Glendale filming locations

November 27, 2013November 26, 2013

Lou Glutz Motors from “Vacation”

Fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, recently embarked upon a mission to try to track down some of the unknown locations from one of his favorite movies, the 1983 classic Vacation. He had quite a bit of success, too, managing to pinpoint two elusive spots, one of which was the Norwalk motel where Clark W. Griswold (Chevy Chase) skinny-dipped with The Girl in the Ferrari (Christie Brinkley) – a place I was absolutely dying to stalk while in L.A. two weeks ago, but unfortunately, the long trek down to that area made it unfeasible to do so. Anyway, Owen’s quest had me reviewing some of the movie’s more well-known locales, including Glendale Dodge Chrysler Jeep, which I had long been aware stood in for the supposed Chicago, Illinois-area Lou Glutz Motors in the flick. Even though I lived mere miles from the dealership for over 13 years, because I assumed it had long since been remodeled, I figured it was not worth a stalk. So when I saw via Google Street View that the spot remained virtually unchanged from its onscreen appearance three decades ago (yes, three decades!) I was absolutely floored and decided that I had to write a blog post on it, stat!

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In the opening scene of Vacation, Clark arrives at Lou Glutz Motors with his son, Rusty Griswold (Anthony Michael Hall), to pick up the Antarctic blue Super Sports Wagon with the CB and optional Rally Fun Pack that he ordered for his family’s upcoming road trip to Los Angeles. After turning in his “ol’ gas guzzler,” he learns from salesman Ed (Eugene Levy) that the car he purchased has not actually arrived yet. And while Ed tries to steer Clark to a “damn fine” Wagon Queen Family Truckster in metallic pea, Clark, who is not your “ordinary, everyday fool,” cannot be deterred from the auto that he originally ordered.

That is until his old car comes back from the wrecking area, completely flattened. As you can see in the photographs above and below, aside from a difference in paint color and the addition of some bright red awnings, the dealership has been pretty much left untouched since Vacation was filmed in 1983! Despite several changes in ownership, the exterior stairway, the plants below it, the screen above the service bay, and even some of the directional road markings all still look exactly the same as they did onscreen.

The exterior of the showroom also remains in its 1983 state, minus the addition of a second set of doors.

The Star Lincoln-Mercury dealership that was visible in the background of the scene also still looks exactly the same as it did onscreen, but I, unfortunately, did not snap any photographs of it.

I honestly cannot express how cool it was to stalk this location and to see in person how closely it still resembles the images of it that are ingrained in my memory from having watched the flick so many times over the years. LOVE IT!

I would like to wish all of my fellow stalkers a very happy Thanksgiving. I will be taking the next few days off to celebrate the holiday with my family, but I promise to be back on Monday with a whole new location. And be sure to check out my latest Los Angeles magazine post, which will be published tomorrow.

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Los Angeles magazine online. And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Glendale Dodge Chrysler Jeep, aka Lou Glutz Motors from Vacation, is located at 900 South Brand Boulevard in Glendale.

September 27, 2012September 26, 2012

Grand Central Air Terminal from “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure”

While doing research for yesterday’s post (which you can read here), I came across a page on IMDB that stated that the bus station scene from Pee-wee’s Big Adventure was filmed at the Glendale Amtrak Station. I knew from previous cyber-stalking, though, that the Pee-wee bus station scene was actually filmed a few miles north of the Amtrak depot at the now-defunct Grand Central Air Terminal (a location that I first learned about way back in March 2011 while writing my post on the nearby former bowling alley that stood in for the exterior of Jack Rabbit Slim’s in Pulp Fiction). Ironically enough, I had actually stalked both the Glendale Amtrak Station and Grand Central Air Terminal on the same day in early May. So to clear up the confusion about the Pee-wee bus station, I thought now would be as good a time as any to blog about the place.

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Grand Central Air Terminal was designed by Henry L. Gogerty in the Spanish Colonial Revival/Art Deco-style on the site of what was formerly a private airport for millionaire Leslie C. Brand. The property was officially opened to the public on February 22, 1929 and featured the first paved runway west of the Rocky Mountains. The airport was also the first to offer transcontinental passenger air service from Los Angeles to the East Coast and the premiere flight took place in 1929 with none other than Charles Lindbergh at the helm. Hollywood luminaries Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks were also onboard. Other stars who took flights to or from Grand Central over the years include Shirley Temple, Gary Cooper, William Randolph Hearst, Marion Davies, Clark Gable, Charlie Chaplin, Jack Warner, Louis B. Mayer, Carole Lombard, and Jean Harlow. Such aviation pioneers as Howard Hughes, Glenn L. Martin, Eddie Rickenbacker, Amelia Earhart, and Douglas “Wrong Way” Corrigan are all counted as having piloted flights from the airport.

