Okay, people - I just got a call from Harlan Lebo, the Godfather Legacy author, who's preparing his book for a re-release next Fall.

He wanted me to confirm the location of Sonny's killing because the location has been contested on the Shooting Locations Page of the GF Site.

Anyone confirm whether that was shot at Floyd Bennet Field (Brooklyn) or Mitchel Field in (Mineola, Long Island) or elsewhere?

I know Scene Locations have been posted here before, but I wanted to present this opportunity to also present any other factual mistakes that MAY have occurred in The Godfather Legacy book.

He did confirm one thing for me: That the Woltz estate WAS shot at the Harold Lloyd Estate (Beverly Hills), and not the Guggenheim Estate in Long Island.

Any other errors you find on This Page would be greatly appreciated, as Harlan has looked there, and plans to again. It's just unfortunate many of the inaccuracies came from Zuckerman's GF Journal book.

Please post ASAP -- Grazie! If y'all do a good job, I'll invite Harlan to another chat or even BB appearance...

Clemenza didn't shoot five rounds into that elevator--he shot twice from a shotgun.

I could be wrong, but I thought that the lobby of building that Clemenza entered in that scene was the Woolworth Building on Broadway north of Chambers Street.

Another question - the Penn Central Railroad on the 32nd floor above Grand Central Station - is that gone now, or is that the Pam Am / MetLife building?

A few comments on your site's filming locations section -

Its only a guess (but an educated one) that the location used for Sonny's assassination was NOT Floyd Bennett Field (in Brooklyn). Lebo himself mentioned that it was near Mineola, Long Island and I think he simply confused the name with Mitchel Field (which IS somewhat near Mineola). Lebo added that a billboard was built to hide (modern day) apartment buildings in the distance, and Floyd Bennett has no such background. Its on the ass-end of Brooklyn off Jamaica Bay and its really desolate around there.

You can take off the "challenge" about where Luca Brasi's killing took place. It was DEFINITELY The Hotel Edison, and it was NOT filmed in a hotel room (as the site claims). It was filmed in the hotel's restaurant which was changed to look like a bar for the movie. I'm pretty sure we had a drink there when TIS and Saladbar stayed there (not the bar in which we met them, though).

Correct the spelling of the street's name on which Barzini was shot. Its "Centre". Also, the building in the background is "The New York State Supreme Courthouse".

The car scene with Mike, Sollozzo and McCluskey crossing over the George Washington Bridge was really shot on the 59th Street Bridge.

You may want to add a more specific description of where "Louis' Italian Restaurant" was really shot. It was located on White Plains Road just off Gun Hill Road in The Bronx.

You may also want to add that 128 Mott Street (where you mention the fourth floor setting for "Genco Olive Oil Co.") was also the backdrop for the scene in which Vito was gunned down.

Take away the question mark for Mount Loretto's Church (as the exterior scene for where Connie's baby was christened). Thats right, and it IS on Staten Island.

I think that was the building right behind the Met-Life Building (at 230 Park Avenue - the same building in which Salvatore Marranzano was shot 40 years before the movie was made). Its now called the Helmsley Building but it used to be called the New York Central Building - in honor of the Railroad Co. which had its headquarters there). The building has 34 floors, so its likely that the main boardroom was up near the top (i.e. the 32nd floor).

Wow, thanks!

OMG, the Helmsley is where my old dentist was when I was working up there! You mean all this time I was wondering what bldg it was, and I was in it numerous times??

(Incidently, David Letterman went to the same dentist )

Your dentist wasn't in Room 925, was he? Thats where Marranzano "got drilled".

Do you remember the elevators in that building? They were a bright red and brass, and may be the prettiest elevators in which I've ever been.

Geoff,

That is so cool. You've speaken with Lebo before?? With so much time that has passed, how can some of these locations be confirmed???

SC, as far as the Edison, we walked down the hallway there that Luca did remember? Also, the restaurant/lounge you refer to is next door (not the lounge where we all met)isn't it? It was Sophia's I think.

TIS

Nah, they're in Suite 1164 -- close enough for me! And yeah, those are beautiful elevators, and a nice lobby, too.

Thanks again - I made the changes to the site.

TIS - Yeah, we walked down the same hallway that Luca did on his way to meet Sollozzo (our picture, below). I seem to remember that the hotel's restaurant was off that hallway. Maybe I'm confusing our visit there to a time that Lori and I went there to visit. I DO remember that I was pissed because I forgot to look to see the fish that were etched in the glass door that Luca walked through (and were a foreboding to him "sleeping with the fishes").

It wasn't the same bar in which we originally met, though. BTW - Did I ever tell you that I have a GREAT picture of me, you, Geoff and Saladbar in that bar? Unfortunately I can't open the picture though.

Anyway, this is the hallway that Luca walked down:


And here's Luca walking down the same hall some 30 years earlier:

Right, and when the patients came in and saw the two of you in the waiting room, they all thought, "Who's that guy with Geoff?"

How cool, so there is a GF location here!!

