Philadelphia – IAMNOTASTALKER

October 18, 2019October 23, 2019

Cole’s House from “The Sixth Sense”

Locations stick with me. They just do. Obviously. One that stuck with me above the realm of normalcy, though, is the handsome brick townhouse where Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) lived in The Sixth Sense.

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Even though I’ve only actually seen the 1999 thriller once, the image of Bruce Willis as child psychologist Malcolm Crowe sitting on a bench while waiting for Cole in the film’s opening sequence is forever seared in my mind. So when we headed to Philadelphia, where the movie was lensed, in September 2016, visiting Cole’s house was a no-brainer. (My photo below is of the wrong bench, unfortunately – I accidentally snapped the one situated directly outside of Cole’s home, thinking that is where Bruce sat, instead of the one across from it.)

The correct bench is pictured below.

Though named the “Garden Court Apartments” in The Sixth Sense, the row of picturesque brick townhomes where Cole lives is actually known as the “Garden Block.”

Centered around a foliage-filled median, the small stretch of road, closed to cars, is pretty darn idyllic.

While the vegetation is much more mature and full than it was when The Sixth Sense was filmed twenty years ago, the block is instantly recognizable from its big-screen cameo – even to those for whom locations don’t stick, like the Grim Cheaper who identified the place immediately.

Unfortunately, the abundance of greenery made it impossible to get a photo matching the screen capture below. The pictured image is the best I could do.

As you can see in this unobstructed view, though, aside from the front door and window trims now exhibiting a bright purple hue . . .

. . . the property looks much as it did onscreen.

The inside of the home is another story entirely. For interior scenes involving Cole’s apartment, a studio set was built, one that, interestingly, looked nothing like its real-life counterpart. Though taken from opposing angles, in the MLS image as compared to the screen capture below, you can see that the real entry does not resemble its silver-screen self in the slightest. The actual entrance to the home is comprised of a narrow hallway that leads directly to a staircase, while the movie version is wide and open and pours into the living room.

To accommodate that wide entry, you’ll notice that filmmakers cheated things a bit with the townhouse’s exterior by making it appear to have a central front door flanked by two windows. In actuality, only the window to the west of the door (denoted with an orange arrow below) belongs to the property.

The window to the east is part of the neighboring townhouse (the front door of which is situated around the corner facing South 23rd Street), something that is quite obvious in person thanks to the differing trim colors.

The real kitchen is also much different from its big-screen counterpart, with lower ceilings, fewer, more modern cabinets, and a narrower footprint. I much prefer the homey, charming look of the set to that of the actual house, which is somewhat bland and cold. But I guess that’s why production designers get paid the big bucks!

You can check out some more images of the townhome’s interior here. The washer/dryer situation leaves quite a bit to be desired, but I digress.

Per an old real estate listing, the 1915 pad is comprised of 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2,052 square feet, an eat-in kitchen, a small backyard, and a full basement. There’s no mention of unwanted visitors of the spirit variety, so whether or not the house actually has any remains to be, ahem, seen.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Cole’s apartment from The Sixth Sense is located at 2302 St. Alban’s Place in Philadelphia.

July 22, 2019July 21, 2019

The Philadelphia Museum of Art from “Rocky”

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has been called the world’s second most famous filming location, falling only behind Grand Central Station in New York. While the latter has been captured on celluloid copious times, the former is known mainly for one significant appearance. It was there that Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) embodied triumph by scaling the site’s massive east entrance stairs, fists pumping in the air, in what is arguably one of cinema’s most iconic moments from the 1976 boxing classic Rocky. Even though I have never seen the movie (I know, I know!), I was very familiar with the archetypal segment (which you can watch here), so there was no way I was going to miss stalking the museum to re-create it while vacationing in the City of Brotherly Love in 2016!

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The Philadelphia Museum of Art as we know it today opened to the public on March 26th, 1928, though its roots date all the way back to 1876 when the city hosted the Centennial Exhibition, the first official World’s Fair to take place in the United States. One of the event’s most popular exhibits was the Art Gallery, situated inside the gorgeous Memorial Hall which still stands today at 4231 Avenue of the Republic. It proved so beloved in fact, that following the fair’s closure, it continued to function, becoming a permanent part of Philadelphia’s cultural landscape. By the 1890s, the need for a bigger space to house the museum’s growing collection had developed and city leaders began making plans to erect a larger gallery, though ground would not be broken on the new site until 1919 and construction would not be completed for another nine years after that.

Towering atop Fairmount Hill, the city’s highest point, the grand structure was designed by the Zantzinger, Borie and Medary and the Horace Trumbauer architecture firms.

The massive facility houses more than 220,000 works in 200 different galleries and features large-scale installations including a ceremonial Japanese teahouse, a pillared hallway fashioned from the ruins of 3 Indian temples and the former main entrance to France’s Abbey Church of Saint-Laurent, as well as pieces by Vincent van Gogh, Edward Hicks, Thomas Eakins, Pablo Picasso, and Henri Matisse.

Though the views of the city it boasts are just as picturesque as the art which hangs on its walls.

Today, PMOA is one of the largest, most visited art museums in the country. And thanks to Rocky, its east staircase is just as big a draw as the museum itself.

The “Rocky Steps,” as they are colloquially known, pop up twice in the flick – first mid-film, in the scene in which the fledgling boxer, while training for a big fight, unsuccessfully attempts to scale them during a nighttime jog.

Later in the movie, he finally makes it to the top and we see the museum . . .

