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  • “Christmas with the Kranks” Studio Locations

    Since I have been on such a Christmas with the Kranks kick as of late, I thought I’d finish out this year’s Yuletide posts by blogging about the movie’s studio locations.  The 2004 comedy was unusual in that it utilized the backlots of not one, not two, but three different L.A.-area studios!

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    The main backlot set featured in Christmas with the Kranks was the Hemlock Street neighborhood at the now defunct Downey Studios, formerly located at 12214 Lakewood Boulevard in Downey.  The residential complex, which took 12 weeks to construct at a cost of $5 million and was comprised of 16 Midwest-style homes, was built specifically for the movie after producers came up empty-handed searching for a Chicago-area community to use in the production.  When Christmas with the Kranks wrapped, Downey Studios chose to leave the expansive set intact to be used in future productions.  It subsequently popped up in Pineapple Express, Supernatural, 24, and the Jonas Brothers’ “Paranoid” music video.  Unfortunately, Downey Studios was shuttered in 2012 and all of its sets and soundstages razed, including Hemlock Street.  Today, a retail complex known as The Promenade at Downey stands on the site.

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    During the time that Downey Studios was in operation, the Hemlock Street homes were visible to passersby from nearby roads.  I stalked the place back in 2011 and seeing the façades was a thrill to say the least.  You can read a more extensive post I wrote about the former studio here.

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    Because Downey Studios lacked a downtown backlot set, the production team had to venture elsewhere to film the movie’s urban scenes.  They found what they were looking for (well, in part) at Universal Studios Hollywood, located at 100 Universal City Plaza in Universal City. It was in the studio’s New York Street area that cast and crew shot the scene involving Chip’s Market, where Luther Krank (Tim Allen) attempted to buy white chocolate and pistachios for his wife, Nora (Jamie Lee Curtis).

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    The Pumpkin Seed Paperie & Press stationary store, where Nora failed to place her annual Christmas card order, was also located on New York Street.  Unfortunately, the façades used in the movie were destroyed by a fire in 2008 and no longer exist.  You can see some images of them on The Studio Tour website here, here, here, and here.

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    Though not a backlot location, it bears mentioning that another spot at Universal made an appearance in Christmas with the Kranks.  One of the property’s restaurants, The Studio Grill by Wolfgang Puck, is where Nora lunched with her friends Merry (Felicity Huffman) and Candi (Caroline Rhea) at the beginning of the movie.  You can check out some photos of the eatery here.

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    For whatever reason, when it came time to film the scene in which Officers Salino (Cheech Marin) and Treen (Jake Busey) drive Blair Krank (Julie Gonzalo) and her new fiancé, Enrique Decardenal (Rene Lavan), home from the airport, producers chose not to utilize the Universal backlot, but instead headed over to Warner Bros. Studio, located at 3400 West Riverside Drive in Burbank.  (Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for the photo that appears below, which he took during one of the many WB tours that we’ve embarked upon together.)

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    The scene was shot on Warner Bros. Studio’s famed Hennesy Street.

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    The spot where the officers arrest a burglar in the scene can be found in the southeastern portion of Hennesy Street.

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    If that area looks familiar to my fellow stalkers, that’s because it should.  It has been immortalized in numerous iconic productions over the years.

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    I chronicled some of its onscreen appearances for both Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles, but figured it was worthy of a re-cap.

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    The same area of the backlot is most famous for being the site of the upside-down kiss in 2002’s Spider-Man.

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    It also served as the rear of the Hudson St. Home for Girls in the 1982 musical Annie.

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    The southeastern portion of Hennesy Street masked as the block in Okinawa, Japan where Sato’s (Danny Kamekona) dojo was located in 1986’s The Karate Kid Part II.

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    It was also there that Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston) introduced herself to Jean-Claude Van Damme in the Season 2 episode of Friends titled “The One After the Superbowl: Part 2.”

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    Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) attempted to smoke there in the Season 3 episode of Sex and the City titled “Escape from New York.”

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    And the area was also used as the exterior of Toby Cavanaugh’s (Keegan Allen) loft on Pretty Little Liars.

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    I would like to wish all of my fellow stalkers a very Merry Christmas!  I hope everyone has a safe and joyous holiday!  My posts in the coming week will be light, but I promise to be back in 2017 with lots of new content!

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

    Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

  • My Latest Mike the Fanboy Article – About Meeting Nicole Curtis!

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    Be sure to head over to Mike the Fanboy today to check out my latest article, about Rehab Addict star Nicole Curtis’ recent book signing at Cost Plus World Market.

  • Westside Pavilion from “Christmas with the Kranks”

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    Some cities know how to do Christmas right.  Sadly, Palm Springs is not one of them.  As I mentioned last year, the desert just seems to be lacking when it comes to Christmas décor.  Yes, there are lights and garland strung in certain sections of our local mall and colorful wreaths hung from a few select street lights, but overall the Coachella Valley doesn’t really have a holiday feel.  So much so that two years ago, the Grim Cheaper and I decided to make an annual December pilgrimage to Los Angeles so that we could shop in a city that truly embraces the holidays.  (You’d be hard-pressed to find a mall in L.A. that does not have a two- or three-story tree.  Now that’s how I want to do my Christmas shopping!)  Shortly before we ventured out this year, I discovered that Christmas with the Kranks had done some filming at Westside Pavilion, so we headed there first.  And it turned out to be a truly magical experience.  But more on that in a bit.

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    As I talked about in Friday’s post, earlier this month I set out to track down some unknown locations from Christmas with the Kranks.  After identifying the Irish pub from the 2004 comedy, I turned my focus on the mall where Nora Krank (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her husband, Luther Krank (Tim Allen), visited “Tans Forever” tanning booth.

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    While watching the scene, I noticed, via the escalators visible behind Nora and Luther, that the Christmas with the Kranks shopping center had three levels.  So I did a Google search for “three-story mall” and “Los Angeles” and was led to this LA Tourist article which mentioned the Westside Pavilion and its three floors of storefronts.  One look at images of the Pavilion told me that it was definitely the right place!  From there, I just had to figure out the exact spot where filming had occurred.

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    It was obvious in the scene that the Tans Forever storefront had been created on Westside Pavilion’s second floor.  And thankfully the names of a few neighboring businesses were visible in the background, including Shoe Care, Payless ShoeSource, and Regis Hairstylists.

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    A quick look at Westside Pavilion’s online map showed me that while Regis had since moved, Payless and Shoe Care were still located in the same area – on the mall’s second level near Macy’s.  So the Grim Cheaper and I headed right on over to that spot upon arriving at the shopping center.

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    To our surprise, as soon as we stepped off the escalator we noticed that a film shoot was taking place!  As we walked closer, I just about fainted upon realizing the shoot was for The Goldbergs, a show that the GC and I just recently started watching and are officially obsessed with.  The cast and crew honestly could not have been nicer and I will be doing a whole post on our experience as soon as the episode that was being filmed airs.

