The Sting (1973)

dir. George Roy Hill

Many thanks to Matt Hormann of Hometown Pasadena for pointing out the Pasadena locations.

Joliet, Illinois – W. Union Street between N. Fair Oaks and De Lacey Avenues, Pasadena, California

Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford) and Luther Coleman (Robert Earl Jones) swindle the mob courier – Smith Alley looking toward W. Union Street, Pasadena, California. The second picture shows Smith Alley looking toward Hugus Alley.

Doyle Lonnegan’s (Robert Shaw) casino interior – Castle Green Apartments, 99 S. Raymond Avenue, Pasadena, California

Hooker running from his nemesis, detective Snyder (Charles Durning) - W. Union Street between N. Fair Oaks and De Lacey Avenues, Pasadena, California

Henry Gondorff’s (Paul Newman) carousel – Santa Monica Pier Carousel, Santa Monica, California. The Chicago skyline was added with matte painting.

Lonnegan leaving New York – Union Station, 225 S. Canal Street, Chicago, Illinois.

Lonnegan arriving in Chicago – LaSalle Street Station, 414 S. LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois. The old station, also seen in Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, is no longer there, replaced by a modern building in the 1980s.

Lonnegan’s Chicago hotel interior – Castle Green Apartments, 99 S. Raymond Avenue, Pasadena, California.

Hooker’s hotel and the street – this was filmed on a studio backlot. They reused the "el" set built for another movie, Norman Jewison’s Gaily Gaily.

 

The Western Union office - 118 Winston Street, Los Angeles, California.

Agent Polk’s (Dana Elcar) headquarters – Old Koppel Plant, Long Beach Harbor, Long Beach, California.

Hooker leaving Loretta’s apartment in the morning – Hugus Alley looking toward Miller Alley, Pasadena, California

A strange gunman saves Hooker’s life - Hugus Alley looking toward Smith Alley, Pasadena, California.

The Player (1992)

dir. Robert Altman

The movie studio where Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins) works – Hollywood Center Studios, 1040 N. Las Palmas Avenue, Los Angeles, California

The restaurant where Mill has lunch with his friends – Il Ristorante (now closed), 8475 Melrose Place, West Hollywood, California. The surrounding area has since changed substantially.

Dick’s (Sydney Pollack) house – 16722 Monte Alto Place, Pacific Palisades, California

The Hot Springs resort - Two Bunch Palms, 67-425 Two Bunch Palms Trail, Desert Hot Springs, California.

The restaurant with Burt Reynolds’ cameo – Geoffrey’s, 27400 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, California.

David Kahane’s (Vincent D’Onofrio) house – 1921 Westholme Avenue, Los Angeles, California.

Mill meets Kahane – Rialto Theatre (now closed), 1023 S. Fair Oaks Avenue, South Pasadena, California

The subsequent confrontation between Kahane and Mill – the parking lot behind the Rialto. The Japanese restaurant where they had a drink earlier is seen in the background.

Kahane’s funeral – Hollywood Forever Cemetery, 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles, California

Mill goes to meet the mysterious "Joe Gillis" but instead is treated to a pitch from an aspiring British filmmaker and his agent (Richard E. Grant and Dean Stockwell) – St. James Club (now Sunset Tower Hotel), 8358 W. Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. This 1931 Art-Deco landmark narrowly escaped demolition in the 1980s before being restored and reborn as a hotel.

 

Mill and Kahane’s girlfriend June (Greta Scacchi) attend the gala event celebrating old black-and-white films - Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. The first picture shows the view across the street as they enter the complex, the second picture is the museum itself.

Mill’s house – Still searching for this location

The police station where Mill is questioned by detectives Avery (Whoopi Goldberg) and DeLongpre (Lyle Lovett) - 142 N. Arroyo Parkway, Pasadena, California. It’s the old Pasadena Police Station that has since been demolished. The Holly Street Apartments now stand in its place.

Mill’s new house – 20 Oakmont Drive, Los Angeles, California. It’s a private street closed to non-residents.

See also...

Sunset Boulevard

Get Shorty

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

dir. Billy Wilder

It’s hard to add something to what has already been said about this classic film, but I’ve managed to find a few more surviving locations that haven’t been mentioned before.

Norma Desmond’s (Gloria Swanson) mansion – the northwest corner of Wilshire and Irving Boulevards, Los Angeles, California. It belonged to the wife of J.P. Getty and had stood empty for several years before Billy Wilder chose it for filming of Sunset Boulevard. As everyone knows by now, it didn't have a swimming pool required by the screenplay so it was installed for the purposes of filming. The pool and the mansion were later used in another classic film, Nicholas Ray’s Rebel Without a Cause. A couple of years after Ray’s film was released, the mansion was torn down. Today, a nondescript office parking lot stands on the site.

Joe Gillis’ (William Holden) apartment building – Alto Nido, 1851 N. Ivar Avenue, Los Angeles, California

The place where Gillis stashed his car – the parking lot on Vine Street, next to The Palace, Los Angeles, California. The camera is looking toward Ivar Avenue.

Gillis drives onto Vine Street toward Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.

Paramount Studios - 5451 Marathon Street, Los Angeles, California. This is the Bronson Avenue gate. You can no longer get close to the famous gate (unless you have a business at the studio or book a tour), it can only be admired from a distance.

Schwab’s Pharmacy – 8024 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. It was Hollywood’s most famous drugstore, a popular hangout for writers, actors, etc., many of those living in the neighboring Chateau Marmont or Garden of Allah. The store had to close in 1983, and was torn down a few years later.

Gillis sees the repo men and makes a sharp U-turn at the junction of Sunset Boulevard and Bel Air Road, Los Angeles, California.

The Desmond mansion’s driveway – 10060 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. It was the Janss mansion at the time but it has since been demolished. Though the driveway was in the section of Sunset Boulevard where the Desmond mansion was supposed to be located, it's a good six miles away from the J.P. Getty mansion actually used in the film.

Norma Desmond buys Gillis new clothes – the 3900 block of Wilshire Boulevard; Perino’s, then located at 3927 Wilshire Boulevard, is seen across the street.

See also...

Double Indemnity

The Day of the Locust