In 1947, following World War II, Grand Central’s runway was cut down to 3,400 feet to make room for a road. When the runway was later deemed too short for jet planes to use in 1959, the 125-acre property was closed and most of its hangars and runways demolished or removed. All that remains of the original airport is the actual terminal building and its three-story Zigzag Moderne-tower. The site was subsequently purchased by Prudential Insurance, who transformed it into an industrial park named Grand Central Business Park. In 1961, The Walt Disney Company leased the vast majority of the property and subsequently purchased it in 1997. The Park is currently used as Disney corporate offices and as the headquarters of Walt Disney Imagineering. And while the Walt Disney Company has an agreement with the city of Glendale to restore the air terminal building, which suffered damage in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, back to its original grandeur by the year 2015, it has, sadly, been left to deteriorate in the meantime.

In Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, Grand Central Terminal stood in for the supposed San Antonio bus station where Pee-wee Herman (Paul Reubens) ran into Simone (my former acting teacher Diane Salinger).

You can even see a portion of a sign reading “Grand Central Building” in the background of the scene.

Thanks to its proximity to several different Hollywood studios, Grand Central Air Terminal has been the site of countless filmings over the years. In the beginning of 1933’s Air Hostess, it was the Los Angeles airport where the TWA flight from Albuquerque landed.

Grand Central was also the airport where saxophonist Ronny Bowers (Dick Powell) landed upon first coming to Southern California in 1937’s Hollywood Hotel.

In 1943, Grand Central stood in for Transatlantic Airways’ London Terminal in the movie Sherlock Holmes in Washington, although it only appeared very briefly.

The north side of Grand Central Terminal stood in for the Carson Police Department in 1985’s My Science Project, although such a small portion of the building was shown that it is virtually unrecognizable.

You can see below, though, that the front of the police station matches the area where Pee-wee sat in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.

Grand Central Air Terminal also looks to have been the inspiration for the painted backdrop that was used to portray Genovia International Airport in The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. While the layout of the terminal was, for whatever reason, flipped in the movie, the resemblance is undeniable. You can check out a historic photograph of Grand Central, in which its similarities to the Genovia airport are obvious, here. Being that the movie was produced by The Walt Disney Company, it makes sense that the former terminal served as the model for Genovia International.

Grand Central Terminal was also supposedly used in 1923’s Going Up, 1930’s Hell’s Angels, 1933’s Lady Killer, Captured and Central Airport, 1934’s Bright Eyes, 1936’s Hats Off, 1938’s Sky Giant, and 1941’s Sky Raiders, but, unfortunately, I could not find copies of any of those productions with which to verify that information.

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Grand Central Air Terminal, from Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, is located at 1310 Air Way in Glendale. The former bowling alley that was used as the exterior of Jack Rabbit Slim’s restaurant in Pulp Fiction is located right around the corner at 1435 Flower Street.

September 26, 2012September 25, 2012

The Glendale Amtrak Station from “Bulletproof”

I don’t know about y’all, but this stalker is so darn excited for Halloween that I am practically bursting at the seams! I have already decorated my apartment with all things orange and black (much to the Grim Cheaper’s chagrin) and can hardly wait for Monday when I can begin my Haunted Hollywood postings. Only three more days to go! Yay! Smile Anyway, while going through some stalking photographs from earlier this year, I came across pictures of the Glendale Amtrak Station that the GC had taken way back in May and I decided that it was about time I do a blog post on the place. So here goes.

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The Glendale Amtrak Station was originally constructed in 1924 on the site of the former 1883 Atwater Track Office. The Mission Revival-style structure was commissioned by the Southern Pacific Railroad line and was designed by architect Kenneth MacDonald Jr. (who also designed Villa de Leon in Pacific Palisades and the Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation in North Hollywood) and structural engineer/architect Maurice Couchot (who also designed The Bellevue Club in Oakland and the 1917 warehouse that later became the Gift Center in San Francisco). The site was originally named the Glendale Southern Pacific Railroad Depot and then was later known as the Tropico Station.

In 1989, Southern Pacific sold the depot to the city of Glendale for $3.5 million, at which time the name was changed to the Glendale Amtrak Station (or the Glendale Amtrak/Metrolink Station or the Glendale Transportation Center, as the site is also sometimes called). A $6 million renovation and extension project was begun shortly thereafter, during which the building was restored to its original 1923 grandeur. As you can see below, the result is nothing short of spectacular! The dazzling exterior of the Glendale Amtrak Station, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997, features elaborately sculpted terra cotta;

a faux second story;

ornamental wrought-iron detailing;

and ornately carved wooden doors.

