Movies and New York City are a match made in Hollywood heaven. Thanks to my friends who have provided me with their best films which were filmed (in part) on location in the big apple.
King Kong (1933)
Ok, so, an enormous gorilla goes ape and scales what was then the world's tallest building. We all know the story and have seen the remake but nothing can dampen your spirits when watching this movie. Appreciate the rudimentary special effects of 1933 my, my, how things have changed. Filmed on location at: 34th St. and 5th Ave.Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Now this is a real Christmas winner: A Macy's toy department Santa Claus claims to be the real Kris Kringle and slowly wins over a city of cynics—even a young, skeptical Natalie Wood learns to believe. Filmed on location at: 34th St. and 6th/7th Aves.
Marilyn Monroe performs her legendary skirt-blowing scene above a lucky subway grate at 52nd Street and Lexington in Billy Wilder's comedic romp. Filmed on location at: 52nd St. and Lexington Ave.
An Affair to Remember (1957)The inspiration for the 1993 romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle,this older affair stars Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr as a lovestruck pair who are both engaged to be married to other people. They test their commitment to each other by meeting again at the top of the Empire State Building six months later. Filmed on location at: 34th St. and
5th Ave.
West Side Story (1961)
Inspired by the real-life warring gangs of Hell's Kitchen and Shakespeare's story of Romeo and Juliet, Tony and Maria's musical tragedy begins with equally dramatic aerial views of the city. This Bernstein musical was ahead of it's time and holds a special place in my heart. Filmed on location at: Hells Kitchen
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
Who can forget a pouty Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) as she stands on the outside looking in at the famous luxury jewellery store or the handsome George Peppard? Filmed on location at: 52nd St. and Lexington Ave.
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
The once seedy streets of Times Square precipitate the unusual friendship between the greasy gimp Ratso Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman) and Texas hustler-for-hire Joe Buck (Jon Voight). Filmed on location at:Times Square
The French Connection (1971)
Traffic lights? What traffic lights? Gene Hackman commits a number of moving violations as detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle when he chases thugs in a high-speed car chase down Brooklyn's 86th Street. The scene inspired countless other action sequences and numerous traffic offenses. Filmed on location at: 86th St., Brooklyn
The Godfather (1972)
Every lad has seen and appreciated this movie, perhaps saying a few memorable lines in front of the bathroom mirror.Filmed on location in Little Italy. My favourite quote "Don Corleone, I am honored and grateful that you have invited me to your home on the wedding day of your daughter. And may their first child be a masculine child." said by Luca Brasi when practising his speech.
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
A young Al Pacino plays a Brooklyn bank robber in this Sidney Lumet film shot in Park Slope—just a few blocks from the bank where the real-life events took place. This is history people!
Filmed on location at: Park Slope, Brooklyn
Taxi Driver (1976)
The harsh lights of 42nd Street porn theaters and sidewalks littered with prostitutes and drifters act as an isolating backdrop for Robert DeNiro's ultimate catharsis in Martin Scorcese's gritty classic. Filmed on location at: Times Square
Saturday Night Fever (1977)
A well-coifed, John Travolta practices shaking his Brooklyn booty walking down Fourth Avenue in Bay Ridge before steaming up the dance floor. Filmed on location at: Fourth Ave., Brooklyn
Annie Hall (1977)
In one of his most famous odes to New York, the ever-bumbling Woody Allen pulls some of his not-so-smooth moves on Diane Keaton in Washington Square Park and countless other Manhattan locations. Filmed on location at: 4th St. and Waverly Pl.
Watch the trailer of Annie Hall.
Manhattan (1978)
One year later, Allen still can't seem to get it right with Keaton. The city gets a nine-minute introductory montage of the midtown skyline, the Staten Island ferry, Park Avenue, Macy's, the Guggenheim and the Plaza Hotel. One famous scene even takes place under the Queensborough Bridge. Filmed on location at: 59th St. & FDR Dr.
Fame (1980)
I want to live forever! Dancing over Time Square and on the hoods of cars was so exciting when I saw this for the first time as a wee lass. The New York City High School of the Performing Arts, was the school on which the film was based. Filmed on location at: Times Square. See the Fame 1980 movie trailer.
Wall Street (1987)
Charlie Sheen is a fresh-faced broker learning about corruption on a lower-Manhattan trading floor from his boss (Michael Douglas). Douglas also delivers one of the most memorable messages of the 1980s: Greed is good; too much hair gel is bad. Filmed on location at: Wall Street
Coming to America (1988)
One of my favorites, from when Akeem & Semmi were in the club trying to find his future wife: "Hey, baby, I'm almost single. My husband's on death row."
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
THE most famous scene of the movie When Harry Met Sally was filmed on Location at Katz's Delicatessen at 205 E. Houston Street in New York City. If you go there you will see a sign memorialising the deli's movie moment Filmed on location at: E. Houston and Ludlow St. Did you know? The woman in the restaurant that says "I'll have what she's having" after Meg Ryan's orgasm scene is Rob Reiner's mother Estelle Reiner.
Independence Day (1996)
Sure, the thought of aliens taking over the planet is upsetting, but it's nothing compared to the disturbing view of the Statue of Liberty face down in the New York Harbor—or of the gargantuan spaceship looming entirely over Manhattan. Filmed on location at: New York Harbour. And something nothing about New York: When escaping the mother ship, Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) says "Faster, we must go faster", a line which Goldblum's character in Jurassic Park (1993) said when in the jeep being chased by the T-rex.
Serendipity (2001)
"That's a lot of tuba" John Cusack improvises whilst filming. That line still makes me chuckle even though I have seen this film umpteen times. In the clip below can you see both of their last names at the top of the shop sign: Sara (Thomas) left and Jonathan (Traver) right. He also doesn't look at white he is writing on the note. I really do feel that the little devil boy in the lift wasn't wearing a costume. He has to be the most annoying character in any movie ever!
Filmed: Waldorf Astoria, 301 Park Avenue manhatten, Serendipity 3, 225 E 60th Str and Wollman Rink, Central Park.
"That's a lot of tuba" John Cusack improvises whilst filming. That line still makes me chuckle even though I have seen this film umpteen times. In the clip below can you see both of their last names at the top of the shop sign: Sara (Thomas) left and Jonathan (Traver) right. He also doesn't look at white he is writing on the note. I really do feel that the little devil boy in the lift wasn't wearing a costume. He has to be the most annoying character in any movie ever!
Filmed: Waldorf Astoria, 301 Park Avenue manhatten, Serendipity 3, 225 E 60th Str and Wollman Rink, Central Park.
Spider-Man (2002); Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Tobey McGuire plays the superhero from Forest Hills, Queens, who flounders with the girl but is able to swing between the skyscrapers of NYC. These special effects are a far cry from the beginning of our NYC movie adventure King Kong in 1933. Filmed on location at Midtown & Forest Hills in Queens.
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