Does anybody know EXACTLY where this stretch of road is? From what I've heard over the years it's somewhere near Hollister,California where all the early scenes were filmed.
shareI'd like to know too. I went to Hollister a couple years ago and some roads looked pretty close to the one on the opening scene, but its been many years and places change, you know.
shareOK,all you hipsters out there! It's been 3 years since this query was raised and still remains unanswered.Surely some old Southern California biker must know the answer??
shareand here I thought this thread was gonna be about how fake the scene looked when they showed the three bikers sitting on bikes in front of a green screen with a gang of bikers riding playing on it... :o) Wish I could answer your question though.
shareSame here MEANlowGREEN. Very lame now, no wind even blowing in their hair unlike the other riders on the blue screen. I can just imagine the director going "lean left....NOW..... straighten up.....NOW....".
And just wanted to add, that road looks like hundreds in California.
Location is situated at the end of Auto Mall Drive in Thousand Oaks,California.The camera would have been positioned on what is now the Westlake Blvd. overpass.The tall tree you see on the right side of the roadway is still there today-just outside the front door of the Acura Honda dealership.
sharepaulsignoretti writes: <<...Location is situated at the end of Auto Mall Drive in Thousand Oaks,California. The camera would have been positioned on what is now the Westlake Blvd. overpass.The tall tree you see on the right side of the roadway is still there today-just outside the front door of the Acura Honda dealership...>>
I did a freeze-frame of the opening scene.
I also just did a little wandering around the area described above using Google Earth. I was able to get a street-level view standing on the Westlake Blvd overpass over 101 looking northwest, as well as the street level view in front of the Acura dealership. I see the tall old Eucalyptus tree. You can also see the hills in the background. Yup, I think paulsignoretti is right.
So, this is what that area looked like in 1953 -- more than 60 years ago...just like so many places in California that were once pasture land, orchards, farm fields, etc., that are now freeways and strip malls choked with cars 24/7/365.
Actually, parts of Hollister, CA and the surrounding countryside still looks somewhat like this today. IMDB says some filming was done in Hollister. Maybe some shots of the downtown area? I did attend the 4th of July motorcycle rally this year in Hollister, which memorializes the overblown, over-hyped, exaggerated "legendary riot" that took place in the early '50s in Hollister. Images of Marlon Brando as Johnny are everywhere at that event.
Silentmovie,i appreciate your concurrence on this matter and can assure you the information is 100% correct.Would love to take all the credit myself but that belongs to a very dedicated Thousand Oaks resident and historian who posts on Flickr as T.O.Mike.Mind you I was at a little disadvantage discovering this location as i live in Melbourne,Australia and have never been to the U.S.(and it only took me 42 years to unravel the mystery).If you get onto the Flickr site and search under Thousand Oaks/T.O.Mike you will find a lot more detail regarding this.
shareConejo Valley, Thousand Oaks.
share