The small, one-room interior boasts a terra-cotta tiled floor,

intricately painted exposed wooden beams;

checkered tile baseboards;

and old-school wooden benches. (I love the arty photograph that the GC took below. I think it’s a framer! Smile )

The second I walked inside the historic depot, I was instantly taken back to the famous train station scene from the Season 4 episode of Family Ties titled “The Real Thing: Part 2”, during which Alex P. Keaton (Michael J. Fox) finally professed his love to Ellen Reed (Tracy Pollan). While the train station featured in that scene was just a set, it was very reminiscent (to me, at least) of the Glendale Amtrak Station. When I mentioned this to the GC, he said, “I don’t remember a train station scene from Family Ties.” I swear, how did the two of us end up married???

You can watch the Family Ties train station scene by clicking below. “Now, what did you think I would say at this moment . . . ” Sigh! Has to be one of the best scenes in television history. Smile

“Family Ties” Train Station Scene

In 1996’s Bulletproof, the Glendale Amtrak Station stood in for the supposed Pasadena bus station where Keats (Damon Wayans) and Moses (Adam Sandler) met up with special agents Gentry (Xander Berkeley) and Cole (Sal Landi).

Bulletproof was hardly the first production to film on the premises, though. In 1931’s Big Business Girl, the station was where Johnny Saunders (Frank Albertson) bid adieu to his lady love, Claire ‘Mac’ McIntyre (Loretta Young). Although, not much of the station is visible in the scene.

The Glendale Amtrak Station also stood in for the depot where Kay Curtis (Glenda Farrell) and June Dale (Mary Brian) missed their train in 1933’s Girl Missing. Not much of the station can be seen in that movie, either, though.

The only recognizable detail from the station that is visible in the movie is the ornate light fixture pictured below.

Thanks to the stalking tome Location Filming in Los Angeles by Harry Medved, Marc Wanamaker and Karie Bible, I learned that 1927’s Horse Shoes, 1931’s One More Chance and 1934’s Here Comes the Groom were also shot at the Glendale Amtrak Station, but, unfortunately, I could not find copies of any of the productions with which to make screen captures for this post. The Glendale Amtrak Station was also featured in 1927’s College and 1948’s Act of Violence, which you can see screen captures of on the Silent Locations blog here. And True Blood apparently did some filming on the premises a couple of weeks ago, as well. The station also had a brush with history when, on September 20th, 1959, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev stopped there for about six minutes. You can see a photograph of his visit here.

And while IMDB states that 1966’s The Trouble with Angels was filmed at the Glendale Amtrak Station, when I scanned through the movie yesterday, I found that the two depots did not match. Upon digging further, I came across this article which stated that the station used in the opening and closing scenes of the flick was actually the Monrovia Santa Fe train station located at 101 West Duarte Road. Sure enough, as you can see in this historic photograph, the two depots are indeed one and the same.

And while countless websites state that the Glendale Amtrak Station was where Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) dropped off Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) in the thriller Double Indemnity, that information is actually incorrect. In reality, the station used in the 1944 flick was the old Burbank Southern Pacific Station, which once stood at 201 North Front Street, but was sadly partially burned down in 1991 and then completely demolished a few years later. The Burbank Metrolink Station was subsequently built on that site. You can check out some historic photographs of the former Burbank Southern Pacific Station here and here. As you can see, there is no denying that it matches the station that appeared in Double Indemnity (pictured below) perfectly.

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Glendale Amtrak Station, from Bulletproof, is located at 400 West Cerritos Avenue in Glendale.

July 13, 2012July 15, 2012

Clark Magnet High School from “Our House”

Back in March, a fellow stalker named Bill contacted me to ask for some help in tracking down the high school that Kris Witherspoon (my girl Shannen Doherty) attended in the 1986 television series Our House. In his email, Bill included the links to several episodes of the series on YouTube (because it is maddeningly not yet available on DVD!), but the large brick structure did not look at all familiar to me. So I called up Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and asked if he happened to know of any large brick schools in the L.A.-area off the top of his head. He, of course, did and mentioned three of them that he thought I should check out – Grant High School in Van Nuys, Taft High School in Woodland Hills and Clark Magnet High School in La Crescenta. As luck would have it, Clark Magnet was the right one! That right there is why I love Mike – I can give him the vaguest of descriptions and, right off the bat, he knows the exact place I am talking about! So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out there a few days later.

