Introduction
This month we're looking at filming locations from movies spanning the years 1927 through 2009, starting in the Atlanta, Georgia area and finishing up in the Los Angeles area.
The 2009 Tyler Perry movie Madea Goes To Jail gets things started. We travel to a shopping center parking lot in Mableton, Georgia for a then and now look at the filming location where Madea destroys a car.
We head back to the Los Angeles area to trace the filming locations for three classic comedy shorts, beginning with the 1930 Our Gang / The Little Rascals movie Teacher's Pet. Then it's a visit to a posh neighborhood with Laurel and Hardy in their 1927 comedy Love 'Em And Weep.
The Taxi Boys movie Bring 'Em Back A Wife takes us back to downtown Culver City, California in 1933 as we wrap up our tour of filming locations for this month.
Tyler Perry - Madea Goes To Jail (2009)
The Plot
Tyler Perry's series of Madea movies have been savaged by critics (and some segments of the public). But at their core, they're simply good old fashioned comedy with a few morality lessons added.
In this scene, Madea is going shopping at a strip mall, searching for a parking space. She sees a person pulling out and patiently waits. But an entitled woman cuts in front of Madea and steals the parking space! This is probably a situation that we can all relate to and Tyler Perry's Madea character does what we all would like to do in that situation: Takes revenge!
Suburban Atlanta Strip Mall As Filming Location
Like many of Perry's films, location filming was done a short distance away from his Atlanta studio complex. This scene was filmed in the nearby suburban town of Mableton, Georgia at 5590 Mableton Parkway SW. The K-Mart store seen in the movie is now a dd's Discount store and the facade has been changed, however the rest of the strip mall appears to be unchanged as you'll see in this then and now filming location Quick Preview \Video.
Watch The Quick Preview Filming Location Video Now
Click the link below to watch some quick excerpts from the full Filming Locations Then and Now documentary video:
Tyler Perry - Madea Goes To Jail - 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:
Tyler Perry - Madea Goes To Jail - Filming Locations Then and Now - Complete Documentary Video
And don't miss the complete photo gallery of filming locations then and now here:
Tyler Perry - Madea Goes To Jail - Complete Filming Locations Photo Gallery
New Around Here?
If you make a very small donation to the site, you'll unlock over 150 full-length filming locations then and now videos and over 2,000 filming locations then and now photos.
Click here to donate and become a member now!
Our Gang / The Little Rascals - Teacher's Pet (1930)
The Plot
Possibly the best Our Gang / The Little Rascals movie in the series, this film has all the elements that made The Little Rascals memorable: A perfect balance of comedy and pathos incorporated in a simple, relatable plot (the kids have a new teacher to start out the school year). Tying it all together are those wonderful background tunes written by Leroy Shield that have become synonymous with the series.
A Filming Location Time Capsule
In this then and now filming location Quick Preview Video, we see Miss Crabtree (the new teacher played by June Marlowe) dropping off her new student Jackie Cooper at the corner of La Cienega Blvd and Venice Blvd in Los Angeles.
This scene gives us a great view of the Pacific Electric Railway viaduct at this intersection. As you watch this filming locations then and now video, you'll see that the viaduct is now gone and the intersection is snarled with traffic - and a pedestrian nightmare!
Watch The Quick Preview Filming Location Video Now
Click the link below to watch some quick excerpts from the full Filming Locations Then and Now documentary video:
Our Gang / The Little Rascals - Teacher's Pet - 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 Little Rascals - Teacher's Pet - Complete Filming Locations Video
And don't miss the complete photo gallery of filming locations then and now here:
The Little Rascals - Teacher's Pet - Complete Filming Locations Photo Gallery
A Very Small Donation Unlocks All The Site Content
If you make a very small donation to the site, you'll unlock over 150 full-length filming locations then and now videos and over 2,000 filming locations then and now photos.
Click here to donate and become a member now!
Laurel and Hardy - Love 'Em And Weep (1927)
The Plot
This early Laurel and Hardy movie has the comedy team not quite yet a comedy team playing the roles that we normally associate with Laurel and Hardy. Instead, it's really a James Finlayson and Stan Laurel comedy, with Hardy appearing as a minor character. The plot was reused and tailored for the Laurel and Hardy characters in 1931 for their movie Chickens Come Home.
An old girlfriend of a married businessman (James Finlayson) shows up blackmailing him. He enlists the help of his friend (Stan Laurel) to keep her away from his wife.
Historic Lafayette Square In Los Angeles As Filming Location
The scene shown in this Quick Preview then and now filming location video appears at the end of the movie, and was filmed at a very "stately home" in the Lafayette Square Historic District neighborhood in Los Angeles. The neighborhood (sometimes referred to as La Fayette Squareis "semi-gated" and the home seen in the movie was built over 100 years ago, in 1923.
As you'll see in this then and now movie location Quick Preview video, the house - and even some of the shrubbery - remains unchanged!
Watch The Quick Preview Filming Location Video Now
Click the link below to watch some quick excerpts from the full Filming Locations Then and Now documentary video:
Laurel and Hardy - Love 'Em And Weep - 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:
Laurel and Hardy - Love 'Em And Weep - Complete Filming Locations Video
And don't miss the complete photo gallery of filming locations then and now here:
Laurel and Hardy - Love 'Em And Weep - Complete Filming Locations Photo Gallery
A Very Small Donation Unlocks All The Site Content
If you make a very small donation to the site, you'll unlock over 150 full-length filming locations then and now videos and over 2,000 filming locations then and now photos.
Click here to donate and become a member now!
The Taxi Boys - Bring 'Em Back A Wife (1933)
The Plot
Pretty much unknown today, The Taxi Boys series is notable for the extensive amount of location filming incorporated into the movies. The series used many of the supporting actors that appeared in Laurel and Hardy and Our Gang / The Little Rascals movies but in this series, they were the stars of the films.
In Bring 'Em Back A Wife, Billy Gilbert is a candidate for a job, but the company only hires married men. So... Billy dresses up his friend Ben Blue as a woman and tries to pass "her" off as his wife.
A Time Capsule Of When Streetcars Blanketed Southern California
While nobody realized it at the time, director Del Lord and the film crew have created a perfect time capsule of downtown Culver City, California in 1933. In this Quick Preview of the complete filming locations then and now video, we see the downtown area including the historic Culver Hotel, the Pacific Electric Railway tracks running down the middle of Culver Blvd and the original Southern California Telephone Company building at 3847 Cardiff Avenue. With the exception of the Pacific Electric Railway tracks, pretty much everything else you'll see in the movie is still standing today.
Watch The Quick Preview Filming Location Video Now
Click the link below to watch some quick excerpts from the full Filming Locations Then and Now documentary video:
The Taxi Boys - Bring 'Em Back A Wife - 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 Taxi Boys - Bring 'Em Back A Wife - Filming Locations Then and Now - Complete Documentary Video
And don't miss the complete photo gallery of filming locations then and now here:
The Taxi Boys - Bring 'Em Back A Wife - Complete Filming Locations Photo Gallery
Donate And Become A Member Now!
If you make a very small donation to the site, you'll unlock over 150 full-length filming locations then and now videos and over 2,000 filming locations then and now photos.
Click here to donate and become a member now!
Support the site with a small donation to become a member and enjoy full, unrestricted access to the extensive collection of filming location content!
In case you missed it: My April 2025 featured filming locations then and now videos blog entry.
Return To Filming Locations Blog Main Page