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    After watching The Goldbergs shoot for a bit, the GC and I attempted to figure out the exact spots where Christmas with the Kranks filming had taken place.  We pinpointed the escalator used in the movie easily enough.  In the scene, Nora and Luther use the down escalator situated near PacSun to go from the mall’s third level to the second.

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    Even though I knew the general vicinity, pinpointing the spot where the Tans Forever storefront had been set up proved more difficult.  It was not until I got home and enlisted the help of my friend/guest poster extraordinaire Michael (you can read his many amazing posts here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here) that I was able to figure it out.  As we discovered, the Tans Forever salon was created in what is now Kid’s Club (that’s the teal storefront in the photograph pictured below).

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    Thanks to some old Westside Pavilion maps that he found online, Michael learned that at the time of the filming the Kid’s Club space was vacant and had most recently housed a Ritz Camera.  Sadly, but not surprisingly, the storefront does not currently look anything like it did in Christmas with the Kranks.  Sadder still, while stalking the mall, I came to believe that a different shop had been used in the shoot, so I barely took any photos of Kid’s Club.

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    We did venture inside, though, while looking for some gifts for the kids on our list and, while the real life interior of the space was also used in Christmas with the Kranks, because it was a shop created especially for the movie, it currently bears no resemblance to its onscreen appearance.

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    Westside Pavilion has been featured in a few other holiday-themed productions, as well!  Though not a Christmas movie, in 1987’s No Man’s Land, Ted Varrick (Charlie Sheen) and Benjy Taylor (D.B. Sweeney) shop at – and steal a Porsche from – the mall during Christmastime.

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    The Season 5 holiday-themed episode of Modern Family titled “The Old Man and the Tree,” which aired in 2013, was also shot at Westside Pavilion.  It is there that Mitchell Pritchett (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) shops for a Puppy Pound toy for his daughter, Lily (Aubrey Anderson-Emmons), and that Alex Dunphy (Ariel Winter) and Haley Dunphy (Sarah Hyland) work as Mrs. Claus and an elf, respectively, for an absentee Santa Claus.

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    The mall has also appeared in a couple of non-Christmas-themed productions.  Tom Petty rode the escalators there in his 1989 “Free Fallin’” music video, which you can watch here.

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    And the exterior of the Pavilion was used in an establishing shot in the 1995 comedy Clueless.  (All of the movie’s interior mall scenes were lensed at Westfield Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks, which I blogged about here.)

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

    Big THANK YOU to my friend Michael for all of his help in pinpointing the Tans Forever storefront!  Smile

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    Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

    Stalk It: Westside Pavilion from Christmas with the Kranks is located at 10800 West Pico Boulevard in Rancho Park.  Filming took place on the second level in and around what is now Kid’s Club.  You can visit the mall’s official website here.

  • Du-par’s Restaurant and Bakery from “Christmas with the Kranks”

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    I don’t know what it is about Christmas movies, but I cannot watch them without crying.  Even the not-so-great ones make me bawl.  Case in point – the 2004 comedy Christmas with the Kranks.  While admittedly not one of the best Yuletide films, the Grim Cheaper and I watch it each year and I cry every.single.time.  After our recent annual watch, I decided to attempt to track down some of the flick’s unknown locales.  The spot at the top of my list was the Irish pub where Nora Krank (Jamie Lee Curtis) ate with her husband, Luther Krank (Tim Allen).  Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be a place I have dined at many times!

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    In Christmas with the Kranks, upon facing the prospect of spending the holidays without their daughter who has just joined the Peace Corps, Luther convinces Nora to skip Christmas.  Their friends and neighbors don’t take the decision lightly.  While dining at an Irish pub towards the beginning of the movie, Nora complains to Luther that she is the one having to deal with the fallout.  As she explains, “It’s us women who handle Christmas, not men.  I am the one taking the brunt for your harebrained scheme!  I am the one on the front lines!”

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    Besides the fact that the pub looked incredibly cozy in the scene, there’s pretty much nothing I love more than dining at movie restaurants, so it was a no-brainer that I wanted to track this spot down.  Unfortunately, I had a little trouble doing so due to the fact that not much of the eatery was shown onscreen and no notable clues were visible in the background.

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    The more I re-watched the scene, though, the more I had a sense that the restaurant was familiar to me – that I had been there before.  Then, all of a sudden, the green-hued bar-top visible behind Nora jumped out at me and I immediately knew where filming had taken place – the Hamburger Hamlet located at 214 South Lake Avenue in Pasadena.

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    I have dined at the Hamlet countless times over the years.  In fact, ironically enough, when I lived in Pasadena the eatery was a regular pit stop during the holidays.  Every December, my mom and I would inevitably pop in for a bite to eat while out Christmas shopping in the area.  Even more ironic, we would invariably sit in the bar, the exact area where Christmas with the Kranks was filmed!

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    Why I had such a tough time identifying the place is beyond me, but I am guessing it is because Hamburger Hamlet is not actually an Irish pub as was depicted in the movie and therefore is not decorated as such, it is not nearly as dark as it was portrayed to be onscreen, and only a tight shot of it was ever shown.  I really should have recognized the restaurant’s unique back room, though, which is visible behind Luther in the screen capture below.

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    Hamburger Hamlet’s rear room, which is strewn with spacious red leather arm chairs, is situated around a large central brick fire pit, made complete with a metal hood affixed to the ceiling.  As I said, it’s unique.  Being that the chains that anchor the hood to the ceiling were visible in the background of Christmas with the Kranks, this one really should have been an easy find.

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    Now you’re probably saying, “Wait a minute, the title of this post is ‘Du-par’s Restaurant and Bakery’ not ‘Hamburger Hamlet!’”  Sadly, the Pasadena Hamlet, which was originally established in 1967, shut its doors after almost fifty years in business on January 3rd, 2014.  A Du-par’s outpost was opened at the site the following morning.

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    I had yet to visit the location since Du-par’s took over and assumed that all of the décor had been changed.  I was thrilled to see, via the hundreds of photographs on Yelp, that that was not the case!  The eatery still looks exactly as it did during its Hamburger Hamlet days, i.e. wood paneling and red leather galore!

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    The GC and I headed over there to grab a bite a few days later and I am happy to report that the restaurant looks just as great in person as it did in the Yelp images.  And the food is darn good, too, though that did not come as a surprise being that I’ve always been a big fan of Du-par’s fare.  Any eatery that serves a hot turkey meal with all the fixings on a daily basis is A-ok in my book!

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    As I mentioned earlier, in Christmas with the Kranks, Nora and Luther sat in the restaurant’s bar area, pretty much in the exact spot where the pub table is situated in the images below.

