# Has the place where you grew up ever been in a movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 19, 2003, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-place-where-you-grew-up-ever-been-in-a-movie/208274 "2003-10-19T00:23:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-place-where-you-grew-up-ever-been-in-a-movie/208274/61 "2003-10-20T06:26:11Z")
I have a friend that was a manager at the Denny’s that was used as a location in _Buffalo 66_. I’ve spent quite a bit of time there during my college years. Not necessarily the movies: several scenes from Buffalo episodes of _COPS_ were filmed a block or two from the house where I grew up, if that’s any indication of how the neighborhood is sliding downhill. “Look, that’s Pankow’s old market! They’re at Suffolk and Dartmouth!” Hayes Hall at SUNY Buffalo, the home of the school’s planning program and a place where I spent two years of my life, was the setting for the campus clinic on the TV show _Jesse_. The show also used lots of scenes from the Kensington and University Heights area for segues. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-place-where-you-grew-up-ever-been-in-a-movie/208274/62 "2003-10-20T10:36:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by An Arky \* > **Dunno if this counts, but the town where I grew up was the hometown of the girl Kim Darby played in True Grit.** Dardenelle, in Yell County, Arkansas? ---
**Author:** ![paulberserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-place-where-you-grew-up-ever-been-in-a-movie/208274/63 "2003-10-20T11:49:08Z")
the ‘every sperm is sacred’ song in monty pythons meaning of life was filmed in part just round the corner from where i used to live in bradford, N england. specifically the gardens they are dancing in in front of a nice looking building, which is Cartwright hall in Lister park. i could see this from my house. ive been through the parts they filmed the yorkshire moors scenes in american werewolf in london too, but the village with the slaughtered lamb pub in doesnt actually exist. mmm, scenic. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-place-where-you-grew-up-ever-been-in-a-movie/208274/64 "2003-10-20T17:43:09Z")
Not a _movie_, but the made for TV movie “The Woman Who Loved Elvis,” starring Roseanne and Tom Arnold was set in Southern Iowa and a couple of scenes were shot in my home town, Albia. I hadn’t heard about that before the movie but I watched it because I knew it was primarily filmed in Ottumwa, 23 miles away where I went to college for 2 years, and which is the fictional home of Radar O’reilly. Imagine my surprise to see my old barber’s shop in a background shot. It wasn’t very good. (Surprise!) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-place-where-you-grew-up-ever-been-in-a-movie/208274/65 "2003-10-20T17:55:31Z")
My folks live in Clairton, PA, where _The Deer Hunter_was set. I’ve lived there off and on over the years as well. Parts of the film were filmed there and in nearby Duquesne, as well as Mingo Junction, Ohio. The mountain scenes were filmed thousands of miles away - there are no mountains that high in Pennsylvania. ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-place-where-you-grew-up-ever-been-in-a-movie/208274/66 "2003-10-20T18:52:57Z")
The movie [Ruby in Paradise](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0108000/) was filmed in Panama City (or, more accurately, Panama City Beach). It was one of Ashley Judd’s first films (I think her first major starring role), and not half bad. What’s more, my brother-in-law was responsible for the musical score. Also, a TV-movie, [Condominium](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080558/), was filmed at the Pinnacle Port condo out on the eastern edges of Panama City Beach. This was one of those generic disaster genre films–the condo is the setting for a horrific hurricane (featuring quite a few “big” names, including Barbara Eden). My favorite “local” film, however, would have to be [Frogs](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068615/). Maybe this one doesn’t count since it’s not actually in Panama City, but it was filmed at Eden State Gardens, where my family used to go every year for Easter. It’s a great low-budget flick, classic MST3K fodder. ---
**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-place-where-you-grew-up-ever-been-in-a-movie/208274/67 "2003-10-20T18:54:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KRC \* > \*\*They filmed part of a movie called “Steel” in Lexington KY in 1978. One scene featured a man jumping or falling off the Kincaid Tower in downtown Lexington and when that scene was filmed the stuntman (I believe his name was A. J. Bakunas) died because the airbag he landed on broke. I don’t know if they even released the movie after that, since I never heard much more about it. > > On a lighter note, they filmed a movie called “The Thoroughbreds” in the farmland near Lexington and one of my sister’s schoolmates was in it. \*\* Yep, that was released in 1980. In fact, Bakunas’s death is mentioned on [iMDB’s trivia page for the movie](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0081558/trivia): > [@](#): > > Stunt player A.J. Bakunas died doubling George Kennedy in a fall that killed Kennedy’s character. The scene had been shot safely with the stunt man jumping from the ninth floor of the construction site/shooting location in Lexington, Ky. At the time, he held the record for high falls, set while doubling ‘Reynolds, Burt’ in Hooper (1978), but when rival Dar Robinson later beat his distance in a helicopter jump at Knott’s Berry Farm, A. J. and ‘Majors, Lee’ returned to the star’s home state to re-shoot the opening of the movie with Bakunas actually jumping from the top of the building. He fell correctly onto an airbag, but the airbag split on impact. