The 1998 Adam Sandler comedy “The Wedding Singer” was filmed in Southern California. Sandler plays Robbie Hart, a wedding singer who lives with his sister at this Pasadena home.
LOCATION: 1075 E Topeka St, Pasadena, CA 91104
Julia, played by Drew Barrymore, lives in the house in Sierra Madre.
LOCATION: 43 Sierra Pl, Sierra Madre, CA 91024
Robbie’s grandma lives at this West Hollywood home.
LOCATION: 1425 N Orange Grove Ave, West Hollywood, CA 90046
Robbie tries to get a job at the A.G. Bartlett Building in downtown Los Angeles. The building is currently used for a variety of businesses and lofts. The property has been seen in countless other films, including “Seven,” “They Live” “The Mask,” “L.A. Story,” “13 Going On 30,” “The Prestige,” “Ghost,” “Bridesmaids” and many more. This area cannot normally be accessed by pedestrians. However, portions are visible from the street in a couple areas through the windows.
The 1974 Roman Polanski film “Chinatown,” starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway, is about a private investigator uncovering corruption in the Los Angeles water system. The production naturally took place around Los Angeles.
The dry river bed where Jake Gittes, played by Nicholson, follows Hollis can be found on Foothill Blvd in Sunland-Tujunga, near the intersection of Foothill Blvd / W Conover St. The Foothill Blvd Bridge overlooks the Tujunga Wash, where the scene was filmed. This area falls in a strange intersection of city jurisdictions, where maps call it anything from Sunland-Tujunga to Sylmar, or Lave View Terrace to Los Angeles. We’ve provided the exact GPS coordinates below for clarity.
LOCATION: Foothill Blvd, Sunland-Tujunga, CA 91342 (GPS coordinates: 34.272220, -118.338135, nearest address 9666 Foothill Blvd, Lake View Terrace, CA 91342)
Jake parks his car in front of this cafe in San Pedro as he follows Hollis. The same cafe appeared in the films “Inherent Vice,” “Gods and Monsters” and “Lovesick,” as well as such TV shows as “T.J. Hooker” and the 2020 version of “Perry Mason.”
LOCATION: 700 W Paseo Del Mar, San Pedro, CA 90731
Jake pretends to photograph his associate on Echo Park Lake in Echo Park, while he actually photographs Hollis and Katherine. The park had become run down for years, but has since been revitalized and you can even take paddle boats out on the lake.
LOCATION: Echo Park Lake, Los Angeles, CA 90026
The mansion of Evelyn Mulwray, played by Faye Dunaway, can be found in Pasadena. Trees in front of the property obscure most of the view.
LOCATION: 1315 S El Molino Ave, Pasadena, CA 91106
The alleyway where Evelyn is parked can be found in Downtown Los Angeles. It’s an alley for private guests to enter the famous Millennium Biltmore Hotel. This side is facing S Olive St. The lower portion to the left can be seen in the 2018 remake of “A Star Is Born” and the reverse view from S Grand Ave can be seen in the film “Seven.” There is a gate here blocking entrance into the alley, so it’s a bit tricky getting a photo.
LOCATION: Alley between 523 / 525 S Olive St, Los Angeles, CA, 90013
Jake visits Noah Cross in Catalina Island. Catalina Island is most synonymous with the film “Step Brothers” and the “Catalina Wine Mixer,” but no actual filming took place on the island for that film. Unlike “Step Brothers,” “Chinatown” really did shoot scenes on the island, located just under 30 miles off the coast of Long Beach, California. The Casino Ballroom building can be seen in the background. For eager visitors, no actual gambling is offered at the Casino Ballrom, in spite of the name.
LOCATION: 1 Casino Way, Avalon, CA 90704
The Mar Vista Rest Home Jake and Evelyn visit is actually the Archer School For Girls, located on Sunset Blvd. The same building appeared in the film “Clean Slate.”
LOCATION: 11725 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90049
Evelyn’s sister Katherine lives at this home, which was later used in the film “Blast From The Past.”