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    I would like to wish a VERY happy birthday to my dad (and my uncle – his twin) – today!  Thank you for all the light and laughter you bring us on a daily basis (as evidenced by the photo below – I remember exactly what you said to me in that moment and still crack up whenever I think about it!), despite all your suffering!  I love you!

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

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    Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

    Stalk It: Du-par’s Restaurant and Bakery, aka the former Hamburger Hamlet, aka the Irish pub from Christmas with the Kranks, is located at 214 South Lake Avenue in Pasadena.

  • The Complete Guide to “Jerry Maguire” Filming Locations – Part II

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    The Complete Guide to Jerry Maguire Filming Locations, which I’ve partnered up with Greg Mariotti of The Uncool to compile, continues today!  In case you missed it, be sure to check out Part I here.

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    18. Cushman’s House – (Morehart Mercantile, 9016 Mupu Road, Santa Paula)

    “You know, I told myself, ‘He shows up, we stick with him.’” – Matt Cushman

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    Matt Cushman (Beau Bridges), whose word is stronger than oak, makes a verbal agreement to keep Jerry as his son Frank’s agent while in the living room of his Odessa, Texas ranch house. Filming actually took place at a home on the sprawling grounds of Morehart Mercantile, a feed and farm supply company in Santa Paula.

    19. Jerry, Ray and Dorothy’s Airport Goodbye – Terminal A Entrance, John Wayne Airport (18601 North Airport Way, Santa Ana)

    “Jerry, do you know the human head weighs eight pounds?” – Ray Boyd

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    Dorothy and Ray drop Jerry off at the airport before the NFL Draft outside of the entrance to Terminal A at the John Wayne Airport. While there, Dorothy fondly watches a father say goodbye to his wife and young son.

    20. Airport Gate – Terminal 6, Los Angeles International Airport (600 World Way, Westchester)

    “No, I am not Hootie.” – Rod Tidwell

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    Jerry, Rod and Cush meet up en route to the NFL draft at what is supposed to be the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.  While there, some young boys approach Rod for an autograph, mistakenly thinking he is Darius Rucker from Hootie & the Blowfish.  The scene was not actually lensed in the Peach State, but at Terminal 6 of the Los Angeles International Airport.  A replica of the suit Martin Luther King Jr. wore during his meeting with Lyndon B. Johnson, which has been on display at ATL since the 1980s, was created for the scene in exacting detail by production designer Clay Griffith.  It is visible just to the left of Rod in the above screen capture.

    21. New York Marriott Marquis – The L.A. Hotel Downtown (333 South Figueroa Street, downtown Los Angeles)

    “Rod, you know what was great about you down there? For about five minutes you unloaded that rather large chip that resides right there on your shoulder and, you know what? You let people in – and you were brilliant.” – Jerry Maguire

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    Jerry, Rod and Cush attend the NFL Draft not at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square as was stated in the movie, but at what was then the Sheraton Grande in downtown Los Angeles. The exterior, lobby, and mezzanine level of the upscale property, which became the L.A. Hotel Downtown in 2012, were heavily dressed with Marriott Marquis signage, convention booths, and football memorabilia for the draft segments, but are still largely recognizable. Don’t go looking for the gift shop or Cush’s hotel suite there, though. Those scenes were shot at Sony on sets built on Stage 21 and 22, respectively. The ballroom where Jerry and his goddess-of-rock-climbing fiancé Avery Bishop (Kelly Preston) break up can’t be found there, either . . .

    22. Avery and Jerry’s Break Up – International Ballroom, Hilton Los Angeles Airport (5711 West Century Blvd. Westchester)

    “I won’t let you hurt me, Jerry. I’m too strong for you. Loser!” – Avery Bishop

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    Though Jerry unceremoniously dumps Avery while at the NFL Draft, the scene was not shot at the L.A. Hotel Downtown where the other Draft segments were lensed, but in the International Ballroom at the Hilton Los Angeles Airport. Avery does not take the break-up well – “No one has ever dumped me!” – and repays Jerry with several uppercuts to the face and a knee to the groin. Imagine if he had gotten her the ring she really wanted! Howard Stern’s Artie Lang makes a cameo in this scene, but it was cut from the theatrical version. It will be included as an extended scene on the 20th Anniversary Blu-ray! Unfortunately, the International Ballroom has been remodeled significantly in recent years and no longer resembles its onscreen self.

    23. United Airlines Club Room – TWA Ambassadors Club, Los Angeles International Airport (Terminal 3, 300 World Way, Westchester)

    “See this jacket I’m wearing? You like it? Cause I don’t really need it because I am cloaked in failure!” – Jerry Maguire

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    The TWA Ambassadors Club in Terminal 3 of LAX was dressed to look like a United Airlines Red Carpet Club for the scene in which Jerry drowns his sorrows over losing both Cush and Avery during the Draft. The lounge was also utilized for the short segment at the beginning of the movie in which Calvin Nack (Brent Barry) won’t sign an autograph for a little boy. Today, the Ambassadors Club space houses the Virgin America Loft at LAX.

    24. Arizona Cardinals Training Facility (8701 South Hardy Drive, Tempe, Arizona)

    “These are the ABCs of me, baby!” – Rod Tidwell

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    Jerry watches a rather mediocre practice of Rod’s – and attempts to discuss Rod’s contract with Dennis – while on the western field of the Arizona Cardinals Training Facility in Tempe, Arizona. The property’s locker room and bathroom were also utilized for the famous “Help me help you” sequence in which Jerry explains the hardships of his job (“It is an up-at-dawn, pride-swallowing siege that I will never fully tell you about, OK?”) while Rod “air dries.” Sadly, that area of the site was gutted as part of a remodel in early 2015. The Arizona Cardinals Training Facility was also used during a few of the movie’s game sequences and was where Rod received medical treatment towards the end of the film.

    25. The Crocodile – Moody’s (333 South Figueroa Street, downtown L.A.)

    “Meet me at the Crocodile, 8 o’clock.” – Dennis Wilburn

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    Though Tempe did boast a popular hangout known as the Crocodile Café in the ‘90s, filming of the scene in which Dennis stands Jerry up was not actually shot there. Instead, an eatery named Moody’s located just off the lobby of the Sheraton Grande (now the L.A. Hotel Downtown) was utilized for the shoot. While the wood-paneled space has been shuttered for several years, it remains intact and still looks much the same as it did onscreen. You can see some more images of it here.

    26. Jerry and Dorothy’s First Date – Paco’s Tacos (4141 South Centinela Avenue, Del Rey)

    “You wanna go out to dinner?” – Jerry Maguire

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    For their first date, Jerry and Dorothy head to Del Rey staple Paco’s Tacos where the two enjoy a romantic meal of Mexican fare set to the tune of a Mariachi version of “Words Get in the Way.” Little of the property’s décor has changed since filming took place twenty years ago. Even the brightly-colored fish tank that Dorothy and Jerry sat next to still looks the same as it did onscreen. Nearly everything on the menu at the decades-old Paco’s is made fresh daily on the premises, including the tortillas which patrons can watch being sculpted by hand. The popular restaurant also popped up several times on the 1970s television series CHiPs.

