MovieChat Forums > The Sterile Cuckoo (1969) Discussion > Locales where the Sterile Cuckoo was Fil...

Locales where the Sterile Cuckoo was Filmed.

posted 18 years ago by definitedoll
13 replies | jump to latest

I too am obsessed with the locales used in the filming of the Sterile Cuckoo.

That chapel is awesome, and the Sunset Cottages on Lake Oneida are very much around to rent and stay in.

Also Hamilton College is very nice looking in their website.

That cemetery is gorgeous on that sunny and breezy day in the film.

The book and movie are totally different, in fact the story in the book does not take place in upstate New York.

But anyway I wanted this thread to be about the locales you can visit to pay "homage" to the film.

I know i would love to!

[–] definitedoll 18 years ago

http://www.sylvanbeach.com/sunset/

they seem to have a nice place. well it's open from april to september.

and the cute playland is not far from here.

it seems that the Lake Oneida area is very nice!!!

and I loved the old doors that were on the beach area leaning. they reminded me of the old doors in my grandfather's apartment where he lived for many years.

[–] definitedoll 18 years ago

http://www.hamilton.edu/VirtualTour/photos.html

some nice photos of the campus, and if you look around the website, maybe they filmed in "Sage Arena"

not sure of the name right now, it is an old hockey rink that was re-done in 1993.

[–] dasein451 18 years ago

Hope you caught this in time; apparently the link is now dead:

Now, for my entry in the Most Trivial Trivia Contest, here's driving directions to the graveyard, so you can go say "hello" to Arabella:

"Start off in downtown Clinton, a beautiful old village with a lush green surrounded by interesting shops and restaurants. Head west along Route 412, College Hill Road, which winds through the Hamilton College Campus. Don't forget the Root Glen, a seven-acre wooded garden and ravine off College Hill Road that provides meandering red shale paths, 65 tree species, shrubs and ferns, and scores of flowers: Primroses, irises, poppies, daisies, lilies, asters and phlox bloom successively from April through September. You'll see it on your left. Continue past the college and head through farmlands for approximately a mile and you'll come to a four-corners. Take a left onto aptly named Skyline Drive. Travel down this bumpy road, keep an eye out for tractors, and on your right you'll see a small graveyard, which was made famous by Liza Minnelli in the 1969 film The Sterile Cuckoo."

http://newtimes.rway.com/2003/summer03/sumsyl.shtml

(From the Bloopers and Trivia thread. The Alvin Sargent thread also contains a wealth of shooting location info.)

[–] definitedoll 18 years ago

along with all the other places...

upstate New York is gorgeous...

i was there in Herkimer NY back in the summer of 1988, and the highway up was unbelievable.

that was the New York Througway, and although it's a long drive, it was just beautiful.

[–] dasein451 18 years ago

Oh, I know! I was up in the Providence area, commuting to Boston on business, during the first few days of December last year. Astonishingly beautiful-- not the cities so much, but rather, everything that surrounds them! Correlating that with a visit to eastern Maine in late autumn a decade or so ago, I believe New England to be home to the most stunningly romantic (in the old sense of the word) landscapes in the world. TSC brings this out, in scenes such as feature the wind blowing through a graveyard, and the stillness and quiet left behind as a bus departs in a cloud of diesel exhaust...

There are scenes of amazing beauty in this movie that seem to have simply flashed right past most viewers, ignored, irrelevant. I think the scenery delivers one of the best performances-- in a decidedly well-acted movie-- even despite never being in character! In Winter, it's still Autumn... in Spring, it's still Autumn... but what an Autumn!

[–] definitedoll 18 years ago

It's all about "the land , the land!"

that is what i was most impressed with when i first saw this movie on TV in Black & White in December 1988.

I was bowled over by the landscape~ and when i drove up to Herkimer NY in summer of 1988, I couldn't believe the land on the way up.

Just when i thought it was over (meaning development ) it had only just begun up there! (so much gorgeous land that was untouched)

[–] rugger-6 17 years ago

Hi Doll, yes, the posts here are correct, most of it was filmed around Oneida Lake and Hamilton College. My father watched one of the scenes as it was being filmed, which took place a little south on Route 12. I remmeber there being a lot of local publicity durint the season it was shot.

Yes, the central Ny area is an undiscovered gem of a place, beautiful farm lands, field, hills, etc. and if you get off the beaten path, charming villages. Much of cnetral Ny is economically depressed, but in a way, it has preserved the quality of place that has not overrrun the rest of he country. Central NY is more authentically "New England" than New England itself. Most of New England is ruined by tourism and an effort to make it quaint. Once you do that, it destroys the charm

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] overseer-3 17 years ago

I think the scenery was the real star of this film. I too went to college in upstate New York and in spring, summer, and autumn it was heavenly. Very unspoiled. If you hate tourist traps like I do and want to drink in beauty instead take a week and just drive around upstate New York.

[–] definitedoll 13 years ago

couldn't agree more. have not been on this site in a while and hope to bump this thread up.]

[–] cplumpton53 8 years ago

And don't forget the "Utica Club" beer, featured prominently in the film.

[–] stoods59 16 years ago

I grew up in the area where the movie was filmed and spent a lot of time in and on Oneida Lake. Most of what you see in the movie is called Sylvan Beach. Also, there was a couple of scenes that were shot in Vernon Center.

[–] ilahilda 10 years ago

Are there still a lot of farms?