How Many CAR Scenes Filmed in the LA River?

[unclescott58]

4 hours ago, Mr mopar said:

italian job

Not real Italian Job. The original, with Michael Cain. 

[Daddyfink]

Ken Block's Gymkhana 

[Junkman]

Transformers. Okay, strictly speaking not cars...

 

[Junkman]

To live and die in L. A.

[Junkman]

In Time

[Junkman]

The Dark Knight Rises

[Mike999]

"Point Blank" with Lee Marvin, 1967.  And I just learned something I didn't know - our favorite river bed was used as No Man's Land in the 1930 version of "All Quiet on the Western Front."  Some of its bridges also appear in that movie, when the Germans are attacking a "French" village.

 

[89AKurt]

LOL When I saw the topic, I was like "did my Gumball Rally picture prompt this?"   Thanks you for giving me the credit.

I'm sure Hollyweird has an agreement with LA to use this for location, bet the permit cost helps fund .... I better stop here.

[Mike999]

"Ghost of Drag Strip Hollow," 1959.  Sort of a sequel to "Hot Rod Girl" from 1956, shown in the second pic. No L.A. riverbed, but some very cool cars.

 

 

 

Edited December 1, 2018 by Mike999
omit

[Greg Myers]

Great thread  Lunajammer

[Junkman]

15 hours ago, Mike999 said:

"Point Blank" with Lee Marvin, 1967.  And I just learned something I didn't know - our favorite river bed was used as No Man's Land in the 1930 version of "All Quiet on the Western Front."  Some of its bridges also appear in that movie, when the Germans are attacking a "French" village.

 

I don't think there were any cars in the river bed in Point Blank.

[ChrisBcritter]

On 12/1/2018 at 11:42 AM, Junkman said:

I don't think there were any cars in the river bed in Point Blank.

Nope - the car scene was under a freeway interchange in the San Fernando Valley:

 

(As a two-time Imperial owner this hurts me as much as anyone else )

 

Edited December 5, 2018 by ChrisBcritter

[NYLIBUD]

On 11/30/2018 at 8:14 PM, Junkman said:

To live and die in L. A.

To Live and Die in LA has one of the best car chases ever filmed,part of which is in the dried up river.The Gumball Rally was also a great chase movie,and it was hilarious.Just curious,when and how often does the river fill up??

[Mike999]

41 minutes ago, NYLIBUD said:

To Live and Die in LA has one of the best car chases ever filmed,part of which is in the dried up river.The Gumball Rally was also a great chase movie,and it was hilarious.Just curious,when and how often does the river fill up??

When it rains heavily!  I lived in Los Angeles for many years, and have seen that river almost overflowing its banks.  L.A. overall wasn't designed for heavy rain, and when it happens, it's not unusual to go thru an intersection with water up to the bottom of your car doors.  Back in 1994, if I'm remembering the year correctly, during some very heavy storms National Guard helicopters were rescuing people from the tops of their cars.  Ironically, that was around the Sepulveda Flood Control Basin in the San Fernando Valley.  The Basin worked the way it should, it just got swamped with all the rain.

[RancheroSteve]

1 hour ago, NYLIBUD said:

Just curious, when and how often does the river fill up??

Yesterday: "On Thursday, 1.9 inches fell in DTLA, beating a 21-year-old record of 1.01 inches, according to the National Weather Service. That record was set in 1997, when the strongest El Niño in decades ripped through the area, says Weather Service meteorologist Eric Boldt. The two-day total for Downtown was 2.11 inches—close to the neighborhood’s average rainfall for the entire month of December, 2.33 inches." From Curbed LA

I was out driving around in it yesterday running errands, but didn't get a chance to look at the river.

[Rob Hall]

2 minutes ago, RancheroSteve said:

Yesterday: "On Thursday, 1.9 inches fell in DTLA, beating a 21-year-old record of 1.01 inches, according to the National Weather Service. That record was set in 1997, when the strongest El Niño in decades ripped through the area, says Weather Service meteorologist Eric Boldt. The two-day total for Downtown was 2.11 inches—close to the neighborhood’s average rainfall for the entire month of December, 2.33 inches." From Curbed LA

I was out driving around in it yesterday running errands, but didn't get a chance to look at the river.

I remember the 1997 El Nino storms...I was in N. California for a few days in the fall...I remember getting caught out in downpours in Santa Clara and San Jose and freeway underpasses flooding..

[NYLIBUD]

Man,I've never been to CA.I do wanna go,but you guys have some weird weather out there.

[RancheroSteve]

10 hours ago, NYLIBUD said:

To Live and Die in LA has one of the best car chases ever filmed, part of which is in the dried up river.

That shot from "To Live & Die" is just north of downtown, near the Confluence (where the Arroyo Seco joins the L.A. River). The two bridges in the background are the Pasadena Freeway passing over the river, with a little slice of Elysian Park off to the left. There is a spot near there where you can drive down to the river.

[ChrisBcritter]

A friend of mine was an extra in that movie, driving his '75 Caprice convertible - he ended up in the big scene:

This is the famous wrong-way freeway shot; for (I guess)  "artistic reasons" the directions are reversed.

[Mike999]

We seem to have a lot of film-noir fans lurking around here...probably with bad intent.  Plus fans of old L.A., which is seen in so many noir movies.

Here's a link to a great blog: "Deranged L.A. Crimes: True 20th Century Tales of Murder, Mayhem, Political Corruption, and Celebrity Scandal."   The author is Joan Renner, former archivist at the L.A.P.D. Museum and all-around expert on her subject matter.  With writer James Ellroy, she helped compile the 2015 collection of vintage crime-scene photos, "LAPD '53." She often appears on the ID Channel true-crime shows like "Deadly Women."

Every week her blog features "Film Noir Friday," showcasing a different crime movie. You can spend many fascinating hours at this site!

http://derangedlacrimes.com/

 

[The Junkman]

On 12/7/2018 at 3:17 PM, NYLIBUD said:

Man,I've never been to CA.I do wanna go,but you guys have some weird weather out there.

I spent my first 10 years within earshot of LAX.  I recall that if it rained for 3 days in a row they closed the local schools.  You have to recall that primarily the LA Basin is just that: a bowl.  Water comes in and there aren't a lot of places for it to go.  Never had an urge to return or even to visit.  Except for the Peterson Museum...

[Historic Bicycle Archive]

On 11/30/2018 at 6:03 PM, Lunajammer said:

ROADBLOCK

Hello

My name is Jürg Zaugg, and together with my son Nicola, I write and publish books about historic bicycles. For our current book, which is about the history of my own model car company, we are writing a short report on the 1951 movie “Roadblock” for a model of the 1950 Nash. The police units in the final scenes, which end in the Riverbed, drive a 1950 Nash Ambassador. Do you know anything about this and are there any other pictures of the filming of these scenes?

Thank you very much in advance for your reply!

Jürg Zaugg
 

Historic Bicycle Archive
Jürg Zaugg
Eigenheimweg 12
4600 Olten
Switzerland

E-Mail: ordinary.bicycle@bluewin.ch

[stavanzer]

Good Questions, Jurg. I hope somebody here as some answers for you.

[RancheroSteve]

Sorry I can't help you much with what sounds like a fascinating project at the intersection of film noir, model cars, and even bicycles, except to say that those scenes were definitely shot in the Los Angeles River in downtown. It may not be the same railroad bridge, but there is still a similar one a little further south along the river (my photo). Train infrastructure has changed a fair amount since the movie was shot.

Edited September 8, 2024 by RancheroSteve

[webestang]

Last Action Hero......