    27. Rod’s Camel Chevrolet Commercial Shoot – Lost Dutchman State Park (6109 North Apache Trail, Apache Junction, Arizona)

    “I didn’t shoplift the pootie! Alright, I shoplifted the pootie.” – Jerry Maguire

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    Rod attempts to film a Camel Chevrolet commercial with an actual camel and then schools Jerry on the art of dating a single mom while at the base of the Superstition Mountains at the incredibly picturesque Lost Dutchman State Park. The 320-acre site was named after the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine and is a popular camping and hiking area, as well as a popular filming location, having also appeared in the 1987 comedy Raising Arizona.

    28. Veterans Stadium Press Box – Stage 21, Sony Studios (10202 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City)

    “Loser!” – Avery Boyd

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    Avery flashes Jerry the loser sign while in the press box of what is supposed to be Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia during one of Rod’s games. The box was actually a set, though, built at Sony on Stage 21.

    29. Veterans Stadium Exterior – Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (3911 South Figueroa Street, Exposition Park)

    “Not everyone has what you have.” – Jerry Maguire

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    Rod and Jerry share a heart-to-heart (which doesn’t end well) outside of Veterans Stadium after Rod’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Filming actually took place near the entrance to Gate 5 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, though. The Coliseum was used for several sequences in Jerry Maguire, including the scene in which Jerry is shown swimming underwater (that bit was shot at the property’s LA84 Foundation/John C. Argue Swim Stadium), the segment in which Sugar tries to poach Rod before the big game at the end of the movie, and the aforementioned scene from the opening montage in which Cush tosses footballs in “Odessa, Texas.”

    30. Restaurant Where Marci Goes into Labor – Reel Inn (1220 3rd Street, Santa Monica)

    “I hate you going to the movies alone without me.” – Rod Tidwell

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    A lunch date with Rod and Jerry and their families at the Reel Inn on the Santa Monica Promenade ends abruptly when Marcee Tidwell (Regina King) unexpectedly goes into labor. Sadly, the fish restaurant has since closed and today is an American Apparel store. The only aspect of the space that remains recognizable is its open ceiling and exposed ductwork. The Reel Inn’s sister eatery in Malibu remains a local staple, though, as it has been since it first opened in 1986.

    31. Jerry and Avery’s Airport Encounter – Tom Bradley International Terminal, Los Angeles International Airport (1 World Way, Westchester)

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    In a scene that was shot as an homage to the opening of The Graduate, Jerry and Avery pass each other while traveling in opposite directions on a moving walkway at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.

    32. Cardinals/Cowboys Game – Sun Devil Stadium (500 East Veterans Way, Tempe, Arizona)

    “No, no, no. No, wait, wait. Just – just let me enjoy this for a minute.” – Rod Tidwell

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    Jerry Maguire’s climactic final game was lensed at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. The thrilling segment, in which Jerry finally gets Rod to dance, was shot during an actual Cardinals/Cowboys football game. The scene in the hallway outside of the locker room following Rod’s big moment was also shot at Sun Devil Stadium, as was the segment in which Jerry runs to the field to get to Rod after his injury. The press box and football announcers sequences were not shot on location at the arena, though, but were sets built on Stage 21 at Sony.

    33. The Up Close Show – Stage 8, Sony Studios (10202 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City)

    “Jerry Maguire, my agent – you are my ambassador of kwan, man!” – Rod Tiwell

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    Though Rod vows not to shed a tear while being interviewed by Roy Firestone (who played himself) on Up Close, he winds up wailing after receiving the news of his new $11.2-million/4-year offer from the Arizona Cardinals. Filming of the Up Close show scenes took place on Stage 8 at Sony Pictures Studios.

    34. Ray Tosses a Ball to Little Leaguers – Pote Field (4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Griffith Park)

    “Hey, I don’t have all the answers.  In life, to be honest, I’ve failed as much as I’ve succeeded.  But I love my wife.  I love my life.  And I wish you my kind of success.” – Dickie Fox

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    Jerry Maguire comes to a close at Pote Field in Griffith Park, where Ray impresses a group of Little League players – and Jerry – as he tosses back an errant ball before walking hand-in-hand with Jerry and Dorothy off into the sunset.  An alternate ending, where Jerry takes Ray to the zoo, will be featured on the 20th Anniversary Blu-Ray.

  • The Complete Guide to “Jerry Maguire” Filming Locations – Part I

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    Few romantic comedies appeal to both sexes. Even fewer are responsible for adding instantly recognizable catch phrases to the lexicon. And fewer still remain engaging and poignant decades after the fact. Jerry Maguire is one such film. Amazingly, the Cameron-Crowe-directed flick turns twenty today! Yes, as implausible as it may seem, Jerry Maguire first hit the big screen on December 13th, 1996. The movie has always been one of my favorites and remains just as loved in my household today as it did when it originally premiered. In honor of its 20th anniversary, I’ve teamed up with Greg Mariotti of Crowe’s official website, The Uncool, to uncover and compile a complete list of all of the film’s shooting locales, as well as some insider tidbits. So, without further ado, we present The Complete Guide to Jerry Maguire Filming Locations – Part I.  Stay tuned for Part II tomorrow.  And for those who want to soak up even more behind-the-scenes info, the movie’s 20th Anniversary Blu-ray, chock full of new extras, will be hitting shelves on January 3rd.

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    1. Opening Montage

    “So, this is the world and there are almost 6 billion people on it. When I was a kid, there were three. It’s hard to keep up.” – Jerry Maguire

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    The movie’s opening, in which successful sports agent Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) introduces the audience to several of his young clients, was shot at various athletic facilities across L.A., mainly in the San Gabriel Valley. The “Indiana” Basketball Court where Clark Hodd (Michael James Johnson), the best point guard in the country, shoots hoops is Robinson Park, located at 1081 North Fair Oaks Avenue in Pasadena. The area where Clark plays in the segment was remodeled in the mid-2000s and the number of courts reduced from four to two, so it looks a bit different today. Erica Sorgi (the All-American diver played herself) – “You’ll see her in the next Olympics!” – skips across the living room of a house at 972 Cornell Road in Pasadena before hurling off a diving board a few miles away at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center at 360 North Arroyo Boulevard. Dallas Molloy (also playing herself), whose lawsuit, as Jerry tells us, helped paved the way for women boxers everywhere, throws jabs in the boxing gym at Villa-Parke Community Center at 363 East Villa Street, again in Pasadena. The “Indio” baseball field where Art Stallings (Jordan Ross) shows us what pure joy looks like is Pote Field at 4730 Crystal Springs Drive in Griffith Park. The “Great Frank Cushman” (Jerry O’Connell) tosses a pigskin at what is supposed to be an Odessa, Texas stadium, but, in reality, he is at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum at 3911 South Figueroa Street in Exposition Park. And Brookside Golf Course at 1133 Rosemont Avenue in Pasadena is where a young golfer (Brandon Christianson) throws a club at his coach.

