# Movies (or TV shows) that make you say, "Hey, I know that place!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 4, 2010, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-tv-shows-that-make-you-say-hey-i-know-that-place/523597 "2010-01-04T07:03:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-tv-shows-that-make-you-say-hey-i-know-that-place/523597/81 "2010-01-24T18:21:23Z")
Mendocino (about 3 hr drive north of San Francisco) is used a lot. I recognized it in \*Cujo \*and although I’ve never seen an actual episode, the opening of _Murder She Wrote_ is very obviously Mendocino. It does look a like the coast in northern New England, so it’s a nice substitute. I’m on a sort “classic film” kick right now, and I recently watched _East of Eden_. I figured it couldn’t possibly have been filmed in Monterey (at least not all of it), and that it was probably Mendocino. Yep. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-tv-shows-that-make-you-say-hey-i-know-that-place/523597/82 "2010-01-24T18:25:16Z")
> [@Endymion](#): > > As a Canadian, I see my country on display in movies all the time. I notice it a lot when something is supposed to be happening in Kansas (or somewhere like that) and there is an actor or two who lets his Canadian accent slip. Often, it’s a kid and you think: Wow, that American kid mysteriously has a Canadian accent. ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-tv-shows-that-make-you-say-hey-i-know-that-place/523597/83 "2010-01-25T01:38:52Z")
In the movie **Big Fish** , there were scenes of what was supposed to be Auburn University (back in the 40s or 50s, if I recall). These were actually shot at my alma mater, Huntingdon College (in Montgomery, AL). So all of the shots that were showing the outsides of university buildings, which included the big scene with the field of flowers outside, were very recognizable buildings! Although, they brought in a bunch of potted flowers to create that “field of flowers” look. That was the part that didn’t really belong (in the real setting). ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-tv-shows-that-make-you-say-hey-i-know-that-place/523597/84 "2010-01-25T02:56:41Z")
Star 80 had one scene that took place in an amusement park that shows a merry-go-round. Naturally, it was shot on location at Playland in Vancouver, but when I was a very young child, I rode that merry-go-round. Winnipeg has shown up in a few movies, both theatrical and on TV. Part of _The Assassination of Jesse James…_ was shot in our Exchange District, a neighbourhood that has changed little since the turn of the last century. Parts of the Richard Gere/J Lo flick _Shall We Dance_ was shot just around the corner from that set. Funny story: one day, I was driving down Lakeshore Drive, here in Winnipeg. Towards the Higgins Street end of it, I happened to come upon an old theatre that was showing “Love Comes to Andy Hardy”, according to the marquee, and I remember thinking, “Wow! It’s great that someone opened up one of those revival movie houses!” A couple of days later, I had an afternoon to kill, and I decided to take in a movie. I drove there, only to find that the place was a warehouse, as it had formerly been. Turned out it was a movie set that I had stumbled upon; but I thought I was going crazy until one of my girlfriend’s work friends mentioned that she had seen it too. So, if anyone should happen to glimpse such a theatre in a movie, let me know, okay? I could never find out what movie they were shooting there. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-tv-shows-that-make-you-say-hey-i-know-that-place/523597/85 "2010-01-25T03:28:36Z")
Most of the street scenes and real shop interiors in [_Once_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_(film)) are familiar to me. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-tv-shows-that-make-you-say-hey-i-know-that-place/523597/86 "2010-01-25T03:43:08Z")
Sure, and I remember seeing some places in \*Michael Collins \*that were familiar – St. George’s Church on Hardwicke Street was just around the corner from the hotel I was staying at on Gardiner Place in Dublin. I’m sure there were even more for you, An Gadai. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-or-tv-shows-that-make-you-say-hey-i-know-that-place/523597.md?page=4)