# New York City in the movies... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 28, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-in-the-movies/301585 "2005-04-28T18:35:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-in-the-movies/301585/21 "2005-04-29T00:57:44Z")
Die Hard 2: Die Harder! Ghostbusters (1 & 2) Fame On the Town A lot of the semi-recent disaster movies had NYC scenes. Armageddon, Deep Impact ect. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-in-the-movies/301585/22 "2005-04-29T01:48:32Z")
I particularly like **Godspell** as a New York film. Not only is it filmed entirely in Manhattan (except or the shots on the Circle Line that are filmed just offshore), but, except fr the very beginning and end, you don’t see anybody in the city except the main performers! That took some doing. They filmed on Wall Street on weekends, and shot up at the Timex screen in Times Square so as to avoid eople, but there’s an aerial shot that zeroes in on the “John the Baptist” character flating in a pool atop a building, and that aerial shot moves in without showing any people or cars. Heckuva job. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-in-the-movies/301585/23 "2005-04-29T02:15:08Z")
if you are looking for varieties of ways of viewing NYC, you can’t get much different than _On the Town_ which was filmed in about 1949 and features thee sailors singing and dancing their way around town, including a trip to Coney Island and a visits to several other New York landmarks. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-in-the-movies/301585/24 "2005-04-29T03:30:30Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Hey check out all the fucked up shit I get into at 3:00am in New York: > American Psycho > Taxi Driver > The Basketball Diaries > 25th Hour > Rounders > Eyes Wide Shut > Party Monster Also, **After Hours**. > [@](#): > > Ahh my sweet youth in New York - fucked up on drugs and hanging out with mobsters: > The Basketball Diaries > A Bronx Tail > Goodfellas > Kids You can add another Scorsese movie here: **Mean Streets**. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-in-the-movies/301585/25 "2005-04-29T04:25:07Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > except fr the very beginning and end, you don’t see anybody in the city except the main performers I am a big fan of that movie, and I wrote to director David Greene back in 1978 to tell him so. He wrote back in a nice letter several pages long (it was his favorite movie, too). Among other things, he said that those “empty New York” shots were all about camera angles; just outside the frame or around the corner were crowds watching the filming. And then there’s the cast happily singing and dancing on the roof of a skyscraper to assure us that it’s [_All for the Best_](http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/6003/Godspell2.html) — until a helicopter pull-back shot reveals they’re atop the just completed south tower of the World Trade Center. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2005, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-in-the-movies/301585/26 "2005-04-29T13:44:27Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Die Hard 2: Die Harder! That’s the one set in Dulles. I think you mean the third one. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2005, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-in-the-movies/301585/27 "2005-04-29T13:45:50Z")
I just noticed that nobody’s mentioned _Hair_. ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-in-the-movies/301585/28 "2005-04-29T15:07:56Z")
What! Am I the first to mention _Tugboat Annie?_ ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-in-the-movies/301585/29 "2005-04-29T15:22:17Z")
Let us not forget Queens Logic – it is so very New York. > [@Walloon](#): > > And then there’s the cast happily singing and dancing on the roof of a skyscraper to assure us that it’s [_All for the Best_](http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/6003/Godspell2.html) — until a helicopter pull-back shot reveals they’re atop the just completed south tower of the World Trade Center. Last week I told my girlfriend that I’d just watched a movie where Jesus, dressed in a clown suit, was dancing a vaudeville atop the WTC, and that this Jesus, a smiling freshfaced hippy of about 22 was played by Victor Garber. Yes, _that_ Victor Garber. She wanted to know what I had been smoking. Pot, duh. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-in-the-movies/301585/30 "2005-04-29T17:46:58Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > That’s the one set in Dulles. I think you mean the third one. Ooops! You’re right, it was Die Hard with a Vengence. ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-in-the-movies/301585/31 "2005-04-29T18:51:17Z")