    2. NFL Owners Meeting – The Westin Los Angeles Airport (5400 West Century Boulevard, Westchester)

    “Now I’m the guy you don’t usually see. I’m the one behind the scenes. I’m the sports agent.” – Jerry Maguire

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    Following the opening, the scenery shifts to an NFL owners meeting taking place in the bustling lobby of what was then the LAX DoubleTree Hotel, but today is The Westin Los Angeles Airport. There, Jerry wheels and deals for his various clients, trying to secure a $14-million-per-year/5-year offer for one player. Hey, no one said winning was cheap!

    3. Sports Management International Exterior – Brickell Bay Office Tower (1001 Brickell Bay Drive, Miami, Florida)

    “33 out-of-shape agents guiding the careers of 1,685 of the most finely tuned athletes alive.” – Jerry Maguire

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    Though Jerry Maguire was lensed solely in California and Arizona, an establishing shot of downtown Miami’s sleek Brickell Bay Office Tower was used to represent the exterior of Sports Management International, aka SMI, where Jerry and his fellow agents work.

     

    4. SMI Interior – Stage 23, Sony Pictures Studios (10202 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City)

    “I will not rest until I have you holding a Coke, wearing your own shoe, playing a Sega game featuring you, while singing your own song in a new commercial starring you, broadcast during the Super Bowl in a game that you are winning – and I will not sleep until that happens.” –  Jerry Maguire

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    The interior of the Sports Management International office was an elaborate set that took up almost all of Stage 23 at Sony Pictures Studios. The sprawling two-story space, which was inspired by the office in Billy Wilder’s The Apartment, was comprised of a large central bullpen containing rows upon rows of desks, surrounded by a perimeter of windowed private offices and meeting rooms. The views visible from the various office suites were created via a large backdrop made from a photograph taken from a building at Newport Center, located at 620 Newport Center Drive in Newport Beach.

    A deleted office scene, which will be featured on the 20th Anniversary Blu-ray, was shot on the top floor of the parking structure located at 600 Corporate Pointe in Culver City.

    5. Houston Police Station – Airport Center Parking Garage (5250 West Century Boulevard, Westchester)

    “Listen, there’s no proof of anything, except this guy is a sensational athlete.” – Jerry Maguire

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    The world of sports starts to lose its luster for Jerry when his football player client is arrested for statutory rape and taken to a “Houston police station.” Filming of the scene actually took place in the parking garage at Airport Center near LAX.

    6. Steve Remo’s Hospital Room – Veterans Administration Medical Center (5901 East 7th Street, Long Beach)

    “It would take a tank to stop your dad. It would take all five Super Trooper VR Warriors to stop your dad.” – Jerry Maguire

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    Jerry gets a reality check – and the finger! – courtesy of a client’s young son at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Long Beach. The hospital segments involving Steve Remo (Toby Huss) and his family were the first of the film to be shot.

    The scenes featuring Jerry’s idol Dicky Fox, who was played by Jared Jussim – a lawyer at Sony – were also shot on location at the medical facility.

    7. Airport Shuttle (California Avenue and Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica)

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    Though there is no airport in the vicinity in real life, the scene in which Jerry is shown riding in a Budget car rental shuttle down a rainy street was shot on Ocean Avenue just north of California Avenue in Santa Monica.

    8. Miami Corporate Conference Hotel – Long Beach Marriott (4700 Airport Plaza Drive, Long Beach)

    “And then it happened. It was the oddest, most unexpected thing. I began writing what they call a mission statement. Not a memo – a mission statement. You know, a suggestion for the future of our company.” – Jerry Maguire

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    The “Miami” hotel where Jerry and his fellow agents attend a corporate conference is actually a conglomeration of three different locations. The elevator bay, front desk and atrium-like lobby where Jerry receives a standing ovation after handing out his mission statement can be found at the Long Beach Marriott. Jerry’s actual room, where he stays up all night writing the statement (“And I’m not even a writer!”), was a set built on Stage 21 at Sony. And the stairwell Jerry runs down while on his way to the Copymat is the back staircase of the Sydney Poitier Building at Sony Pictures Studios.

    9. Copymat – Kinko’s (6301 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood)

    “That’s how you become great, man. Hang your balls out there.” – Copymat Jesus

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    The “Miami” Copymat where Jerry prints 110 copies of his The Things We Think and Do Not Say mission statement – even the cover looks like Catcher in the Rye! – was actually a Kinko’s located on Sunset Boulevard in the heart of Hollywood. The site was razed in 2002 in order to make way for Sunset + Vine, a 750,000-square-foot mixed-used development comprised of upscale apartments, restaurants and retail stores. Fun fact – Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains portrayed the “Copymat Jesus” in the scene.

    10. Airplane Ride – Stage 21, Sony Pictures Studios (10202 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City)

    “First class is what’s wrong, honey. It used to be a better meal. Now it’s a better life.” -Dorothy Boyd

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    Dorothy Boyd (Renée Zellweger) longingly listens to Jerry tell the tale of his engagement from afar while sitting in a coach seat on a plane ride from Miami to Los Angeles. The scene, along with the movie’s other airplane sequences, was shot on Stage 21 at Sony.

    11. Baggage Claim – Terminal A, John Wayne Airport (18601 Airport Way, Santa Ana)

    “I know who you are. You’re Dorothy Boyd. You’re in accounts. You have the side middle cubicle with a poster of Albert Einstein’s face morphed onto Shaquille O’Neal’s body.” – Jerry Maguire

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    It is at Baggage Claim 2 in Terminal A of the John Wayne Airport that Dorothy loses Ray (Jonathan Lipnicki) – and tells Jerry how much she loves his “memo.” John Wayne was featured in many of Jerry Maguire’s airport segments, including the scene towards the end of the movie in which Jerry rushes through a quiet terminal hallway to get home to Dorothy, which was shot in front of the car rental counters. Cameron returned to this location in 2004 to shoot Elizabethtown. It was the first film to use the airport, post 9/11.