LOCATION: 1972 Canyon Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90068
Jake visits the home of Ida Sessions, only to discover a body.
LOCATION: 848 E Kensington Rd, Los Angeles, CA 90026
Jake’s client Curly lives in this East Hollywood home.
LOCATION: 5030 Lemon Grove Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90029
The house where David, played by Matthew Broderick, lives in the 1980s film “WarGames” can be found in the Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.
LOCATION: 333 S Arden Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90020
The high school seen in the film is El Segundo High Shool. The same high school has been seen in many films, including “Superbad,” “Role Models” and “The Babysitter.”
The 2012 Martin McDonagh ensemble film “Seven Psychopaths” was filmed around Southern California. The opening scenes were filmed at the Mullholland Dam in Hollywood. The dam is accessible to the public, however, it does require a minor walk to reach it. You have to drive up Weidlake Drive and the nearest parking is at the Hollywood Reservoir Trailhead. From there it’s just a short distance on foot. The same location was featured in the film “The Little Things.”
LOCATION: Mulholland Dam, Los Angeles, CA 90068 (nearest parking area is the Hollywood Reservoir Trailhead at 6381-6399 Weidlake Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90068)
Billy, played by Sam Rockwell, lives at a house perched on a hillside in Angelino Heights in East L.A. The same house was seen in the films “Under The Silver Lake” and “Crazy/Beautiful” and located just around the corner from Jake Gyllenhaal’s apartment in the film “Nightcrawler.” The home has since been demolished.
LOCATION: 1016 White Knoll Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (now demolished)
Billy runs an operation stealing dogs for reward money at the La Brea Tar Pits.
LOCATION: 5801 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036
He stands here overlooking operations with a pair of binoculars.
Marty, played by Colin Farrell, visits this market in Pearblossom, California.
LOCATION: 13012 Pearblossom Hwy, Pearblossom, CA 93553
He exits here with Hans, played by Christopher Walken, where the two spot a newspaper.
In the 2001 film “The Mexican,” Jerry, played by Brad Pitt, lives with his girlfriend Samantha, played by Julia Roberts, in this Los Angeles apartment.
LOCATION: 6574 Fountain Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038
Rob Zombie’s “3 From Hell,” the follow up to “The Devil’s Rejects” and “House Of 1000 Corpses,” was filmed entirely in Southern California. Some minor spoilers are contained in this article.
Prison scenes were filmed at the Sybil Brand Institute, a former women’s prison in Los Angeles. It was here that Manson Family member Susan Atkins confessed to a cell mate named Virginia Graham about the Tate Murders. Graham in turn shared what Atkins had told her, which eventually helped lead to the capture of Charles Manson. The prison shut down in 1997, but today the grounds are still owned by the Los Angeles sherrif’s office, where it’s used by warehouse companies and for filming purposes. Another film featuring Sid Haig, 1997’s “Jackie Brown” also filmed at this location. Here is the front of the former prison, although it is never seen from this angle in the film.
LOCATION: 4500 City Terrace Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90063
Much of the film is set in the town of Durango, Mexico. These scenes were actually filmed on the Melody Ranch Studio Backlot in Santa Clarita, California.
Many people know the lot as the Veluzat Movie Ranch and it is still commonly referred to by that name. However, the ranch has since changed its name to the Melody Ranch Studio Backlot. If you make it to the ranch in person, you’ll see a sign at the gates, referring to it as the Melody Ranch Studio Backlot. The lot is owned by the Veluzats, who also own Melody Ranch in Newhall, California. To make matters more confusing, right next to the Veluzat Backlot in Santa Clarita sits the Diamond V Movie Ranch. This is owned by other members of the Velutats, but not the same ones as those who own Melody Ranch and the Melody Backlot (a.k.a. Veluzat Movie Ranch). People often mistake Diamond V and Veluzat Ranch as being one in the same, but they are two separate properties with different ownership.
