West Seattle Blog...

WSB Forum » Open Discussion

(87 posts)

West Seattle Filming Locations

Started 3 years ago by PSPS
Latest reply from westseattledood

12 Next »

PSPS
Member Profile

Many movies have had scenes shot in Seattle such as The Slender Thread, McQ, Cinderella Liberty and It Happened at the Worldâ€™s Fair. But what movies have had scenes shot in West Seattle and where were they?

The only one Iâ€™ve ever witnessed is when they shot some scenes outside the house at 38th and Belvidere for Harry and the Hendersons. One of those big car carrier trucks with \"Universal Studios\" on the door sat for about a week down the street (they truck up cars specially outfitted for cameras, sound and handling.) The scene they shot at that house didnâ€™t involve any cars so I donâ€™t know where the cars were used.

I remember when Frances was released and there was some ire at the time about how they didnâ€™t use Frances Farmerâ€™s actual childhood house on 47th between Admiral and Lander in the movie, though they did tart up the exterior of the old Paramount Theater downtown for shooting there.

Anyone else have any memories specifically of West Seattle locations?

Posted 3 years ago #
MrJT
Member Profile

Singles - early/mid 80\'s. About the grunge scene. A big part of the movie was a t-bone car accident at the intersection of California and Charlestown.

Posted 3 years ago #
Zenguy
Member Profile

Argueable the most famous West Seattle movie is Sleepless in Seattle when Tom Hanks take Johan in his little aluminum boat from Lake Union to Alki beach with Meg Ryan following along on the Viaduct. The audience erupted in laughter and I am pretty sure that did not happen in any other city.

Posted 3 years ago #
JanS
Member Profile

lol..Zenguy..just think, if we could really do that, they could make that viaduct disappear in an instant - lol...

Posted 3 years ago #
SuitsarenotBoring
Member Profile

Also, the movie theatre in Singles is the Admiral

Posted 3 years ago #
JenV
Member Profile

ahahah Zenguy- we must have been in the same theatre. I can\'t recall laughing that hard at a movie that *wasn\'t* a comedy!

Posted 3 years ago #
Zenguy
Member Profile

My grandmother actually had a tv series filmed on her street (Arch Ave above Salty\'s)and the neighbors house, I think it was A Year in the Life.

Posted 3 years ago #
cjboffoli
Member Profile

A scene from the 1999 film \"10 Things I Hate About You\" with Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles was shot at a bar somewhere on Alki.

Posted 3 years ago #
JenV
Member Profile

since we\'re on the subject of Sleepless in Seattle, and I love to threadjack: Sleepless in Seattle, recut as a horror flick:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vciPfoZ5FtM

Posted 3 years ago #
swthistle
Member Profile

The Johnson/Tice house on Sunset was used in \"Sleepless in Seattle\" Rosie\'s apt was part of that house and the Thanksgiving dinner scene I believe was in the dinning room. The big light gray house on sunset that recently sold.

Posted 3 years ago #
guidosmom
Member Profile

Not quite the same topic, but my partner saw Danny DeVito at the gas station on the corner of Admiral and California 2 Friday\'s ago. We thought maybe something was being filmed in the area.

Posted 3 years ago #
Bonnie
Member Profile

Any bars that make lemonchellos in the Admiral area?

Posted 3 years ago #
Patrick
Member Profile

Not a movie but tv - Pier 1 was supposedly a dock on Lake Erie in the X-Files.

Posted 3 years ago #
WSB
Member Profile

I found the city map showing what was filmed where (not sure how up to date it is)
http://www.seattle.gov/filmoffice/docs/map.pdf
I suspected \"Life or Something Like It\" (Angelina Jolie as a TV reporter) had shot here somewhere.

--TR

Posted 3 years ago #
pam
Member Profile

A house in the Gatewood Area was painted and the yard fixed up to replicate the home Steve Prefontaine grew up in Coos Bay. They filmed the track scenes at West Seattle football stadium.

Posted 3 years ago #
Jerald
Member Profile

There was a brief tv show called \"Under One Roof\" (starring James Earl Jones) filmed in Seattle in about 1995.

Danny DeVito\'s daughter Lucy starred at the Intiman in a play about Anne Frank last spring -- maybe some connection to his current sighting.

Posted 3 years ago #
GenHillOne
Member Profile

Rumor has it that Robin Williams is in town filming for a few days, but doesn\'t appear there is a connection with Danny Devito on that project...

Posted 3 years ago #
Patrick
Member Profile

Forgot about the Prefontane movie. We were approached by a location crew. WSB World HQ almost went Hollywood.

Posted 3 years ago #
zerodacus
Member Profile

I believe part of the movie Frances with Jessica Lange was filmed above the steel mill on Pigeon Hill.

