From iconic bridges to famous hotels, these silver screen locations are now just memories. Join us as we explore real movie locations that have been demolished, destroyed, or drastically altered over time. Our list includes spots from classics like "Vertigo," "Rocky," and "Taxi Driver" that you can no longer visit in their original form!
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for real places used in films
00:12that have since been demolished or altered.
00:22Number 20.
00:23The original 6th Street Viaduct, Various.
00:30While there's still a 6th Street Viaduct in Los Angeles, it's not the exact one you've
00:38probably seen at least once in a 20th century or early 21st century film.
00:43Originally built in the 1930s, the 6th Street Viaduct went on to become a hot filming spot
00:48for a lengthy list of films.
00:50From classics like Grease and The Mask, to more recent films like Transformers and The
00:55Dark Knight Rises, we could go on and on about this bridge viaduct's stamp on Hollywood
01:00history.
01:01In 2016, however, it was closed and subsequently demolished due to safety concerns.
01:06While a new 6th Street Viaduct was completed several years later, it didn't have the same
01:11original appearance and historic feel.
01:13The barriers are gone, and it is open to traffic for the first time, with a series of lowriders
01:20taking the first cruise.
01:21Number 19.
01:23Stardust Resort & Casino, Showgirls and Swingers
01:26Vegas!
01:27Vegas, baby!
01:28Vegas!
01:29Located on the Las Vegas Strip, the Stardust Resort & Casino was the largest hotel in the world
01:35when it opened in 1958.
01:36A few decades later, the space-themed entertainment giant was one of the filming locations for
01:42Showgirls, a 1995 erotic drama about a young woman who hitchhikes to Sin City in hopes of
01:48becoming a showgirl.
01:54The Stardust was also used for exterior Las Vegas casino shots in Swingers, a buddy comedy
02:00film starring Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn.
02:02In 2006, Boyd Gaming, which had owned the historic Stardust for about 20 years, announced its
02:08closure and ensuing demolition.
02:10Its famous, iconic, astronomical-themed sign was saved, though, and given to the city's
02:15neon museum.
02:17Number 18.
02:18Johnny's Broiler, Various.
02:21Archies!
02:22Come back!
02:23Come back!
02:24Come back!
02:25After being turned into a used car dealership in 2002, the days of the drive-in restaurant
02:34known as Johnny's Broiler in Downey, California were numbered.
02:37In 2007, not only was the building demolished, but it was done so illegally, without proper
02:43permits from the city.
02:44The restaurant was originally called Harvey's Broiler when it opened in 1958.
02:49It was renamed Johnny's Broiler in 1968 and stayed that way for the rest of the century.
02:54With its 1950s look, Johnny's Broiler was not only a place to grab a burger, but a film
03:00location.
03:01Its cinematic history includes the likes of License to Drive, Reality Bites, and Heat, among
03:06many others.
03:07In 2009, the building was reconstructed as part of the Bob's Big Boy chain.
03:11He's strange, he's sloppy, he's a total nightmare for women.
03:15I can't believe I haven't slept with him yet.
03:18Number 17.
03:19Topanga Ranch Motel, Blue City, and Leather Jackets
03:22This historic, 30-room, bungalow-style motel in Malibu opened in 1929, and remained open
03:36until 2004.
03:37From then on, it continued to wear down with each passing year in its uninhabited state.
03:43And in 2025, the structure burnt down in the Palisades Fire.
03:47KTLA photographer Paul Sanchez, as he's giving us an aerial perspective to the devastation
03:52in the Palisades.
03:54The Topanga Ranch Motel served as a filming location for the 1986 action-thriller Blue City
03:59and the 1992 movie Leather Jackets.
04:02It wouldn't have been the case had a proposed plan in the 1980s gone through, which would
04:07have demolished the motel, and replaced it with condos, apartments, and a shopping center.
04:13Number 16.
04:14The Hollywood Brown Derby, Mildred Pierce
04:16Who wants to eat in a hat?
04:18A derby hat!
04:19A brown derby hat!
04:21In 1929, about three years after the first famous derby hat-shaped location opened, a second
04:28brown derby opened in Hollywood.
04:30This restaurant is believed to be the birthplace of the Cobb salad, and, according to Shirley
04:34Temple herself, the Shirley Temple.