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Sadly though, Clark Magnet High School – like most schools in L.A. – is gated and, aside from the front entrance, not very accessible to the public. So I called on Mike – who is now a location manager – once again, and suggested that he scout Clark the next time he was in need of a high school location – and that he should also bring me along. Which he did just a few weeks later. Yay!

Clark Magnet High School, which was named in honor of humanitarian Anderson W. Clark, was originally founded in 1961 as a middle school, serving kids in the 7th through 9th grades. In 1983, suffering from low enrollment, the property’s doors were forced to close. Thankfully though, the structure was not torn down, but instead became a community center, a teacher resource and training station and an office for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. And it was also used for filming. Due to the fact that Clark was no longer a functioning school and therefore easy to film at, and had a desirable All-American look, the place became an obvious choice for location scouts. But more on that later. In 1996, a task force decided to re-open Clark, this time as a high school, to alleviate nearby overcrowding and the property subsequently underwent a 13-month, $15 million renovation and modernization project. The site was re-founded in the fall of 1998 as a magnet school with focuses on science and technology and is currently the most technologically advanced school in the entire Glendale Unified School District. In a very odd side-note – Clark has a “twin” – a virtually identical carbon copy – named Rosemont Middle School that is located about ten blocks east. Both properties were built at the same time and, in order to be cost efficient, were designed in the exact same image. So incredibly weird!

In Our House, Clark Magnet High School stood in for James Polk High School, which Kris attended and where her mother, Jessica ‘Jessie’ Witherspoon (Deidre Hall), taught for a time. The school can best be seen in the Season 1 episode titled “First Impressions”. As you will notice below, during the renovation, Clark’s windows were, unfortunately, changed and no longer look as they did in the series. Blah!

In the “First Impressions” episode, Kris and her friend are shown walking through Clark’s humongous interior quad and then sitting on a set of cement bleachers. It was those bleachers that I most wanted to see while we were there. And thankfully, unlike the windows, they still look pretty much exactly the same as they did onscreen.

And I, of course, just had to sit in the area where Shannen was sitting in the episode.

Clark Magnet High School was also the school attended by despondent teenager Lane Meyer (John Cusack) in the 1985 flick Better Off Dead. (My second photograph below does not exactly match the posted screen shot, but it is of the general area. I am going to re-stalk the school soon so that I can get an exact pic.)

In 2003’s Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, Clark Magnet was the school attended by Sam Finney (Scott Terra) and Sally Finney (Jenna Boyd).

The school’s gym, which we did not get to see, appeared in the movie’s pep squad tryout scene. You can see a real life photograph of the Clark gym here.

And thanks to this 1987 Los Angeles Times article, I learned that the movie Return to Horror High was also filmed at Clark.

Randomly enough, a very young George Clooney had a starring role in Return to Horror High.

As did Maureen McCormick, aka Marcia Brady.

According to IMDB, the 1986 flick Dangerously Close was also filmed at Clark Magnet High School, but I could not find a copy of the movie with which to verify that.

Be sure to “Like” IAMNOTASTALKER on Facebook here and “Friend” me on my personal page here. You can also check out the IAMNOTASTALKER About Me page here and you can follow me on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And don’t forget to take a look at my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for finding this location and taking me to stalk it! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Clark Magnet High School from Our House is located at 4747 New York Avenue in La Crescenta. You can visit the school’s official website here. Clark’s twin, Rosemont Middle School, is located at 4725 Rosemont Avenue in La Crescenta. You can visit that school’s official website here.

June 19, 2012June 19, 2012

Red Carpet Wine & Spirits from “Crazy, Stupid, Love.”

A couple of weeks ago, a fellow stalker named Emily wrote a comment on my post about the Weaver house from fave movie Crazy, Stupid, Love. in which she informed me that the liquor store that appeared in the flick was Red Carpet Wine & Spirits (what a great name!) in Glendale. As fate would have it, I had been looking for that wine shop for what seemed like ages and could NOT have been more excited to read Emily’s comment. So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on over there a few days later and, amazingly enough, our visit turned out to be one of the best stalks of my entire “career”! Thank you, Emily!

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As soon as we set foot in Red Carpet Wine & Spirits, owner H.K. Hedlund walked up to us to ask if he could help us find anything. When I explained the reason behind our visit, he immediately directed us to the exact spot where filming took place and then proceeded to fill us in on tons of behind-the-scenes information. (And yes, I was definitely pinching myself!) H.K. ended up chatting with us for well over an hour, showed us photographs he had taken of the Crazy, Stupid, Love. shoot, dished on some of the celebs who have been spotted in his shop over the years, and told me that I could take all of the pictures of the place that I wanted. Um, yes please! As you can imagine, I was in absolute heaven!