What's more, I know where that is! It's on a dead-end street, so I've never actually passed in front of the property itself, but I've passed by the entrance to the street it's on many times, and always knew it was there, I just never knew that it was Woltz's house. Funny how that works... Next chance I get, I'm going to have to get on that little street and see if the house is visible from the street. If it is, I'll take pictures. I know it's considered a historical landmark by the city of Beverly Hills, so I doubt the facade has changed at all.

That'a a great Idea Zia I'll be looking forward to seeing the pictures. How far away do you live from Beverly Hills?

About five, ten minutes... depends on the traffic. I don't know how many miles it is. Although this estate is probably more like ten, maybe even fifteen minutes from me... it's all the way on the other edge of BH.

Zia - I found a picture of the house's driveway entrance. Is this what it really looks like?

Well, who am I to refute a picture? I haven't been on the actual little street yet, just the big street that it branches off from. Judging by the other houses around that area, the driveway with the bushes probably curves, so you probably can't see the actual gated entrance in the picture from the street.

The thing is, though... The main entrance of the house is on Green Acres Drive... but there's another street that I have a hunch might look down on the back of the property. If so, there might be a great view of the pool and that courtyard area.

Edit** I found that site just now too, SC... here's the link, for those interested. There are like six pictures on there. I'm still going to go, but I guess I don't have to take pictures of it.

FWIW - Harlan said tonight that the INTERIORS were filmed at the Gugg, while the EXTERIORS were filmed in Cally. And, if you didn't realize... those exterior shots of Tom and Woltz were played by doubles!

I always wondered WHY those scenes were shot from a distance.

John Marley's (Woltz) double was a good one.... Duvall's wasn't as good.

I tried to enlarge one of those outdoor scenes filmed with the doubles (hence the poor pic quality) below:

Very cool pictures! I've been doing some searching, and it seems that's the only CA location from GF. Am I right??? Let us know if there are more ok?

Zia, remember how to get there, because when I do make it to L.A., I'd love to check it out.

And SC you'r right, that picture of the "doubles", doesn't look like Tom, yet I can't say I picked it up in the movie.

TIS

Thats because it was a "long" shot (taken from a distance). Here's that picture (above) as it appeared on screen:

These guys are more commonly known as " stand ins." There are several reasons that a studio would use a stand in back then. The most common reason would be for a situation like this one; The scene at Woltz's place may have already been shot and now Duvall is over shooting another scene at a totally different location. The scene that has already been shot could not be reviewed until the "can" got back to the studio. Meanwhile back at the studio the producers/editors may not like the way the lighting of a scene came out, the sound, or the angle of the scene. So they may have to go back and re-shoot that specific scene over again. It is too costly and eats up too much time to have a star like Duvall leave the set that he may currently be on, to re-shoot a scene that he already played in. So the studio minimizes the expense and will use a stand in or stand ins and re-shoot the scene from a far distance or a different angle so that the viewer will not be able to see that it is really not the actual star in that scene. This was common practice back then as technology was not advanced enough as it is today to allow the director to immedeatly review a scene, that has just been shot, right on location. Today with DVD technology and VHS technology a director can review the scene immedeatly, on site and just shoot it over again right there and then. So therefore in this day and age stand ins are very rarely used and if they are used then they are basically used before a real shoot takes place to check the lighting or the sound.

Don Cardi

Speaking of locations, why do you think FFC didn't use Luna Azure as in the novel as the name of the restaurant where the meeting between Mike and Sollozzo took place? Instead, he chose Louie's.

As they say you learn something new everyday. Thanks for posting the pic's SC.

I know that Michael's estate in GF2 was filmed at the home of former industrialist Henry Kaiser on Lake Tahoe. It is now a condominium complex called Fleur-de-Lac Estates, and the townhouses go for about $5 million. Here's a description from a realtor's website:

Fleur De Lac – 22 different spectacular condominium homes were created from the old Kaiser Estate (Godfather II was filmed here). Unsurpassed amenities include its’ own harbor with boat slips, swimming pool complex, tennis courts, etc…. A private gated community.

I'd like to know the site of the "leave the gun, take the cannolis" scene. I'm surmising that it is on or near the site of Liberty State Park in New Jersey. The scene shows the back of the Statue of Liberty, which would make the shot from Jersey.

(on the shooting location page, at the bottom there is reference to someone named "Turbull" )

You got it. The scene immediately preceeding Paulie's shooting shows their car rounding a curve with the Manhattan skyline in the background. From that angle its definitely Jersey and that "curve in the road" looks very much like the exit off the Turnpike at Exit 16B (?).

There's no 16B. I never thought of it, but it could be 16W (my exit).

It has a big curve like the one in the picture you just posted. I never thought to look behind me, but since I use that exit frequently, I will the next time I do.

But if the Statue of Liberty is visible, I think it's too far north to see it. The skyline view from there is pretty much all midtown.

15B maybe, or as MaryCas suggested, one of the Jersey City exits.

I KNEW an old cabbie could help me out. What is the exit that has three letters (14??). One of them is the one that goes to Liberty State Park.

I'm pretty sure it's not 16W, although 16W has similar features and area. From the view of NYC, I don't think it can be 14B either. The view is too far North.

As I look at the picture again, it could be the 14B area. It's tough to tell if the Empire State Building is East or North in the picture.