    12. Jerry’s Condo (3811 Ocean Front Walk #1, Marina del Rey)

    “There’s no real loyalty. And the first person who told me that, Jerry Maguire, was you!” – Avery Bishop

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    A contemporary 2-bedroom, 3-bath, 2,368-square-foot condo overlooking the ocean in Marina del Rey serves as Jerry’s sleek home in the film. The pad’s interiors, including kitchen and living room, appear throughout the movie, though Jerry’s bedroom was a set built on Stage 21 at Sony. Interestingly, the property performed triple duty in Jerry Maguire. Not only did it portray Jerry’s residence, but it was also utilized as Cardinals General Manager Dennis Wilburn’s (Glenn Frey) office and Jerry’s hotel room in the scene in which the two speak on the phone about Rod Tidwell’s (Cuba Gooding Jr.) contract. The condo recently sold on October 27th, 2015 for $2,754,000.

    The exterior of a home two doors up the street at 3719 Ocean Front Walk was used as the exterior of Jerry’s condo in a scene that wound up on the cutting room floor.

    13. Jerry’s Bachelor Party – Grand Havana Room (301 North Canon Drive #215, Beverly Hills)

    “He cannot be alone.” “He – he can’t be alone.” “He’s almost phobic.” – Jerry’s former girlfriends

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    Jerry’s bachelor party, where he comes face to face with his greatest fear of being alone via a humorous video clip starring his many former flames, is held in the private, members-only Grand Havana Room in Beverly Hills. The exclusive cigar club, which was originally established in April 1995, is still in operation today and looks much the same as it did onscreen in Jerry Maguire.

     

    14. Cronin’s Restaurant – Café Figaro (9010 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood)

    “What about me? You know what I went through knowing I was gonna have to fire my mentor? Carrying that around in my head for a week! Could you get past yourself for a second?” – Bob Sugar

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    The now defunct West Hollywood eatery Café Figaro masked as Cronin’s, the busy restaurant where Bob Sugar (Jay Mohr) fires Jerry in the movie. The kitschy spot, which was decorated with decoupaged newspaper articles and Tiffany lamps, was originally established in 1969 and remained in operation through 1997. The site has since gone through numerous remodels and restaurant iterations and today houses Au Fudge, the insanely popular, ultra-chic and innovative kid-friendly bistro founded in part by actress Jessica Biel. Both the interior and exterior of the space were utilized in Jerry Maguire.

    15. Kathy Sanders’ House – Stage 21, Sony Pictures Studios (10202 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City)

    “Oh, Jerry!” – Kathy Sanders

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    Jerry’s client Kathy Sanders (Angela Goethals) feigns anguish over Jerry’s firing at a set built on Stage 21 at Sony. The scene was inspired by a similar event in Cameron Crowe’s life in which, thanks to faulty call-waiting, the director caught an actress in pretend agony over deciding not to take a part in one of his films.

    16. Rod Tidwell’s House (1760 Kirsten Lee Drive, Westlake Village)

    “I’m a valuable commodity! I go across the middle. I see a dude coming at me, trying to kill me, I tell myself ‘Get killed. Catch the ball.’ Booyah! Touchdown! I make miracles happen!” – Rod Tidwell

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    It is at a large Mediterranean-style home situated on a quiet cul-de-sac at the top of a hill in Westlake Village that one of the most famous sequences in all of moviedom was shot. While standing in the pink-tiled kitchen of his supposed Arizona residence, Rod delivers his famous “Show me the money!” speech and Jerry secures his one client. The scenes at the Tidwell home were the last of the movie to be filmed and both interiors and exteriors were utilized in the shoot.

    17. Dorothy’s House (527 23rd Street, Manhattan Beach)

    “Don’t cry at the beginning of a date. Cry at the end, like I do.” – Laurel Boyd

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    Dorothy and her sister Laurel’s (Bonnie Hunt) charming yellow bungalow can be found on a sleepy street in Manhattan Beach, looking much the same as it did onscreen twenty years ago. Though the interior of the sisters’ home, including the kitchen, living room, Dorothy’s bedroom, and Ray’s bedroom, was a large set built on Stages 22 and 23 at Sony, it was modeled partly upon the residence’s actual 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,820-square-foot interior. The wooded backyard, where Dorothy and Jerry got married and then later broke up, was also a set built on Stage 22. A bedroom located in the home next door at 529 23rd Street was also utilized as part of Dorothy’s house.

    Be sure to check out Part II of The Complete Guide to Jerry Maguire Filming Locations here!

  • Virginia O’Hanlon’s Former House

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    I still believe in Santa Claus.  Yes, you read that right.  Though I am fast approaching 40, the magic and wonderment of the Christmas season remain very real to me.  My feelings on the subject can best be summed up by Francis Pharcellus Church’s famed 1897 The New York Sun editorial penned in response to a letter from eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon, who asked the age-old query “Is there a Santa Claus?”  Church’s reply, which assured her and the audience at large that “Yes, Virginia, there is!,” stated that without Kris Kringle, “There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence.  We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight.  The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.”  I remember reading the editorial as a young adult and reveling in Church’s encouragement of a belief in things that can’t be seen.  So when my friend Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, informed me that he knew the location of Virginia’s former house, where she wrote her famous letter, I just about died of excitement and headed right on over there while in New York this past April.

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    This location was an easy find for Owen.  When I asked if he remembered how he came across Virginia’s address, he replied, “I definitely recall how I found that one.  It took an incredible amount of investigative work and persistence on my part.  Here’s the lengthy story: I found a picture of the original 1897 letter to the editor in The Sun newspaper.”  Ha!  Nicely done, Owen!

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    Virginia’s former residence, one of a set of six attached brownstones, was originally constructed in the late 1880s.  The four-story property, as well as its neighbors, was designed by architect Charles T. Mott for developer Charles Bouton.  In 1896, Dr. Philip O’Hanlon, who worked as the City’s Coroner’s Physician, his wife, Laura Lincoln Plumb, and their daughter, Laura Virginia, leased the red-brick home.

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    As the story goes, the following summer, young Virginia came to her father with the query ‘Does Santa Claus really exist?’  His rather deflective response was to suggest Virginia write a letter to The New York Sun about the matter.  The newspaper published her letter, which I’ve recreated below, as part of an editorial on September 21st, 1897.  You can take a look at Virginia’s original note here.  And yes, the original does still exist.  It was appraised on Antiques Roadshow in 2012 (It’s worth?  $20,000 to $30,000!) and today belongs to Virginia’s great-grandson.

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    The man tasked with the fateful job of composing a reply was the assistant to the editor, Francis Pharcellus Church, though his authorship went unknown until shortly after his passing in 1906, as the editorial was originally published unsigned.  The Sun readers were quick to embrace Church’s poignant and heartfelt prose and over the years many wrote in asking for the editorial to be republished.  The newspaper eventually complied and began featuring the column annually in 1920.  It has gone on to become one of the most reprinted editorials in history.  You can check out a picture of one of the many reprints, which I’ve re-created below, here.

