By Jan Wahl–
I’ve never been a selfie addict, one of those many folks looking for a place to pose with the phone cam. But I might just take one on Big Sur’s Pfeiffer Beach. I would wait for plenty of wave action and pose with a studly man, both of us in bathing suits. Here is the challenging part, but so worth it if you know the iconic beach scene in From Here to Eternity. We would get down in the sand and allow waves to crash over us while in the clinch. Suddenly we are Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in the selfie of my dreams! (Most of that Oscar-winning film was shot in Hawaii, but the director, cast, and crew were brought back to the mainland for a reshoot of this sexy scene.)
Monterey is one of the oldest movie locales in California. All the way back to 1897, silent travelogues were filmed there, including Surf at Monterey
(https://bit.ly/4cCb3J2) and Hotel Del Monte (https://bit.ly/3W2pOhc). It has stood in for Scotland in Lassie Come Home, England in National Velvet (Pebble Beach Golf Links, 9th and 10th fairways) and Maine for A Summer Place. In Steinbeck Country: Monterey to Big Sur, Director John Harris gives us a love letter to his home with gorgeous cinematography.
Two personal favorites were filmed using the natural beauty of the area. Play Misty for Me is a great thriller directed and starring homeboy Clint Eastwood. Though the storyline of a radio disc jockey harassed by a crazed fan was set in Los Angeles, Eastwood insisted on the more comfortable surroundings of a shopping center in Carmel by the Sea (Carmel Rancho at the time) as well as local bars and restaurants. Alert to selfie fans: nutty Evelyn’s house is at 16 Camino Real, while Tobie’s home is at 162 Spindrift Road. A leisurely collection of likeable losers and near-losers inhabit a sardine canning center in 1982’s Cannery Row. This waterfront district is named for the John Steinbeck novel and the fish factory still stands as a most visited tourist attraction.
Teen romance at its best happens in A Summer Place starring Troy Donahue, Sandra Dee, and a beloved theme song. The future comes to Monterey at the famed Monterey Bay Aquarium as Earth must be saved from an alien probe in Star Trek 1V: The Voyage Home. Visitors to this world-class aquarium still ask to see the celebrity whales from the movie.
Family favorites The Love Bug and the original The Parent Trap used Monterey locations. Four truly great Classic Hollywood films utilized the beaches and walkways: The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Leave Her to Heaven, Johnny Belinda, and Of Mice and Men. Cannery Row returns in the steamy Clash by Night, a chance to see Marilyn Monroe at her vulnerable best. The Candidate and Pleasantville highlighted the small town feel of the area, while the steamy Sandpaper had Elizabeth Taylor living the single life on the beach. From East of Eden (the Salinas Valley) to Forrest Gump to Turner & Hooch (Pacific Grove), from TV shows like Big Little Lies (Lovers Point Park and Beach) to The Bling Ring, Monterey will take you there.
It is easy to head up north to Sonoma County for some of the world’s best film locations … and wine. Most of us would begin with Bodega and Bodega Bay for The Birds. Locations for this classic Hitchcock film still stand and will give selfie fans a chance relive the terror at the Potter Schoolhouse (still intact) and The Tides Wharf and Restaurant. Hitchcock’s crew completely inhabited the town of Santa Rosa for 1943’s noir thriller Shadow of a Doubt. Hitch loved this Sonoma County city as a paragon of a supposedly peaceful, small American city.
A perfect tribute to American teens and their automobiles, American Graffiti, was shot in the historic town of Petaluma. More time travel occurs in Peggy Sue Got Married, and in Mumford at Santa Rosa Junior College and the Astro Motel. The Beverly Hillbillies, Flubber, So I Married an Axe Murderer, and even Howard the Duck (which is hard to forget though I’m sure George Lucas would like you to!). Horror rears its head with Cujo, Scream, and The Fog. Scream director Wes Craven planned for Santa Rosa to be more prominently featured, but the Santa Rosa Board of Education turned down his request to film the bloody slasher movie at the high school. He got revenge while doing the movie’s end credits: “No thanks whatsoever to the Santa Rosa City School District Governing Board.”
It does not get better than Alan Rickman as a Paris-based wine expert in a personal favorite film, 2008’s Bottle Shock. Kunde Winery in Kenwood was one location as we watch the shocked wine snob discover that our wine country turns out a top-notch chardonnay. Sonoma’s Chateau Montelena was the place I was lucky enough to visit during a wrap party on the film, speaking to Rickman about his love for the area and especially the wines. The beautiful romance A Walk in the Clouds had Keanu Reeves at the Mount Veeder Winery and Mayacamas Winery. Though set in Provence, Napa and Sonoma double for France in the feel-good romance A Good Year.
One of the best documentaries ever is 2012’s SOMM: Into the Bottle, following four men preparing for the incredibly hard rank of Master of Wine Sommelier. A tasting trip through the Napa Valley with Tina Fey and Maya Rudolph leads to laughs in Wine Country. The cast and crew stayed at Andaz Napa, eating and filming at Oenotri. Two blended Latino families run a Sonoma vineyard in the TV series Promised Land. The under-rated Patch Adams, tv classic hit Falcon Crest, Pollyanna, Shoot the Moon, heartwarming Fly Away Home, and Food Network host Guy Fieri all roll up in gorgeous Sonoma. Here’s looking at you, kid!
Jan Wahl is a Hollywood historian and film critic on various broadcast outlets. She has two Emmys and many awards for her longtime work on behalf of film buffs and the LGBTQ community. Contact her at
www.janwahl.com
Off the Wahl
Published on July 11, 2024
Recent Comments