film locations – IAMNOTASTALKER

April 28, 2010April 27, 2010

Viola’s Mansion from “Monster-in-Law”

The second Monster-in-Law location that I set my sights on tracking down this past weekend was the gargantuan mansion owned by Viola Fields (aka Jane Fonda) in the flick. Once again, fellow stalker Nick had done most of the legwork on this one by discerning that the house was located in Pasadena and had been built in 1927 by famed Los Angeles-area architect Wallace Neff, the very same man who was responsible for designing King Gillette Ranch (aka the Biggest Loser Ranch) and the dwelling where Brad and Jen lived during most of their five year marriage. But even though Nick had provided me with that wealth of information, for some reason, I had a very difficult time finding this particular residence. As fate would have it, not only did Wallace Neff design quite a few homes in the Pasadena area, but the vast majority of them were Mediterranean in style and extremely similar in appearance to the Monster-in-Law mansion. So, I once again headed over to fave bookstore Vroman’s with the hope that it could provide me with some Wallace Neff insight. And, sure enough, it did! As was the case with Kevin’s house from Monster-in-Law, which I blogged about yesterday, Viola’s mansion was chronicled in the very first book in which I looked – Wallace Neff: Architect of California’s Golden Age.

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In real life, the Monster-in-Law mansion is known as the “George O. Noble House” and, as I mentioned above, it was designed by Wallace Neff in 1927. The Spanish Revival-style abode boasts six bedrooms, five bathrooms, and a whopping 8,971 square feet of living space. And, while it once sat on over three acres of land, much of the parcel was subdivided in later years and the property currently encompasses “only” 1.2 acres. Sadly, though, not much of the residence is visible from the street.

But, as I’ve said before, that’s why God created aerial maps! 😉 As you can see in the above image, the George O. Noble House is not only stunning, but absolutely ginormous!

The mansion was featured quite a few times in Monster-in-Law . . .

. . . most notably in the scene in which Charlie Cantilini (aka Jennifer Lopez) and Kevin Fields (aka Michael Vartan) get married.

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And, thanks to a photograph provided in the book Architectural Realism, you can see that the mansion’s real life interior was also used in the flick.

The George O. Noble House also appeared in the 2009 horror flick Drag Me to Hell as the residence belonging to Clay Dalton’s (aka Justin Long’s) parents. And, as was the case with Monster-in-Law, the real life interior of the residence was also used in the movie.

A few other Monster-in-Law locations can also be found in the Pasadena area, including the Ross House, which I blogged about yesterday, and the Bundy House, aka the Governor’s mansion from Benson, which was used as the home of one of Charlie’s dog walking employers (pictured above). And, yes, I did also find Charlie’s apartment building from Monster-in-Law. Tune in tomorrow for that location. 🙂

Big THANK YOU to Nick for helping me find this location! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The George O. Noble house, aka Viola’s mansion from Monster-in-Law, is located at 675 Burleigh Drive in Pasadena. The Governor’s Mansion from Benson is located at 1365 South Oakland Avenue in Pasadena.

April 27, 2010April 27, 2010

Charlie and Kevin’s House from “Monster-in-Law”

A couple of weeks ago, fellow stalker Nick challenged me to track down all of the residences used in the 2005 romantic comedy Monster-in-Law, including Charlie Cantilini’s (aka Jennifer Lopez’s) Mediterranean-style apartment building, Kevin Fields’ (aka Michael Vartan’s) Craftsman house, and Viola Fields’ (aka Jane Fonda’s) opulent mansion. Nick had already done most of the heavy lifting for this particular hunt by narrowing down the cities in which each of the dwellings was located. All that was left for me to do was pinpoint the exact address of each location. So, this past Saturday night, my fiancé and I finally sat down to watch Monster-in-Law for the first time. I didn’t actually expect to like the movie, but I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised – it’s a really cute flick! Anyway, the first house I set my sights on finding was the large Craftsman bungalow where Kevin, and later Charlie, lived in the movie. Nick had ascertained that this particular house was located somewhere in Pasadena and I had a hunch that, due to its stunning Craftsman-style architecture, it was most likely a famous residence. So, on Sunday morning, I headed over to fave bookstore, Vroman’s, to take a peek at some Pasadena area architectural guidebooks and, sure enough, I found the Monster-in-Law house in the very first one in which I looked. Yay!

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In real life, the Monster-in-Law house is known as the Ross House and it was designed in 1911 by Alfred and Arthur Heineman, the same architectural team who was responsible for giving us Dylan’s house from Beverly Hills, 90210 and the Eppes house from the television series Numb3rs. The Heineman brothers built the residence, which features Craftsman, Asian, and Neo-Classical design elements, for a rancher named Winslow Ross at a cost of $8,000. The house, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, boasts Batchelder tile work, a hand-painted mural, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a whopping 4,657 square feet of living space. And, let me tell you, it is absolutely beautiful in person!

The exterior of the Ross House showed up numerous times in Monster-in-Law.

As did the home’s large front porch.

But, according to the behind-the-scenes information featured in the movie’s DVD extras, the interiors were not filmed on location at the residence, but on a soundstage at Culver Studios in Culver City. As you can see in these photographs of the real life house, the actual interior doesn’t much look like its onscreen counterpart, which is pictured above. You can check out a more in-depth view of the set where filming took place on fave website Hooked On Houses.