. . . and its views in all of their glory. Rocky’s legendary run is actually immortalized with a set of footprints at the top of the stairs, but I was, unfortunately, unaware of that fact when I stalked the place, so I failed to get a photo of them. You can see what they look like here, though.

Several of the movie’s sequels have also made use of PMOA, including 1979’s Rocky II in which the Italian Stallion once again trains for a big fight by running up to the museum’s 72nd step.

In 1982’s Rocky III, the now famous boxer is honored with a bronze statue of himself that is displayed atop the museum’s east staircase. During the dedication ceremony early in the film, he is heckled by Clubber Lang (Mr. T).

Later in the movie, Rocky goes to see the statue during a nighttime motorcycle ride.

The A. Thomas Schomberg-designed piece, which stands 8’6” tall, was commissioned by Stallone for Rocky III and then left in place at the top of the steps when filming wrapped, a gift from the actor to the museum. While City Commerce Director Dick Doran embraced the move, proclaiming that Sylvester had done “more for Philadelphia’s image than anyone since Ben Franklin,” not all locals were as enthused, especially PMOA executives who felt that the sculpture was nothing more than a movie prop. In a rather contentious move, the work was eventually moved to the Wachovia Spectrum in South Philadelphia.

Though it was temporarily brought back to the museum in 1990 for a brief scene in Rocky V, as soon as the shoot wrapped it was relegated to the Spectrum once again.

Finally in 2006, the statue was given a new home just east of the base of the Rocky Steps where it still stands today.

That same year, the museum was featured in the closing credits of Rocky Balboa in a montage showing fans running up the staircase, re-creating the famous moment from the first movie . . .

. . . before flashing to an image of Rocky standing on the steps alone while snow falls around him.

And at the end of the 2015 sequel Creed, Rocky takes Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan) to the staircase.

The Rocky franchise is hardly the only production to showcase the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Lisa Brandt (Janet Margolin) runs away to the museum in the 1962 drama David & Lisa.

The interior masks as New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, where Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson) meets Warren Lockman (Ken Baker), in the 1980 thriller Dressed to Kill.

Will Smith (Will Smith), imitating Rocky, runs up the staircase while training for a fight in the Season 4 episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air titled “The Philadelphia Story,” which aired in 1994.

Rose (Toni Collette) also pays homage to Rocky by running up the museum steps a couple of times in the 2005 drama In Her Shoes.

Kate (Tina Fey) and Rob (Greg Kinnear) kiss in front of the museum in the 2008 comedy Baby Mama.

Dr. Karen Fletcher (Betty Buckley) is briefly seen looking at Paul Cézanne’s The Bathers there in the 2016 thriller Split.

Shazam (Zachary Levi) heads to the Philadelphia Museum of Art with Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer) shortly after discovering his superhero alter ego in 2019’s Shazam!

He also perfects his laser abilities on the museum steps (with “Eye of the Tiger” from Rocky III playing in the background) later in the movie.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Philadelphia Museum of Art, from Rocky, is located at 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park. The steps featured in the movie can be found on the eastern side of the property. You can visit the museum’s official website here.

July 19, 2019July 18, 2019

LOVE Park from “Shazam!”

I am a complete and total girly-girl, especially when it comes to anything having to do with love, hearts or romance. So when I headed to Philadelphia in September 2016, John F. Kennedy Plaza, aka LOVE Park, was at the top of my To-Stalk List – or rather the iconic LOVE statute that serves as its focal point was. Unbeknownst to me, the space was actually undergoing a two-year renovation at the time of our visit and closed to the public. I did get to see the sculpture, though, at a temporary display site in Dilworth Park in front of City Hall, a literal stone’s throw away from its usual home. The two spots are in such close proximity, in fact (they sit kitty-corner from each other across 15th Street), that it was not until perusing my photographs in preparation for this post that I realized I never actually set foot in LOVE Park during my trip! Regardless, after learning of the site’s fascinating history (and its connection to a certain Hollywood star), as well as of its recent cameo in the 2019 superhero film Shazam! (available on DVD and streaming now), I figured a blog about it was in order.

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LOVE Park was originally conceived of in 1932 by Cornell University architecture student Edmund Bacon, then 22, while working on his thesis, though it would not come to fruition for several decades. After graduating, Bacon spent time traveling around the world and eventually secured an architecture job in Shanghai. He then served in World War II before finally returning to his hometown of Philadelphia where he founded and then became the Executive Director of the City Planning Commission, a position he held from 1949 through 1970. During his tenure, Bacon spearheaded many projects to beautify the area, including finally enacting his college thesis idea of developing a municipal park to cover an underground parking garage that neighbored City Hall.

Bacon brought in his former Cornell University classmate Vincent George Kling to design the park, which opened to the public in 1965. Two years later, it was dedicated as “John F. Kennedy Plaza,” though it is more commonly referred to as “LOVE Park” thanks to the large Robert Indiana-designed LOVE sculpture that sits at its center. Measuring 6 feet by 6 feet by 3 feet, the shiny red, purple and green installation was first displayed on the premises, on temporary loan from the artist, in 1976 as part of the United States bicentennial celebration. Its return to Indiana in 1978 was met with much woe, so Philadelphia Art Commission president (and owner of the 76ers) Fitz Eugene Dixon Jr. rectified the situation, personally purchasing the piece to exhibit permanently in the Plaza.

In February 2016, John F. Kennedy Plaza was shuttered for the aforementioned renovation project which cost $26 million and took 2 years to complete. During the interim, the LOVE statue was moved to Dilworth Park, just south of the Philadelphia Municipal Services Building, as pictured below.