While perhaps not quite as well known as Melody Ranch in Newhall, the Melody Backlot is actually larger. To get to the ranch, you make a turn from Copper Hill Drive. There is a very unassuming dirt road there (GPS coordinates: 34°27’36.5″N 118°30’32.0″W). You would never guess from that road what lies at the end of that dirt road, but if you follow the long dirt road, you’ll sure enough arrive at the ranches. However, a locked fence is at the entrance and you can proceed no further without permission of the owners. The good news, however, is that the ranch is available for public tours. You must book by appointment only and if productions are in active progress, that may inhibit their availability, but the Melody Ranch owners are very generous in that they offer tours at all, because most movie ranches do not.
The main attraction of the ranch is the full scale Mexican town set, which is of course featured prominently in this film. There are a few other sets there as well. The ranch was also featured in Zombie’s “House of 1000 Corpses,” as well as such films as “Dante’s Peak,” “Friday The 13th Part III,” “Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter,” “Last Man Standing,” “Chaplin,” “The Laundromat” and many more. It was also featured in the TV show “Westworld” as the Mexican town of “Las Mudas.”
Here is the establishing shot of the town square.
LOCATION: Melody Ranch Studio Backlot (a.k.a. Veluzat Movie Ranch), Forest Rte 5N28, Santa Clarita, CA 91390 (GPS coordinates: 34°29’03.5″N 118°30’25.1″W)
The “three from hell “look down on the town from this hilltop before entering.
They make their way down into the town through these gates.
Here is another view of the hill they drive down entering the town.
They then pass through this arched gate toward the main town square.
Baby, played by Sheri Moon Zombie, sees company approaching near the Estrella del Motel.
Baby and Winslow Foxworth Coltrane, played by Richard Brake, sit on this fountain.
Otis Driftwood, played by Bill Moseley, emerges from this church for a showdown.
The 2019 movie “Captain Marvel” was filmed in Louisiana, New York and Southern California. Early in the film, Carol Danvers, played by Brie Larson, crash lands on Earth in the mid-90s, busting through the roof of a Blockbuster Video. This was filmed at a largely abandoned shopping plaza in North Hollywood sometimes referred to as the Valley Plaza. The same plaza was featured heavily in the Nicolas Winding Refn TV series “Too Old To Die Young.”
LOCATION: 6321 Laurel Canyon Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91606 (this is facing away from the street and the door number says 221)
Here is the wreckage of the inside of the building, which is still painted in the Blockbuster colors.
Carol makes her way over to “The Slow Club,” where she uses a payphone. Nick Fury meets her here. The same property also serves as “The Lone Drifter” in “Too Old To Die Young.” Both establishments were fictional and the actual building has long been vacant.
LOCATION: 2124 Sylvan St, North Hollywood, CA 91606
Here is a view of where the payphone was located, which was of course a prop for the film. The wall was covered in 90s music posters.
A Skrull suddenly opens fire on Carol from atop this roof.
LOCATION: 6255 Laurel Canyon Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91606
Carol runs down the sidewalk in pursuit as the Skrull feels across the roof of the same building.
Carol steals a man’s bike at this plaza. The same location also appeared in the TV show “The Bionic Woman.”
LOCATION: 1402 W 6th St, Los Angeles, CA 90017
She turns out of the plaza and rides down Valencia Street on the bike.
The 1999 Joel Schumacher film “8MM,” starring Nicolas Cage and Joaquin Phoenix, was filmed all over the U.S., including New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida and California. The porn shop where Tom Welles, played by Nicolas Cage, follows his investigation can be found in Los Angeles. The building really is an adult store.
LOCATION: 1117 N Western Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038
The back of the store is also seen in the film.
Tom stops in front of this famous mural in Hollywood, known as “You Are A Star,” which can also be seen in such films as “La La Land” and “Nowhere.”
LOCATION: 1648 Wilcox Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90028
The home of Machine can be found at 60-05 168th St, Flushing, NY 11365.
While set in Chicago, the apartment building from 1980s TV series “Punky Brewster,” starring Soleil Moon Frye, can be found in Los Angeles, California.
Film Oblivion 