While watching Monster-in-Law on Saturday night, I spotted an unusual-looking street sign in the background behind Jane Fonda in a scene that had been filmed in front of the house. I was hoping it would give me some sort of clue as to the residence’s exact location, but, try as I might, I could not for the life of me make out what the sign said. As it turned out, I didn’t end up needing the sign to find the house, but when I stalked the place on Sunday, I was absolutely dying to see that sign in person and of course, just had to take a picture with it. 🙂

Big THANK YOU to Nick for helping me find this location! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Ross House, aka Charlie and Kevin’s house from Monster-in-Law, is located at 674 Elliott Drive in Pasadena.

April 8, 2010April 7, 2010

Isabel’s House from the “Bewitched” Movie

Last week, fellow stalker Tony, from the On Location in Los Angeles flickr page, asked for my help in tracking down the residence belonging to Isabel Bigelow (aka Nicole Kidman) and her loyal cat, Lucinda, in the 2005 movie adaptation of the television series Bewitched. So, I, of course, immediately called upon “The Team” – aka fellow stalkers Owen, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and Chas, from ItsFilmedThere – to see if they could help me find it. Which they, of course, did! Owen fairly quickly came upon fave website Hooked on Houses’ awesome write up about the cottage which stated that it was located somewhere in L.A.’s San Fernando Valley. And because the house’s address number – 4427 – was also visible in the movie, we had two very strong leads to follow. Owen immediately began searching the Valley – once he figured out exactly what part of Los Angeles constituted “The Valley”, something I have still not yet been able to do 😉 – for houses with a “4427” address number and voila, it wasn’t very long before he found the correct one. YAY! Thank you, Owen! So, bright and early yesterday morning, I headed out to stalk the place.

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In Bewitched, Isabel discovers the house pictured above during a walk and immediately decides it would be the perfect place to start her new, “normal”, non-witch life in which she has vowed to stop using magic. She does, of course, continue to use magic – fairly soon after making the decision not to, in fact – and, with a simple twitch of her nose, has a “for rent” sign put on the residence’s front lawn and immediately leases the place and moves right in. It’s not very hard to see why producers chose to use the charming colonial style cottage featured in the movie, as it is extremely picturesque and idyllic. It’s exactly the type of place I’d imagine a witch seeking normalcy to want to live. Heck, I would LOVE to live there, myself!

As you can see in the above screen captures and photographs, Isabel’s house looks almost EXACTLY the same in person as it appeared onscreen, right down to the address plaque, white front porch bench, and red front door. Love it!

In fact, the only differences I noticed in real life were the absence of Isabel’s single-car garage and the shutters on the window just to the left of it.

As you can see in the above photographs, that single-car garage is not there in real life. There is a detached two-car garage located directly behind and to the right of the house, though, which leads me to believe that Isabel’s garage was simply a facade that producers had built solely for the filming. And, according to Hooked on Houses, only the exterior of the real life residence was used in Bewitched. The absolutely adorable interiors, sadly, only ever existed on a studio soundstage.

On an ironic side note – According to IMDB’s Bewitched Trivia Page, in real life Isabel’s home was once owned by Bewitched director Nora Ephron’s parents’ friends. Ephron had visited the residence numerous times during her childhood and when it came time to scout locations for the movie, she remembered the house and thought it would be perfect to use as her lead character’s abode. What Nora didn’t realize, however, was that her parents’ friends who once owned the house were none other than Larry Berns and his wife, Sandra Gould – an actress who is best known for playing nosy neighbor Gladys Kravitz on the Bewitched television series. Cue the Disney music, ‘cause it truly is a small world after all!

Big THANK YOU to Owen for finding this location! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Isabel’s house from the Bewitched movie is located at 4427 Radford Avenue in Studio City.

March 29, 2010March 29, 2010

The Nite Owl Coffee Shop from “L.A. Confidential”

I have to apologize in advance for today’s post as it is going to be a short one. My best friend came to visit me this weekend and we spent all of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday doing wedding planning which, unfortunately, left me with no time for blogging. 🙁 I promise to write a more complete post tomorrow, but in the meantime, on with the stalking! One location that I have known about for quite some time now, but, for whatever reason, had yet to stalk was J & J Sandwich Shop from fave movie L.A. Confidential. In the 1997 flick the tiny restaurant stood in for the Nite Owl Coffee Shop, the 24 hour diner which was the site of the aptly named “Nite Owl Massacre”, the investigation of which provided the movie’s central plotline. I first learned of the location from Mike, from MovieShotsLA, way back when, but didn’t actually stalk the place until two weeks ago when the two of us walked by it while in Downtown Los Angeles trying to find the “Beat It” cafe.

In real life, J&J Sandwich Shop is not actually a coffee shop at all, but more of a walk-up-style delicatessen. And it, sadly, looks very different in person than it did in L.A. Confidential. According to J&J’s owner – a super nice woman who answered all of our silly questions about the filming and let us take as many pictures of the place as we wanted – set dressers completely remodeled the cafe’s interior for the movie. The restaurant actually had to be closed down for a total of three weeks for the filming, which included time for both dressing the set to look like a ‘50s diner and then subsequently putting it back to normal again after shooting had been completed.