It was finally reinstated in February 2018 and the park re-opened to the public in May of that same year. The new design, which features two gardens, a great lawn, a fountain, and regular events including weekday food truck offerings, has been widely lamented by area denizens. An apparent shadow of its former self, The Philadelphia Citizen described the bleak space as “an enormous sidewalk,” while The Philadelphia Inquirer dubbed it a “granite Sahara,” and the Street Dept. blog went so far as to plead with locals to close their accounts with Bank of America, as the company funded a portion of the revamp. You can check out some images of LOVE Park pre- and post-overhaul here and here, respectively.

Aside from the LOVE statue, John F. Kennedy Plaza is perhaps best known for being a huge skateboarding mecca during the ‘80s and ‘90s, which brought the park worldwide attention, but also drew ire from some locals resulting in a long battle that caused the city to ban skating there in 1994. Many welcomed the activity, though, so the law was not strictly enforced and teens continued to shred it up on the premises until 2002 when the site underwent a renovation under the order of Mayor John F. Street which essentially made skating at the park obsolete. That project was met with much disdain, too, from countless Philadelphians including Edmund Bacon himself who, on October 28th of that year, hosted a protest of sorts by riding a skateboard through the Plaza – at the age of 92! As he stated to media outlets that day, “And now I, Edmund N. Bacon, in total defiance of Mayor Street and the council of the city of Philadelphia, hereby exercise my rights as a citizen of the United States and I deliberately skate in my beloved LOVE Park.” After his brief glide, he joyously proclaimed, “Oh God, thank you, thank you, thank you! My whole damn life has been worth it just for this moment!” You can check out a great video of the event here. Though Bacon is often referred to as “The Father of Modern Philadelphia” thanks to the huge mark he left on the City of Brotherly Love, I was thrilled to discover that his actual lineage is pretty darn noteworthy, too. Edmund, you see, is dad to none other than actor Kevin Bacon! And the LOVE Park’s Hollywood connection doesn’t end there.

In Shazam!, Dr. Sivana (Mark Strong) and Shazam (Zachary Levi) face off in a battle in the sky above LOVE Park.

During the fight, Sivana attempts to shoot Shazam with a laser, but misses and accidentally hits the William Penn statue atop City Hall instead, causing it to crash down to John F. Kennedy Plaza below.

LOVE Park also popped up in the 2009 comedy Baby Mama as the spot where Rob (Greg Kinnear) pretends to propose to Kate (Tina Fey) during a musical montage.

It is shown very briefly in an establishing shot of Philadelphia towards the end of the film, as well.

Noble Fox’s 2015 “What You Want” music video, which you can watch here, was also lensed at LOVE Park.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: John F. Kennedy Plaza, aka LOVE Park from Shazam!, is located at Arch and 16th Streets in Philadelphia’s Center City neighborhood.

March 19, 2018March 18, 2018

30th Street Station from “Trading Places”

If you’re a filming location buff, you really shouldn’t travel to Philadelphia without first seeing Trading Places, the 1983 Dan Aykroyd/Eddie Murphy comedy set in the City of Brotherly Love. And filming location buff or not, you really shouldn’t leave Philly without a visit to 30th Street Station, the city’s main railroad depot which had a brief, but memorable role in the flick. I had never actually watched the movie until just prior to our trip back east in September 2016, but it has always been one of the Grim Cheaper’s favorites, so I knew I had to give it a go. And even though he is not at all into locations, I made sure to add a few of its sites to our stalking itinerary. 30th Street Station was at the top of that list thanks to some photos I had seen of its grandly dramatic interior online. In person, it did not disappoint.

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30th Street Station was originally built by the Pennsylvania Railroad between 1929 and 1934.

Designed by Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, the imposing structure was erected out of steel, limestone, granite, and sandstone.

Technologically advanced for its time with a pneumatic tube system, a reinforced roof that allowed for small aircraft landings, and a progressive intercom schematic, the site became the headquarters of the Pennsylvania Railroad shortly after opening.

To say that 30th Street Station is grand would be a vast understatement. From the towering front portico . . .

. . . to the striking main concourse – the depot makes quite an impression.

Though the exterior of the building is Classical in style, the 562,000-square-foot interior is all Art Deco – and it is stunning.

The colossal 290-foot by 135-foot concourse features travertine walls, marble columns, 5-story windows, and gilded detailing.

It is the coffered ceiling, which soars 97 feet above the floor, though, that had me gaping.

Walking into the space, one can’t help but simply marvel.

Situated adjacent to the concourse is the North Waiting Room, another gleaming chamber of travertine and marble.

The room is best known for the massive bas-relief that sits on its rear wall.

Named “Spirit of Transportation,” the 1895 piece was sculpted by Karl Bitter and details evolving modes of transit. Originally displayed at the now defunct Broad Street Station formerly located just a few miles away, the installation was moved to its current home in January 1933.

From 1988 to 1991, 30th Street Station, which according to The Architects Newspaper accommodates 11 million commuters each year, underwent a $100-million revitalization. The area surrounding it is currently set to undergo a massive renovation of its own.

In order to expand the city’s commercial district, 30-million square feet of new space consisting of office and apartment buildings, hotels, parks, shops, and restaurants will be constructed around the depot along the banks of the Schuylkill River. Considering the views are already pretty stellar, I can only imagine how beautiful it is going to be.

30th Street Station pops up at the end of Trading Places in the scene in which Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd) and Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) catch a train to New York.