**Nothing Sacred** with Carole Lombard and Fredric March involves a Vermont woman who “wins” a free trip to NYC under false pretenses. It’s a screwball comedy (or at least proto-screwball), and has some great “arriving in New York” moments. The city really seems like some kind of fairy-tale land, especially watching it 70 years later. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-in-the-movies/301585/32 "2005-04-30T01:23:46Z")
**No Way Home** , starring Tim Roth, Debra Karr Unger and James Russo. It was shot entirely in Staten Island. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-in-the-movies/301585/33 "2005-04-30T02:50:32Z")
> [@](#): > > (and that’s enough Woody Allen flicks I think!) No way! You have to include **Hannah and Her Sisters** Ok, one more: **Crimes and Misdemeanors** A top pick for grim '70’s: **Panic in Needle Park** **Network** is a classic. **Bonfire of the Vanities** less so. **Married to the Mob** Although the climactic come-uppance of the brothers in **Trading Places** took place in New York, the rest of the movie was in Philadelphia. ---
**Author:** ![empty\_filing\_cabinet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@empty\_filing\_cabinet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/empty_filing_cabinet)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-in-the-movies/301585/34 "2005-04-30T05:16:33Z")
How could you forget a bunch of **Spike Lee** movies: **Crooklyn** , **Do The Right Thing** , etc. and **Saturday Night Fever!** (Brooklyn) **Smoke** (Brooklyn) **The Professional** **All Through The Night** **The Taking of Pelham 1, 2, 3** (subway) **Sisters** (Staten Island?) **Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind** (various) **K-PAX** **In America** (Manhattan) **Maria Full Of Grace** (Queens?) **The Terminal** (JFK?) **As Good As It Gets** **Death Wish** That movie last year about really bad weather. ---
**Author:** ![empty\_filing\_cabinet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@empty\_filing\_cabinet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/empty_filing_cabinet)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-in-the-movies/301585/35 "2005-04-30T05:58:23Z")
P.S. - Men In Black Jesus Christ Superstar Stuart Little/2 Devil’s Advocate and Rumble In the “Bronx” was shot in Vancouver (?) –==– NYC is all things to all people. Maybe films tend to split into gritty city, vs. cosmopolitan cultural. ---
**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:** [April 30, 2005, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-in-the-movies/301585/36 "2005-04-30T17:12:29Z")
I don’t see any mention of [Crossing Delancey](http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll), in which a young Jewish single woman’s grandmother keeps trying to get her married off to some nice Jewish boy or other. ---
**Author:** ![scott\_evil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@scott\_evil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scott_evil)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-in-the-movies/301585/37 "2005-04-30T18:47:08Z")
> [@empty filing cabinet](#): > > [snip] > Jesus Christ Superstar > [/snip] _JCS_ was filmed in [Israel](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070239/locations). However, since you mentioned _Saturday Night Fever_, in keeping with the disco theme, I’ll throw in _54_. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-in-the-movies/301585/38 "2005-04-30T22:08:37Z")
A Fish In The Bathtub. ( Queens, Manhatten ). **The Terminal** was shot in a multi-floored set built north of Los Angeles, in a huge airplane hangar frequently used for huge set movies. It was not a real airplane terminal at all. It was a beautifully rendered film set, from floor to lack-of-ceiling. [Cite, scroll to bottom of page](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0362227/trivia). Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![empty\_filing\_cabinet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@empty\_filing\_cabinet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/empty_filing_cabinet)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-in-the-movies/301585/39 "2005-05-01T00:47:21Z")
> [@scott evil](#): > > _JCS_ was filmed in Israel I bet I’m confusing it with Hair! > [@](#): > > The Terminal was shot … north … of Los Angeles, in a huge airplane hangar frequently used for huge set movies. Cool. The Airport Terminal as a nonplace, a non-localized location. \*\*Breakfast At Tiffany’s? Angel On My Shoulder? That Mr. Deeds Adam Sandler movie? The Odd Couple? A Tree Grows In Brooklyn? Bell, Book, and Candle? \*\* Maybe there are fewer nice wholesome movies filmed in NYC these days? ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-in-the-movies/301585/40 "2005-05-01T13:22:05Z")
Yes. While a bit racy at some moments, I must say that IMHO **Hitch** is a sweet romance comedy that was shot last year in NYC- mostly Manhatten. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-in-the-movies/301585.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-in-the-movies/301585.md?page=3)