Turner & Hooch

PG

• Filmed in Monterey and Pacific Grove
• Fun fact – when recruiting Tom Hanks to Play Woody in Toy Story – producers used a clip from him talking to Hooch from this movie – set to animation – to seal the deal.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

PG

• Mostly filmed in San Francisco. However the “Sausalito Cetacean Institute” was actually the Monterey Bay Aquarium!

Mrs. Doubtfire

PG-13

• Classic Robin Williams comedy. He called Tiburon (in Marin County) his home – and the tunnel from the Golden Gate bridge over to Marin County is named in his honor.
• This movie was set and filmed entirely in San Francisco – you will see plenty of famous locations.
• You can check out the Hillard family home at 2640 Steiner Street in Pacific Heights and enjoy the incredible view down Steiner to the Bay!

Escape from Alcatraz

PG

• This film dramatizes the real 1962 prisoner escape from the maximum security prison on Alcatraz Island.
• Alcatraz was closed shortly after the true events on which the film was based.
• Much of this movie was filmed on location on Alcatraz Island.
• Producers paid $500,000 to restore the decaying prison. Many improvements remain intact after filming.

Clueless

PG-13

• Filmed in California over 40 days. The director studied real teen’s from Beverly Hills to get an idea of how they talked and how to use their slang appropriately.
• Scenes depicting the High School Campus, were actually Occidental College in LA.
• Interior of the High Schools was shot in Ulysses S Grant High School in Valley Glen.
• Another notable location – Circus Liquor in North Hollywood, where Cher is mugged – and also Rodeo Drive Where she has her “crisis” and dejectedly wanders around.

Rebel Without a Cause

PG-13

• The most famous scene takes place at one of LA’s most notable landmarks – the Griffith’s Observatory
• Dawson HS – is actually Santa Monica High School, with some interiors set in John Marshall High School in Los Feliz. (Fun Fact – this is Leonardo DiCaprio’s former High School)

The Rock

R

• Another movie filmed mostly on Alcatraz Island. Since the Island is now part of the National Park Service – the production could not shut it down – and filming had to be done around crowds of tourists.
• The scene where Womback is thrown off the balcony – was filmed at the Fairmont Hotel. Filming led to multiple calls to the hotel out of concern for a man hanging from a balcony!

Milk

R

• This award winning film is based on the life of gay rights activist Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California – to the San Franscisco Board of Supervisors
• Much of this was filmed on Castro St., including Milk’s former storefront – Castro Camera.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

R

• Quentin Tarantino has said this is his “Love Letter to LA”
• If you are interested in reading about some of the famous locations used in this film – check them out here on Variety.com
• The Restaurant Casa Vega plays a role in the film. If you can make it there for one of their famous margarita’s – ask for Table C6 and order “The Tarantino”!

Dirty Harry

R

• This was shot almost entirely in San Francisco
• The story is drawn from the real life case of the Zodiac Killer, a notorious serial killer who operated in Northern California. The film’s character seeks out a similar vicious psychopath.
• Many well known spots can be seen – City Hall, the Hall of Justice, Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, Lombard Street, and Kezar Stadium to name a few.

One-Eyed Jacks

R

• Scenes filmed in Pebble Beach along the coastline north of Cypress Point and at Pfeiffer Beach in Big Sur.
• The only film ever directed by Marlon Brando

I Melt With You

R

• Filmed mostly in and around a house in the Carmel Highlands
• Garrapata Beach is featured in their escapades, as is Ford Ord Dunes State Park.
• You can also see Monterey’s Fisherman’s Wharf, the Harbour and the Restaurant Massaro & Santos
• The segment by Bixby Bridge where someone gets sea sick – was scripted and supposed to be fake – however 1 hour into the boat ride and with cameras rolling – he did it for real!

Play Misty for Me

R

• Filmed throughout Monterrey, frequently at venue’s still open – most notably the Sardine Factory
• 4 min scene was shot at the famed Monterey Jazz Festival.
• This is Clint Eastwood’s directorial debut!

Big Little Lies

TV-MA

• This HBO show is set and filmed in Monterey
• Bixby Bridge is one of the most iconic parts of the show. The characters spend a lot of time going back and forth over the bridge (school pick-up, drop-off, to their favorite cafe, etc).
• This is a little bit of a Hollywood stretch, the bridge is located about 30 minutes south of Monterey.
• The Monterey Bay Aquarium has a big role. One of the main characters works there in Season 2.
• Lovers Point, the park and the beach, figured prominently as a setting for Season 1. It returns as a pretty backdrop in Season 2, most notably as the place where the Monterey Five’s new coffee spot, the Blissful Drip Cafe, is located. The show’s creators built the set on location and actually served coffee—they then donated the set to the town when filming wrapped.

Pretty Woman

R

• Mostly shot in LA – some notable locations: Las Palmas Hotel in Hollywood, Ambassador Hotel in LA, and the Regent Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills.
• The famous restaurant scene – was filmed at the restaurant Cicada in downtown LA. 30 years later it is still known as the “Pretty Woman Restaurant”. If you decide to dine here you can ask for the table Julia Roberts sat – and the server will point out where the waiter was standing when he caught her “Slippery little sucker!”

Pulp Fiction

R

• Filmed all over LA – Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Hawthorne, Pasadena, San Fernando Valley, Canoga Park, Culver City and Glendale
• You can drive around to some famous spots by following along with LA Magazine here.

L.A. Confidential

R

• Famous landmarks appropriate to the 1950’s were used, including – Formosa Cafe in West Hollywood, The Frolic Room on Hollywood Blvd, and the Crossroads of the World that is an outdoor mall, but was dressed up as a movie theatre.

Training Day

R

• Shot on location at some of LA’s most infamous neighborhoods.
• The film even got permission to shoot in the Imperial Courts Housing Project – the first time L.A. Street gangs allowed a film crew to be brought to that neighborhood.
• Most filming locations are in some pretty unsavoury neighborhoods – but you can visit the Quality Coffee Shop at 1238 West Seventh St – downtown.