Posted 3 years ago #
JanS
Member Profile

zero...love your posting name :)

from the main page...Lindsey Crouse and Joe Mantegna in \"House of Games\"...a great flick...

Posted 3 years ago #
glocson
Member Profile

Robin Williams is in town. I went to the Sub-Pop comedy show at the Moore and saw him walking down the street soon after. I asked him if I could buy him a beer and what he was up to that night. He kind of rudly replied, \"I\'m going to go get drunk\". Anyway he\'s around. Also did\'nt they film \"Step Brothers\" here in West Seattle?

Posted 3 years ago #
WSB
Member Profile

Robin Williams WS link: He has donated proceeds from at least two previous shows to the West Seattle Food Bank. (one previous mention here:
http://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=1673
)

Still have never quite gotten an explanation from WSFB as to why he singled them out - but on the other hand, my late mom used to always say, \"if you\'re going to ask why, it makes as much sense to ask why NOT\" - TR

Posted 3 years ago #
guidosmom
Member Profile

So I guess Danny Devito was in town quite a bit recently because his daughter played Anne Frank in the Intiman\'s \"The diary of Anne Frank\". Not sure why he was in West Seattle though, and not sure why she saw him 2 weeks ago since the play only went through May. Maybe she is in something else.

Posted 3 years ago #
Karl
Member Profile

\"Mad Love\" with Drew Barrymore and Chris O\'Donnell \"camping\" in Lincoln Park.

Posted 3 years ago #
LyndaB
Member Profile

\"born to be wild\" with wil horneff. summer 1994 hollywood came to west seattle high. we got to be extras in the auditorium and cafeteria scenes. i don\'t know how it turned out. never watched the movie myself. maybe i should rent it one day or maybe we should take these movie titles and have them show at the sidewalk cinema sometime. that would be fun.

Posted 3 years ago #
Anonymous
Member Profile

I love this thread! Does anyone know where in Gatewood the \"Prefontain house\" was?

I checked out the preview of Born to be Wild on imdb and in the beginning you can see a car chase under the West Seattle Bridge between Harbor Island and the 4th Ave area.

Robin is in town filming at Wallingford center. 45th is going to be closed tonight from 6-9. I think he was in rehab recently but guess not surprised he said he was going to get drunk. He\'s getting divorced as you all may be aware. I have read stories of people in other cities asking to go get a beer with him and he says ok!

Keep the info coming! You all have very unique info here!

Posted 3 years ago #
pam
Member Profile

The West Seattle Herald had a picture of the home they used for Prefontaine, perhaps they have the info in their archives.

Posted 3 years ago #
cjboffoli
Member Profile

Robin Williams is in town filming a movie called \"World\'s Greatest Dad\" written and directed by comedian Bobcat Goldthwait. They are shooting around Wallingford at the old F.A. Mcdonald School. The production company is Darko Entertainment, co-founded by Richard Kelly the writer/director of the cult film Donnie Darko.

Posted 3 years ago #
JenV
Member Profile

they\'re making another Prefontaine movie??? and why wouldn\'t they film it in Eugene? So confused...

Posted 3 years ago #
Anonymous
Member Profile

JenV - It\'s just the original movie house that I was curious about. I lived in gatewood prior to admiral and was just curious if I had been by the one used in the movie. Thanks Pam, I\'ll take a look around the web.

Posted 3 years ago #
Zenguy
Member Profile

A friend that works at KCTS met Robin Williams and Bobcat Goldthwait yesterday. I cannot imagine Bobcat as a director, that voice...shudder.

Posted 3 years ago #
Bayou
Member Profile

Very cool thread! Back in March, I saw a portion of the crew for \"Traveling\" (starring Jennifer Aniston) just off of Olsen Place. They were set up right at the on ramp to 509, with the cityscape in the background. At least, I assume it was their crew, since they were at Pike\'s Place the same day:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/354713_traveling12.html?source=rss

I\'m surprised about Robin Williams turning down a beer. A friend of mine met him in eastern Washington many years ago and said he waved off his bodyguard to hang out and drink with them. I imagine a divorce would be a pretty good excuse for the attitude though. I\'ve always loved that guy.

Posted 3 years ago #
DailyCommuter
Member Profile

Does anyone remember \"Scorchy\" from about 1976? The movie was a lead bomb but included \'narc\' Connie Stevens in one great, if disjointed, Bullett-style chase through and around Seattle. Did West Seattle appear?

Posted 3 years ago #
JenV
Member Profile

it\'s not WS, but we just watched the episode of \'Kolchak the Night Stalker\' which was filmed in Pioneer Square and the underground tour specifically. If you want a larf, rent it. Apparently there is a whole city with lights, mummies, streets & cars down there...who knew. Ordinarily a great show (RIP Darrin McGavin!) but I suspect that people from here who watched it had the same response as to Sleepless...