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    Virginia and her family remained in the home at 115 West 95th for four years, at which time her parents purchased a pad just a few doors away at 121 West 95th.  After the O’Hanlons moved out, Virginia’s former residence became a boarding house and then, in 1957, was divided into apartments.  Eight years later, it was acquired by the city, along with its five neighbors, and left vacant.  By that time, the properties had fallen into disarray and the city intended to fix them up as part of an urban renewal project.  Those plans never came to fruition, though, and it was not long before the dwellings became the subject of a heated real estate battle.

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    In the 1970s, Jeanne L. Beatty, founder and president of the West 95th Street Development Corp., purchased the six homes from the city, along with five others on the street.  She rehabbed five of the properties, but the remaining six, including Virginia’s, were left to essentially rot.  Jeanne blamed a bad loan and construction complications.  Neighbors blamed Jeanne’s greed – despite their dereliction, the residences had risen considerably in value and locals believed Beatty wanted to hold onto them for as long as possible to squeeze as much revenue out of them as she could.  A lawsuit was eventually filed against Jeanne and the brownstones continued to sit untouched, dilapidating further, as the legal battle forged ahead.  Finally, in 1992, the city repossessed the homes and sold them off.  Virginia’s house was purchased by a man named Moshe Shrem, who began renovations.  He converted the property back to a single-family residence and in 2001 it hit the market for a cool $2.7 million.  The story doesn’t end there, though.  Two years later, the dwelling, along with its neighbor to the west, was purchased by The Studio School, a private elementary/middle school.  The two homes were combined into one large learning facility and The Studio School began holding classes on the premises in September 2007.  Two years later, the school honored Virginia by affixing a plaque to the front of the building commemorating its famous former resident and the historic event that took place there more than a century prior.

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    A close-up view of the plaque is pictured below.

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    Sadly, the front door of Virginia’s home was removed during The New School renovations, so the property looks a bit different today than it did when the O’Hanlons lived there.

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    As you can see below, the entrance to The Studio School is through a pine wood door located at the property to the left of Virginia’s former home at 117 West 95th Street, while 115 West 95th has no entrance.  You can see what the residence looked like before the doorway was removed in this 1967 photo.

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    Thankfully, the casing around Virginia’s former door is still intact, so it is possible to make out where it was situated, which is just below the 115 address marker.

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    Today, a window occupies that space.

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    A staircase leading to the basement level of the school was also added to the front of the property during the renovations.  The rest of the original façade appears to have been left intact, though.

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    While researching Virginia’s former home, I came across this photo of it taken during Christmastime.  The decorations are absolutely beautiful!  Oh, how I wish I could have seen it all decked out for the holidays!

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

    Big THANK YOU to my friend Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, for telling me about this location!  Smile

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    Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

    Stalk It: Virginia O’Hanlon’s former house is located at 115 West 95th Street on New York’s Upper West Side.

  • Atlas Sausage from “Surviving Christmas”

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    My blog is likely to be light on content over the next month, as I have quite a few trips and excursions planned.  As such, I figured there was no time like the present to begin my Christmas-themed postings.  So here goes.  (I also have a very exciting non-Christmas-related article hitting the blog next week, so stay tuned for that!)  Finding filming locations is often akin to solving puzzles for me – and I love solving puzzles.  So when I spot a clue in the background of a movie or television show, no matter how brief or insignificant the scene, it seems to call to me and I cannot help but attempt to figure out where the segment was shot.  Such was the case with the butcher shop featured fleetingly in Surviving Christmas.

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    For those who have yet to watch the 2004 Christmas comedy (and you really should – it’s fabulous), it centers around millionaire ad exec Drew Latham (Ben Affleck), who, after finding himself alone at Christmastime, returns to his childhood home in Arlington Heights, Indiana and pays the family who now lives there $250,000 in exchange for them allowing him to move back in for the holidays.  During his stay, he upsets patriarch Tom Valco (James Gandolfini) by polishing off all of his beloved salami.  So Tom heads to his local butcher to replenish his processed meat supply, donning a Santa hat per Drew’s request.

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    While watching the scene, I spotted a sign pasted on the butcher shop door.  Though pictured backwards and partially cut off, it was apparent that the lettering spelled out “Atlas Sausage.”  Even though the segment was brief (like blink-and-you’ll-miss-it brief), seeing that sign was like kryptonite to me – I couldn’t not at least attempt to track the place down.  It turned out to be a short hunt – one quick Google search for “Atlas Sausage” and “Los Angeles” yielded a listing for a market by that name at 10626 Burbank Boulevard in North Hollywood.  While the exterior of the butcher shop was not shown in Surviving Christmas, I knew I had hit pit dirt when I saw that the diagonally-placed entrance door visible via Street View matched the diagonally-placed door that appeared onscreen.  Sadly, Atlas Sausage closed down in the summer of 2003, shortly after Surviving Christmas filmed there in February of that same year, but I still headed right on out to stalk the locale nonetheless.

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    Atlas Sausage, or Atlas Sausage Kitchen as it was also known, was established in the 1940s and was a Valley landmark for the 60-plus years it remained in operation.  All of the sausages sold at the market were made by hand – on the original wooden smokehouse that was in place since the day the store opened.

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    After the market closed in July 2003 (much to the chagrin of SoCal meat lovers, some of whom would travel from as far as San Diego to get their hands on Atlas’ links), the site sat vacant.  In August 2006, Big Papi’s Rib Shack, or Big Papi’s Barbeque as it was also called, set up shop on the premises.  Google Street View images of the property during its Big Papi’s tenure are pictured below.

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    The eatery did not last long, shutting its doors in January 2008.

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    Today, the space houses State Automotive Supply, which is rather ironic as a 1992 Los Angeles Times article about Atlas Sausage described the market as being “located in an industrial neighborhood with more than its share of automotive repair shops.”

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    I ventured inside State Automotive while I was stalking the place and, sadly, the interior looks entirely different today than it did when it appeared in Surviving Christmas.  The space has actually been remodeled twice since Atlas Sausage closed, first when Big Papi’s moved in.  The inside of the restaurant is pictured below via images I snapped from this “How to Serve BBQ Sausage” tutorial that was filmed on the premises.  As you can see, it does not resemble the Surviving Christmas butcher shop in the slightest, though the rear brick wall that was visible in the movie was still intact at the time.  The site was then remodeled once again prior to State Automotive’s opening.  I did not take any photos of the inside as it is now rather cramped due to the fact that the vast majority of the building is currently used as storage for the shop’s inventory, which leaves just a small alcove area accessible to the public.  When Atlas Sausage was in operation, the Los Angeles Times said this of its interior, “Plain shelves on plain walls hold scores of mustards and dozens of rye breads.  The enormous collection of German beers, hidden away in a nondescript cooler, could easily be overlooked.  A deceptively modest display of sausages and unsliced cold cuts occupies several utilitarian butcher cases.”  All of that gibes with what was shown in Surviving Christmas.  Oh, how I wish I could have seen the place back then!  I absolutely love local specialty shops!

