Filming Locations: Valley Girl (1983)
Probably the quintessential movie made to date about the San Fernando Valley appropriately titled, Valley Girl, was released in 1983 and directed by Martha Coolridge. So many stereotypes of the Valley were established from this movie with the biggest being Valspeak. Like totally! I dont think Valley girls talk like that anymore, right?
What was even more impressive about this film was that it was shot in 22 days and only cost $350,000 but grossed over $17 million representing a massive 2000% return according to Wikipedia and Fast-Rewind.com.
So a movie about the Valley is going to obviously be filmed in the Valley. One surprising revelation is that the mall shots were not of the Sherman Oaks Galleria but rather the Del Amo Fashion Center Mall. I was rather shocked to hear about this although I read at Fast-Rewind.com that the escalator scenes shot in the film were from the Sherman Oaks Galleria if that's any consolation. The film was also shot in West Hills (party house shown below), Sherman Oaks (Julie Richman's house, the Health Food store, the old Sherman theater), and Studio City (Du-Pars Restaurant and Harvard Westlake). The rest of the shots are mostly in Hollywood. See images below for screenshots.
In addition to the Film, the soundtrack is kick ass which featured a lot of up and coming new wave artists like The Plimsouls, Josie Cotton, Men At Work, and Modern English.
This might be a girly film but from a historical perspective, it was truly emblematic of the 1980's Valley lifestyle and culture which was maybe when the Valley reached its peak. Here is what Kevin Roderick had to say about the teenager Valley culture in his popular book, America's Suburb: The San Fernando Valley:
The intro starts with overlooking LA panning over the Hollywood sign and into the Valley. Also in the intro is a shot of the Sherman Oaks Galleria.
Time magazine reported that from Tarzana to Tarrytown, every parent with a teenaged daughter spent the summer fretting: Is she one? The answer was yes for millions of girls who aspired to the style and sensibility of a few San Fernando Valley teenagers. Teen magazine declared that the Valley Girl style was a trendsetter in schools and shopping malls. The style was "cute:" mini-skirts, headbands, anklets and ruffles, feathered haircuts, waxed legs and manicured nails. The phenomenon had enough power that, even though the look faded long ago, the reputation of Valley Girls as airheads lives on. Not surprisingly, the put-down is not appreciated in the place where it all started. (Page 178)I recommend visiting the itsfilmedthere.com website for filming locations and movie shots. Also, check the Youtube videos at the bottom.
The intro starts with overlooking LA panning over the Hollywood sign and into the Valley. Also in the intro is a shot of the Sherman Oaks Galleria.
The party house is at 23727 Posey Lane West Hills (back then it was Canoga Park). This home is where Suzi lives along with her stepmother, Beth. I believe the backyard was also used in this film which has a swimming pool. In that shot, you can see the hills in the background which have now been developed into homes.
I am not sure where this is located but looks like the Valley around Sepulveda or Mulholland Drive possibly near the 405.
Julie Richman's house was located at 3907 Dixie Canyon Blvd Sherman Oaks.
The drivers training location is unknown but definitely appears to be a school possibly in the Valley.
Julie Richmans parent's Health Food store at 14543 Ventura Blvd Sherman Oaks.
Du-Par's Restaurant at 12036 Ventura Blvd Studio City.
In the middle of the film, Julie and Randy are seen walking down the street where various business signs are shown.
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| I dont know where this is and I believe it has been torn down. |
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| Casa Vega Restaurant at 13301 Ventura Blvd Sherman Oaks |
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| I believe this was located at 5248 Van Nuys Blvd Van Nuys which no longer exists. |
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| I believe this was located at 15945 Ventura Blvd Encino which no longer exists. |
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| I am not sure of this location and I am assuming it has been torn down. |
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| Du-par's Restaurant as mentioned above. |
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| Sherman Oaks Theatre at 15052 Ventura Blvd Sherman Oaks which has been demolished. |
Overlooking the Valley but not sure of the location, probably Mulholland Drive.
The Prom at Harvard Westlake at The Taper Athletic Pavilion 3700 Coldwater Canyon Avenue Studio City
The last scene is the Sherman Oaks Galleria as the limo hops onto the 405 Freeway.
One other thing there is word of a Musical remake by Paramount-MGM by Clay Weiner sometime in 2012. Who would have imagined that?
So grab a copy and relive your 80's hairstyle, clothing, and Valspeak!
From Karol Franks Flickr page:
I took this photo in 1982 in the Canoga Park area of the San Fernando Valley (now called West Hills, CA) right after the song "Valley Girl" sung by Frank Zappa’s 14 year old daughter, Moon Unit Zappa, was released. Someone had climbed the pole and changed the sign "Valley Cir" for Valley Circle Blvd to "Valley Girl." This was before photoshop! I never found out who did it, but it was pretty funny.
