# Movie sets still in use when filming is over? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 29, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-sets-still-in-use-when-filming-is-over/287310 "2005-01-29T18:41:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-sets-still-in-use-when-filming-is-over/287310/21 "2005-01-30T18:24:55Z")
Isn’t the set for Hobbiton still intact, and a tourist attraction? The round tower from the Charlton Heston movie _The Warlord_ (one of my favorites) was part of the Universal theme park in California for decades, until being torn down a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-sets-still-in-use-when-filming-is-over/287310/22 "2005-01-30T18:49:14Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Tara from \*GWTW \* still stands at the Culver City, CA studio, visible from the street, and is now used as studio office space. Not quite. The [building](http://www.cobbles.com/simpp_archive/selznick-studio_lot.htm) you are thinking of on Washington Boulevard in Culver City was built by Thomas Ince as a set for _Barbara Frietchie_ in 1924, was later converted into an administration building for Cecil B. DeMille, passed onto Selznick-International Pictures in 1935, and to Desilu Studios in the 1950s. In contrast, here is the [Tara facade](http://www.gonemovies.com/WWW/TopFilms/Gone/Gone20.800.jpg), which stood for decades until it was dismantled and sold to an entrepreneur in the 1970s for possible use in a GWTW theme park in Georgia. The [front door](http://www.gwtwmemories.com/forums/bbfaye/messages/604.html) of the Tara set is on display at the [Margaret Mitchell House & Museum](http://www.tennessean.com/sii/travel/getaways/scarlett.shtml) in Atlanta. ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-sets-still-in-use-when-filming-is-over/287310/23 "2005-01-30T21:36:31Z")
The set for the 50s John Wayne movie [The Alamo](http://www.homestead.com/thealamovillage/AlamoVillage.html) is a tourist attraction in Bracketville, Texas, and is still used as a movie set (it was the Alamo in _PeeWee’s Big Adventure_, for instance). The real Alamo is also still there, but it is surrounded by modern downtown San Antonio. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-sets-still-in-use-when-filming-is-over/287310/24 "2005-01-30T22:58:55Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Tara from \*GWTW \* still stands at the Culver City, CA studio, visible from the street, and is now used as studio office space. Is it possible you’re thinking of Scarlett and Rhett’s house in Atlanta? IIRC, Tara was just a facade. There was no actual building for Tara. I believe the Atlanta House was actually a shot of some office building. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-sets-still-in-use-when-filming-is-over/287310/25 "2005-01-30T23:23:13Z")
The exterior of Scarlett and Rhett’s mansion in Atlanta was even less than a facade, it was entirely a matte painting, seen only in one establishing shot. Which is why there are no still photos of the Atlanta mansion. BTW, some great [GWTW screen caps](http://www.meredy.com/gwtw/freedownloads.htm) here. ---
**Author:** ![BlueMit11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@BlueMit11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueMit11)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-sets-still-in-use-when-filming-is-over/287310/26 "2005-01-31T00:29:12Z")
Before they filmes _Grandview, USA_ in Pontiac, Illinois, they renovated the downtown area, and it has been revitalized ever sense. Also, a funny, somewhat hi-jack story: My cousin did the landscaping for the houses used in Home Alone I and III. After the first one had been filmed, he was walking outside with the old lady who owned the house used for the first one and she was somewhat pissed off when she discovered that they McCully Culkin had cut down her pine tree. ---
**Author:** ![RumMunkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@RumMunkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RumMunkey)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-sets-still-in-use-when-filming-is-over/287310/27 "2005-01-31T19:56:01Z")
- The Towne Square & Clock Tower from the **Back To The Future** trilogy is on the Universal back lot and been used again in LOTS of other movies. - According to one of the documentaries on the DVD bonus features, the house they built for “ **Signs** ” is still in the middle of the empty field where they built it. - There’s something about the Myers house from Hallowe’en. I can’t quite remember but it It think it was a run-down and they cleaned it up (and shot the flashback scene last). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-sets-still-in-use-when-filming-is-over/287310/28 "2005-01-31T20:20:04Z")