It is there, in the main concourse, that Coleman (Denholm Elliott) and Ophelia (Jamie Lee Curtis) hand over their life savings in order to help Louis and Billy Ray get revenge on scheming brothers Randolph and Mortimer Duke (Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche, respectively). On a Trading Places side-note – while researching for this post, I came across a fabulous oral history of the movie. Those interested can check it out here.

Considering its dramatic architecture, it should come as no surprise that the station has been featured in a plethora of productions over the years.

In Alfred Hitchcock’s 1964 thriller Marnie, Marnie Edgar (Tippi Hedren) arrives in Philadelphia via 30th Street Station. I am fairly certain that no actual filming took place on the premises, though, and that the depot was solely utilized in an establishing shot.

The station that Marnie is shown exiting from in the movie looks to be nothing more than a studio-built set.

In the 1981 thriller Blow Out, Burke (John Lithgow) stalks a prostitute in 30th Street Station’s North Waiting Room and then kills her in one of the depot’s bathrooms before heading to the concourse to meet up with Sally (Nancy Allen).

Samuel (Lukas Haas) witnesses a murder at 30th Street Station in the 1985 drama Witness.

Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg), Alma Moore (Zooey Deschanel) and Julian (John Leguizamo) flee Philadelphia via a train at 30th Street Station in the 2008 thriller The Happening.

At the beginning of 2015’s The Visit, Mom (Kathryn Hahn) drops off her kids, Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould), at 30th Street Station.

In the 2017 thriller Split, Kevin Wendall Crumb (James McAvoy) buys flowers at 30th Street Station, though not much of the site can be seen in the scene.

The site also pops up each week in the opening credits of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which started airing in 2005.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: 30th Street Station, from Trading Places, is located at 2955 Market Street in Philadelphia.

October 17, 2017October 17, 2017

The Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia

I am into some admittedly weird stuff – murders, hauntings, all things macabre. But a place I learned about while planning my 2016 trip to Pennsylvania seemed even a bit too morbid for me. As DK Eyewitness Travel Guide described, The Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia exhibits “curious and unusual items, including preserved specimens and wax anatomical and pathological models.” While the book’s photograph of The Mütter’s display of 139 real human skulls had me drooling, I feared the site might be a bit too disturbing. But I added it to my Philly To-Stalk List nonetheless. When I showed the Grim Cheaper info on the museum, he became pretty dead-set against visiting, though, and I did not attempt to sway him. Then fate stepped in during our first night in the City of Brotherly Love. While eating dinner at a fabulous sidewalk table at Devon Seafood Grill (another DK Eyewitness Travel suggestion), we happened to strike up a conversation with the couple next to us. Our new friends, Philadelphia natives both, were excited to share local recommendations and, as it turned out, one of their favorite places in the area was The Mütter Museum. They assured us we couldn’t leave town without a visit – which is how we found ourselves knee-deep in medical curiosities just a couple of days later.

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The Mütter Museum was originally established thanks to Jefferson Medical College professor of surgery Thomas Dent Mütter. In 1858, the doctor donated $30,000 as well as his vast collection of more than 1,700 specimens to The College of Physicians of Philadelphia with the request that they build a fireproof gallery to house the artifacts, which he hoped would be added to over the years, and hire a curator. The school obliged, constructing a two-story brick building at the northeast corner of Locust and South 13th Streets in 1863. The bottom level comprised the original Mütter Museum and the second floor served as The College’s headquarters. A third story was eventually added as more space was needed. (Sadly, the structure was torn down in 1930 and the spot where it once stood is now a parking lot.)

By the turn of the century, The College was in need of even more space and the Cope and Stewardson architecture firm was commissioned to design a larger headquarters at 19 South 22nd Street. The stately New Beaux Arts-style building was completed in 1909 and still houses the school, as well as The Mütter Museum, to this day.

The handsome structure has a haunting Midnight-in-the-Garden-of-Good-and-Evil-feel to it, which was made even stronger by the rain that started to fall as we arrived at the site.

The Mütter, which today houses more than 25,000 relics all related to medicine, health and disease, is considered one of the finest medical history museums in the world. Sadly, due to the fact that there are actual human bodies and body parts on display, none of the exhibits can be photographed. While I typically hate a no-photography rule, in this case, I completely understood the site’s use of discretion.

Only the main exhibit hall is off-limits to cameras, though. Photography is allowed in other areas, including Hutchinson Parlor, a space near The Mütter’s entrance which reminded me of the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. I literally wanted to move right in, pour myself a glass of champagne, light a fire, and curl up with a good mystery novel in one of the cozy red armchairs.

Pictures are also allowed in the Thomson Gallery, the museum’s temporary exhibit space which was hosting Perfect Vessels: Works by David Orr at the time we visited.

The incredible installation consisted of massive round photographs of human skulls which had been digitally altered by artist David Orr to appear perfectly symmetrical.

As you can imagine, I was completely taken with the images.

I would LOVE to have each and every one on display at my house during Halloween. Heck, who am I kidding? I’d keep them up year-round if I could get my hands on them!

Sadly, Perfect Vessels ended its run in January, but you can read more about the exhibit here.

Situated just off the Thomson Gallery is the Sir John Templeton Veranda and Medicinal Herb Garden, another area open to photography.

And let me tell you, it is striking!

The Midnight-in-the-Garden-of-Good-and-Evil-feel of the property is continued out onto the terraced oasis . . .

. . . and made even more prominent thanks to the rather gothic-looking church that abuts it.

With its dramatic greenery and . . .