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As you can see in the above screen captures and photographs, J&J Sandwich Shop is almost unrecognizable from it’s appearance in L.A. Confidential. Not only was the floor completely redone for the filming, but replacement light fixtures were also brought in, as were new tables and chairs, to make the place seem more ‘50s like.

A rounded, sit-down countertop was also brought in to replace the restaurant’s real life walk-up counter.

The restaurant’s back hallway was also featured in L.A. Confidential, and, thankfully, looks pretty similar in person to how it appeared onscreen.

J&J’s owner also told us that the restaurant’s real life bathroom was also used in the movie, as the spot where most of the Nite Owl patrons were killed during the massacre.

I am kicking myself right now for not sending Mike into the actual bathroom to take pictures, though. 🙁 I have no idea why, but I never even thought of it while we were there! UGH!

Even though J&J Sandwich Shop does not look at all like its onscreen counterpart, I still have to say that I’d recommend stalking the place just because its owner was so incredibly nice. We didn’t have time to actually eat there during our stalk – as I said, we were on a mission to find the “Beat It” cafe – but according to its Yelp reviews, the place serves up some great food, so it’s looks like I’ll have to go back there again soon. Well, I told you it was going to be a short one today. But, as I said, I will be back tomorrow with a normal post.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: J&J Sandwich Shop, aka the Nite Owl Coffee Shop, is located at 119 East 6th Street, directly across from Cole’s Restaurant.

December 21, 2009January 12, 2011

Bullocks Wilshire – The Department Store from “Christmas Vacation”

One location that I have been dying to stalk for months now is the former Bullocks Wilshire department store located just outside of Downtown Los Angeles – a spot which has been featured in countless productions since its grand opening way back in 1929. And, even though I am usually a big fan of immediate gratification, I waited to stalk this location until just recently as I wanted to blog about it in December, along with my other Christmas movie posts. So, what holiday movie was the building featured in, you ask? One of my very favorite Christmas flicks of all time – the 1989 holiday classic Christmas Vacation. In the movie, Bullocks Wilshire stood in for the Chicago area department store where Clark Griswold (aka Chevy Chase), accompanied by his son, Rusty (aka The Big Bang Theory’s Johnny Galecki), shopped for lingerie. I found this location thanks to fellow stalker Mike, from MovieShotsLA, who, as luck would have it, just happened to be driving right by the department store on the day filming took place way back in 1989. Once Mike noticed the production trucks, he, of course, immediately pulled over to inquire about what was being filmed and to watch some of the action. And, let me tell you, when Mike told me about the location a few months back, I just about passed out from excitement as I had always wanted to know where that scene had taken place! Thank you, Mike! 🙂

The Bullocks Wilshire building was originally built in 1929 by the father and son architecture firm of John and Donald Parkinson, a team who was also responsible for designing the Continental Building, which is better known as Los Angeles’ first skyscraper, Union Station, L.A.’s City Hall and the Memorial Coliseum. Department store magnate John G. Bullock commissioned the building in the hopes of creating the most luxurious and upscale shopping experience Angelinos had ever seen. The interior, which was designed by Eleanor Lemaire and Jock Peters, was the utmost in splendor, featuring travertine flooring, marble walls, ornate elevators, and rosewood display cases.

For the design of the relief located above the department store’s Wilshire Boulevard entrance, which reads, “To build a business that will never known completion”, Bullock looked to MGM art director Cedric Gibbons, who is best known for designing the first ever Oscar statue.

Because Bullock wanted to cater to the growing number of motorists in the L.A. area, the department store was the first in Los Angeles ever to feature a porte cochere, aka a covered driveway under which shoppers could hand over their vehicles to waiting valets.

The building’s most remarkable feature – in my mind, at least – has to be the highly elaborate mural painted on the ceiling of the porte cochere. Romanian painter Herman Sachs designed the brightly colored fresco secco as a tribute to Mercury, the god of travel. The painting features renderings of different forms of modern-day transportation, including airplanes, trains, and ships.

Upon its opening on September 26, 1929, the 241 foot tall Bullocks Wilshire encompassed over 230,000 square feet of retail space which included a perfume hall, a penthouse tea room, a “doggery” which sold trinkets for shoppers’ furry companions, a saddle shop, a Louis XVI room, a furrier, live mannequins, a salon, and a private suite where the truly elite could shop in complete privacy, all the while sipping martinis and snacking on the finest hors d’oeuvres. Years later, Bullock added a Chanel Room, a photography studio operated by celebrity photographer Neil Gittings, and a Ladies Custom Salon, run by future Hollywood costume designer Irene Lentz. Thanks to Bullock’s incredible attention to detail, the department store quickly became the place to see and be seen in Los Angeles. Such stars as Mae West, Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, Alfred Hitchcock, John Wayne, and Marlene Dietrich all visited Bullocks Wilshire at one time or another. And actresses June Lockhart and Angela Lansbury and former First Lady Patricia Nixon even worked there in their early years. Thanks to the building’s architectural detail and rich history, Bullocks Wilshire was added to the National Registry of Historic Places on May 25, 1978. Sadly, in the late 80s, the store began a precipitous decline, eventually being sold to the Macy’s chain. A few years later, the historic building was heavily vandalized both inside and out during the riots of 1992, with looters destroying display cases, prized artifacts, and even setting fire to the property. Bullocks Wilshire ended up closing its doors for the last time in 1993. But its story doesn’t end there. About a year later, the property was purchased by Southwestern Law School, which had long occupied a neighboring building. The school then set out on a ten year, $29 million restoration project which completely restored the historic building back to its original state. For this endeavor, Southwestern Law School received a National Preservation Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Today, Bullocks Wilshire is used as a part of the Southwestern Law School campus, where, coincidentally, actor Jerry O’Connell (husband of Rebecca Romijn) is currently a student. 🙂