Here are the song and the lyrics in "valspeak" www.liketotally80s.com/valley-girl-zappa-song.html
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Marty Mcfly
Anything and everything about the San Fernando Valley. This blog will take you back in time when the valley was covered with dirt and orange groves to a leader in the space race to its current status as America's suburb. Come along and join me on this adventure, I guarantee you have been influenced/impacted by the San Fernando Valley in one form or another even if you have never visited or heard of the SFV.
The filming locations for the exterior scenes of the club where Randy takes Julie after the house party are frequently misidentified as the former Crush Bar at 1743 N. Cahuenga in Hollywood. While the address at 1743 has historically housed many actual nightclubs it doesn’t match up with the actual film sequences portraying the club’s exterior which were actually filmed outside a standalone building situated just south at 1715 Cahuenga. The uncut scene in the film showing Randy, Julie, Fred and Stacey approaching the entrance to the club from the adjacent parking lot is somewhat ambiguous when it comes to the building’s physical placement however if you review the scene and look beyond the parking lot there are some familiar buildings which still stand today. Later in the film an inebriated Randy returns to the club fresh from his breakup with Julie and staggers through the parking lot and the scene provides us with a good sense of the building’s actual location. However, it is only after his tryst in the bathroom with Samantha that he exits the club in which the true location of the club is fully revealed. Fully visible in the shot directly across the street from Randy is the Tick Tock Restaurant, formerly at 1716 Cahuenga until it closed its doors in 1988. Luckily this building is still recognizable today. While images of the Tick Tock can be found online it has been challenging to find any available photos of the building which served for the club’s exterior because the building was leveled some time ago. I was able to determine on review of the LA street address directory available online that two former businesses were located at 1715 (the Pro Arte Theatre in 1973 followed by Theatre Theater in 1987) but unfortunately I was unable to find any available photos of these businesses. The best photo of the actual building that I have found to date can be found here: http://hollywoodphotographs.com/photos/lrg/RN-147-5.jpg While this aerial photo was taken 1976 and doesn’t provide a front view of the building from the street it has the advantage of lining up perfectly with the Tick Tock across the street and matches perfectly with the film. It also confirms that there was an actual alley (to the right of the building) which may have been used in the scene when Fred rescues Randy from the street by pulling him into the side alley. Google provides a nice shot of this alley and it is interesting that the fire escape situated at the back of the alley in the film appears to still exist today.
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DeleteThe back of the club, its side alley, and the parking lot behind it are shown in an episode of the show "Hunter," the second season episode titled "Death Machine." It still does not show the front, but the words "Theatre Theater" are painted on the "left" parking lot access side of the building.
LE HOT CLUB (the photo between Encino Bowl & Du-par's) was a discotheque located at 15910 Ventura Blvd, across the street (half-block away) from Encino Bowl. It was on the ground floor of a high-rise building which is still there, but the club is now Hokkaido Seafood Buffet (2020).
ReplyDeleteFun fact (or useless trivia?): Le Hot Club was owned & operated by Hamburger Hamlet! That space was originally a bustling Hamburger Hamlet when the building opened in the early 1970s. Then, in the late '70s, business slowed down. They'd signed a long-term lease on the space (and had another Hamlet just two miles away on Van Nuys Blvd), so in 1979 they closed the restaurant & turned it into a disco.
The photo of the car driving at night (between the photos of Suzi's & Julie's homes)....is the intersection of Mulholland Drive & Beverly Glen, looking north into the Valley.
The Denny's pictured was located at 15260 Ventura Blvd, on the southeast corner of Ventura Blvd. & Sepulveda Blvd. It's now a high-rise office building.
There used to be a Denny’s in the SE corner of Ventura/Sepulveda on the ground floor of the office building that’s diagonally across from the Sherman Oaks Galleria.
ReplyDeleteThe Denny's is right across from Sherman Oaks Gallaria..It's not Fox Sports Radio
ReplyDeleteThank you everyone for all this nostalgic travia ������
ReplyDeleteB.Lou
Did any one notice the chick fil A at the Mall? They were NOT in California in the 80's. That mall shot had to be in the South somewhere.
ReplyDeleteThat actually was in the Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance, California. Chick Fil A was there at the time. Someone made a filming locations video on YouTube, and showed pictures that he took from that mall's food court before it was remodeled.
DeleteThat actually was shot at the Del Amo Fashion Center in the San Fernando Valley. It has been seen in other pictures and videos of the place and the Chick Fil A was still there when the mall closed.
DeleteI just noticed the chick-fil-a scene in fhe mall too, crazy.
DeleteWhere did the Plimsoles play?
DeleteThe escalator scene was also at Del Amo Fashion Center. You can clearly see the signage on the glass doors near the end of the scene. They wanted to film at the Sherman Oaks Galleria but it was more expensive. And yes that Chic-Fila was there way back in 1982. It was the only one in California for about 20 years. It was unique because it had its own upstairs balcony area, which was pretty uncommon for a food court restaurant.
Delete"Anonymous," the Plimsouls played at the Station, which is now The Viper Room.
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