# Do they shoot funeral scenes in actual graveyards? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 5, 2021, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-shoot-funeral-scenes-in-actual-graveyards/955556 "2021-12-05T22:01:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2023, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-shoot-funeral-scenes-in-actual-graveyards/955556/22 "2023-12-04T23:05:03Z")
The cemetery in the final scene of _The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly_ was a complete fake (is, as it’s still there, in Spain) mocked up for the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2023, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-shoot-funeral-scenes-in-actual-graveyards/955556/23 "2023-12-05T01:06:29Z")
Hocus Pocus and other movies filmed scenes in Old Burial Hill Cemetery (1638) in Marblehead, Massachusetts. > **[old burial hill marblehead ma - Bing](https://www.bing.com/search?q=old%2Bburial%2Bhill%2Bmarblehead%2Bma&form=ANSPH1&refig=5feb2bf707804936b55666d0fd070612&pc=LCTS&sp=6&lq=0&qs=LT&pq=old%2Bburial%2Bhill&sk=AS1MT2UT2&sc=10-15&cvid=5feb2bf707804936b55666d0fd070612)** > > Intelligent search from Bing makes it easier to quickly find what you’re looking for and rewards you. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2023, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-shoot-funeral-scenes-in-actual-graveyards/955556/24 "2023-12-05T05:17:34Z")
The military cemetery in the final part of _The Good, The Bad and The Ugly_ was indeed made for the film. And then was promptly forgotten until some local film enthusiasts decided to restore it in time for the film’s 50th anniversary. Subject of a great documentary which was on Netflix last time I looked. > **[Sad Hill Unearthed (2017) ⭐ 7.4 | Documentary](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6997426/)** > > 1h 26m ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2023, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-shoot-funeral-scenes-in-actual-graveyards/955556/25 "2023-12-05T05:44:43Z")
Hey. I manage the Deathpool. If someone wanted to film in the smallish country cemetery where I will go, and where about a quarter of the graves are relatives, I wouldn’t mind. It couldn’t hurt me after all. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2023, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-shoot-funeral-scenes-in-actual-graveyards/955556/26 "2023-12-05T05:48:44Z")
The Mountain View Mausoleum also gets used in a lot of productions. The band Ghost has shot multiple music videos and Youtube vignettes there. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/C_ijc7A5oAc/maxresdefault.jpg "Ghost - Rats (Official Music Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_ijc7A5oAc) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2023, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-shoot-funeral-scenes-in-actual-graveyards/955556/27 "2023-12-05T06:37:11Z")
Well, a number of scenes in Rocky Balboa were filmed in Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia. Adrian had passed, and that’s where she was laid to rest, and where Rocky visited often. And the headstone for this fictional woman is still there, apparently. [Cite](https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/yo-adrian-theres-new-life-at-historic-cemetery-made-famous-by-rocky/). The fictional Godfather, Don Vito Corleone, was laid to rest in the very real First Calvary Cemetery in Queen’s, New York. [Cite](https://www.movieworldmap.com/filming-locations/the-funeral-of-don-vito-corleone/). _Night of the Living Dead_ opens in a cemetery: Evans City Cemetery in Evans City, Pennsylvania. [Cite](https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/35268). It was still there as recently as 2021. There are other examples, of course, but I think that if filmmakers need a cemetery, they use an existing one. Unless it’s a period piece (e.g. _The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly_), there’s no need to build a new fake one. I don’t buy the assertion that filmmakers have to CGI-scrub names off headstones. There have been enough photography books published that feature photos of famous graves and headstones (e.g. Karl Marx in Highgate, London; and Jim Morrison in Pere Lachaise, Paris; among many others); and in the background, are ordinary tombstones of ordinary people. There is no protection of privacy of people in a cemetery; the family put up a tombstone because they _wanted_ these people to be remembered. I wouldn’t raise a fuss if my Mom’s or Dad’s tombstones were in the background of a movie—hell, I’d be proud! ---
**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:** [December 5, 2023, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-shoot-funeral-scenes-in-actual-graveyards/955556/28 "2023-12-05T12:57:34Z")
The Sopranos filmed funeral scenes at Jersey City and Harsimus Cemetery in New Jersey. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2023, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-shoot-funeral-scenes-in-actual-graveyards/955556/29 "2023-12-06T00:38:39Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Well, a number of scenes in Rocky Balboa were filmed in Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia. Adrian had passed, and that’s where she was laid to rest, and where Rocky visited often. And the headstone for this fictional woman is still there, apparently. [Cite](https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/yo-adrian-theres-new-life-at-historic-cemetery-made-famous-by-rocky/). The gravestone of Paulie is there too. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2023, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-shoot-funeral-scenes-in-actual-graveyards/955556/30 "2023-12-06T05:49:16Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > The Sopranos filmed funeral scenes at Jersey City and Harsimus Cemetery in New Jersey. And now everybody knows where to go for free buried anniversary cake. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2023, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-shoot-funeral-scenes-in-actual-graveyards/955556/31 "2023-12-29T08:51:28Z")
Highgate Cemetery (the disused part) is quite frequently used for filming, usually for costume dramas. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-shoot-funeral-scenes-in-actual-graveyards/955556/32 "2023-12-30T07:24:28Z")
If you are on Facebook there is an interesting page called “Historic Film Locations.” The page rules are you have to post a screen shot from the movie or TV show and a picture you took from the same exact location. There are a number of graveyard posts on there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-shoot-funeral-scenes-in-actual-graveyards/955556.md?page=1)