. . . and stunning brick façade . . .

. . . it is no wonder the garden has become an extremely popular wedding venue.

It literally looks like something out of a fairytale.

I think that’s Hansel and Gretel’s house right there!

The property’s interior is no less striking thanks to what Mütter’s official website describes as “a 19th-century cabinet museum setting.” Handsome wood cupboards housing all manner of artifacts are positioned in every corner of the dramatic space. Prior to my visit, I had never seen a museum laid out in such a way and loved exploring the myriad of displays, pulling out drawers and walking around 360-degree glass cases. The site feels more like the ornate private library of a wealthy eccentric scientist than a public museum. (The image below, which shows The Mütter’s main room, is a screen capture from an episode of the Anthony Bourdain series The Layover, but more on that in a bit.)

Just a few of the unique curios housed at The Mütter include the largest human colon on display in the world (the “Mega-Colon,” as the museum refers to it, which measures 8 feet, 4 inches when stretched, is pictured below with Anthony Bourdain), slides of Albert Einstein’s brain (his brain was 15% larger than the average brain!), the aforementioned collection of 139 skulls (which once belonged to Viennese anatomist Joseph Hyrtl), a death cast of the original “Siamese” twins Chang and Eng, a portion of John Wilkes Booth’s vertebra, actual shrunken heads, and the Soap Lady.

The Mütter is a somber place and the experience of visiting it quite sobering. But it is also utterly fascinating. I am typically not one for museums. At all. I find myself easily bored while wandering through exhibits, the display cards far too tedious and time-consuming to read. My best friend loves to recount the time we visited the Guggenheim in Manhattan. As he tells it (while making a circling motion with his finger), “While we were all still on the first floor looking at the artwork, here comes Lindsay, zipping down the ramp, heading for the exit.” Yep, I had already ventured up to the sixth floor and back down again while my best friend, his girlfriend, his mom, my parents, and the GC were all still perusing the lowest level. That’s typically my modus operandi at museums. At The Mütter, though, I looked at every single exhibit and read through every single information card. I was transfixed by each item on display. I honestly cannot more highly recommend a visit. Even the GC enjoyed himself and he had been so reluctant to go.

Bonus – The Mütter is also a filming location! The 2011 Quay Brothers documentary short Through the Weeping Glass: On the Consolations of Life Everlasting was not only shot on location at the museum, but details its many collections.

As I mentioned above, Anthony Bourdain shot an episode of The Layover at The Mütter, Season 2’s “Philadelphia,” which aired in 2012.

During his visit, Bourdain apparently declared The Mütter’s onsite gift shop “the best gift shop ever.” He’s not alone in that assertion. The store was named Best Museum Gift Shop by Philadelphia magazine in 2012. And I wholeheartedly agree. It’s like a Halloween wonderland! I purchased quite a few things there, including the coaster pictured below which is hands-down my favorite souvenir that I picked up while in town.

In the Season 1 episode of Ozzy and Jack’s World Detour titled “Iron Mountain Men,” which aired in 2016, Jack Osbourne took father Ozzy on a private, after-hours tour of The Mütter Museum as a surprise for the Prince of Darkness’ birthday.

While The Mütter also served as the inspiration for the American Morbidity Museum on American Horror Story: Freak Show, which aired in 2014, no filming actually took place there.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia is located at 19 South 22nd Street in the city’s Rittenhouse-Fitler Historic District. You can visit the museum’s official website here. The property is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

December 2, 2016November 30, 2016

The Dorchester from “Mannequin”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

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

November 18, 2016November 16, 2016

Reading Terminal Market from “National Treasure”

Philadelphians really know their filming locations! During our visit to the City of Brotherly Love, the Grim Cheaper and I stalked Reading Terminal Market, an enclosed public emporium and city icon that was featured in a memorable scene in National Treasure. While there, I was determined to figure out the exact area of the bustling 78,000-square-foot space that appeared in the 2004 adventure flick and asked a woman at the Pennsylvania General Store (the cookies there are amazing, FYI!) if she happened to know. Now typically when I ask such questions, the response I receive is along the lines of, “National Treasure was filmed here? I had no idea!” But in this case, the woman told me that she was fairly certain filming had taken place at the Martin’s Quality Meats and Sausages counter. So we headed over there and were delighted to discover that she was correct!

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During Philadelphia’s early days, open-air markets were commonplace in the downtown area, namely on what was then known as High Street. The region was so inundated with the outdoor grocers that the road was soon renamed “Market Street.” By the mid-1800s, though, the markets had come to be seen an unhygienic and the crowds they drew as nuisances, and in 1859 they were outlawed. Shortly thereafter, two indoor bazaars, Franklin Market and Farmers’ Market, opened inside of a large space at 12th and Market Streets. The sites flourished until 1890, when the property was purchased by the Reading Company for the purpose of constructing a new train terminal. The merchants did not take the news of their impending ousting lightly and demanded that an area underneath the terminal be built for them to continue to operate. As a result, Reading Terminal Market was established in 1892. The thriving site boasted 800 stalls, a state of the art refrigeration system, and offered such innovative services as grocery delivery via train.

Though the Reading Company filed for bankruptcy in 1971 and ceased train operations altogether in 1976, the market continued to function. Reading pondered closing the site for a time, but eventually set its sights on a revitalization. The Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority took over ownership of the emporium in 1990 and today, it is a thriving location and one of Philadelphia’s city treasures.

The sprawling space houses over 80 merchants and vendors selling such items as cheese, produce, flowers, ice cream, meat, baked goods, coffee, books, and other specialty merchandise.