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

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    Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

    Stalk It: State Automotive Supplies, aka the former Atlas Sausage from Surviving Christmas, is located at 10626 Burbank Boulevard in North Hollywood.

  • The Dorchester from “Mannequin”

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    I’ve made no secret of my love for Mannequin over the past few months.  As I’ve mentioned, my sole reason for heading to Philadelphia this past September was to stalk locales from the 1987 comedy, one of which was The Dorchester, the building where Jonathan Switcher’s (Andrew McCarthy) girlfriend Roxie (Carole Davis) lived.  (You can read my posts on Jonathan’s apartment here and the eatery where Jonathan and Roxie dined here.  And don’t worry, I will be writing an extensive article on Wanamaker’s department store soon!)

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    Thankfully, the locale was an easy find.  Not only has The Dorchester’s appearance in Mannequin been well-documented online for years, but its name was clearly visible in the movie.

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    Construction on The Dorchester began in 1960.  The L-shaped concrete building, which opened to the public in 1964, was designed by Milton M. Schwartz & Associates.

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    The upscale, 32-story property boasts 545 individually-owned condominium units (or 542 depending on which website you happen to be reading), a gym, a rooftop pool, an underground garage, valet parking, an on-site spa, and a 24-hour doorman.

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    The building is situated just steps away from picturesque Rittenhouse Square, an oft-filmed park that I will be blogging about soon.

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    The Dorchester only appears once in Mannequin, in an early scene in which Jonathan attempts to apologize to Roxie for standing her up the night before.  His efforts are thwarted by Roxie’s amorous foreign co-worker, Armand (Christopher Maher), though, who shows up and offers Roxie a lift to work, calling out in his broken English, “Hey, hey, Roxie, you look foxy!  Can I ride you?”

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    That’s Rittenhouse Square visible behind Jonathan in the background of the scene.

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    I am 99.9% certain that the 80s-fabulous interior of Roxie’s condo was a set.  (Her gold lamé blouse fits right in with the décor!)  You can see what the actual interior of some Dorchester units look like here.

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    The Dorchester has also popped up in a few other productions.  The building’s lobby masked as the hospital that T.J. Hammond (Sebastian Stan) was discharged from in the Season 1 episode of Political Animals titled “Resignation Day,” which aired in 2012.  You can see photographs of the lobby here.

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    The Dorchester’s entrance was also used as the entrance to the building where Dr. Lena Solis (Alana De La Garza) lived on the 2013 television series Do No Harm.

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    Some filming of an as-of-yet untitled Kathryn Bigelow movie about the 1967 Detroit riots also took place at The Dorchester this past summer.

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    Though The Dorchester can’t be seen due to the fact that the camera is facing away from it, the street that runs along the building’s southern side was used in the 2010 romcom How Do You Know as the spot where Charles (Jack Nicholson) tries to tell George (Paul Rudd) that he thinks his phone is bugged.

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    That same area was also visible in the background of Mannequin.

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

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    Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

    Stalk It: The Dorchester, aka Roxie’s condo from Mannequin, is located at 226 West Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia.

  • Martin’s Tavern – Where JFK Proposed to Jackie

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    I consider myself to be a pretty good stalker, but my good friend Lavonna puts me to shame.  Prior to my recent trip to Washington, D.C. with the Grim Cheaper, I painstakingly researched filming locations and area landmarks to check out while we were in town and compiled an extensive list of must-see places.  So imagine my surprise when, while strolling around Georgetown, I received a text from Lavonna asking if we were planning to dine at Martin’s Tavern, the spot where, as legend has it, then Senator John F. Kennedy proposed to Jacqueline Bouvier in 1953.  Amazingly, I had not come across any information about the historic restaurant during any of my research.  So I made an impromptu addition to my D.C. Must-Stalk List and headed right on over to Martin’s to grab lunch.

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    Originally established in 1933, Martin’s Tavern is D.C.’s oldest family-owned restaurant.  The eatery was founded by William S. Martin, an Irish immigrant who came to American in the late 1890s, and his son William G. Martin, a Georgetown graduate who played professional football, baseball and basketball.

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    Though the Great Depression was in full swing at the time of Martin’s inception, the tavern managed to succeed.

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    In 1949, William G.’s son, William A. Martin, a Georgetown University Medical School graduate who was known for being a Golden Gloves boxer and Pro-Am golfer, came onboard.  Today, his son, Billy Martin, runs the restaurant.  And it is still going strong.

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    Martin’s Tavern has long been a celebrity and politico hotspot.  In fact, aside from Obama, every president from Harry Truman on has dined on the premises.

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    Martin’s main claim to fame, though, is the JFK/Jackie proposal.  As the story goes (and there are some that dispute it), on the evening of June 24th, 1953, while sitting in Booth 3, John F. Kennedy asked for his girlfriend Jackie’s hand in marriage.  She said yes, of course, and the rest is very well-publicized history.

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      Today, there is a plaque displayed on the side of the wooden booth denoting it as the “Proposal Booth.”

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    Whether the story is true or not (and Martin’s recently found a witness who backs up the claim), what cannot be disputed is the fact that JFK was a frequent patron of the restaurant during his time as a senator, popping in for breakfast every Sunday morning after church.

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    It is not hard to see why he was such a fan of the place.  I fell in love with Martin’s Tavern, and its cozy low-lit, wood-paneled, Tiffany-lamp-strewn interior, pretty much on site.

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    Though the restaurant’s history alone was enough to have me drooling, the food was pretty incredible, as well.  I can honestly say that Martin’s crab cakes (made from a 60-year-old family recipe) were some of the best I’ve ever had in my life.  And the staff could not have been more friendly or welcoming.  When I expressed an interest in the eatery’s background, our server took me on a little tour of the place and told me all sorts of stories about its vibrant past.

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    While doing research for this post, I came across several mentions of Martin’s Tavern’s appearance in The Exorcist III.  I scanned through the 1990 horror flick, though, and did not see the establishment pop up anywhere.  Upon digging further, I stumbled upon the DC Ladies blog, which states that the restaurant was featured in the first twenty minutes of the 1979 original The Exorcist as the spot where Father Merrin (Martin von Sydow) ordered a beer.  Well, there is no such scene in the movie, but there is an early segment in which Father Karras (Jason Miller) asks Tom (Thomas Bermingham) for a transfer over a couple of brewskies at a busy bar.  Very little of the watering hole can be seen in the scene, though, and while what is shown looks very much like Martin’s, I cannot say with any certainty that filming took place there.

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

    Big THANK YOU to Lavonna for telling me about this location! Smile

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    Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

    Stalk It: Martin’s Tavern is located at 1264 Wisconsin Avenue in Georgetown.  You can visit the eatery’s official website here.  JFK is said to have proposed to Jackie in Booth 3.