04:37Actually, owner Bob Cobb came up with this concoction for two of his best customers, movie
04:42executive Irving Thalberg, who had digestion problems, and his movie star wife Norma Shearer,
04:48who was watching her wait.
04:50It's not just the culinary inventions that make it historic, though.
04:53It's also its connection to the golden age of Hollywood.
04:57With many film studios nearby, the Hollywood Brown Derby was a hotspot for actors, and
05:02even served as a film location for the 1945 film noir, Mildred Pierce.
05:07All that remains of the original Brown Derby chain is a replica at Disney's Hollywood Studios
05:12in Florida.
05:14Number 15.
05:15Will Rogers Ranch, Funny Lady, and Star Trek IV The Voyage Home
05:20This famous ranch house was established as a California State Historic Park in 1944, and
05:25was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
05:30It served as a symbol of the legacy of the famous actor and humorist Will Rogers.
05:35This good-sized house of Will's was his refuge from the hustle and flurry of Hollywood and
05:40his enormous popularity as an entertainer and public figure.
05:43It was also a film location for the 1975 Barbra Streisand sequel Funny Lady, as well as the
05:49fourth Star Trek film, which came out in 1986.
05:52The ranch was renovated between 2002 and 2006, and the property of Will Rogers State Historic
05:58Park as a whole continued its history as an attraction for locals and tourists alike.
06:03However, in 2025, the ranch was destroyed in the devastating Palisades Fire.
06:09What are the casualties of these massive fires?
06:12Will Rogers State Historic Park.
06:14Number 14.
06:15Parts of Waquita, Oklahoma, Twister
06:17We got one, baby!
06:20Oh, F3, Milo Atlantic Police!
06:27When you think of this film, you think of tornadoes and, perhaps, destruction.
06:31That's because in Twister, Oklahoma faces the devastating effects of a massive tornado.
06:36Not only do we see ruins on screen, but the actual town of Waquita was also impacted during
06:41filming.
06:42Specifically, buildings in the older part of town were demolished for the scene where the
06:47F4 tornado ravages the area.
06:50That's right, folks, it wasn't just harmless special effects here.
06:53There was legit damage done.
06:55But don't worry, this was no accident.
06:57It was all part of the plan.
06:59Is it a good idea?
07:00Yeah.
07:01Yeah.
07:02Well, I…
07:03Number 13.
07:04The Andrew McNally House.
07:06Seven Years Bad Luck and Kingdom Come.
07:09The home has 22 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms.
07:12The Dupuis are the fifth owners.
07:14They bought the house in 1954 for $20,000.
07:18Talk about historic.
07:19This mansion in Altadena, California was built in the late 19th century and was the home of
07:24Andrew McNally, an Irish immigrant.
07:27Along with the charming architectural structure itself, the property was also designed with
07:31beautiful gardens and a picturesque backdrop.
07:34It attracted film crews as well.
07:36In 1921, after McNally had passed away, Max Linder's silent comedy film Seven Years Bad
07:42Luck came out, which was partially shot on the property.
07:45Eighty years later, the comedy Kingdom Come was released, which also used the property
07:49as a filming location.
07:51The Andrew McNally House, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, stood until 2025,
07:58when it was lost to the Eaton Fire.
08:00Number 12.
08:01Horn and Hard Art.
08:03That Touch of Mink and Metropolitan.
08:05Ah, the auto-mat.
08:07They don't make them like these anymore.
08:09Just insert your nickels into the food and beverage slots of your liking, and voila!
08:14In the 1962 rom-com That Touch of Mink, Doris Day's Kathy and Audrey Meadow's Connie even
08:20showed us that you could have a conversation through the vending machine slot.
08:24Don't comb your hair.
08:25No makeup.
08:26You wear military heels.
08:28You remind them of their wives.
08:29They figure this they can get at home, so they leave you alone.
08:33Perhaps the most famous auto-mat was the Horn and Hard Art chain.
08:37This scene in That Touch of Mink was shot in a New York City location.
08:41In the years after the film's release, automats began to decline.
08:45The last Horn and Hard Art closed in 1991, a year after the release of the rom-com Metropolitan,
08:51which featured a scene there.