Red Carpet Wine & Spirits was originally founded in 1964 by a man named John Vincenti. Twenty-three years later it was purchased by a retailer named David Dobbs, who, after deciding he wanted to move to Bakersfield, put the place on the market once again in late 2006. Hearing the shop was for sale, many of Dobb’s longtime employees quit and, in a twist of fate, H.K., who at the time owned an importing and wholesale beer business, was brought on to help out during the busy holiday season. H.K. ended up liking the place so much that he purchased it, along with his wife, Lisa, in October 2007. After taking over, the duo, who both grew up in nearby Arcadia, added an adorable wine-tasting room (pictured below) featuring three Enomatic wine dispensers which offer 2-ounce pours for as little as $2. Red Carpet, which boasts a huge and loyal following, hosts numerous onsite events in the wine room each year, including a book signing in July 2010 which featured Jennifer Aniston’s private chef, Jewels Elmore, who authored “The Family Chef: Make Your Kitchen the Heart of your Family”. So incredibly cool! The wine-tasting room can also be booked out for private parties which run from $10 to $20 per person.

Red Carpet, which WineSeller Magazine deemed “One of California’s most renowned wine shops”, currently carries over 1,200 different wines, 1,500 different spirits and 800 different beers, procured from all over the world. Unlike most run-of-the-mill wine stores, the oenophiles who work there actually sample every single libation that lines their shelves, so when I asked for a dry, average-priced champagne recommendation, H.K. was able to speak from experience. The champagne he directed me towards, which I enjoyed on my birthday, was fabulous! H.K. prides himself on his staff’s superior customer service, which I was lucky enough to witness firsthand. When I inquired about the most recent vintage of Marilyn Merlot wine (which you may remember me blogging about here), H.K. informed me that they were sold out, but that he would track down a bottle for me and deliver it right to my door. When I told him that was not necessary, being that I live about ten minutes from the shop and could easily come by to pick it up, he insisted and informed me that home delivery was just one of the many services that he and his team offer, free of charge mind you! Red Carpet is an amazing wine shop and I honestly cannot more highly recommend stalking it – or throwing a party there!

In Crazy, Stupid, Love., Red Carpet Wine & Spirits was where Jacob Palmer (cutie Ryan Gosling – sigh!) and Hannah (Emma Stone) shopped for wine before heading to Hannah’s mom’s house for dinner. According to H.K., one of the movie’s producers is a long-time customer of the shop, which is how it came to be used in the flick.

It was while there that Jacob made a phone call to his friend Cal Weaver (Steve Carell) and confided in him that he had met a girl who was a “game-changer”. So I , of course, just had to imitate Jacob talking on the phone while I was there. Smile

H.K. and Lisa even appeared briefly in the background of the scene! How lucky are they?!? You can check out some fabulous photographs that H.K. took during the filming here.

H.K. informed us that Red Carpet Wine had also appeared in the Season 5 episode of Desperate Housewives titled “Crime Doesn’t Pay”, in the scene in which Dave Williams (Neal McDonough), while shopping for wine with his new wife, Edie Britt (Nicollette Sheridan), ran into Father Drance (Don Moss), the priest who performed his then-wife and daughter’s funeral a few years prior.

Be sure to “Like” IAMNOTASTALKER on Facebook here and “Friend” me on my personal page here. You can also check out the IAMNOTASTALKER About Me page here. And you can follow me on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Emily for telling me about this location! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Red Carpet Wine & Spirits, from Crazy, Stupid, Love., is located at 400 East Glenoaks Boulevard in Glendale. You can visit the store’s official website here.

November 22, 2010November 21, 2010

The Parking Garage from “Twins”

Last weekend, I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to the city of Glendale to do some stalking of the historic Alex Theatre, where the cast of Glee was recently spotted doing some filming for this year’s “Sectionals” episode which is set to air on December 7th. After finishing up at the theatre (which I will be blogging about after the episode of Glee premieres), we headed a few blocks up the street to stalk the parking garage where Al Greco (aka a very young David Caruso) worked in the 1988 movie Twins. And I have to say that in all of my years of stalking, this one was actually a first for me because, while I’ve stalked a parking lot before, never in my life have I actually stalked a garage. And while it might seem a bit odd to all of my fellow stalkers out there that I would even want to stalk a parking structure in the first place, my reason for doing so was two-fold. First, the garage was a fairly prominent location in Twins and quite a few segments were filmed there, but more importantly it was where all of my man David Caruso’s scenes were filmed, and because the actor has got to be THE nicest celebrity that I’ve ever met in my entire life, I was dying to stalk the place where he filmed one of his very first movies. I found this location thanks to fellow stalker Gary, from the Seeing Stars website, who actually tracked the place down for fellow stalker Chas, from ItsFilmedThere, who had been searching for it for quite some time. So, thank you, Gary!