In National Treasure, Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) and Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) head to Reading Terminal Market while on the run from Ian Howe’s (Sean Bean) goons. In the scene, they enter the market from the Filbert Street side (which I did not get any photos of, so the Google Street View image below will have to do).

During the chase, Riley and Abigail get split up . . .

. . . and Abigail takes refuge behind the Martin’s counter.

I was thrilled to see that, despite the passage of more than a decade, Martin’s Specialty Meats and Sausages still looks much the same in person as it did in National Treasure.

Martin’s has been located at Reading Terminal Market since 1986. Philadelphia magazine describes the shop’s specialty sausages – including such varieties as garlic, apple and pork, and lamb merguez – as “meat porn,” stating “Butchery wasn’t invented here, but it may have been perfected.”

The Martin’s employee I spoke with could not have been nicer when I asked if the kiosk was indeed the spot where National Treasure was filmed. He immediately pointed towards the counter’s half door and said, “Yep! That’s the door Diane Kruger jumped over in the scene!”

Said door has since been painted over and a large red M applied to its front, but otherwise it looks as it did onscreen.

Reading Terminal Market was also featured briefly in the 1981 thriller Blow Out as the spot where Burke (John Lithgow) stalked one of his victims.

Though several sites state that the market appeared in Trading Places, I scanned through the 1983 comedy and did not see it anywhere.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Reading Terminal Market, from National Treasure, is located at 51 North 12th Street in Philadelphia’s Center City. You can visit the market’s official website here and you can see a layout of the vendors here. In the movie, Abigail hides behind the counter at Martin’s Quality Meats and Sausages, which is located in the center of the emporium.

November 16, 2016November 30, 2016

The Franklin Institute from “National Treasure”

I am not a fan of museums. Like at all. My dislike stems mainly from the fact that, if given the choice, I’d much prefer to be outdoors than indoors. There were quite a few on my list of must-see places in Philadelphia, though, including Eastern State Penitentiary (which I wouldn’t even really classify as a museum – you can read my post on it here), the Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia (which I will be blogging about soon), and The Franklin Institute. My desire to see the latter was not due to its exhibits or artifacts, but because it was featured in a scene in National Treasure. Not just any scene, either – my favorite scene from the 2004 adventure flick. So the Grim Cheaper and I headed over there during our second day in the City of Brotherly Love.

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The Franklin Institute was founded by engineer Samuel Vaughan Merrick in 1824. Yes, you read that right – 1824. The original headquarters, which was built in 1826, still stands today. Located at 15 South 7th Street, it currently houses the Philadelphia History Museum at The Atwater Kent. The Institute moved to its current home, a Classical Beaux-Arts building (pictured below) located at 222 North 20th Street, in 1934.

Designed by architect John T. Windrim, the looming exterior of The Franklin Institute was constructed out of Indiana limestone and Milford pink granite.

The sprawling four-story museum, which Eyewitness Travel states is “the oldest science and technology institute in continuous use in North America,” is comprised of countless exhibits including a simulated train factory, a 5,000-square-foot interactive Giant Heart, a four-story Foucault’s Pendulum, an air show, three theatres, and a planetarium. The museum is also the site of the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial – a 21-foot-tall marble statute of the inventor sculpted by James Earle Fraser that sits perched in the middle of the central rotunda.

The rotunda, also designed by Windrim, was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome and measures 82 feet in height, length, and width.

The space’s impressive domed ceiling weighs a whopping 1,600 tons.

It is at The Franklin Institute in National Treasure that Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) – my favorite character – solves an Ottendorf cipher, along with some help from “Museum Kid” (Yves Beneche) and the Silence Dogood letters. Filming took place both outside . . .

. . . and inside the museum.

Though the Silence Dogood letters are, in fact, a legitimate piece of American history, they are not housed at The Franklin Institute. From everything I have read online, the original letters no longer exist, though you can read their content here. For the shoot, filmmakers altered the rotunda, positioning large wooden cases displaying the letters in between the columns just to the right (north) of the Benjamin Franklin statue.

The area where the display cases were set up is pictured below.

In the scene, Riley waits for Museum Kid across the street from The Franklin Institute at the Aero Memorial in Aviator Park.

Though the Kid is shown running back and forth from Riley to the museum via a crosswalk linking The Franklin Institute to the memorial, there is no such crosswalk in real life.

Google Street View imagery from 2007 does show remnants of crosswalk paint in that spot, though. I am not sure if a crosswalk was once located there or if one was painted in for the shoot and vestiges of it remained visible for several years after the fact. It would be pretty darn cool if that was the case, though! [Something very similar happened with the parking spot lines painted in front of the house used as Wendy’s (Courteney Cox’s) residence in Bedtime Stories.]

The Aero Memorial looks a bit different in person, which threw me off completely. I could not for the life of me figure out where Riley sat in the scene. And there was nothing I wanted to do more than pose for a photo in that exact spot!

I knew Riley had been seated on a standalone bench that faced The Franklin Institute in National Treasure, but could find no such bench on the premises. That and the missing crosswalk led me to wonder if Riley’s portion of the scene had been filmed elsewhere and just made to look as if it was shot across from the museum. I needed screen captures to provide clarification, but, unfortunately, had not bought any with me to Philadelphia. Enter my friend Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog. I texted to ask if he had done any research on the location and if he happened to have any screen captures he could forward my way, and he sent over an email immediately, with a slew of screen grabs attached. Thank you, Owen! As it turns out, Riley’s bench doesn’t exist. I am not sure if the bench was a prop brought in for filming or if it was a real portion of the memorial that has since been removed. Either way, it is not there today, sadly.

