# Cities "Doubling" As Other Cities In Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 17, 2015, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-doubling-as-other-cities-in-movies/734939 "2015-10-17T21:50:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-doubling-as-other-cities-in-movies/734939/21 "2015-10-18T02:39:59Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > A couple places were used for a Wisconsin town (I think; wherever Clooney’s character was supposed to have grown up). _ **The Giant Spider Invasion** _ was filmed “on location in northern Wisconsin” during the US Bicentennial, and holy crap, does it ever look like it! It’s the resident hillbilly, though (played by Robert Easton, who made almost a whole career out of playing hillbillies), that really tests your suspension of disbelief! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-doubling-as-other-cities-in-movies/734939/22 "2015-10-18T02:59:40Z")
Parts of 2004’s Downfall were actually filmed in _St. Petersburg_—it seems the city has quite a few German architectural elements that make it resemble 1940s Berlin. “Anyone who wanted to take advantage of the Louisiana Film Incentive, leave the room now…” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-doubling-as-other-cities-in-movies/734939/23 "2015-10-18T02:59:56Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > The very first mission Impossible TV show was supposed to take place at an Eastern European prison. The exteriors were filmed at Fairfax High School. Fun fact: A three-quarter scale East European city was built on the Desilu back lot for _ **Mission** _ (and other series filmed there, like _ **Star Trek** _) to use for exterior shots. Three-quarter scale is what Main Street, USA in Disneyland is built in. The whole project was a ludicrous waste of money, and the set was never used. A LOT of both _ **Mission** _ and _ **Trek** _ exteriors were filmed without ever leaving the lot. In the photo below, you can see the water tower Barney Collier climbed to dump BU-232 in some Communist capital’s water supply. The sound stages stood in for German machine works in the neo-Nazi episode set in West Germany. And the different office buildings posed as SS Headquarters and NASA Flight Control in different episodes of _ **Star Trek** _. The villa on the right with the little courtyard in front of it was where Lucille Ball’s offices were, if I’m not mistaken. [http://www.lucyfan.com/desilugower.jpg](http://www.lucyfan.com/desilugower.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-doubling-as-other-cities-in-movies/734939/24 "2015-10-18T03:05:04Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Parts of 2004’s Downfall were actually filmed in _St. Petersburg_—it seems the city has quite a few German architectural elements that make it resemble 1940s Berlin. I was walking through the Old Town in Prague one day in February or March 1992. I turned a corner to see an antique black Mercedes parked in front of a very official-looking building decked with swastika banners. For a second, I felt like I’d been transported back in time to 1942! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-doubling-as-other-cities-in-movies/734939/25 "2015-10-18T03:07:13Z")
For “Amadeus,” Prague was stand-in for Vienna. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-doubling-as-other-cities-in-movies/734939/26 "2015-10-18T03:49:17Z")
_Eyes Wide Shut_ was set in New York and filmed in London. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-doubling-as-other-cities-in-movies/734939/27 "2015-10-18T04:03:44Z")
_Popeye_ was set in Sweethaven (apparently in California, certainly in America) but filmed in Malta. The director, Robert Altman, wanted as little interference from the studio as possible. On television, most shows are filmed in LA and set elsewhere, sometimes to comic effect. _Wonder Woman_ was set in Washington DC, even though the streets are lined with palm trees. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-doubling-as-other-cities-in-movies/734939/28 "2015-10-18T05:30:26Z")
In the James Bond movie _Quantum of Solace_, Panama filled in for a couple of other countries. Colon, on the Caribbean Coast, became Haiti. Several sites in Panama City, on the Pacific coast, filled in for land-locked Bolivia. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-doubling-as-other-cities-in-movies/734939/29 "2015-10-18T05:41:38Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Not sure if this is what you are looking for but [Vancouver never plays itself](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojm74VGsZBU). I came in to the thread just to post that. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-doubling-as-other-cities-in-movies/734939/30 "2015-10-18T05:51:28Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > Los Angeles has stood in for numerous cities. Because of its proximity to Hollywood, southern California has filled in for lots of places. In _Roots_, Virginia and other places in the southeastern US looked a lot like southern California (and Africa looked a lot like Georgia). Whenever people drove someplace outside the office in _The Office_, the background looked a lot more like southern California than Pennsylvania. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-doubling-as-other-cities-in-movies/734939/31 "2015-10-18T05:58:36Z")
Are we going solely as to whether both cities are real? Because Chicago represented Gotham City in _Th Dark Knight_. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-doubling-as-other-cities-in-movies/734939/32 "2015-10-18T07:01:14Z")
