MOVIES MADE IN GLOUCESTER OR ON CAPE ANN
Since we are in the height of summer here in Gloucester, Episode 3 will be a briefer episode. Maybe it’s not even an episode. Maybe it’s more like a bonus. That’s what I’ll do. It’s a bonus episode. There will be a slight delay before the next one comes out, but I’ve got several irons in the fire. It’s going to be a busy and productive few months for BGW! I can’t wait to share with you!
Anyway, this bonus episode is basically just a list of every movie or TV show I could find made or set in Gloucester or on Cape Ann, whether partially or in full. Most of these I found on Wikipedia or remembered they were done here. The first ones I found on the Good Morning Gloucester blog.
In 1920, the Fox Studios lost film “Bride 13″‘s final scene was shot on Good Harbor Beach. I found more information about this movie, including pictures, on the Good Morning Gloucester blog. GMG has been around for years now. Joey Ciarametaro and the crew are always a really good time, and GMG is a good source for so many of the things happening here, including where to eat, what to see, and just what’s going on. I’ll leave the link in the show notes. Check it out!
1923’s The Silent Command, a Naval propaganda film from the silent film era, was also partially filmed on Good Harbor Beach. It starred Bela Lugosi in his American cinema debut. If you’re curious about it, The Silent Command is free for download on the Internet Archive, as it has now entered the public domain. The link is in the show notes. And some of the music I’m using in this episode is from The Silent Command.
1937’s Captains Courageous was filmed in Gloucester. Based on Rudyard Kipling’s famed 1897 novel, it starred Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore, Mickey Rooney, and John Carradine, among others. Spencer Tracy won the Academy Award for his work in the film.
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming , the 1966 comedy, wasn’t filmed here. It takes place on a fictional Gloucester island but was filmed in Mendocino, California. I just included it because it’s a classic, though I still have yet to see it. It stars Carl Reiner, Alan Arkin in his first film role, Eva Marie Saint, Jonathan Winters, and John Ford. According to Wikipedia, the The film depicts the chaos following the grounding of the Soviet submarine Спрут (pronounced “sproot” and meaning “octopus”) off a small New England island during the Cold War. It’s based on the 1961 novel “The Off-Islanders” by Nathaniel Benchley. I mean, for Carl Reiner and Alan Arkin alone, why haven’t I seen it yet?
1982: Author! Author! starring Al Pacino also had scenes shot on Good Harbor Beach.
In 1984’s The Bostonians, starring Jessica Tandy, Vanessa Redgrave, and Christopher Reeves, oceanfront scenes were filmed on rocks at Rafes Chasm Park, off Hesperus Avenue in Magnolia.
One Step Beyond, a TV show which aired from 1959-1961, set episode 19, “The Captain’s Guests”, on “Cape Ann Road,” so it was set in Gloucester, but I don’t think it was filmed here.
1990 film Mermaids, starring Cher, Winona Ryder, Bob Hoskins, and Christina Ricci, had scenes shot in the Magnolia area of Gloucester and in downtown Rockport.
1992’s The Good Son, starring Macaulay Culkin and Elijah Wood, was filmed in Gloucester and other Cape Ann communities.
The short-lived 1996 sitcom Townies, starring Molly Ringwald, Lauren Graham, and Jenna Elfman, was set in Gloucester.
The Perfect Storm, released in 2000 and based on Sebastian Junger’s 1997 book of the same name, was filmed and set in Gloucester. It starred George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Diane Lane, John C. O’Reilly, William Fichtner, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio.
Moonlight Mile, released in 2002 and starring Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon, and Jake Gyllenhaal, was filmed almost entirely in Gloucester, with some shots in Marblehead. It took place on Cape Ann as well.
Portions of Stuck on You, released in 2003, were filmed in Gloucester and in neighboring Rockport. (The rink scenes were filmed at O’Maley Middle School, which continues to offer public use of its awesome ice skating rink.)
Released in 2007, Polis is This: Charles Olson and the Persistence of Place is a one-hour documentary about the poet Charles Olson which the Boston Phoenix called “the best film about an American poet ever made.”
The Women, released in 2008 and with an all-star cast including Annette Bening, Meg Ryan, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, and Kate Hudson was partly filmed in Annisquam.
The Gloucester 18 is a 2010 documentary film that investigates the Gloucester pregnancy pact, and was filmed entirely in Gloucester.
The 2010 Adam Sandler movie Grown Ups was filmed largely in Gloucester and Essex.
Clear History, released in 2013 with an all-star cast including Larry David, Kate Hudson, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Eva Mendes, Amy Ryan, and JB Smoove, takes place on an island in New England, but was filmed in Gloucester and around Cape Ann.
Manchester by the Sea, starring Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams, was released in 2016. Much of this movie was filmed in Gloucester.
Adam Sandler’s Hubie Halloween, released in 2020, was filmed in Gloucester and neighboring communities.
And finally, the Academy Award-winning 2021 film CODA, starring Emilia Jones, Eugenio Derbez, Troy Kotsur, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Daniel Durant, and Marlee Matlin, is based in Gloucester. Much of it was filmed here or in Beverly, MA.
Fun piece of trivia: Maila Nurmi, also known as Maila Elizabeth Neimi, was the actress famous for playing Vampira. She was born in Gloucester, her father a Finnish immigrant and her mother a Finnish-American. For a time, she did circulate a rumor she was born in Finland to a famous athlete. The Finnish community in the Gloucester neighborhood of Lanesville, where Neimi lived when she was a young girl, also figures big in my family history. All that is on the docket for future episodes.
In the meantime, Happy July!
Please visit the BGW blog, bgreatwaters.com, for a transcript, pictures, and more info. That’s the letter b, then great waters, all one word.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloucester,_Massachusetts
https://goodmorninggloucester.com/tag/bride-13/
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