands at 178 feet, 8 inches tall.

The focal point of the memorial is a towering Doric column positioned at the center of a rectangular base. Inside of the base is an exhibit about the monument and its surrounding neighborhood. Unfortunately, I had a bit of a stalking fail with this particular location because until I started doing researching for this post, I was unaware that visitors could not only venture inside the structure, but to the very top of it! The tower’s apex apparently provides some fabulous views of the city, so I am really disappointed the Grim Cheaper and I did not head inside.

Affixed to the exterior of the monument’s base are eight bronze captions denoting important events in Washington’s life.

And holding court at the top is a sculpture designed by Italian artist Enrico Causici that represents the moment when Washington resigned as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army on December 23rd, 1783. Why did Causici choose to immortalize that particular occasion? As History.com explains, “Washington’s willingness to return to civilian life was an essential element in the transformation of the War for Independence into a true revolution. During the war, Congress had granted Washington powers equivalent to those of a dictator and he could have easily taken solitary control of the new nation. Indeed, some political factions wanted Washington to become the new nation’s king. His modesty in declining the offer and resigning his military post at the end of the war fortified the republican foundations of the new nation.”

The detailing of the statue cannot be seen from ground level, which is quite possibly a good thing. The Baltimore Business Journal’s Kevin Litten got a close-up view of the piece in 2014, while the monument was undergoing a $5.5-million, 19-month restoration, and as he humorously reported, Causici’s rendering of the nation’s first president depicts him with “a wide, googly-eyed stare” that “looks a lot more like the late actor Jack Elam than the father of our country.” Who is Jack Elam, you ask? Litten explains, “Elam was known both for his frequent depiction of evil characters in western films, and for having what the New York Times called a ‘leer, bulging eye’ that ‘conveyed villainy as surely as [Jimmy] Durante’s nose suggested humor.’” I mean, try to look at this photo and not laugh. I’m literally in hysterics as I write this.

In 1917, it was decided that a statue of Marquis de Lafayette, the French aristocrat who fought alongside Washington during the Revolutionary War, would be added to the site. Sculptor Andrew O’Connor was commissioned to create the instillation and architect Thomas Hastings was enlisted to re-design the area surrounding the Washington Monument to better suit the new piece. The statue was eventually dedicated in 1924.

Surrounding the monument are four gorgeously manicured park-like squares.

Lined with trees, the squares feature fountains, shaded paths, and benches and chairs where visitors can enjoy quiet respite from the bustle of Baltimore.

It truly is a gorgeous site and fitting homage to the father of this great nation.

Towards the beginning of Sleepless in Seattle, Annie Reed (Meg Ryan) and her BFF Becky (Rosie O’Donnell) pass by the Washington Monument on their way to have lunch at the Women’s Exchange, which I blogged about last week.

In the scene, the two ladies are shown walking from the east side of the monument to the south side, past the Marquis de Lafayette statue.

Baltimore’s Washington Monument has popped up in a few other productions over the years.

In the 1979 thriller . . . And Justice for All, Arthur Kirkland (Al Pacino) takes a spontaneous jog around the monument and Marquis de Lafayette statue.

Robert Clayton Dean (Will Smith) and Rachel F. Banks (Lisa Bonet) have a clandestine meet-up at the Washington Monument in 1998’s Enemy of the State.

That same year, the memorial was featured briefly in the opening scene of the John Waters comedy Pecker as the spot where Pecker (Edward Furlong) caught a bus.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Washington Monument, from Sleepless in Seattle, is located at 699 Washington Place in Baltimore. Several other filming locations can be found in the same vicinity, including the Women’s Exchange, also from Sleepless in Seattle, at 333 North Charles Street; the George Peabody Library, again from Sleepless, at 17 East Mount Vernon Place; Terry Lambert’s (Steve Guttenberg) apartment from The Bedroom Window at 12 East Mount Vernon Place; and The Helmund from He’s Just Not That Into You at 806 North Charles Street.