In Twins, Vincent Benedict (aka Danny DeVito) frequents the supposed airport parking garage where his buddy Al works in order to steal high end cars which he then subsequently sells on the black market. Towards the beginning of the movie, Vincent inadvertently makes off with a Cadillac carrying a very valuable stolen fuel injector prototype that he then decides to deliver to an industrialist in Houston who has offered to pay him $5,000,000 for it. The movie’s storyline takes off from there.

And I am very happy to report that the parking garage looks EXACTLY the same today as it did 22 years ago when Twins was filmed. I guess if I were to think about it, though, how much could a parking garage really change over the years, even in more than two decades time, but I was still pleasantly surprised and grateful, nonetheless.

The guard shack is the only part of the structure that has been altered since filming took place back in 1988. At the time of the filming, it was located outside of the garage, but it has since been moved a few feet backwards.

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Big THANK YOU to Gary, from Seeing Stars, for finding this location and to fellow stalker Chas from ItsFilmedThere who asked for his help in doing so! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The parking garage from Twins is located at 127 Burchett Street, off of North Brand Boulevard in between Goode and Arden Avenues, in Glendale. The area used in the movie is denoted with a pink arrow in the above aerial view.

October 15, 2010June 16, 2011

The Glen Capri Inn & Suites from “The Good Girl”

A few weeks ago, I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to stalk the Glen Capri Inn & Suites – a historic and oft-filmed Glendale-area motel that has appeared in over twenty movie and television productions in the past six years alone. I was most interested in stalking the property due to its appearance in the 2002 flick The Good Girl, which starred my girl Jen Aniston. And even though I didn’t like The Good Girl AT ALL (it was just far too dark and depressing for my taste), because JA had filmed there, I was dying to see the motel which was featured in it in person.

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The Glen Capri is famous not only for its vast motion picture history, but for its distinct architectural style, as well. The property was originally built in 1949 by Louis Armet and Eldon Davis, the architectural team who, according to an August 1999 Los Angeles Times article written by Ed Leibowitz, “defined ‘50s Googie architecture” – Googie being the unique mid-century modern-style of design which had its roots in the now-defunct, John Lautner-constructed Googies Coffee Shop. At the time of its grand opening, the Glen Capri Inn & Suites was called simply the Glen Capri Motel. In 2000, the interior of the property underwent an extensive remodel at which point it was given its more upscale-sounding moniker. Fortunately, the exterior of the property was left intact during the recent remodel and looks almost exactly the same today as it did when it was first built over six decades ago. It is thanks to the motel’s historic facade and authentic 60’s neon signage that location scouts have returned to film there time and time again.

Before arriving at the Glen Capri Inn & Suites, I was a little nervous that the place would not be very stalker-friendly and that taking photographs of the premises would be a big no-no. As it turns out, though, I needn’t have worried. The man working at the front desk was very nice and said that we could take all of the pictures that we wanted. AND there was even a “Wall of Fame” located in the main office, with signed headshots of all of the actors who had filmed at the motel on display.

As you can imagine, I just about died when I saw my girl Jen’s autographed picture hanging on the wall. SO INCREDIBLY COOL!

In The Good Girl, the Glen Capri stood in for the Texas-area motel where Justine Last (aka Jennifer Aniston) and Holden Worther (aka Jake Gyllenhaal) conducted their on-going affair.

Both the main office . . .

. . . and Room 8 were used in the flick. I don’t want to give away the ending, but Room 8 also featured significantly in the movie’s climactic finale. On a Good Girl side note – Mike, from MovieShotsLA, recently stalked Retail Rodeo, the discount store where Justine and Holden worked in the movie. You can see pics of it on his site here.

In 2004’s Raising Helen, the Glen Capri stood in for the New York-area motel where Helen Harris (aka Kate Hudson) and Jenny Portman (aka Joan Cusack) catch their underage niece Audrey Davis (aka Hayden Panettiere) on prom night. Audrey’s room was number 205.

In the 2004 teen comedy The Girl Next Door, Matthew Kidman (aka Emile Hirsch) took Danielle (aka Elisha Cuthbert) to the Glen Capri with the hopes of seducing her while there.

