(06-17-2023, 11:37 PM)Gone in 60_imp Wrote: I rode to Long Beach on an errand yesterday, wanting to test fit some luggage on my bike. I had a little time to kill along the way, so I decided to get some photos of some filming locations that were on top of my head in the area. Plus, Mother Nature flipped the switch to turn off our June Gloom and bring on sunny skies.

The Goodyear Blimp “airport “ was locked up and the blimp was no doubt flying around somewhere. But, the plot of Black Sunday involves hijacking the blimp from this location and using it to bomb the Super Bowl in a terrorist act.


The cruise ship terminal in L.A. Harbor has expanded quite a bit since the late 70s, but if you watched the show Love Boat, every episode started here.


Adjacent to the cruise ship terminal is the battleship USS Iowa, which has been used in multiple films.


The Vincent Thomas Bridge has been used in several films, but probably most ridiculously remembered for Nicholas Cage’s jump across a span of the bridge in the 2000 version of Gone in 60 seconds.


Finally, in plenty of crime films shot in the area, the bad guys like to meet up to plan their crimes in the container freight yards in LA Harbor. One off the top of my head is Heat. I guess it just looks cool. But the funny thing is, you can’t just drive into a container freight yard… they have security!

The intersection of Pine Street and Ocean Blvd is a popular setting in car chase films. The buildings are almost unrecognizable now, but in the original Gone in 60 Seconds , HB Halicki comes down this hill and goes around the building on the right.


This was also one of the intersections used where the two cabs are chasing Spencer Tracy in It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

(06-14-2023, 02:26 AM)Gone in 60_imp Wrote: Just got back home from being out of town for the past few weeks, other than a quick stop for a day at home to dump my dirty clothes, repack and head out of town again.

Had to get lots of errands done yesterday to catch up, so I took the CB and snapped some pics in my neighborhood. This weekend, I'm working at the museum, so I should be able to get some photos of a few movie locations in L.A. Proper.

The first photo is one of the entrances to Main Place Mall. Just a generic indoor shopping mall built in the '80s. But, it has some unique interior features, and when Arnold strode through it in the opening scenes of Kindergarten Cop in 1990, I recognized it instantly. It was also used in Timecop in '94.

My city, Orange, was once, as the name implies, a hub of citrus orchards. The central "Old Town" area featured fruit packing houses, warehouses, rail lines and many houses for the orchard owners, foremen and workers. The center of old town features a large, round park with a big fountain in the middle. It's surrounded by a traffic circle connecting Chapman and Glassell streets which form four spokes featuring many shops and restaurants built from the early 1900s through the '40s. For years, the area was left in very original condition, giving it an "Anytown USA" look, and making it a very popular filming destination.

It was not uncommon for Mrs. G and I to be walking through the neighborhood and stumble on a film set. Once, walking up to our favorite Italian joint, it had been converted into a diner, and was surrounded by muddy early '70s cars. Apparently it was a scene from a TV show set in the south just after a flood. On another stroll, in October, the streets were covered in fake snow and Christmas decorations. A camera car was driving along with a brand new Chrysler rolling slowly down the street - no doubt a commercial for "End of year specials at your local Chrysler dealer".

Chapman College, two blocks to the north, has been growing like wildfire through the neighborhood. This has caused Old Town Orange to become overrun with students, and many of the old shops and restaurants have gentrified into chic eateries. Thankfully, many have been careful to retain the original look of the neighborhood, but a few have not, erasing much of the old town flavor.

Some of the old elements remain, however. The Tom Hanks film That Thing You Do was filmed extensively in Orange, depicting Erie, PA in the late 50s/early 60s. In one scene, when the band first hears their hit song on the radio, one character runs out of the Army Navy store, while another one listens to the song in Mr. C's Record Shop. Both are still there today.

One of the key film locations was Watson's Drug Store, where the band sat at the soda fountain counter and mulled over names for their new band, settling on the "One-ders". After filming, Watson's left many of the filming elements in place, and had posters from the movie proudly on display. Very sadly, within the past few years, Watson's has closed, and was converted into a rather generic Mexican restaurant, that, so far, has not proven to be very popular. I had dinner there recently, and we were the only people in the place. Oh well.

More to come!

(06-18-2023, 11:44 PM)1973cb750_imp Wrote:

(06-14-2023, 02:26 AM)Gone in 60_imp Wrote: Just got back home from being out of town for the past few weeks, other than a quick stop for a day at home to dump my dirty clothes, repack and head out of town again.

Had to get lots of errands done yesterday to catch up, so I took the CB and snapped some pics in my neighborhood. This weekend, I'm working at the museum, so I should be able to get some photos of a few movie locations in L.A. Proper.

The first photo is one of the entrances to Main Place Mall. Just a generic indoor shopping mall built in the '80s. But, it has some unique interior features, and when Arnold strode through it in the opening scenes of Kindergarten Cop in 1990, I recognized it instantly. It was also used in Timecop in '94.

My city, Orange, was once, as the name implies, a hub of citrus orchards. The central "Old Town" area featured fruit packing houses, warehouses, rail lines and many houses for the orchard owners, foremen and workers. The center of old town features a large, round park with a big fountain in the middle. It's surrounded by a traffic circle connecting Chapman and Glassell streets which form four spokes featuring many shops and restaurants built from the early 1900s through the '40s. For years, the area was left in very original condition, giving it an "Anytown USA" look, and making it a very popular filming destination.

It was not uncommon for Mrs. G and I to be walking through the neighborhood and stumble on a film set. Once, walking up to our favorite Italian joint, it had been converted into a diner, and was surrounded by muddy early '70s cars. Apparently it was a scene from a TV show set in the south just after a flood. On another stroll, in October, the streets were covered in fake snow and Christmas decorations. A camera car was driving along with a brand new Chrysler rolling slowly down the street - no doubt a commercial for "End of year specials at your local Chrysler dealer".

Chapman College, two blocks to the north, has been growing like wildfire through the neighborhood. This has caused Old Town Orange to become overrun with students, and many of the old shops and restaurants have gentrified into chic eateries. Thankfully, many have been careful to retain the original look of the neighborhood, but a few have not, erasing much of the old town flavor.

Some of the old elements remain, however. The Tom Hanks film That Thing You Do was filmed extensively in Orange, depicting Erie, PA in the late 50s/early 60s. In one scene, when the band first hears their hit song on the radio, one character runs out of the Army Navy store, while another one listens to the song in Mr. C's Record Shop. Both are still there today.

One of the key film locations was Watson's Drug Store, where the band sat at the soda fountain counter and mulled over names for their new band, settling on the "One-ders". After filming, Watson's left many of the filming elements in place, and had posters from the movie proudly on display. Very sadly, within the past few years, Watson's has closed, and was converted into a rather generic Mexican restaurant, that, so far, has not proven to be very popular. I had dinner there recently, and we were the only people in the place. Oh well.

More to come!

id like to see the railroad crossing from back to the future are you taking request ?? i think youre close https://www.google.com/maps/place/34%C2%B008'42.1%22N+119%C2%B011'43.8%22W/@34.1450555,-119.6615908,9z/data=!4m4!3m3!8m2!3d34.145015!4d-119.1955?entry=ttu

also i am a big fan of gone in sixty original and nick cage version very cool to see the VT bridge have you watched gone in 60 part 2 that was cut short by toby';s death ? deadline to autotheft i think its called