"Touch of Evil" Filming Location, Venice California
The famously long intro tracking shot scene at the Mexican border town in Orson Welles's Touch of Evil was filmed just down the street from my current abode, on Windward Ave. in downtown Venice. I took these photos of what's left of the arcades on Windward late at night, when no one was around.
Here and here are links to what Windward Ave. used to look like.
posted by Charles P. Everitt at 3:45 AM
3 Comments:
It was smart to take them late at night. You nicely capture the way in which those streets appear as desolate (even though inhabited) in the movie. It's like they're some sort of netherworld, which I guess is probably Welles's intention.
I was born in 1949 and watched some scenes being filmed.
The car exploding was done south of Washington Blvd in the oil field where homes are now.
Windward was a downtown with department store and a five and dime store with wood floors that creaked.
There were no malls.
It did get desolate specially at night.
My sister went to work in a department store in Westwood and the girls from there stopped talking to her when the found she came from Venice.
It's another world there now.
Hey, anonymous: thanks SO MUCH for your note! That's so interesting to know. Your comment actually came in on my phone when I was hanging out with the first commenter. (I know: what a coincidence, considering this post is from years ago!) I read your comment out to him and my girlfriend and they both found it super interesting.
Anyway, thanks again.
And, in other news, I finally just saw the 1981 documentary "Murs Murs" which talks a lot about the mural painted on the side of that building next to the parking lot. Here's a better photo of the mural itself:
http://unfashionablehumanbody.blogspot.com/search?q=windward
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