Ironically enough, Emile Hirsch returned to the Glen Capri two years later to film a scene for the 2006 drama Alpha Dog. In the flick, the Glen Capri stood in for the Albuquerque motel where Johnny Truelove and his girlfriend Angela Holden (aka Olivia Wilde) hid out after police had discovered the body of Zack Mazursky (aka Anton Yelchin).

In 2007’s Georgia Rule, the Glen Capri stood in for the Hull, Ohio-area motel where Arnold (aka Cary Elwes) stays while in town visiting his wife, Lily (aka Felicity Huffman), and his step-daughter, Rachel Wilcox (aka Lindsay Lohan). In the movie, Arnold stays in Room 206.

Other movies that have filmed at the Glen Capri include The Country Bears, Diamonds & Guns, and Janky Promoters. Episodes of Without a Trace, Parks and Recreation, Cold Case, Saving Grace, Night Stalker, Close to Home, Day Break, Windfall, Lovespring International, Mad Men, and Nip/Tuck have also been shot at the Glen Capri. You can check out the hotel’s very thorough filming page, which chronicles all of the productions that have been filmed on the premises over the past ten years, on its website here. Love it! There are actually several different motels in the Glen Capri chain and the one located at 326 Colorado Street, also in Glendale, has been used for filming, as well. It has appeared in episodes of Life and The Surreal Life and in a 2007 Smash Mouth music video.

On a Jennifer Aniston side note – my good friend and fellow stalker Kerry recently gifted me with the new Jennifer Aniston Perfume and I have to say that it is absolutely DIVINE. It is honestly the best scented perfume that I’ve ever smelled in my entire life! All of the literature written about it says that it has a “beachy” scent, but to me it seems to have more of a floral feel to it and is a bit reminiscent of Michael Kors signature fragrance, which I also love. Jennifer Aniston perfume smells so amazing that I literally cannot stop smelling my wrists when I wear it – I wouldn’t be surprised if I subconsciously gnaw my arm off in the coming weeks. 😉 Because the perfume is only available at Harrods in London (contrary to what Jen reported during her most recent Chelsea Lately appearance, it cannot be shipped outside of the UK), Kerry had to go through hell and high water to get it for me. So, I’ve had to resort to rationing it out in very small portions each day as I simply do not know WHAT I am going to do when I run out. 🙁 I am hoping that by that time it will be available in the US. (Are you listening, Jen?) Anyway, if you live in London or have plans to travel there, I HIGHLY recommend stopping by Harrods to pick up some JA perfume. Take my word for it, you will NOT be disappointed. And a HUGE thank you to Kerry for getting it for me! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Glen Capri Inn & Suites is located at 6700 San Fernando Road in Glendale. You can visit the hotel’s official website here. The Good Girl was filmed in the main office and in Room 8; Raising Helen also used the main office and Room 205; and Georgia Rule was filmed in Room 206.

September 23, 2010September 23, 2010

The Schaffer Residence from “A Single Man”

A couple of weeks ago, I dragged my new husband out to stalk an architecturally and cinematically famous house located in Glendale at the base of the Verdugo Mountains – the John Lautner-designed Schaffer Residence which appeared in fashion designer Tom Ford’s directorial debut, A Single Man. I found this location thanks to fellow stalker Gary from England, who immediately set about cyberstalking the residence after watching the flick back in February of this year. And even though I’ve never actually seen A Single Man – I try to avoid any and all movies that have a depressing subject matter – because I am a HUGE fan of legendary architect John Lautner and because the house is simply gorgeous, I just had to stalk it.

The two bedroom, two bath Schaffer Residence, which was originally built in 1949, measures 1,698 square feet and sits on a heavily wooded quarter acre of land. The home was constructed entirely out of steel, glass, redwood, and concrete and boasts an open floor plan with glass walls, which several websites have described as “transparent”. Apparently being in the home makes one feel as if they are actually outside. The house is so spectacular, that according to the John Lautner Foundation website, both architects Frank Gehry and Frank Escher consider the Schaffer house to be among their most favorite abodes ever created. Sadly, though, as you can see in the above photographs, not much of the house is visible from the street.

Nor is much visible from Bing’s aerial views, either. 🙁

Thankfully though, the Schaffer Residence is currently for sale (for a cool $1,495,000 and as fellow stalker Gary said in his email to me, “I am saving as I type!!!!!”) and there are plenty of pictures of the property on its real estate website. You can also check out some fabulous photographs of the interior of the home on the Big Shed website here. As you can see above, the Schaffer house is a post-modern masterpiece, stunning in its detail, and with its wood, steel, and glass features, is very reminiscent of both the abode belonging to Sebastian Stark (aka James Woods) on the television series Shark and the residence where Ted Crawford (aka Anthony Hopkins) lived in the movie Fracture.

