Introduction
This month we're looking at Los Angeles area filming locations spanning the years 1931 through 1986, from the Westside, to Hollywood and to the historic Crown Hill neighborhood just north of downtown LA.
Plus, there's a visit to London, England to trace some of the filming locations from the 1955 classic British comedy The Ladykillers. No passport required!
Madonna - Open Your Heart (Music Video) (1986)
The Plot
Madonna works as a dancer at a peep-show, but she decides that kind of life isn't for her and she and a young teenage boy dance off into the sunset!
Critical Reaction
This groundbreaking music video from Madonna generated quite a bit of controversy when it was released in late 1986. Despite misgivings that the subject matter of the video went over the line, MTV did give this video heavy airplay and that probably helped the song reach #1 on the Billboard Top 100 chart in the USA on February 7, 1987.
An Ordinary Los Angeles Neighborhood Corner As Filming Location
The first half of the music video was filmed inside a studio, but the second half was shot on location on the corner of North Toluca Street & West Court Street, just a short distance from downtown Los Angeles. An active oil well on the site of the adult theater set kept this otherwise vacant lot empty until just a few years ago when an apartment building was finally built on the site.
In the filming location then and now photo comparison above, you can see the oil well in the frame from the music video - it's that contraption in the cage structure.
In Case You Missed It
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Madonna - Open Your Heart - Filming Locations - Quick Preview Video
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Madonna - Open Your Heart - Filming Locations Then and Now - Complete Documentary Video
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Our Gang / The Little Rascals - Fly My Kite (1931)
The Plot
The Gang are spending time at Grandma's house. Stymie finds some old bonds and Grandma explains they are worthless. However, Grandma's mean old son-in-law Dan intercepts a letter from the brokerage informing Grandma that the bonds she has are worth quite a bit of money. Chubby is not having much luck flying his kite in the field across the street and comes inside to tell Grandma of his troubles. She says that the kite needs some more counterweight on its tail and those "worthless" bonds would be perfect.
Dan comes inside, learns that the bonds are on the tail of the kite and a chase ensues as the Gang try to keep Dan from taking Chubby's kite. All ends well, Grandma finds out the bonds ARE worth something and a policeman comes and takes Dan away to jail.
The Wide Open Spaces Of The Westside Of Los Angeles In 1931
A great entry in the Our Gang / The Little Rascals movie series, the climactic final scenes were shot outside on location in a large field off the 3600 block of Overland Avenue in the Palms neighborhood of Los Angeles.
The filming location photos above show how the area has changed over the years. Several of the original homes that were seen in the 1931 film managed to survive until the mid 2010s. Today, the field is no more. Several large apartment houses sit on the site of the field, and those homes visible across the street in the 1931 and 2015 photos shown above have finally been replaced by a massive new apartment building.
In Case You Missed It
Quick Preview Video: Watch an excerpt from the complete filming locations video from this movie here:
Our Gang / The Little Rascals - Fly My Kite - Filming Locations - Quick Preview Video
Member Exclusive - Full Then and Now Filming Locations Documentary Video and Photo Gallery
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The Little Rascals - Fly My Kite - Complete Filming Locations Video
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The Little Rascals - Fly My Kite - Complete Filming Locations Photo Gallery
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The Ladykillers (1955)
The Plot
This 1955 movie stars Alec Guinness, Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers and Katie Johnson as Mrs. Wilberforce. A gang of criminals (led by Alec Guinness) robs a bank's armored car and uses kindly little old lady Mrs. Wilberforce to (unknowingly) transport the stolen money back to her house. There's a lot more to the plot, and I strongly encourage you to watch this movie - it's very funny, in a British kind of way!
Post-War London As Filming Location
Much of the on location filming took place in the neighborhood surrounding two London train stations: King's Cross and St. Pancras.
The filming location then and now photo above shows us Alec Guinness walking towards Mrs. Wilberforce's house. The view is looking north from in front of 34 Argyle Street, just south of Euston Road in London. Every building seen in the film in 1955 at this filming location is still around today, and largely unchanged.
In Case You Missed It
Quick Preview Video: Watch an excerpt from the complete filming locations video from this movie here:
The Ladykillers - Filming Locations - Quick Preview Video
Member Exclusive - Full Then and Now Filming Locations Documentary Video and Photo Gallery
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The Ladykillers - Filming Locations Then and Now - Complete Documentary Video
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The Ladykillers - Complete Filming Locations Photo Gallery
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The Three Stooges - False Alarms (1936)
The Plot
The Three Stooges are employed as fire fighters in this comedy short from 1936.
A Filming Location That Includes A Los Angeles Streetcar Line
This particular scene's filming location was at the north end of North Larchmont Blvd near Melrose Avenue. As you can see in the then and now movie location photo above, not very much has changed over the decades, with the exception of the Los Angeles Railway streetcar tracks no longer running down the middle of the street.
In Case You Missed It
Quick Preview Video: Watch an excerpt from the complete filming locations video from this movie here:
The Three Stooges - False Alarms - Filming Locations - Quick Preview Video
Member Exclusive - Full Then and Now Filming Locations Documentary Video and Photo Gallery
If you have made a small donation and are a current member, you can view the ENTIRE filming locations video by clicking here to Login and then clicking here:
The Three Stooges - False Alarms - Complete Filming Locations Video
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The Three Stooges - False Alarms - Complete Filming Locations Photo Gallery
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In case you missed it: My June 2025 featured filming locations then and now photos blog entry.
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