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-place-where-you-grew-up-ever-been-in-a-movie/208274/68 "2003-10-20T18:57:55Z")
The opening scenes of [The Hunter](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080907/combined) was filmed in Herscher, IL, where Dad and I got our haircuts after our town barber shut down his shop. The payphone scenes later on were filmed in Bonfield, IL, my hometown until I was eleven. I haven’t seen it but the IMDb says the documentary [Green Chimneys](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0146836/combined) was filmed in Brewster, NY, the town in which I went to middle school and my first year of high school. The listings for [Crossroads](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0275022/combined) and [Runaway Jury](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0313542/combined) include locations within Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, where I spent the rest of my high school years. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-place-where-you-grew-up-ever-been-in-a-movie/208274/69 "2003-10-20T19:27:46Z")
Although at that time it was a separate town from where I grew up, Niles (now part of Fremont),CA was once home of the Essanay Film Co. Several silent movies with Charlie Chaplin and Broncho Billy Anderson were made in town; **The Tramp** is probably the most famous. The exterior of Cyberdyne (when it blows up) in **Terminator 2** was shot near my house. Not a filming location, but the place broken into in **Sneakers** is implicitly most likely in Fremont (by dint of the fact that they crossed the Dumbarton Bridge, train tracks, and were near a hillside). As a vague connection, the events **River’s Edge** was based on took place close to where I lived, though just south in the town of Milpitas. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-place-where-you-grew-up-ever-been-in-a-movie/208274/70 "2003-10-20T20:17:16Z")
Well, growing up in **Wauwatosa, Wisconsin** , I got watch them film… ummm… oh, and all my parents’ friends still talk about inviting Orson Welles to a picnic when he was in town making… uh… OH! I almost forgot! We skipped out of an entire morning of Junior High to hang out at the Gilles’ Frozen Custard stand to watch take after take as Ron Howard and the entire cast of… ``` darn. ``` ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-place-where-you-grew-up-ever-been-in-a-movie/208274/71 "2003-10-20T20:43:46Z")
Well, the _American Pie_ movies are based on a high school and surrounding area in my city, although it wasn’t filmed here. It’s funny to see all the names of places in the movie that are so close to actual names of places here. The scenes on Lake Michigan were filmed there, though. That was the same summer that part of _Road to Perdition_ was filmed on Lake Michigan too, so that summer there were a lot of people out looking for celebrities. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-place-where-you-grew-up-ever-been-in-a-movie/208274/72 "2003-10-20T23:07:03Z")
I grew up on the coast of Washington state. John Wayne did a movie in the early 70’s called McQ, in which he played a Seattle cop. In the climax of the film, he chases the bad guys all the way to the coast (about 150 miles) and guns them down on the beach. The film crew was in the area for a couple of weeks. At the time, my Aunt Joyce owned the only Mexican restaurant west of Olympia. For over half of the evenings during their stay, the filmmakers paid her to close to the public so the actors could eat there without being bothered. One of those nights, they allowed her to invite the family to eat with them. Yes, I ate burritos with the Duke when I was 9 years old! Actually, Mr. Wayne didn’t really speak to us, though his stunt double sat at our table and chatted. It’s probably a good thing the star didn’t get into a conversation with us–my family’s always been pretty liberal and I’m sure my mom would have brought up the John Birch Society or somesuch. ---
**Author:** ![Eman\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Eman\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eman_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-place-where-you-grew-up-ever-been-in-a-movie/208274/73 "2003-10-20T23:14:04Z")
I remember when **Top Gun** was being filmed at the Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego. My house was really close to it. That was trippy. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-place-where-you-grew-up-ever-been-in-a-movie/208274/74 "2003-10-21T02:08:30Z")
[Out on a Limb](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0105078/) was filmed in Boulder Creek, CA, where I grew up. (The film crew repainted some of the buildings on the main street, and they stayed that way for a few years.) [Benny & Joon](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0106387/) was filmed in Spokane, WA, where I live now. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-place-where-you-grew-up-ever-been-in-a-movie/208274/75 "2003-10-21T02:11:48Z")