08:58While these waiterless cafeterias lost their place in society, their legacy lives on through
09:02cinema.
09:0411.
09:05Plymouth Hotel – The Blues Brothers
09:07Carrie Fisher's character detonates a bomb at the flophouse where Elwood lives, during
09:12a scene of The Blues Brothers.
09:14As you can tell from the sign as the camera pans down from the train tracks above, this location
09:19was the Plymouth Hotel in Chicago.
09:33Interior shots of the stairway, lobby, and Elwood's room were also filmed there.
09:38About 23 years after The Blues Brothers came out, the building faced a very different kind
09:42of destruction than what we see in the movie.
09:44In 2003, it was torn down, to make space for a library and park area.
09:5010.
09:51Pan Pacific Auditorium – Xanadu
10:00Opened in 1935, the Pan Pacific Auditorium was long regarded as one of LA's shining architectural
10:06landmarks.
10:07Notable for its unique, streamlined, modern architecture and its green and white exterior,
10:12the Pan Pacific Auditorium had been used in various music videos and movies.
10:17Perhaps its most famous appearance is in the cult classic, musical fantasy, Xanadu.
10:22The movie opened in 1980, eight years after the Pan Pacific Auditorium had closed its doors.
10:28As a result, the building was in a considerable state of decay.
10:31Finally, on May 24th, 1989, the entire building went up in flames and was completely destroyed.
10:38It is now the site of the Pan Pacific Park Recreation Center off Beverly Boulevard.
10:43Number 9.
10:44Sandy's – Better Off Dead and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
10:49Found in North Hollywood was a restaurant called Sandy's.
10:53This building was made up as various fictional fast food joints throughout the years,
11:03In 1985, it appeared as Pig Burgers in the John Cusack comedy Better Off Dead, and in 2001,
11:09it starred as Mubies in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.
11:13The restaurant was found at 6223 Lancashire Boulevard, but it's now closed and abandoned.
11:23The Google Street View photo, taken in January 2021, showed quite a sad sight indeed.
11:29A ruined sign, missing letters, and a plain white building that is boarded up and lifeless.
11:35Number 8.
11:36St. Paulus Lutheran Church – Vertigo
11:39While it's not a major location in the movie, St. Paulus Lutheran Church can be seen
11:43at various times throughout the classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller, Vertigo.
11:48Located in the northern section of San Francisco, this church was completed in 1894 and remained
11:53open for over a century .
11:57On November 5th, 1995, the historic church burned to the ground.
12:02Following the fire, the church was forced to relocate.
12:05However, there is some good news.
12:07In 2019, it was announced that the church was returning to its former site in the form
12:11of a new commercial condominium.
12:13It's not an elegant cathedral, but it's something.
12:17Number 7.
12:18Luna Park – Speedy
12:20Known for being Harold Lloyd's last theatrical silent film, Speedy was released in the spring
12:25of 1928.
12:27In one of the movie's signature scenes, Lloyd's character travels to Coney Island and spends a
12:31fun day inside Luna Park.
12:34The grand and elegant amusement park had been in operation since 1903, and it provided carnival
12:39fun for over forty years.
12:40But wouldn't you know it, pesky fire strikes again!
12:43A good chunk of the amusement park was destroyed in a blaze on August 13th, 1944, and it never
12:50reopened.
12:51A new Luna Park eventually opened up on Surf Avenue, just to the south of its original location.
12:57That is now home to multiple high-rises.
13:00Number 6.
13:01J&M Tropical Fish – Rocky
13:04Everyone remembers the adorable little pet shop from the first Rocky.
13:08Rocky flirts with Adrienne while she's working, asks her out on a date, and eventually casually
13:13shoplifts some turtle food.
13:20This was a real pet shop, located at 2146 North Front Street in Philadelphia.
13:26Surprisingly, the shop remained open until 2006, when it was eventually forced to shutter
13:31its doors and board up its windows.
13:33The closed and abandoned shop is actually featured in Rocky Balboa, as Rocky visits it during a
13:38nostalgic jaunt through the old neighborhood.
13:41The site was demolished in 2017, and is now nothing but a gap between two buildings.
13:46Number 5.
13:47Schwab's Pharmacy – Sunset Boulevard
13:50It's only natural that one of Sunset Boulevard's greatest haunts appears in Sunset Boulevard.