In A Single Man, which premiered last year, the Schaffer Residence stands in for the Santa Monica-area home of Professor George Falconer (aka Colin Firth), and both the exterior . . .

. . . and the interior of the property were used quite extensively in the filming. When I skimmed through A Single Man earlier today to make the above screen captures, I was actually surprised to see how the home was portrayed onscreen. In the movie, George’s house is very dark and dreary, which is ironic being that, in reality, a huge part of what makes the home so special and unique are the large plate-glass windows which bathe the interior of the property in an exorbitant amount of natural light. As depicted in the real estate photographs and in all that I’ve read about the dwelling online, in real life the Schaffer residence is bright and airy – not at all how it appeared in A Single Man. In fact, after seeing how it was depicted onscreen, I’m quite surprised that director Tom Ford chose to use the home at all in the movie. I would have assumed that he’d want to film at a house that, at the very least, had less windows. But what do I know? 😉

The Schaffer Residence also made an appearance in the ultra-strange 2005 dramedy Happy Endings as the residence where Charley (aka Steve Coogan) and Gil (David Sutcliffe) lived.

On a side note – If you want to see photographs of the house where Charley (aka Julianne Moore) lived in A Single Man, you can do so on MovieShotsLA.

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On another side note – A Single Man director Tom Ford also just so happens to be the designer behind my girl Jennifer Aniston’s favorite sunglasses – the “Tom Ford Jennifer sunglasses” (pictured above). Jen loves the glasses so much, in fact, that legend has it that Tom even named them after her. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to own a pair of those! 🙂

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Gary for finding this location! 🙂

Stalk It: The Schaffer Residence from A Single Man is located at 527 Whiting Woods Way in Glendale. You can check out the home’s real estate website here.

July 27, 2009July 26, 2009

The Christmas Vacation Mansion

Last week I did something that I am almost too ashamed to admit to on this forum. I, Lindsay Blake of iamnotastalker.com, actually spent about two hours searching for a filming location that I – are you sitting down for this – HAD ALREADY FOUND! LOL LOL LOL I’m not kidding!!!! I guess I truly am a blonde! Ever since fellow stalker Owen tracked down the Griswold house from fave movie National Lampoon’s Vacation, I have wanted to find the mansion which stood in for Clark’s boss, Frank Shirley’s, house in the movie’s 1989 sequel Christmas Vacation. So, last week, I sat down at my computer on a mission to do just that. But unbeknownst to me, it seems I already had!

My first stalking step was to pop in my Christmas Vacation DVD and skip forward to the scene when Cousin Eddie shows up with his RV at Frank Shirley’s Chicago area manison on Christmas Eve night and kidnaps him – an idea he gets after hearing Clark’s HILARIOUS “last minute gift ideas” rant. LOL LOL LOL

As soon as the mansion came into view on my computer screen I realized that it looked extremely familiar. My first thought was that it might be located in the Pasadena area and that the reason it looked familiar was because I had driven by it regulary on my way to and from home. The more I watched the scene, the more I kept thinking to myself, “Man, I KNOW that house!” I spent the next couple of hours on Google Map’s Street View, looking up and down all the streets I frequent on a regular basis. I also spent quite a bit of time researching behind-the-scenes information on the movie. Then, just as I was about to go completely crazy, it hit me! Not only had I stalked the Christmas Vacation mansion before, but I had even BLOGGED ABOUT IT! LOL LOL LOL What an airhead I am!

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It turns out that the Christmas Vacation house is actually the Mansion Bel Aire which I stalked last May while on the hunt for the Fresh Prince of Bel Air house. The Mansion Bel Aire was built in 1922 by prominent Glendale area businessman Mattison Boyd Jones and was also used in the Aaron Spelling TV series Flamingo Road. According to Zillow, the house sits on over one and a half acres and measures a whopping 5,698 square feet! The mansion is truly amazing to see in person and I highly recommend stalking it – preferably during the month of October, as the owners apparently really do the place up for Halloween. Mansion Bel Aire has been nominated for a City of Glendale Halloween Spirit Award for several years in a row now. You can bet I am going to be dragging my fiance out to stalk it once again come October! 🙂 Personally I think they should do the place up for Christmas, too! Bring in fake snow ala how it looked in Christmas Vacation! Can you imagine how cool that would have been to see being filmed?!?!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Christmas Vacation mansion, aka Mansion Bel Aire, is located at 727 West Kenneth Road in Glendale.