More Local Movie Filming Locations

I’ve written several columns about the many films that have been shot in our community over the years, most of which were in Montrose or at the La Crescenta Motel. But recently I was introduced to a short video by Sunland-Tujunga based filmmaker Craig Durst. He presents scenes from famous movies, along with a guide as to where they were shot. Most of what Craig presents, with one exception, was shot to the west of us, in Sunland, Sun Valley or Lakeview Terrace. I’ll run through a few of them here.

The first real Hollywood movie was “The Squaw Man” (1914), and Craig said part of it was filmed in Sun Valley along the railroad tracks that still parallel San Fernando Road. The director of that film, Cecil B. DeMille, bought a ranch in Little Tujunga Canyon and shot several early silent movies around there. D.W. Griffith also bought a filming ranch in that area, just past Lakeview Terrace, about where the 118 branches from the 210, and some shots in the infamous “Birth of a Nation” (1915) were possibly in that area. Craig shows us some amazing scenes from “The Mark Of Zorro” with Douglas Fairbanks and tells us that those scenes were shot on Sunland Boulevard near La Tuna Canyon.

Craig Durst said the iconic hitchhiking scene on “It happened One Night” (1934) might have been shot somewhere in Sunland, possibly on Sunland Boulevard approaching Sunland. He shows a couple other scenes in the Academy Award-winning film that were shot in and around Sunland Park.

Lancaster Lake, a tree-lined pond just north of Sunland Park, was used in many films in the 1930s. “Little Sinners” (1936) had the Little Rascals using the lake for one of their slapstick comedies. Ironically, Craig shows us later in his video that “The Little Rascals” reboot in 1994 used that same neighborhood for the soapbox derby scene.

Next up is “The Spoilers” (1942). John Wayne and Marlene Dietrich star in this film about the Alaskan gold rush. The set for the Alaskan mining camp movie was built in Big Tujunga Canyon, right about where Oro Vista crosses the creek. It was an elaborate set with a town, bridges, railroad tracks and a full-size steam train.

Craig briefly jumps out of the Sunland area and over to La Cañada where he shows scenes from “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946) with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. The area around Viro Lane and Lamour Drive, then a development just under construction, stands in for Bailey Park where the Martini family moves into their new house.

Here we move ahead in time to “Chinatown” (1974). The Foothill Boulevard bridge over Big Tujunga Creek is a focal point as Jack Nicolson descends into the creek bed in this moody mystery. The scene is so well-known that even today that Foothill Boulevard bridge is known as the “Chinatown Bridge.” From that bridge, we move to the 210 Freeway bridge over La Tuna Canyon Boulevard where a scene from Cheech and Chong’s “Up In Smoke” (1978) was shot.

One of the best-known movie locations in LA is the house from “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” (1982). The alien E.T. is befriended by Elliot and hidden in the house at 7121 Lonzo Street in Tujunga. “Teen Wolf” (1985) was filmed several places locally, including the Montrose Bowl. Craig shows us the scenes shot in the liquor store at 6670 Foothill Boulevard, which still looks the same today.

1996 saw two major films shot in Tujunga, “River’s Edge” with Keanu Reeves, and “The Craft.” Director Christopher Nolan, who has just released the movie “Tenet,” shot one of his early films “Memento” (2000) almost entirely in Tujunga. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Terminator 3” (2003) filmed some big action shots on the southwest corner of Foothill and Mt. Gleason that included car crashes, killer robots and big explosions.

The video by Craig Durst is fun to watch, although the sound goes off-sync about halfway through. I posted it on the Historical Society’s website cvhistory.org. Click on “What’s Happening This Month” and you’ll find a link to the video.

Enjoy!