February 27, 2017
The Women’s Exchange from “Sleepless in Seattle”

Last year, I had incredible luck getting access to filming locations typically closed to the public. While visiting New York in April, I was granted tours of three non-accessible places that I literally would have given my eye teeth to see. Thankfully, none of my friendly tour guides collected on that offer. (And yes, I will be blogging about those sites soon.) One spot I was not as fortunate with was the tea room at the Women’s Exchange in Baltimore, which was featured briefly in Sleepless in Seattle. I was thrilled to come across information about the place while researching Charm City filming locales prior to my September trip back east, and was even more thrilled to discover that the space, though closed, was still in existence and used as a special events venue. While I contacted the Women’s Exchange a few months prior to my visit to see if a tour might be arranged, unfortunately the staff was not able to make that happen. But I still ventured over to stalk the outside of it while in town.

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The Women’s Exchange was established in 1880 as a place where Civil War widows and impoverished females could make money outside of the workplace by selling handmade goods. The non-profit organization, initially called the Women’s Industrial Exchange, was founded by G. Harmon Brown and originally operated out of her private residence. The program quickly proved successful, was incorporated in 1882, and moved to its current home, a five-story former boarding house on Charles Street that was constructed in 1815, five years later.

The organization purchased the picturesque property, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, in 1889.

In 1900, a consignment boutique was opened on the premises and the building’s stately dining hall was transformed into a tea room.

The eatery, which featured white and black checkered flooring, a tall fireplace, and red leather booths, became a popular spot for society women, as well as D.C. politicians, to “lunch.” Amazingly, it remained in operation until 2002 (more than a century!), at which point it was shuttered due to a decline in patronage.

Various restaurants were opened in the tea room space by outside companies in the ensuing years, but, sadly, none took.

Woman’s Industrial Kitchen, which debuted in 2011, was the last eatery to operate in the historic venue, but it was shuttered in 2014 and the site has remained closed, outside of hosting special events, ever since.

Closure of the Women’s Exchange consignment and gift store occurred shortly thereafter and, although a pop-up shop was opened on the premises during the holiday season in 2015, for the most part the locale has remained dark and its future currently appears uncertain. You can see some photographs of the tea room over the years here and here.

In Sleepless in Seattle, Annie Reed (Meg Ryan) and Becky (Rosie O’Donnell) grab lunch at the Women’s Exchange tea room. While there, Becky calls Annie out on her crush on the “Sleepless in Seattle” radio caller.

According to a 2012 The Baltimore Sun article, Sleepless director Nora Ephron became a huge fan of the Exchange after visiting it while scouting locations for the movie, so much so that she wound up eating lunch on the premises daily during the shoot. Ephron had a particular affinity for the tea room’s orange cupcakes and had them delivered by the dozen to the set on a regular basis for the cast and crew to enjoy. She was most taken by the place’s historic aesthetic, though, telling a reporter in 1992 that “It was out of time,” which fit perfectly with her vision of creating an enduring love story. She explained, “We had to do a movie about love that was also about movies about love that I want people to watch for 20 years. I don’t want them to say, ‘Oh, that was made in ’93.’” In my opinion, she succeeded. Sleepless in Seattle is just as touching and poignant today as it was when it first premiered 24 years ago. (Fun fact – Ephron cast longtime Exchange waitress Marguerite Schertle as Annie and Becky’s server in Sleepless. When the director asked her to say a few lines and to “pat” Annie and Becky in the scene, Schertle refused, saying, “Look, just let me do it my way.” She’d been an employee of the tea room for 45 years by that time, after all, and knew how to play the part. That’s her below in the blue uniform, which was her actual work attire.)

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Women’s Exchange, from Sleepless in Seattle, is located at 333 North Charles Street in Baltimore. You can visit the exchange’s official website here. The property, including the tea room and the store, is currently closed to the public.