And, while the building is not actually opened to the public, while stalking the place, I ventured inside and asked the security guard on duty if I might be allowed to take a quick peek. The guard truly could NOT have been nicer and allowed my fiancé and me to walk around the school. Unfortunately, though, photography is not allowed indoors, so I couldn’t take any pictures, other than the two pictured above, which I snapped through the building’s front window. But, take my word for it, the interior – which you can see photographs of here – is nothing short of magnificent. Walking into Bullocks Wilshire is like stepping back in time to a more glamorous era. The cafe, the lounge area, even the bathrooms have all been restored to their original state and I couldn’t have been more excited to be seeing it all with my own two eyes. And, even though the building is now technically a college campus, the interior still looks much as it did when it operated as an upscale department store. I was so mesmerized with the place, in fact, that I am just dying to get my hands on a copy of this book to learn more about the building’s rich history!

Bullocks Wilshire shows up just briefly in Christmas Vacation in the very memorable scene in which, while out shopping with his son Rusty, Clark Griswold meets and flirts with a lingerie saleswoman named Mary and utters that famous line, “It’s a bit nipply out”. LOL LOL LOL When I was a Senior in high school – and I should mention here that I went to a Catholic high school – one of my classmates, Marcus, came up with the inspired idea of reading a surf report to the entire school each morning during our daily announcements. Marcus’ little experiment was going well, too, until one particularly cold morning, when he announced to the student body that the ocean “was a bit nipply” that day. Needless to say, that was the end of that morning’s announcements – and our daily surf report. But, ever since that fateful day, even all these years later, I can’t help but think of Marcus and laugh every time I watch the Christmas Vacation shopping scene. 🙂

Bullocks Wilshire was also the store where Benjamin Siegel shopped at the beginning of the movie Bugsy;

its La Directoire room was the site of the ”Romantic Dinner” Taco Bell commercial featuring Gidget, the talking Chihuahua;

it was where Angela Chase (aka Claire Danes) shopped with her mother Patty (aka Bess Armstrong) in the Season 1 episode of My So-Called Life titled “The Zit”;

and the Louis XVI Room was where the Mother/Daughter Fashion Show was filmed in that same episode.

it was the location of the eponymous elevator in Aerosmith’s “Love in an Elevator” music video;

the exterior was featured briefly in Public Enemy’s “By The Time I Get to Arizona” music video;

and in The Aviator, it stood in for the nightclub where Howard Hughes and Ava Gardner got attacked by Hughes’ former girlfriend.

Supposedly, the final scene in Ghostbusters was filmed on the roof of Bullocks Wilshire, but as you can see in the above screen captures and photograph, the Ghostbusters roof and the Bullocks Wilshire roof look nothing alike. And, while it’s entirely possible that some close-up filming for that scene did take place on top of the Bullocks Wilshire tower, my best guess is that the entire scene was filmed on a studio soundstage somewhere in Hollywood. Bullocks Wilshire has also been featured in the movies Topper (where it stood in for the luxurious Connecticut area Seabreeze Hotel), Tarzan’s New York Adventure (where it was used as a New York hotel), Dunston Checks In (where it again stood in for a New York hotel), Fist of the North Star, On Deadly Ground, Family Plot, The Tie That Binds, Rough Magic, and in episodes of Murder, She Wrote, Judging Amy, and The Agency.

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Big THANK YOU to Mike for finding this location! 🙂

On a very sad side note – My thoughts and prayers go out to Brittany Murphy’s friends and loved ones today. I can’t even imagine losing someone so young, especially this close to the holidays. 🙁 Rest in peace, Brittany.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Bullocks Wilshire is located at 3050 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. You can visit the building’s official website and see interior photographs of it here. Because Bullocks Wilshire is part of the Southwestern Law School campus, it is not open to the public. Once a year, though, tours of the property are given. You can check the Southwestern Law School website for further tour information.