So while I couldn’t sit in the same spot that Riley sat, I could certainly stand there!

For those wishing to do the same, Riley’s bench in the scene was set up in the southern portion of the memorial, in the area denoted with a pink X in the photograph below.

The Franklin Institute was also the site of a party in the Season 1 episode of Do No Harm titled “Me Likey.”

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

Big THANK YOU to Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, for helping me to pinpoint the exact spot where Riley sat.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Franklin Institute from National Treasure is located at 222 North 20th Street in Philadelphia’s Logan Square neighborhood. You can visit the museum’s official website here. Admission tickets are not required to see the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial, where National Treasure was filmed. The spot where Riley sat in the movie can be found directly across the street at the Aero Memorial.

November 8, 2016November 7, 2016

“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” Basketball Court

I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there, I’ll tell you how my friend Owen found the basketball court from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. (That’s Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, for those who don’t read my site regularly.) Back in June 2011, he became bound and determined to track down the court, which was featured prominently each week in the popular NBC series’ opening credits. At the time, it was one of Owen’s top three most-wanted yet-to-be found spots, the two others being the Three’s Company apartment building (which he wound up tracking down in March 2012) and Brooks Memorial Home for the Aged from Miracle on 34th Street (which remains a huge thorn in his side – do any of my fellow stalkers know where it is??). He was fairly certain the court was located in Philadelphia, where TFPOBA was set, and not in Los Angeles where the series was lensed. So he began scouring Google Maps aerial views for basketball courts in Philly and then compared Street View images of the spots he came across to screen captures from the opening credits. After looking at a LOT of different courts, he finally pinpointed the right place – Roberto Clemente Playground at 1800 Wallace Street. It’s not in West Philadelphia, as Will Smith so famously raps in the theme song, but in North Philadelphia – Spring Garden to be exact.

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Because it is not a New York or Los Angeles locale, Owen did not think I would be interested in the court, but he passed along the address anyway. And interested I was! Not only did I love The Fresh Prince growing up, but Philadelphia had long been on the Grim Cheaper’s bucket list of travel sites, so I knew we would be heading there at some point in time. Though it was five years before we actually did so, Roberto Clemente Playground was still high up on my list of Philly Must-Stalks.

The 2.5-acre site, which is also known as Clemente Park and Playground, was named in honor of baseball player/humanitarian Roberto Clemente, who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates for 18 seasons, beginning in 1955.

Though the park was a center of drug and gang activity for a time, thanks to the efforts of a woman named Sara Hirschler, who formed the Friends of Clemente group, the property was cleaned up and renovated to the tune of $600,000 in 2011. Such features as a water spray park, a jungle gym, modern fencing, a new entrance, and green space were added during the renovations.

But thankfully, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air basketball court was left intact . . .

. . . and it looks much the same today as it did when the opening credits were shot in 1990. (Yep, it’s been 26 years since The Fresh Prince started airing. I’m not even sure how that is possible!)

So much so that it proved impossible not to sing out, “In West Philadelphia born and raised, on the playground is where I spent most of my days, chillin’ out, maxin’, relaxin’ all cool, and all shooting some b-ball outside of the school . . . “ several times while we were stalking the place.

Amazingly, even the eagle painting visible in the background of the opening is still there, though foliage largely blocks the view of it from the court.

But you can catch a glimpse of it in my photos below. The eagle is painted on the rear side of Laura Weller Waring School, an elementary school that is situated adjacent to the playground.

The park’s small rec center building, which is visible on the right hand side of the screen capture below, also remains intact.

Though it looks a bit different today due to the murals that are painted all over its exterior, it is still very recognizable from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air opening credits.

Most amazing of all, though (to me at least), is the fact that the actual basketball hoops and backboards still look exactly the same! I am shocked – and thrilled – that they weren’t modernized during the renovation.

Alas, there are a few things that have changed over the years. The tall row houses seen in the background of the opening credits were torn down to make way for The Spring Gardens, a community garden maintained by 180 local citizens that was started in 1995.

The benches where “a couple of guys who were up to no good” sat have since been swapped out with new ones. Unfortunately, I did not get a photograph matching the exact angle shown in that portion of the credits, but the area that was visible still looks very much as it did onscreen. The building seen in the background to the left in the below image is the rear side of Enon Baptist Church.

I captured the church on the right hand side of my photos below.

You can watch The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air opening by clicking below.

Boyz II Men also shot their 1992 “Sympin” music video at Roberto Clemente Playground.

You can watch that video by clicking below.

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

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Roberto Clemente Playground, aka The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air basketball court, is located at 1800 Wallace Street in Philadelphia’s Spring Garden neighborhood.

November 7, 2016November 5, 2016

Chez Jacques from “Mannequin”

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times – I hate incorrect filming location information! Case in point – while researching Mannequin locales prior to my recent trip to Philadelphia, I came across a mention online that the movie’s restaurant scene was shot at the now defunct Dewey’s Famous on Locust and 15th. A cursory Google search told me a few things – that the eatery closed at some point in the mid-80s, later became a bank and then an outpost of the Cosi chain – and that it was most definitely not the spot featured in Mannequin. The establishment where Jonathan Switcher (Andrew McCarthy) dined with his ex-girlfriend, Roxie (Carole Davis), in the 1987 flick was extremely elegant and fancy, while Dewey’s was a very casual lunch counter. They could not be one and the same. So I set out to find where filming actually had taken place.

