Did ‘ya Guess It?

Our second Location, Location, Location? didn’t get a whole lot of guesses.  Well, at least it’s very recognizable to the Beyond the Marquee staff.  =)

The answer to this week’s Location, Location, Location? location is Doc Brown’s mansion from the 1985 movie, Back to the Future.  It can also be seen in Back to the Future Part 3.

Let’s take a look at the NOW and THEN picture and a bit of information about the location …

This location that seems to be frozen in time is none other than the National Historic Landmark, Gamble House, located in Pasadena, California.  It is most notable for its appearance in the Back to the Future trilogy as the Brown Mansion which Marty was surprised to discover on his unplanned trip to Hill Valley – 1955.  According to the film, it burned down on August 1, 1962, leaving only the garage for Dr. Emmett Brown to live in after he sold the land.

The producers of the movie were not permitted to film inside in 1985, but were able to arrange use of the interiors of a similar Greene & Greene Arts and Crafts constructed home, The Blacker House, located several blocks away.  By the time they were ready to film Back to the Future Part 3, the Blacker House had been gutted by the owner, forcing the filmmakers to recreate the interior of Doc’s home on a soundstage at Universal.  Thankfully, in recent years, a major effort by new owners of the Blacker House has restored the majority of the home’s interior back to its original design.

The Gamble House was only used for exterior shots in the Back to the Future films and is a National Historic Landmark managed by the city of Pasadena and the University of Southern California.  You can easily visit and arrange to take tours of this location.

Tune in next week to Beyond the Marquee for the next Location, Location Location? Challenge!  We’ll be offering a prize to the first person who correctly guesses our third location.

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There are three things that matter in filmmaking and television:

Location, Location, Location.

As part of a fun series here on Beyond the Marquee, I will be choosing random filming locations from some famous (and not so famous) film and television productions throughout the years. They will be posted here for our viewers to take a guess as to what movie or TV show the location was used.

The location as it looks NOW will be posted on Monday and on Wednesday, I will post the answer and THEN picture identifying the location as it was seen on the large or small screen. Some entries may be very easy to guess, others may be difficult and sometimes I may give a clue that will help point you in the right direction.

Feel free to state your guess in the comments section below! Occasionally, we might even offer a prize to the first person who guesses correctly!