The [HMS Bounty II](http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/ccarey/bindex.html) is a replica of the original HMS _Bounty_, built for the Marlon Brando version of **Mutiny on the Bounty** in the early 60s. The ship is still sailing (I saw it a couple of summers ago). Another replica of the Bounty was built for the Mel Gibson version. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-sets-still-in-use-when-filming-is-over/287310/29 "2005-01-31T20:24:32Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > The scene in \*Star Trek IV \*where the Bird of Prey crashes into San Francisco Bay is actually on Paramount’s backlot. Back in the 40’s, it was used for pirate movies or something and they discovered it again in the mid-eighties when looking at some blueprints and dug it up again for that movie. > > Not sure if it’s still being used 20 years later though. Yes it is; as an employee parking lot. When needed for water scenes, it can be flooded again, though I don’t know when the last time that was, maybe ST:IV. And it is visible from the front gate, you can see the big backdrop as you drive by on Melrose Blvd. [Click on ‘B-Tank’ for pictures](http://www.paramount.com/studiogroup/sets.htm#) ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-sets-still-in-use-when-filming-is-over/287310/30 "2005-01-31T21:51:04Z")
Is the decrepit fraternity house in “ANIMAL HOUSE” still standing?I heard it was standing as of 10 yeras ago. Does UNIVERSAL still posess all of those creepy graveyard sets used in “FRANKENSTEIN”? …would have been a mistajke to trash those. ---
**Author:** ![Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-sets-still-in-use-when-filming-is-over/287310/31 "2005-01-31T23:14:02Z")
Well in every thread like this Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein has to be mentioned as the castle used was the original Frankenstein(from the old movie) castle. Now that the official part is out of the way you may carry on with the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2005, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-sets-still-in-use-when-filming-is-over/287310/32 "2005-01-31T23:32:38Z")
I’m fairly sure that house (or the house-sets) used in _The Philadelphia Story_, with Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and James Stewart, were the same as used in the musical remake years later, _High Society_, with Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. (I’m assuming a certain mod around here can verify that I’ve got the names in the right order, and let me know if I messed up.) I also wonder what happens to old props? If Bette Davis used a candlestick phone prop in a 1930 film, does that same phone still repose in a warehouse somewhere today, waiting to be used when a modern producer wants to make a movie that’s _set_ in the 1930s? ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-sets-still-in-use-when-filming-is-over/287310/33 "2005-02-01T00:29:02Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I believe that Hobbiton has been partially restored, for instance. > [@Baldwin](#): > > Isn’t the set for Hobbiton still intact, and a tourist attraction? The set for Hobbiton is still there near Matamata, but all of the fancy doors, woodworking, etc was removed. The farmers that owned the land had to sign an agreement stating that they could not attempt to re-create the original set design in any way after the production was finished. The producers did not want them making any money off of it as a tourist attraction. What remains are the land features - for instance, you can tell that it’s Bilbo’s house but it’s basically just a round hole in the rock. They still do tours, but don’t expect to see anything resembling what was in the movie - they’re forbidden to restore it at all - not even partially. (I know all this because I was in NZ in November and my friends explained all of this to me after going on the tour). As for the OP, the set from **Night Of The Iguana** is still in Puerto Vallarta off of Banderas Bay. Also in Puerto Vallarta is the restaurant Eden, was used in **Predator** as the camp that Ahnold’s crew invades at the beginning of the movie. The main post that holds up the main palapa is the one where Ahnold throws his Bowie knife at the baddie and says “Stick around.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-sets-still-in-use-when-filming-is-over/287310/34 "2005-02-01T00:59:59Z")
[Spadena House](http://www.architecturetoursla.com/gallery/11a.jpg), AKA ‘The Witch’s House’, was built in 1921 for a Culver City movie studio. It was used in several silent films and then moved to its present location in Beverly Hills, where it is a private home. When I lived in L.A., a neighbour told be she used to trick-or-treat there as a child. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-sets-still-in-use-when-filming-is-over/287310/35 "2005-02-01T01:25:50Z")
