Has your city ever been used by Hollywood?

[Gil T.Azell]

Yes here is a partial list.
Commandos Strike At Dawn (1942)

Saanich Inlet is a glacially overdeepened valley filled with salt water. It is, by definition, a fjord – which is why it became a location for this wartime propaganda piece starring Paul Muni, about a Norwegian fishing village that rises up against its Nazi occupiers. In this scene the Allies land on the beach at Bamberton. Apparently parts of the village constructed for the movie still stand near Hall’s boat yard at Goldstream.

Vixen! (1968)

Victorians will laugh their ass off during the opening to this X-rated classic, in which the Inner Harbour, the Parliament Buildings, and (here) the Empress hotel figure prominently

Ok it appears only the opening scene were.

Five Easy Pieces (1970)

Victoria plays Jack Nicholson’s hometown in Washington State. Here he rides the Mill Bay ferry, the oldest continually operating route in B.C. Unfortunately, the mansion in Brentwood Bay that served as his family’s home, and the coffee shop and gas station on Highway 1 where he abandons Karen Black at the end of the film, have all been carelessly demolished.

Harry in Your Pocket, (1973)

starring James Coburn, Walter Pidgeon, Michael Sarrazin and Trish Van Devere, about a team of pickpockets working around the Pacific Northwest. Last week, this hard-to-find flick finally turned up on Turner Classic Movies

Bird on a Wire (1989)

In this romantic caper flick, Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn are pursued by a motorcycle cop along Fisgard Street and up Fan Tan Alley. The scene makes the alley appear far longer than it is in reality, but shows it off to good effect. Bastion Square and the old Carnegie Library earn plenty of screen time too.

Little Women (1994)

Winona Ryder strolls up a dirt-covered Humboldt Street to meet Gabriel Byrne, and her destiny. The Union Club is in the background, along with the lovely Belmont Building, which was constructed in 1913 out of reinforced concrete. It's named after the Belmont Saloon, which operated on the site in the 1870s.

X2: X-Men United (2003)

The evil Stryker leads a helicopter assault on Professer Xavier's mutant training academy, played by Hatley Castle (the home of Royal Roads University*). The castle is fencing off its grounds and will start charging $12 for tours this summer, so see the place now before you need a helicopter to get in without paying.

(*Used to be a Military Collage)

Also these ones.

Black Point 2002 Brentwood Bay, British Columbia, Canada
The Core 2006 Victoria, British Columbia, Canada [2]
Final Destination 2000 Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Impact (TV miniseries) 2006 Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
The Mermaid Chair 2006 Brentwood Bay, British Columbia, Canada
White Chicks 2004 Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
X-Men 2000 Colwood, British Columbia, Canada
X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2006 Colwood, British Columbia, Canada
X2 2003 Colwood, British Columbia, Canada
X-Men: The Last Stand 2006 Colwood, British Columbia, Canada
Excess Baggage

 

[An Officer]

Probably.

 

[siskokid888]

Um, New York? Once or twice. And all Los Angelenos wish they were from NYC anyway.

 

[C.E. Evans]

A few have been filmed (at least partially) in the St. Louis area:

"Up In The Air"
"Planes. Trains, And Automobiles"
"The Game Of Their Lives"
"White Palace"
"A Will Of Their Own" (TV mini-series)
"The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery"
"Meet Me in St. Louis"
"Escape From New York"
"National Lampoon's Vacation"
"Meet Bill"
"King Of The Hill" (movie; not the animated TV series)
"Silence Of The Lambs"
"American Flyers"
"Larger Than Life"

 

[ShamelessMcBundy]

Um, New York? Once or twice. And all Los Angelenos wish they were from NYC anyway.

Eh, a lot of scenes that take place in NYC actually are filmed in LA anyway.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I grew up outside Philly. A couple of films are supposed to take place on the Main Line. Not sure what has been filmed there. Apparently some of Jackass was filmed in West Chester, fwiw. Obviously, quite a few movies have been filmed in Philadelphia itself.

For Delaware, I'll take the whole state since it broadens my chances. Dead Poet's Society was filmed in Middletown, DE, which is 10 minutes away from where I've lived the last eight years. The Village was filmed in Centerville, which is near the PA border. Neither of these movies takes place here, though. Fight Club secretly takes place in Wilmington, but they never actually say it. They do mention Delaware City, which is 2 miles from my house.

For Arlington, I assume so. I'm not going to bother to figure out. It's basically an offshoot of DC anyway.