Some parts of Black Rain were filmed in Osaka (Dotonbori, ten minutes walk from my place), but supposed to be Tokyo. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-doubling-as-other-cities-in-movies/734939/33 "2015-10-18T08:37:39Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Whenever people drove someplace outside the office in _The Office_, the background looked a lot more like southern California than Pennsylvania. Particularly in the 10k rabies run episode, you can easily see the distinctive blue street signs. I’ve noticed them in _The Middle_ as well. Probably the most obvious and absurd city substitution I’ve ever seen was [The Kid From Left Field](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079399/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_53) starring Gary Coleman as a kid who is made manager of the San Diego Padres, where Jack Murphy (Qualcomm) Stadium stood in for Wrigley Field with a few spindly strands of ivy strung over the outfield wall. Here’s a [“Wrigley Field” scene](https://youtu.be/qeKlwI2KVPw?t=2880). Note the Padres still wearing their home uniforms. Honestly, they could have found a public park in San Diego that looks more like Wrigley than that. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-doubling-as-other-cities-in-movies/734939/34 "2015-10-18T08:53:00Z")
Downtown Tel Aviv - Jaffa, technically - doubled for Beirut a couple of times in the 1980’s, in _Delta Force_ and in Navy SEALS. It’s pretty obvious if you know the city. Tel Aviv also stood in for Tehran in _Not Without My Daughter_; in fact, the production hung a gigantic poster of Ayatollah Khomeini on the side of an apartment building on Tchernichovsky Street for a few weeks in 1990, to the befuddlement of passersby. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-doubling-as-other-cities-in-movies/734939/35 "2015-10-18T11:42:05Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > For “Amadeus,” Prague was stand-in for Vienna. It played itself in the first mission impossible movie. And then played the Kremlin in one of the later ones. Miami airport in casino royale was actually Prague airport. Prague seems to be used a lot as they have first class film studios, cheap labour and beautiful architecture. Something was being filmed outside my apartment last week and I’m still trying to find out what it was. (I saw the road closure signs but I was back in the uk during the actual filming.) Most of the first kick ass movie was shot in London. The university campus where Indiana Jones works in the first 2 movies is a girls school in Hertfordshire uk. And most of saving private Ryan was also filmed in hertfordshire. ---
**Author:** ![Cara\_mel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@Cara\_mel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cara_mel)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-doubling-as-other-cities-in-movies/734939/36 "2015-10-18T14:14:35Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > Los Angeles has stood in for numerous cities. Brisbane and the Gold Coast stood in for Los Angeles in San Andreas (the movie).😛 (sort of - a couple of scenes at Caltech). Some streets in Brisbane stood in for San Francisco, and The Pines Shopping Centre stood in for Bakersfield Mall! ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-doubling-as-other-cities-in-movies/734939/37 "2015-10-18T14:22:14Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The old districts of Helsinki often stand in for Moscow. _ **Firefox** _ was filmed there, and I recognized the Helsinki Metro immediately. > > In the Soviet series of Sherlock Holmes movies (which were excellent, BTW), Baltic cities stood in for London. Occasionally they use Stockholm as well. An amusing one is “Gorky Park” where they used Stockholm (and Helsinki) for Moscow but then, in the film, they travel to Stockholm and they film just a few blocks from what was previously “Moscow”. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-doubling-as-other-cities-in-movies/734939/38 "2015-10-18T14:29:05Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Because of its proximity to Hollywood, southern California has filled in for lots of places. > > In _Roots_, Virginia and other places in the southeastern US looked a lot like southern California (and Africa looked a lot like Georgia). > > Whenever people drove someplace outside the office in _The Office_, the background looked a lot more like southern California than Pennsylvania. “You know what’s remarkable is how much England looks in no way like Southern California.” Austin Powers 2 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-doubling-as-other-cities-in-movies/734939/39 "2015-10-18T14:33:56Z")
> [@JacobSwan](#): > > It played itself in the first mission impossible movie. And then played the Kremlin in one of the later ones. Miami airport in casino royale was actually Prague airport. Prague seems to be used a lot as they have first class film studios, cheap labour and beautiful architecture. Something was being filmed outside my apartment last week and I’m still trying to find out what it was. (I saw the road closure signs but I was back in the uk during the actual filming.) > > Most of the first kick ass movie was shot in London. The university campus where Indiana Jones works in the first 2 movies is a girls school in Hertfordshire uk. And most of saving private Ryan was also filmed in hertfordshire. That Prague is so versatile, and so talented, no wonder it gets the best roles. Unlike, [this place](http://content6.flixster.com/photo/13/42/49/13424976_gal.jpg): ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-doubling-as-other-cities-in-movies/734939/40 "2015-10-18T15:04:53Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > And St. Louis substituted for New York City in _Escape from New York_ because Real New York wasn’t run down enough! _East_ St. Louis, that is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-doubling-as-other-cities-in-movies/734939.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-doubling-as-other-cities-in-movies/734939.md?page=3)