December 4, 2009December 3, 2009

JMJ Ranch from “Win a Date with Tad Hamilton”

Another location that Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I stalked during our day in the the Valley together a few months back was the Fraziers Bottom farm that movie star Tad Hamilton purchased in fave film Win a Date with Tad Hamilton. In real life, Tad’s property is named JMJ Ranch and it is not located anywhere near Fraziers Bottom, West Virginia, but about two thousand miles West in Thousand Oaks, California. As so often happens when searching for filming sites, I actually came across this one while looking for another location entirely. After seeing the Season One episode of The Mentalist entitled “Carnelian Inc.” earlier this year, I became absolutely obsessed with finding the ranch that was featured in it. And it was while searching for that locale that I came across the website for JMJ Ranch and immediately recognized it as the one from Win a Date with Tad Hamilton. YAY! So, since Mike and I were in the area a few weeks back, we decided to drive by the property to see if it was at all accessible to the public. And amazingly enough, it was! Or so we thought. LOL

When we first pulled up to JMJ Ranch, the main gates were wide open, several people were horseback riding in the central ring, and there was no posted sign saying the area was private property. Because I had read online that JMJ is an actual working ranch, I turned to Mike and said “OH MY GOD, I think it’s actually open to the public!” So, of course, the two of us drove right in. And, let me tell you, I almost had a heart attack I was so excited! 🙂

I spotted Tad’s little white ranch house pretty much immediately upon entering the property and just about hyperventilated as we pulled up to it! The fact that Josh Duhamel (aka the love of my life) had once been in the very spot I now found myself was almost too much for me to bear. 🙂 Now, I know that rumors of JD’s infidelity are currently flying around Hollywood, but I honestly have to say that I just don’t believe all the hype. If the rumors do turn out to be true, though, and Josh really did cheat on his wife, then all bets are off – he’ll be dead to me, just like that little homewrecker Angelina Jolie! But in the meantime, I have to say, my heart still belongs to JD. 🙂

I so love the above screen capture, by the way!! Sigh. 🙂 But I digress!

Only one brief scene from Win A Date took place at JMJ Ranch. After announcing that he has purchased a house, or as he says “it’s actually a farm, with a house, and a silo for my wheat” LOL, Rosalie (aka Kate Bosworth), Cathy (aka Ginnifer Goodwin), and Pete (aka Topher Grace) show up to tour the property. While there, know-it-all Pete attempts to give Tad some lessons in certain farming skills like milking a cow and chopping wood, but as it turns out, thanks to his training for various movie roles, not only does Tad know how to do said activities, but he can actually do them better than Pete. LOL

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JMJ Ranch is actually an oft-used filming location. Besides Win a Date, the property has also been featured in Dynasty, Dallas, Knots Landing, Cracker, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, The Fall Guy, Picket Fences, Hot Shots Part Deux, Robin Hood: Men In Tights, Route 9, and Private School.

The 300 acre ranch truly is a beautiful spot, with large open fields, towering oak trees, winding roads, and rustic barns, and as we drove through the property I got to thinking that it would be the perfect spot to host a wedding. 🙂 Being that filming locations often double as wedding venues, I thought there was a pretty good chance that the ranch might also be available for special events and made a mental note to find out. Well, after driving around for about five minutes, a very angry woman on a tractor drove up to Mike and I and informed us that we were on private property. WHOOPSY! We apologized profusely and explained that we had been driving by, saw the open gate, and thought the area was open to the public. I also told the woman I was currently in the market for a wedding venue and asked if the ranch was available for such occasions. My question was met with an emphatic “NO!” – LOL – at which point, Mike and I thanked the lady for her time and quickly left. So, unfortunately, I can’t recommend stalking JMJ Ranch as it is definitely NOT open to the public. 🙁 But at least you can live vicariously through the photographs I was able to take before being kicked off the property. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: JMJ Ranch from Win a Date with Tad Hamilton is located at 930 West Portrero Road in Thousand Oaks. The property is not actually open to the public, so please do not trespass. You can visit the JMJ Ranch website here.

December 3, 2009December 2, 2009

Priscilla’s Coffee Tea & Gifts

Many years ago, I was enrolled in an acting school in Burbank that was located just down the street from a little coffee shop named Priscilla’s Coffee Tea & Gifts. I logged quite a bit of time at the coffee house, as my classmates and I would often grab a coffee and hang out there before and after class. So, when the place popped up in an episode of Desperate Housewives a few weeks ago, I literally almost fell out of my chair! Since I hadn’t been to Priscilla’s in almost eight years – and because I’m always on the lookout for any excuse to visit a coffee house – I decided I just had to stalk the place. So, yesterday I headed out to Burbank – laptop in hand – to spend the morning blogging and drinking coffee at Priscilla’s. And, let me tell you, the place was absolutely JAM PACKED when I arrived. There literally wasn’t an empty seat in the entire house. I was shocked that the the place would be so crowded on a weekday morning, but that’s a definite testament to how good Priscilla’s coffee is. 🙂 Anyway, after ordering my iced latte, I retreated to a nearby corner and waited around for a table to open up. Well, I wasn’t standing there more than 45 seconds when an extremely kind gentleman walked up and offered to share his table with me!! How incredibly nice is that? I almost couldn’t believe it, as people in L.A. aren’t usually that overtly friendly. But, from what I noticed yesterday, that’s just par for the course at Priscilla’s – people there are just plain nice! 🙂 So, my new friend and I sat there for a while – me blogging away on my laptop, him studying his lines for an upcoming addition, both of us enjoying some extremely good coffee. 🙂