I guess it’s a shame that you can’t tell if it’s going to be a legendary movie, or a bomb. ---
**Author:** ![Raymond\_Luxury\_Yacht](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raymond_luxury_yacht/32/4099_2.png) [@Raymond\_Luxury\_Yacht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raymond_Luxury_Yacht)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-place-where-you-grew-up-ever-been-in-a-movie/208274/76 "2003-10-21T03:38:47Z")
They never actually filmed there, but in **Taxi Driver** , there’s a scene that has Travis saying that his hometown is Fair Lawn, NJ (and then he gives a 6 digit zip code). **Love Story** and **Quiz Show** both featured my college (Fordham) prominently. ---
**Author:** ![Tmagic77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Tmagic77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tmagic77)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-place-where-you-grew-up-ever-been-in-a-movie/208274/77 "2003-10-21T04:16:24Z")
The first part of Save the Last Dance was filmed at my high school my sophmore year. I wasn’t old enough to be an extra in it, but some of my friend are there. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-place-where-you-grew-up-ever-been-in-a-movie/208274/78 "2003-10-21T05:52:23Z")
[Who Has Seen the Wind](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076919/) (W.O. Mitchell’s growing-up-on-the-prairie book) was set, but not shot, in my home town, Weyburn, Saskatchewan, called ‘Crocus’ in the book. Weyburn was too big and too modern by the time the movie was made, so they shot most of it in a town called Arcola, fifty or sixty miles east of Weyburn. The book was better. ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rex_fenestrarum/32/7265_2.png) [@Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Fenestrarum)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-place-where-you-grew-up-ever-been-in-a-movie/208274/79 "2003-10-21T06:25:08Z")
Well the exterior shots 1992 Kevin Kline stinker “Consenting Adults” were filmed in two Atlanta locations - my neighborhood (including my parent’s house) and a neighborhood about 2 miles away. Unfortunately, the director decided to use the footage from the _other_ neighborhood instead of mine. It would have been really cool to see Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio walking out of my front door on the big screen! My mom had lunch with Kevin though, so it wasn’t all for naught. Link to pic of Kevin Kline and Alan J. Pakula outside my parent’s house: [http://www.jimcofer.com/photopages/greatness.htm](http://www.jimcofer.com/photopages/greatness.htm) IMDB link to the movie: > **[Consenting Adults (1992) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104006/)** > > Consenting Adults: Directed by Alan J. Pakula. With Kevin Kline, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Kevin Spacey, Rebecca Miller. During a joint dinner at the restaurant, the neighbors offer to exchange wives for one night. It was a joke, but only at... ---
**Author:** ![cadolphin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c37758/32.png) [@cadolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cadolphin)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-place-where-you-grew-up-ever-been-in-a-movie/208274/80 "2003-10-21T10:49:06Z")
I grew up in Los Angeles/Hollywood. Need I say more? 😉 When I was a kid, my house was 1 block from ABC studios. I watched them line up for Let’s Make A Deal and attended a taping for the Newlywed Game. My high school, John Marshall High, has been the site for many movies and tv shows. Because of its spectacular Gothic architectural style, the school has been the background for many films and television shows, from “Mr. Novak” in the early 1960’s to “Lucas Tanner” and “Grease” in the 70’s to the 80’s with “Cheers,” the remake of “Splendor in the Grass,” and “Zapped” a campus comedy. Tom Hanks appeared in a movie called “Bachelor Party,” portions of which were filmed at Marshall. Mollie Ringwald appeared in “Pretty in Pink” and Sarah Jessica Parker starred in “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” a film in which Marshall doubled as a private Catholic school, complete with crosses on the tower. (A neighbor called the school to find out why a public school had crosses on the roof!) The original “Nightmare on Elm Street” was filmed there. In the 90’s, Jessica Tandy appeared in “The Story Lady,” which was filmed in the Sniffen Auditorium, Dudley Moore and Kirk Cameron made a film there, “Like Father, Like Son.” Sidney Poitier directed a movie there, and the rock group Van Halen staged their “Hot for Teacher” video in the library. In the 80’s, a teen soap opera, “Tribes’” was filmed on campus. In 1994, country-western signer Garth Brooks filmed a concert in the auditorium. The very popular television shows “Wonder Years” and “Who’s the Boss” filmed there, as did “Boy Meets World.” In 1995 Michael Jordan played basketball in our gym as part of the animated/live action comedy “Space Jam.” Also, in 1997, John Cusack starred in “Grosse Point Blank,” about a professional hitman attending his high school reunion. In 2000, “Boston Public,” filmed on campus. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-place-where-you-grew-up-ever-been-in-a-movie/208274.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-place-where-you-grew-up-ever-been-in-a-movie/208274.md?page=5)