I understand from reading the other reviews that this wonderful movie has been filmed in Balboa, 50 miles south of los Angeles. However I cannot find Balboa in my Rand McNally atlas nor can I find it on the Internet. So I assume Balboa is a fictitious name. Is there anybody who knows where it has actually been filmed? Does the location still look the same today?
You are speaking of Balboa Beach, by Balboa Island. The area still has these names, but is now considered part of Newport Beach, California. It is now a very posh and upscale beach community. You can find it here: http://tinyurl.com/therecklessmoment
Thanks for the Google map. I checked it out on "Satellite", but couldn't find the house and the little bridge that was shown in the movie all the time. Do you know if the house still exists? And the bridge? Thanks!
My guess, off the top of my head, would be 'no', since the land there is valued quite highly by the super rich, a clique of people I have absolutely nothing to do with.
I would assume that there would be some mention of it, if it still existed.
I'm pretty sure the little island with the bridge is Bay Island, which sits in Balboa Bay (also known as Newport Harbor). I don't know if the house still exists. You can't just drive onto Bay Island and cruise up and down the street looking for it. There are only a couple dozen homes on Bay Island and nowadays automobiles are prohibited. The residents use golf carts to get around the Island and to go back and forth on the bridge to the Peninsula side of the bay. The Balboa Island Ferry, which Joan Bennett and James Mason ride back and forth, still exists almost exactly as it appears in the movie. There are still 3 ferries running, taking 3 cars each along with foot traffic and bicycles. The ferry runs continually, traversing the approximate 300 yards of the channel between the Balboa Peninsula and Balboa Island, which is the most populated Island in the bay. As Joan Bennett drives her outboard on her early morning "mission" you can see the silhouette of the cupola of the Balboa Pavilion, which remains the same today as it did in the early 1920s. The bridge she drives the boat under is actually Pacific Coast Highway which crosses over the channel and separates the main Bay, where all the action is, from the Back Bay which was called the swamp in the movie. I've lived a lot of my life in and around Newport Beach, and it's funny, I have never heard any local resident,long term or otherwise, mention this movie. I only discovered it myself a few weeks ago on YouTube. Go figure.
The island is Balboa Island (which is in the middle of Newport Bay) and the bridge is still there, the only means by car or walking to get to the island without taking a ferry or a boat. Balboa is the oceanside peninsula which ends at the (entrance to Newport Bay) breakwater where the famous bodysurfing spot "The Wedge" is located. I swum from Balboa Island to Balboa Peninsula when I didn't have 10 cents for the Ferry back in 1968. Both Balboa Island and Balboa are in the city of Newport Beach, California. Check it out . . .
Thank you for responding to my question. I tried to find that bridge on Google map, but to no avail. Now I'll try it once more this time searching for "The Wedge", maybe then I can identify the right bridge.
Has the old bridge been replaced by a new wider bridge maybe?
And do you know where exactly the house of Joan Bennett's movie family is located? Is it still there? Or has it been torn down and replaced by some ugly modern building?
It's amazing that you did swim all that distance 43 years ago. You must have been scared to get hit by a motorboat! Did you know the movie way back then?
I found that website a few months ago, but thanks for giving me the link.
Yes! It is disheartening to see so many hand-crafted CHARACTER homes/buildings being demolished for the 'modern' ABOMINATIONS! I lived in Vancouver for almost 40 years and moved away in 1993. I've been back twice but NEVER again...