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Though the restaurant was referred to as “Chez Jacques” in Mannequin, during a re-watch I spotted neon signage on the eatery’s overhang, as well as a sign posted by the front door, showing a different name. I couldn’t quite make out what the wording said exactly, but I could see that it started with DiL. So I started playing around with different letter combinations in a Google search, also adding “Philadelphia” and “restaurant,” and it was not long before I figured out that the logo displayed on the canopy was that of DiLullo Centro, a since closed upscale Italian spot formerly located at 1407 Locust Street in Philly’s City Center area. Street View showed that the place now housed a Greek eatery named Estia Restaurant, but that the exterior still looked exactly the same as it had in Mannequin. I held out hope that the interior was still recognizable, as well, and the Grim Cheaper and I headed right on over there for lunch our first day in the City of Brotherly Love.

DiLullo Centro was originally founded by Joseph V. DiLullo in 1985. It was the third eatery established by the Philadelphia native, whose foray into the restaurant industry was rather unusual. While working at a barbershop in Fox Chase at 15, Joseph noticed that the pizza parlor across the street had been put up for sale. The price was $5,000, much more than the young man had to his name, but fate interceded. His mother was in a nursing home at the time and during his visits, Joe made friends with an elderly fellow patient. One serendipitous day, Joe talked about the parlor in front of the man, who offered to loan him the money to buy it. Joseph agreed and at the tender age of 16, dropped out of school and became a restaurateur. On the day Joseph’s Pizza opened, the elderly man showed up, along with his chauffeur-driven limo, to offer some words of encouragement. After telling his young squire, “Don’t worry. You’re going to make a lot of money,” he drove off. Though Joe often tried to contact his benefactor, he never heard from him again.

The man’s prophecy came true, though. Joe did make a lot of money. In less than a year, he had turned a large enough profit to purchase a neighboring space, where he moved Joseph’s Pizza. In 1979, he opened the upscale Ristorante DiLullo next door to the pizzeria and six years later, DiLullo Centro in City Center. Sadly, Joe passed away unexpectedly in 1994 at the age of 45, but his widow, Claire, still manages Ristorante DiLullo (now called Moonstruck Restaurant) and Joseph’s Pizza today.

Claire continued to run DiLullo Centro, for a time, as well. Designed by Alesker & Dundon Architects, the opulent 200-seat site featured etched glass partitions, slate flooring, mirrored paneling, and foliage galore. The photographs below, which I got from the Alesker & Dundon website (where more images of the restaurant can be found), show what the space looked like when it first opened.

In 1999, Claire changed the name of the eatery to “Toto,” in honor of her new husband, Toto Schiavone. When Toto closed in 2005, Estia Restaurant opened in its place.

Our meal at Estia was nothing short of fabulous. I ordered the Cheese Saganaki, aka pan-fried kefalograviera cheese with lemon, which is one of my favorite meals. As expected, it was amazing. I mean, how can you go wrong with fried cheese? The restaurant also serves a special type of hummus made without tahini that was out of this world. The GC and I are still trying to figure out how to replicate it.

In Mannequin, Roxie asks Jonathan to meet her at Chez Jacques in the hopes that she can lure him away from his new window dressing job at Prince and Company in order to come to her department store, Illustra. Jonathan does not have a good reputation at Chez Jacques, though. As he explains to Roxie, he formerly worked at the restaurant and once almost burned the place down. (Spoiler alert: Jonathan, or “Ze Flambé Terrorist,” as the maître d’ refers to him, of course, starts another fire dining this visit.)

Though the décor has changed considerably, the restaurant is still very recognizable from its onscreen stint almost thirty years ago. In the screen capture below, you can just make out the elevator behind Jonathan, which I, unfortunately, shot from a different angle. As you can see, though, the rounded walls that flank it, recessed lighting above it, and the positioning of the column in front of it all match what was shown in the movie.

In the scene, Jonathan and Roxie dined in front of the windows in DiLullo Centro’s main dining room, in the section directly next to the mezzanine level.

The stairs leading up to the mezzanine are visible in the scene. Though none of my images show those stairs, you can see the mezzanine itself in my photograph below.

The building that houses Estia also has an interesting history. Designed by Horace Trumbauer in 1922, the 22-story Gothic-style structure was commissioned by Louis Cahan of the Equitable Trust Company of New York and, as such, is known as the Equitable Trust Building. The property’s ground floor was originally the site of a 1,580-seat theatre named the Fox-Locust Theatre, which opened its doors on March 20th, 1927. According to the Cinema Treasures website, such stars as Al Pacino, James Earl Jones, Ethel Barrymore, Paul Newman, Richard Dreyfuss, Milton Berle, Carol Channing, Henry Fonda, and Anne Bancroft all graced its stage at one time or another. When the theatre closed in 1980, portions of the auditorium were razed in order to make room for a parking lot. The interior that remained intact was remodeled and became DiLullo Centro. You can see some photos of what the theatre looked like when it was still in operation here.

On a side note – I would like to wish my mom a very happy birthday today. I am so thankful I get to call you my mama! Not only do we a share a love of Pretty Little Liars (as evidenced below) she is the one who originally got me hooked on filming locations, for which I will be forever grateful. Love you!

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Estia Restaurant, aka the former DiLullo Centro, aka Chez Jacques from Mannequin, is located at 1405-1407 Locust Street in Philadelphia’s City Center. You can visit the eatery’s official website here.