Surprisingly enough, when I used to hang out at Priscilla’s many years back, I wasn’t a coffee drinker. In fact, until yesterday morning, I had never actually tasted any of Priscilla’s coffee and I honestly didn’t have high hopes that the place would compare to my beloved Starbucks. So, you can imagine my surprise when I tasted my latte yesterday morning and discovered it was JUST as good as Starbucks, if not better! It was so tasty, in fact, that as soon as I finished my first cup, I got in line to order another! LOL And it was while I was waiting for my second drink that I asked the barista if it would be alright to snap a few photos of the store. I really wasn’t sure how she would respond, because as I’ve mentioned before, for whatever reason, many restaurants in L.A. don’t allow any sort of interior photography. Well, not only did she tell me it was OK to snap pictures, but she also asked if I wanted her to take a photograph of me in the shop!!!!! I mean could this place be any greater???? The above photo is the one she took, and the other barista on duty even agreed to pose with me for it! LOVE IT! 🙂

Priscilla’s Coffee Tea & Gifts has actually been in business since the early 1970s, at which time it was operated out of a former gas station. In 1993, due to a growing demand, the coffee house moved to a larger location on Riverside Drive in Burbank where it has remained ever since. Besides coffee, Priscilla’s also serves up teas, pastries, sandwiches, salads, and even gelato. It’s also a great place to browse as they have numerous gift items and greeting cards for sale. And the fact that the place has free wi-fi and plays 80s music (including Michael Jackson!!!) is pretty much just icing on the cake! 🙂 Priscilla’s is a SUPER cute little coffee shop and I honestly cannot recommend stalking it enough!!!! In fact, I’m thinking of becoming a regular there! 🙂

Priscilla’s first popped up in the episode of Desperate Housewives entitled “The Coffee Cup”, which aired on November 15th. Quite a few scenes from the episode took place at Priscilla’s, which stood in for “The Coffee Cup Bakery & Cafe” on the show. It first appeared in the scene in which Julie Mayer (aka Andrea Bowen) has a highly awkward encounter with her married boyfriend’s wife, Angie Bolen (aka Drea de Matteo), while waiting in line for coffee.

Later in the episode, Angie confronts her husband Nick (aka Jeffrey Nordling) at Priscilla’s, after she sees him flirting with a Coffee Cup barista named Emily Portsmith.

And, finally, at the very end of that episode, Priscilla’s shows up once again as the spot where Nick makes a phone call to the police to let them know he is thinking of turning himself in for an as-yet unnamed crime . . .

. . . and as the spot where barista Emily is strangled.

And, in the following episode, which was entitled “Would I Think of Suicide?”, Priscilla’s shows up yet again! It is featured in the episode’s opening scene, in which the manager of The Coffee Cup enters the store in the early morning hours only to discover Emily lying dead on the floor.

In a subsequent scene, Julie Mayer and her friends discuss Emily’s death out in front of Pricilla’s.

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Besides being a filming location, Pricilla’s is also something of a celebrity hotspot, thanks to its proximity to the area studios. Just a few of the stars who have been spotted there recently include Jay Leno, Ben Affleck and Kevin Connolly. Randomly enough, while I was attending acting school in Burbank, I happened to see a television show on the E! Network (for the life of me I cannot remember what it was called!) that featured paparazzi videos of celebrities performing day to day activities. One of the videos featured an old clip of my girl Jen Aniston during the early days of Friends grabbing a cup of coffee at Priscilla’s. And, let me tell you, when I saw that video I just about had a heart attack over the fact that Jen had visited the very same coffee shop that I was hanging out in at the time!! 🙂 What can I say, the girl’s got good taste! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Pricilla’s Gourmet Coffee and Teas is located at 4150 Riverside Drive in Burbank. You can visit their website here.

November 16, 2009November 16, 2009

Bethesda Fountain and Terrace

Just around the corner from the Central Park Boathouse Cafe, which I blogged about on Friday, is another New York landmark known as Bethesda Fountain and Terrace. Because the area is one of my favorite places in all of New York, I’ve actually stalked it numerous times during my many trips to the Big Apple, but, for some reason, never thought to blog about it. Which is actually quite ironic being that the fountain has been immortalized in countless movie and television productions over the years. So, with the mindset of ‘it’s better late than never’, today I thought I’d give it a go. 🙂 The first time I visited Bethesda Fountain and Terrace was back in 2004 during my very first trip to Manhattan. My fiancé and I happened upon the fountain while walking through Central Park and I immediately recognized it from an episode of fave show Sex and the City and just about flipped out. Since that time, I’ve made it a point to visit the area at least once whenever I’m in New York. On a side note – Due to the below freezing temperatures, fountains in Manhattan are turned off during the winter months, which is why Bethesda Fountain is not running in the above photograph which was taken in December of 2004.

Bethesda Fountain, which measures 26 feet tall and 96 feet in diameter and is one of the largest fountains in New York, was the only sculpture that was included in “The Greensward Plan”, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux’s original design blueprint for Central Park. In the plan, the fountain and terrace area were intended as a gathering place for park-dwellers, a picturesque spot for Manhattanites to congregate and socialize.

The statue that flanks the top of the fountain is named “Angel of the Waters” and was designed by Emma Stebbins, sister of Central Park Commissioner Henry G. Stebbins. The statue, which was built in Germany, took over seven years to construct and wasn’t unveiled until 1873, an additional five years after its completion. The idea behind the neoclassical statue was based on “The Pool of Bethesda”, a man-made bath in Jerusalem, which, as legend had it, was often frequented by angels who could cure the ailing. The fountain was built in commemoration of the Croton Aqueduct, Manhattan’s very first fresh water system, which had been completed thirty years prior. The statue’s largest angel measures eight feet tall and holds a lily in one hand symbolizing the purity of New York’s water, while blessing the waters of the fountain with her other hand.

