# Where's That "Grease" Scene Filmed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 24, 2015, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-that-grease-scene-filmed/715905 "2015-03-24T22:57:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-that-grease-scene-filmed/715905/21 "2015-03-25T21:47:33Z")
[The LA Riverin films](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_River#Filming_location) from Wikipedia. The [Sepulveda Dam in films](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepulveda_Dam#Filming_location). (This is located in The Valley and well removed from the usual culvert section of the LA River used in films.) You can dig around on IMDb for more, but stuff gets filed under “[Sepulveda Basin](http://www.imdb.com/search/title?locations=Sepulveda+Basin,+Los+Angeles,+California,+USA&ref_=ttloc_loc_13)” instead of “Dam”, etc. A lot of natural rivers are dry or nearly dry at times. Parts of the Rio Grande, the last bit of the Colorado, etc. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-that-grease-scene-filmed/715905/22 "2015-03-25T21:53:03Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > That is fine. If you want to believe that your little concrete sewer ditch is a river, please continue to delude yourself. What ever it is, it certainly isn’t a sewer ditch. I wouldn’t drink the water of course but it isn’t sewage. LA might be a figurative shithole but they don’t have open sewers there. ---
**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:** [March 25, 2015, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-that-grease-scene-filmed/715905/23 "2015-03-25T22:30:16Z")
When I was quite young, we lived in Norwalk, CA. Friends and I used to ride our bikes along the San Gabriel river, which is all concrete like the LA river, but a bit southeast. It was very exciting when it would rain and the water would swell up out of the central channel for a couple of days. I guess that doesn’t add too much to the discussion, except to say that the LA river isn’t unique. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-that-grease-scene-filmed/715905/24 "2015-03-26T23:24:35Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Also the closing credits of _Buckaroo Banzai_: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe3dRw7ovhY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe3dRw7ovhY) Wasn’t it also where the giant ants lived in _ **Them!** _? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-that-grease-scene-filmed/715905/25 "2015-03-26T23:55:04Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > That is fine. If you want to believe that your little concrete sewer ditch is a river, please continue to delude yourself. Who peed in your Cheerios?😕 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-that-grease-scene-filmed/715905/26 "2015-03-27T10:28:36Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > It’s also where the final climactic battle against the giant ants took place in _Them!_ > [@terentii](#): > > Wasn’t it also where the giant ants lived in _ **Them!** _? 😕 “Why, yes, it was!” replied the poster formerly known as chopped liver. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-that-grease-scene-filmed/715905/27 "2015-03-27T12:26:59Z")
From that photo on the [Wiki page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_River#Filming_location) I’ve figured out the exact location of the drag race in Grease: that bridge in the background is the Fourth Street bridge in Boyle Heights, and the cars are underneath the Sixth Street bridge pointing north. [See it here](https://www.google.com/maps/@34.033792,-118.2280425,779a,20y,41.49t/data=!3m1!1e3). After further research, I can confirm that it is indeed the Los Angeles River. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-that-grease-scene-filmed/715905/28 "2015-06-04T13:07:25Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > …The [Sepulveda Dam in films](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepulveda_Dam#Filming_location). (This is located in The Valley and well removed from the usual culvert section of the LA River used in films.)… I just saw John Carpenter’s 1981 _Escape from New York_, and the Dam and spillway are in several scenes as a U.S. Police Force helicopter base (it’s supposed to be on the same island as the Statue of Liberty). You can see it at the 0:27 mark here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-LDW7tWwAI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-LDW7tWwAI) ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-that-grease-scene-filmed/715905/29 "2015-06-04T16:59:09Z")
Just saw a repeat episode of _Conan_ where Conan leaves the studio and joins Archer in an animated chase scene. That, of course, [ends up](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEYwOWjQiz4&feature=player_detailpage#t=187) in the LA River culvert. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-that-grease-scene-filmed/715905/30 "2015-06-04T17:09:05Z")
> [@aa6vh](#): > > You can probably create a whole thread on movie scenes that were filmed in the LA river. > > snip > > Any others? '76 The Gumball Rally, the one with Michael Sarrazin, Gary Busey, Raul Julia, etc. I remember one scene where they’re assing around with their cars, Ferrari and a Cobra, and the action cuts right as one is definitely headed into a flooded portion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-that-grease-scene-filmed/715905.md?page=1)