February 17, 2017
The George Peabody Library from “Sleepless in Seattle”

The Grim Cheaper has never been much interested in filming locations, as I’ve mentioned many times before. He does love stalking them with me, though, as doing so usually involves seeing historic and unique spots. One site that absolutely bowled him over during our trip back east last September was the George Peabody Library in Baltimore. The locale first came on my radar way back in 1993 thanks to its appearance in fave movie Sleepless in Seattle. Once I started researching and viewing photographs of it online prior to our trip, I became a wee bit obsessed with its staggering beauty and knew I wasn’t leaving Charm City without stopping by.

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In February 1857, philanthropist George Peabody announced his plans to create a cultural center for the citizens of Baltimore consisting of an art gallery, a music school, and a library – but not just any library. As George conceived it, the place was to be an “extensive library, to be well furnished in every department of knowledge and of the most approved literature, which is to be maintained for the free use of all persons who may desire to consult it.”

HIs vision became a reality in 1878 when the Library of the Peabody Institute of the City of Baltimore opened to the public. Designed by local architect Edmund George Lind, the Renaissance Revival-style structure, while pretty, is rather non-descript on the outside.

It is the interior that had my tongue wagging.

Dr. Nathaniel H. Morison, the first provost of the Peabody Institute, wasn’t speaking in hyperbole when he described the library as a “cathedral of books.”

The building’s atrium-like interior is a dazzling array of cast iron balconies;

towering stacks featuring more than 300,000 volumes of books;

gold leaf columns that stretch six stories;

black and white marble flooring;

and a paned skylight that looms 61 feet above the ground, casting the space in gorgeous natural light.

As I walked through the library’s entrance doors, my jaw dropped to the floor.

I truly felt like Belle in Beauty and the Beast.

The George Peabody Library is easily one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited in my life.

In 1967, the City of Baltimore acquired the property and it became part of the Enoch Pratt Free Library.

Johns Hopkins University took over the space in 1982 and continues to own it today.

Open to students and visitors alike, the library is also used as a special events venue.

Not surprisingly, the George Peabody Library has become one of Baltimore’s most popular wedding locations.

Also not surprisingly, it has popped up numerous times onscreen.

In Sleepless in Seattle, Annie Reed (Meg Ryan) heads to the Peabody Library to visit her brother, Dennis (David Hyde Pierce), who works on the premises. While there, the two discuss Annie’s recent obsession with a widower she heard on the radio who lives in Emerald City. Dennis’ advice on the matter? “It rains nine months of the year in Seattle!” According to a 1992 The Baltimore Sun article, Sleepless director Nora Ephron was so enamored of the grand library that she changed Dennis’ profession in the script from a psychiatrist to a musicologist so that scenes could be shot there.

The library’s exterior was used in the movie, as well. In the scene, Annie drives west on East Mount Vernon Place and parks in front of the building. In reality, that move wouldn’t be allowed. Mount Vernon Place is a one-way street on which cars are only permitted to drive east.

In the 1990 drama Men Don’t Leave, Beth Macauley (Jessica Lange) rather loudly delivers a catered lunch from the bakery where she works to a music rehearsal taking place at the Peabody.

The Peabody Library very briefly appears as a Parisian music store where Catherine Sloper (Jennifer Jason Leigh) shops in the 1997 drama Washington Square.

The building pops up twice as the University of Baltimore’s library in 1999’s Liberty Heights.

The rear side of the Peabody, which can be found on Centre Street, masks as Hotel Cotesworth, where Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) hosts a large charity gala – and outsmarts some protestors, as well as a hotel union – in the Season 1 episode of House of Cards titled “Chapter 5.”

The Peabody’s lobby area also appeared in the episode.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The George Peabody Library, from Sleepless in Seattle, is located at 17 East Mount Vernon Place in Baltimore. The site is open Tuesday through Friday and admission is free. You can visit the library’s official website here. Terry Lambert’s (Steve Guttenberg) apartment from The Bedroom Window is located right across the street at 12 East Mount Vernon Place.

February 15, 2017