The four cherubs which stand beneath the main angel represent Peace, Purity, Temperance, and Health.

British architect Jacob Wrey Mould designed the two large staircases which flank the terrace, as well as all of the area’s ornamental details, which include wildlife carvings and over 16,000 intricate Minton tiles.

The Terrace and Fountain area quickly became the focal point of Central Park and even boasted an outdoor restaurant at one time. But during the 1970s, Central Park fell into a terrible state of disarray and, sadly, remained that way for over a decade. When my parents checked into the Plaza Hotel during their very first trip to New York back in 1980, the concierge told them in no uncertain terms NOT to enter the Park under any circumstances. Today, Central Park is so incredibly beautiful and picturesque, that it is EXTREMELY hard for me to imagine it ever being a scary place. During that time, Bethesda Fountain became a haven for the homeless and drug addicted of New York and was even given the nickname “Freak Fountain”. It wasn’t until 1980, when the Central Park Conservancy stepped in with their plan to restore the Park to its original grandeur, that things began to change. The Conservancy’s first step was to renovate the fountain, which had actually been left dry for over a decade. A few months after the fountain was restored, the Terrace area was also renovated. Today, Bethesda Terrace is so grand and so tranquil that it’s hard to believe at one time it was one of the most dangerous areas of the park.

Because it is so incredibly picturesque, Bethesda Terrace is one of the most photographed areas of Central Park and has long been a favorite of movie producers. As mentioned above, I first recognized the area from a Season 2 episode of Sex and the City. In that episode, which was entitled “The Freak Show”, Carrie meets a “normal” guy while sitting by the fountain one spring day and, in an unprecedented move, gives him her unlisted phone number.

In Home Alone 2: Lost In New York, Kevin is chased onto Bethesda Terrace by Harry and Marv, aka the “Sticky Bandits”. He just narrowly escapes them by hiding in the trunk of a horse drawn carriage.

Not only does Nate run near the fountain in the Season 1 episode of Gossip Girl entitled “Poison Ivy”,

but in that very same episode the fountain shows up as the spot where Serena and Blair have a much needed heart-to-heart.

The Terrace is also the site of the grand finale of the “That’s How You Know” song and dance number from the movie Enchanted.

In Elf, while Will Ferrell is trying to save Christmas, Santa’s sleigh knocks off the tip of the “Angel of the Waters” statue and almost crash-lands on the Terrace’s top level.

The fountain is also the location of the New York City Junior Science Fair from which Mel Gibson and Rene Russo’s son is kidnapped in the 1996 movie Ransom.

It’s also the spot where George Clooney, Michelle Pfeiffer, and their two children frolic in some puddles while on their way to a soccer game in the movie One Fine Day.

The music video for the They Might Be Giants song “They’ll Need a Crane” was also shot in its entirety at Bethesda Fountain.

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The fountain has also been featured in the movies The Producers, The Way We Were, Deconstructing Harry, Sunday in New York, Eyewitness, Stuart Little 2, Hair, Godspell, Everyone Says I Love You, Angels in America, The Prisoner of Second Avenue, Tommy Boy, Bullets Over Broadway, It Should Happen to You, It Could Happen to You, Madigan, Green Card, and The Manchurian Candidate, and in episodes of TV’s The Amazing Race, Law and Order, and Lipstick Jungle.

Bethesda Fountain and Terrace is an absolutely beautiful spot and I honestly can’t recommend stalking it enough! It has long been considered “the heart of Central Park” and is definitely a New York must-see!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Bethesda Fountain and Terrace are located just off of 72nd Cross Street Drive in Central Park.

November 5, 2009November 4, 2009

The Hotel St. James

The one location that Mike, from MovieShotsLA, told me I could absolutely NOT come home from New York without stalking was the seedy hotel where Josh Baskin (aka Tom Hanks) stayed after first becoming “big” in the 1988 movie of the same name. Mike had found the location of the Hotel St. James thanks to fave website The 80s Movies Rewind shortly before I left on my Big Apple vacation. So, since Owen, my fiancé, and I had already stalked several other Big filming locations during our NYC stalking day, we decided to keep the theme going by also making a stop at the Hotel St. James. The twelve story St. James, which first opened up in 1972 and is no longer the mangy place it was when Big was filmed, is considered to be one of the city’s most affordable hotels. Located just a block away from Times Square, a room at the St. James will run you anywhere from $159 to $269 per night depending on the time of year. Let me tell you, rates that low in Manhattan are almost unheard of! And thankfully, in real life, the hotel looks NOTHING like it did in the movie – otherwise I might never have ventured inside! LOL