Posted 3 years ago #
Patrick
Member Profile

When we were approached about the Prefontaine movie the guy told me that Steve P\'s old neighborhood in Eugene had been overhauled and they couldn\'t get the look right.

Two other things - the James Earl Jones tv show was filmed in the U District and at the Seattle Center. We have a friend who did audio work on that one while it lasted.

We drove by Lincoln Park the night the Drew Barrymore movie was being filmed there. The park was supposed to be Idaho.

Posted 3 years ago #
MLJ
Member Profile

The Cameron Crowe film \"Say Anything\" was filmed entirely in Seattle, but I\'m not sure which West Seattle sites were used.

Posted 3 years ago #
Zenguy
Member Profile

Here is a handy site by the city of all movies filmed in Seattle for anyone who is curious.

http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/filmoffice/film_history.htm

Posted 3 years ago #
GenHillOne
Member Profile

I\'ve looked at that site too, Zenguy, though it seems to be incomplete - where\'s Reality Bites for instance? There must be an opt-out option for production companies.

Posted 3 years ago #
Anonymous
Member Profile

I think this thread is so great because while I have seen all of the movies mentioned here I still learn little tid bits, like I didn\'t know Lincoln Park was used in Mad Love or that The Admiral and California Ave were in Singles. It has just been too many years since I saw them I guess. Thanks everyone, keep them coming!

Posted 3 years ago #
cjboffoli
Member Profile

GenHilOne: Do you mean the Ethan Hawke/Winona Ryder film Reality Bites? That was almost completely shot in Austin, Texas and none of it in Seattle.

Posted 3 years ago #
GenHillOne
Member Profile

Am I confusing my 90\'s slacker movies? I thought there was an actual Reality Bites house/apt. on Capitol Hill - brick building with a courtyard. Was that Singles? Hmmm...perhaps I was moving too quickly through that decade ;)

Posted 3 years ago #
Anonymous
Member Profile

Yeah, the apartment in Singles was shot on Capitol Hill.

Posted 3 years ago #
PlanoMama
Member Profile

Frances was filmed on Pigeon Hill, up the hill from what was then Bethlehem Steel. I grew up on 21st, and it was filmed on one of the dead-ends. Either 22nd or 23rd Ave. From what I remember, it was Frances Farmer\'s house and the production company actually came in and redid it to look good for the movie. At the time, it was a semi-rundown neighborhood. Sketchy memories, but as a kid it was really exciting to have all the movie trucks. We got to meet all the actors and they used locals as extras.

Posted 3 years ago #
jessmallett
Member Profile

Life or something like it used the house next door to my boyfriend\'s parents house, located on Prescott (or could technically be Belvidere) in Admiral. They got a new roof out of the deal and it was only used for one exterior shot. The BF did get to meet Angelina...

Posted 3 years ago #
Anonymous
Member Profile

sweet

Posted 3 years ago #
Wes
Member Profile

LyndaB
I believe they shot the movie, \"Born to be Wild\" in Mr. Ursinos class and the gymnasium? but the Gym was the only one to make the cut. However, I don\'t know if you went there after 1994 they unplugged Mr.Ursinos lab fridge and the smell of rotting shrimp plauge his room for at least the next two years. Yuck!

Posted 3 years ago #
pam
Member Profile

I am sure War Games (which is having an anniversary dvd released soon) has a shot from West Seattle looking at the city. I feel like there was another shot that was recognizable as WS but it\'s been a long time since I saw that movie. It\'s a great nostalgic movie if you are over 40 and have always lived here - with the newscasters and what the city used to look like.

I looked at the website that is posted above listing Seattle movies - forgot Stallone was here for Assassins but can\'t remember if there was a WS scene in that movie.

Posted 3 years ago #
Anonymous
Member Profile

I wish I could figure out where that 7-11 scene was filmed in Wargames when he gets arrested.

Does anyone know why the intersection of Charlestown and California was chosen for the accident scene in Singles? I mean of all the intersections, was this random because they were filming at the Admiral one day or was it chosen specifically? When I saw the movie years ago in the theater, I just figured it was Capitol Hill or \"downtown\" somewhere.

Posted 3 years ago #
Anonymous
Member Profile

Actually, while certain scenes were in Seattle, I actually read that most of Say Anything was shot elsewhere, including the famous boom box scene. What bridge was he driving over in the first part of the movie, though? Looked like West Seattle bridge to me but that was before we moved here, so I might have that wrong.

Vain downtown on 1st was the bar where Matt Dillon\'s band played in Singles.

Posted 3 years ago #
Anonymous
Member Profile

MaryT - We just rented Say Anything because we wanted to watch it since we had moved here.

Although some things were familiar, a lot of it wasn\'t, so that makes sense now. I want to rent it again and really pay attention to the bridge in the first part.

And, of course, now we have to rent Singes!

Posted 3 years ago #