DC and Great Film locations – more added Jan 8

What are DC’s connections to great film? Jan 1, 2012 – DCIFF staffer Russ is on a mission to connect you to the brick and mortar of the district with films big and small, old and new, in pictures. Low-hanging fruit comes first. Send ideas in a comment and I’ll see what I can do. Obscure gets extra credit.

• The list is random, fun, with a photo, director and stars, a link or two. Happy New year! Launching at 12:06 a.m. January 1, 2012. Looking for film-related scenes/links in DC?
• The Exorcist 1973: Dir: William Friedkin with: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow and Linda Blair IMDB. The spooky, mist-shrouded scene from the film hardly compares to a sunny afternoon walk down the steps. A light subs for the moon and the mist had to be manufactured. Of course it all looks so convincing because film expectations of sinister or criminal goings on always find traction in DC.

  

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• The African Queen 1951: Dir: John Huston with: Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn and Robert Morley IMDB. This model hangs at Clyde’s bar in Georgetown. Lore it’s a production miniature from the filming.

  

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  Union Station, a few blocks from the Capitol Building has been the location for many films. The real life stories and dramas in the human flow might surpass those staged there in American Cinema. Or not. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington 1939 Dir: Frank Capra with: James Stewart, Jean Arthur and Claude Rains IMDB – AND Strangers on a Train 1951 Dir: Alfred Hitchcock with: Farley Granger, Robert Walker and Ruth Roman IMDB –AND Hannibal 2001 Dir: Ridley Scott with: Anthony Hopkins, Julianne Moore and Gary Oldman IMDB – AND Collateral Damage 2002 Dir: Andrew Davis with: Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Leguizamo, and Francesca Neri IMDB – AND The Recruit 2003 Dir: Roger Donaldson with: Al Pacino, Colin Farrell and Bridget Moynahan IMDB

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  State of Play 2009 Dir: Kevin Macdonald with: Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams and Ben Affleck IMDB In the grim underbelly of the city, a body is found. Of course it has secrets to tell. On a cold winter’s day, transformed back to a quiet jogging route along a canal. With a secret.

  

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  Syriana 2005 Dir: Stephen Gaghan with: George Clooney, Matt Damon and Amanda Peet IMDB The fictional law office was filmed here at the Jones Day Law firm a block from the capital. Does art follow reality or is it the other way around? In DC it’s blurry. in one of many memorable quotes…Tim Blake Nelson (who partnered in Brother Where Art Thou with Clooney) in the role of Danny Dalton: “Some trust fund prosecutor, got off-message at Yale thinks he’s gonna run this up the flagpole? Make a name for himself? Maybe get elected some two-bit congressman from nowhere, with the result that Russia or China can suddenly start having, at our expense, all the advantages we enjoy here? No, I tell you. No, sir! Corruption charges! Corruption? Corruption is government intrusion into market efficiencies in the form of regulations. That’s Milton Friedman. He got a goddamn Nobel Prize. We have laws against it precisely so we can get away with it. Corruption is our protection. Corruption keeps us safe and warm. Corruption is why you and I are prancing around in here instead of fighting over scraps of meat out in the streets. Corruption is why we win!”

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  Dave 1993 Dir: Ivan Reitman with: Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver and Frank Langella IMDB L’Enfant Gallery occupies the building staged as Dave’s temporary agency office in the film. Corner of Wisconsin and P in Georgetown.

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  Advise & Consent 1962 Dir: Otto Preminger with: Franchot Tone, Lew Ayres and Henry Fonda IMDB – AND Three Days of the Condor 1975 with: Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway and Cliff Robertson IMDB – AND Enemy of the State 1998 with: Will Smith, Gene Hackman and Jon Voight IMDB – AND Terminal 2007 Dir: Fernando Beltran y Puga with: Leah Loftin, Andy English and Ian Glinka IMDB Reagan/National Airport at Wikipedia, opened in 1926, old terminal built 1940’s.

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  All the President’s Men 1976 Dir: Alan J. Pakula with: Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford and Jack Warden – AND Forrest Gump 1994 with: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright and Gary Sinise – AND Absolute Power 1997 Dir: Clint Eastwood with: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman and Ed Harris – note: the Libyan Embassy is located here – and seriously, while I strolled around with my camera, some plumbers came out of the building with some tools and a wet-vac, loaded it into a van, and drove away.

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  No Way Out 1987 Dir: Roger Donaldson with: Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman and Sean Young – AND True Lies 1994 Dir: James Cameron with: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis and Tom Arnold – note: there IS no Metro Station in Georgetown.

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  St. Elmo’s Fire 1985 Dir: Joel Schumacher with: Demi Moore, Rob Lowe and Andrew McCarthy IMDB

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  Absolute Power 1997 Dir: Clint Eastwood with: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman and Ed Harris IMDB

Have to thank The Worldwide Guide to Movie locations AND The Internet Movie Data base.