The Hotel St. James first shows up in the very beginning of Big, as the seedy little place that Josh and Billy stumble upon while wandering the streets of Manhattan looking for an affordable hotel. Thanks to the shady characters hanging around out front, Josh refuses to even walk inside the place, prompting Billy to say “St. James, Josh! It’s religious!” LOL LOL LOL Josh and Billy end up booking a room at the hotel, which costs them $17.50 a night, plus a ten dollar deposit for the sheets. LOL LOL LOL Apparently, at the time Big was filmed during the late 80s, the St. James really was a decrepit little spot in a very shady part of town. But thanks to Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to clean up Times Square, Disney’s restoration of the New Amsterdam Theatre, and a renovation of the actual St. James itself, the hotel is really quite beautiful – and quite safe – now. 🙂

Several areas of the St. James were featured in Big, including the exterior (On a side note, the sign in the entrance door pictured in the screen capture above reads, “Firearms Kept On Premises”. LOL LOL LOL Really shows what a classy joint the hotel used to be!) ;

the lobby entrance;

and the check-in desk, which as you can see in the above photographs and screen captures is still positioned in the exact same place as it was in Big. The plastic partition and the toothless concierge are long since gone, though. 🙂

According to the EXTREMELY friendly concierge that I talked to, while the filming of Big did take place in the lobby area of the St. James, the hallway and hotel room scenes were actually all filmed on a studio soundstage. However, I’m not entirely convinced that information is correct. After recently re-watching the movie, it seems to me that a real St. James’ hotel room and the real St. James hallways were used in the filming. Thankfully, though, as you can see in these photographs, both the rooms and the hallways have undergone significant remodeling since that time! LOL

It is in Josh’s St. James hotel room that the very famous Big silly string scene took place. 🙂

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I highly recommend stalking the Hotel St. James! Even though it has undergone some drastic changes in the years since the filming of Big took place, the hotel is still set up very similarly to how it was portrayed in the movie and is therefore still very recognizable. 🙂 The Hotel St. James also looks like a very nice, very affordable place to spend a few nights when visiting the Big Apple! And while the newly renovated St. James is not luxurious or upscale by any means, it prides itself on having roomy, comfortable, clean accommodations. If the lobby is any indication of what the rooms look like, they must be be pretty darn nice!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Hotel St. James is located at 109 West 45th Street in Midtown Manhattan. You can visit their website here.

November 4, 2009November 4, 2009

The “Big” School

Located just around the corner from the two main houses used in the movie Big is Cliffside Park Elementary School #6 – the elementary school attended by Josh Baskin (aka Tom Hanks) and his best friend Billy (aka Jared Rushton) in the 1988 flick. So, since we were already in the area, Owen, my fiancé, and I just had to stalk the place. 🙂 I am always a little bit leery of stalking schools while they are in session, though, as teachers and administrators tend not to like it when random adults start taking pictures of their campus while children are present. Why are there so many bad people out there who have to ruin things for us harmless movie-stalkers??? Anyway, because most of the students of Cliffside Park Elementary were outside playing on the playground while we were stalking the place, I wasn’t able to snap the greatest of pictures, nor were we able to venture inside for a closer look. 🙁

Cliffside Park Elementary School #6, which despite what its name would lead you to believe, is actually comprised of both an elementary school and a middle school and houses about 630 students in grades one through eight. The reason for the misnomer, you ask? Originally, the school was solely an elementary school facility. It wasn’t until about eight years ago that the middle school portion was added. Cliffside Park #6 was featured twice in Big. It first shows up at the very beginning of the movie, when young Josh rides his bike down the side of the school on his way to play stickball with Billy.

Owen and I couldn’t seem to locate the actual stickball court the boys play on while we were stalking the place, though. But, according to this former Cliffside student, apparently there did used to be an empty lot located behind the school where children would actually play stickball. That lot got covered over a few years back, though, when an addition was added to the school building. So sad! 🙁 I am guessing that addition was built to house the new middle school.

Cliffside Park #6 also shows up towards the end of the movie, during the montage sequence in which adult Josh returns to his hometown and watches a group of children take their class picture at his alma mater.

In that same montage, Josh also watches some boys play baseball in the school’s baseball field. Random site note – as Owen and I discovered, the “grass” on the baseball field is not real- it’s actually Astroturf! LOL

I am very happy to report that Cliffside Park Elementary School #6 looks very much the same today as it did back in 1988 when Big was filmed. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how cool I think it is that the school is located so close to the two homes used in the movie, because if there actually were a real Josh and a real Billy who lived in those houses, then Cliffside Park #6 would really be the school they would attend! 🙂 LOVE IT! And, while I highly recommend stalking Cliffside Park #6, I suggest doing so during non-school hours when no children are present. It’s a lot easier to take photographs that way. 🙂

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Big THANK YOU to Owen for “loaning” me his photographs of the Big baseball field and allowing me to post them here, as, for some odd reason, I didn’t take any pictures of the field while we were stalking the school.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Big school, aka Cliffside Park Elementary School #6, is located at 440 Oakdene Avenue in Cliffside Park, New Jersey. The Big houses are located just around the corner at 435 and 437 Greenmount Avenue. The Heffernan house from The King of Queens is also located right around the corner at 519 Longview Avenue. Unfortunately there is no easy way to get to these locations from Manhattan. A taxi ride is your quickest, easiest bet, but be prepared as the trip will cost you $45 each way! Riding the bus is a much cheaper option, but be prepared for a long travel time, as the bus ride to Cliffside Park takes upwards of an hour.