13:57Founded in 1932, Schwab's Pharmacy was a very popular hangout for those in the movie
14:01industry.
14:02That's the way a lot of us think about Schwab's Drugstore.
14:06Kind of a combination office, coffee clutch, and waiting room.
14:10Waiting.
14:12Waiting for the gravy train.
14:14Famous gossip columnist Sidney Skulski worked out of the pharmacy, and he would be the first
14:18journalist to use the nickname Oscar for the Academy Award.
14:22He did so in print on March 16, 1934.
14:26The exterior of the pharmacy appeared in Billy Wilder's classic noir, although the interior
14:31was recreated at Paramount Studios.
14:34The iconic Hollywood landmark finally closed in 1983, and was demolished five years later.
14:40The corner of Sunset and Crescent Heights is now a shopping complex.
14:44Number 4.
14:46Arecibo Telescope – Goldeneye
14:48You know James?
14:50I was always better.
14:54Found in the jungles of Puerto Rico was one of the world's most famous telescopes.
15:07Known as Arecibo Telescope, it famously appeared in the climax of the classic James Bond film,
15:13Goldeneye.
15:14The satellite opened just one year after the first James Bond movie in 1963, and remained
15:20under the management of Cornell University throughout most of its life.
15:23Unfortunately, various natural disasters threatened the integrity of the telescope, and it was officially
15:29decommissioned in 2020.
15:31On December 1st of that year, the structure collapsed into itself, and was completely destroyed.
15:37Extensive efforts were then undertaken to dismantle what remained of the historic telescope.
15:42There's a large interest in restoring this telescope, and so even now, there's a movement
15:49to rebuild, and rebuild better, because that's what we do.
15:53We have no business rebuilding if we don't improve on what we already made.
15:56Number 3.
15:57The Cab Depot – Taxi Driver
16:00This Martin Scorsese classic opens with Travis Bickle applying for a job at a cab depot.
16:05Want to work uptown at night, South Bronx, Harlem?
16:07We'll work anytime, anywhere.
16:09We'll work Jewish holidays anytime, anywhere.
16:13The office isn't seen much throughout the film, but it was indeed a real dispatch depot
16:17located in Manhattan.
16:19But it's amazing how much can change throughout the decades.
16:23This cab depot was located on West 57th Street, near the West Side Highway.
16:28But the area is virtually unrecognizable today.
16:31When Travis leaves the depot, viewers can spot a brick building and the old elevated highway
16:36in the background.
16:37Not only are they gone, but the surrounding area has been completely redeveloped and modernized.
16:4370s New York really was dingy.
16:45Sick.
16:46Vino.
16:47Someday a real rain will come and wash all the scum off the streets.
16:54Number 2.
16:55The Sands Hotel and Casino – Ocean's Eleven
16:58The Sands is synonymous with the Las Vegas Strip.
17:08At least, it was.
17:10The Sands was the place to be in the 50s and 60s, hosting legendary performers like Frank
17:15Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.
17:18The Rat Pack helped make the Sands iconic, and they shot Ocean's Eleven at the hotel.
17:23Seven years after the movie's release, the Sands was bought by famous business magnate
17:27Howard Hughes.
17:28However, all great things must pass, and time eventually came for the Sands.
17:33The old-fashioned casino couldn't compete with the shinier and fancier operations, and
17:37it was demolished on November 26th, 1996.
17:40The site is now home to the Venetian.
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17:59Number 1.
18:00The Ambassador Hotel – Various
18:02The rambling Ambassador Hotel, one of the world's great hostelries and a Los Angeles
18:07landmark of good living.
18:09Los Angeles is home to many hotels, but none were quite like The Ambassador.
18:14The Ambassador was a lavish and world-renowned hotel that hosted countless iconic entertainers,
18:19housed various presidents, and contained the famous Coconut Grove nightclub.
18:24It also featured in countless movies, including Forrest Gump, Catch Me If You Can, and Almost
18:30Famous.
18:31Unfortunately, the surrounding area fell into poverty throughout the 70s, and The Ambassador
18:36was slowly forgotten.
18:38It was later demolished to make room for the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools, which was
18:42named after the politician who was famously shot in the hotel's kitchen.
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