 

[thestrangequark]

Constantly. I grew up in Seattle and have lived in NYC for 11 years. It's fun to nitpick for inconsistencies.

There's a username I haven't seen in a while; nice to see you around again!

Thanks. I was irritated.

I think one of the funnest things (I LOVE that Chrome spellcheck accepts 'funnest'!) I've ever seen was walking onto a film shoot at just the right time: I was walking through Washington Square Park where they'd closed off the entire fountain area for the shoot. There were over 100 extras there for the scene, and they were all frozen. Some were in mid-stride, some on skateboards or bikes, some mid-strum of their guitar or mid-move in their chess match. It was wonderfully surreal watching a credible day at the park completely frozen, and then brought to life at the call of "action." I never checked to see what they were filming though.

 

[Procutus]

Part of The Avengers was filmed here in Cleveland back in August. 9th Street was redressed to look like 42nd Street in NY, and Public Square became Stuttgart for the better part of a week.

 

[Balrog]

There have been quite a few films made over the years in the different cities I've lived. Someone already mentioned here in Seattle. A lot of movies have been filmed in MA where I've spent time too.

 

[siskokid888]

Um, New York? Once or twice. And all Los Angelenos wish they were from NYC anyway.

Eh, a lot of scenes that take place in NYC actually are filmed in LA anyway.

Actually, in Vancouver. As LA, a poor substitute, nonetheless

 

[thestrangequark]

Um, New York? Once or twice. And all Los Angelenos wish they were from NYC anyway.

Eh, a lot of scenes that take place in NYC actually are filmed in LA anyway.

Actually, in Vancouver. As LA, a poor substitute, nonetheless

I can understand Vancouver being substituted for Seattle...I know it is all the time, but as much as LA is a poor substitute for NYC, Vancouver's just as bad!

 

[Owain Taggart]

Yeah, and I snicker when major landmarks get used and passed off as something different, as if anybody wouldn't notice. And it does happen quite often apparently.

 

[Capn Flukie]

Some guy named Ryan Gosling just filmed a movie here in Schenectady, Beyond the Pines. I waved hi to him on the way to work as he almost tripped over me as he came out of the Stockade Inn.

 

[iguana_tonante]

The original Italian Job was set in Turin, Italy.

Bits (the prison scenes) were also filmed here, coincidentally enough.

Cool. Obviously, plenty of Italian movies were filmed in Turin and Bologna, but I couldn't find any foreign movie filmed in my cities: apparently, the only cities in Italy are Rome, Florence, Venice, and sometimes Milan.

 

[Pingfah]

They just filmed a bunch of World War Z stuff in my town, the local paper got very excited about Brad Pitt being in town. They had a boat out in the bay that had been sprayed with stuff to make it look frozen, and a very large military ship in dock they were using as an aircraft carrier.

Some of my friends were Zombies in it. I was away for the weekend of the casting, or I would have tried out too.

 

[Scout101]

Yep. City isn't the right word, but my hometown in Maine was used for most of "Message in a Bottle" (Kevin Costner movie). Oddly, to stand in for South Carolina...

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Some of my friends were Zombies in it. I was away for the weekend of the casting, or I would have tried out too.

Here's hoping some of them get a genuine screen presence in the finished film .

 

[captcalhoun]

the vilage where i live? nope.

the city of Gloucester where i was born? yup. Parts of Gloucester Cathedral were used as Hogwarts in assorted Potter movies, part was also used for the fillming of Doctor Who Xmas spesh 'The Next Doctor' and the docks were used as Ankh-Morpork docks in Sky's adap of Colour of Magic. that's the big stuff.

 

[Starbreaker]

Heaven's Fall, Water for Elephants, The Adventures of Ociee Nash, All Over Again, Fled, Cobb, Dutch, Love Potion #9, Starman, The Bear, The Nights Went Out in Georgia, and The Blue and the Gray were all at least partially filmed in Chattanooga.

Also, a big portion of Sweet Home Alabama was filmed in Rome, Georgia - about 45 minutes from here.

 

[Kirby]

Denver hasn't been used a whole lot, but a lot of Things to do in Denver when you're Dead was filmed here. A lot of the filming was done around my office, and the exterior shots of Andy Garcia's office building were shot from the roof of the court of appeals building right across the street from me.

I have to laugh at how Stargate portrays the city of Colorado Springs. I know they use Vancouver as a substitute, but it's laughably inaccurate.