> [@SNenc](#): > > A couple notables: > > The Rocky Balboa statue from Rocky II still stands in front of the Philadelphia art museum. > > The baseball field from Field of Dreams is still in Iowa, along with the house used in the movie and actual bleachers. People do, in fact, come. The field is in Dyersville, IA. I’ve been there and taken batting practice on it. The house is there as well…but that’s because it’s actually someone’s house. One of the somewhat surprising things about visiting the field was the fact that there are huge farking grain elevators right next to the house. They must have gone up after filming. I believe that Inigo Montoya’s sword in _The Princess Bride_ also appeared in the Keifer Sutherland version of _The Three Musketeers_. Lastly, and most personally, my upstairs bathroom. Our house was used as a set for a film before we bought it (it was empty). I still don’t know the name of the film or whether it was released but the previous owners did tell me that the producers had to tear up the walls in the upstairs bathroom to get some shots. For recompense they completely restored and modernized the room. ---
**Author:** ![Mirasol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Mirasol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirasol)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-sets-still-in-use-when-filming-is-over/287310/36 "2005-02-01T01:28:01Z")
I once camped right next to a set used in \*Dances with Wolves \* in South Dakota. It is now a tourist attraction. I didn’t visit myself (tight schedule moving across the country), but there appeared to be quite a few buildings there. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-sets-still-in-use-when-filming-is-over/287310/37 "2005-02-01T01:29:57Z")
Hah! The _Fish n Fry_ in the Black Hills has a bunch of the tents and wigwams (or whatever the hell you call them) from that movie. Randy and Bev, pals of my mom in the Black Hills, own that place and bought up all the stuff they could for the campground. For a premium you can still sleep in them. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-sets-still-in-use-when-filming-is-over/287310/38 "2005-02-01T01:34:26Z")
Most of _The Scarlet Letter_ was filmed on the waterfront in Shelburne, NS, which was already a relatively touristy area (at least as far as Shelburne goes). Several buildings were renovated or remodeled, and at least one of them has a museum in it, as do several of the buildings in the area which were left as is. Last I checked, nothing had changed, and I don’t see any reason why it would have. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-sets-still-in-use-when-filming-is-over/287310/39 "2005-02-01T01:49:07Z")
The fraternity house in Eugene, Oregon used as “Delta House” in _National Lampoon’s Animal House_ was demolished years ago. (A replica of the house on the Universal backlot was also demolished.) _Frankenstein_ (1931) was made at Universal, _Young Frankenstein_ was made at 20th Century-Fox. Not the same sets (although some of Kenneth Strickfaden’s electrical equipment from the the Frankenstein movies was used). _The Philadelphia Story_ was made at M-G-M, _High Society_ was made at Paramount. Not the same sets. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-sets-still-in-use-when-filming-is-over/287310/40 "2005-02-01T02:29:24Z")
Can anyone confirm or refute this one? If true, it’s a corker… The film: 1988’s [Dead Heat](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0094961/), starring Joe Piscopo and Treat Williams. The plot concerns, as I recall, a couple of cops who are dead and come back to life… or something. I’m not entirely clear on this. Anyway, at one point in the film they break into some kind of big, futuristic room, which seems to be a mad scientist’s lab or something. I was watching it very late at night on TV, and something about the room looked very familiar… Oh my god, it’s the core reactor-thing from the end of _Return of the Jedi_! OK, I’m not 100% sure that’s what it is. You can see a not-great photo of it [here](http://movies.infinitecoolness.com/21/deadheat/). In the top group of photos on that page, it’s in the third column over, third row down: Position 3-C, I’d call it. I don’t know if this will work, but [here](http://movies.infinitecoolness.com/21/deadheat/deadheat11b.jpg) is the image URL. Anyone know if that’s really it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-sets-still-in-use-when-filming-is-over/287310.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-sets-still-in-use-when-filming-is-over/287310.md?page=3)