19 Famous Boston Locations from Movie Scenes
When:
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024 9:00a -
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2024 10:00p
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024 9:00a -
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2024 10:00p
Where:
Boston
Surrounding areas
Boston, MA
Admission:
FREE
Categories:
Movies, Outside, Photoworthy
Event website:
https://www.thebostoncalendar.com/events/15-famous-boston-locations-from-movie-scenes
Boston has been the backdrop of many incredible films over the years. And although the city has changed, you can still stroll the streets and identify spots where famous actors like Robin Williams, Kiera Knightley, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and others have recited their lines.
Do you love a film that’s not on this list? Let me know! [email protected] or comment below on the Joyraft app.
MOVIES
1) The Boston Public Garden - Good Will Hunting
Where: Back Bay
Info: ‘Good Will Hunting’ is basically a love letter to Boston, but you can recreate one of its most iconic scenes in the Boston Public Garden where they filmed Robin Williams’ famous monologue to Matt Damon. You can sit on that exact bench near 13 Arlington Street.
2) Boston Common - Glory
Where: Downtown
Info: This historical drama starring Denzel Washington tells the story of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the first all African-American regiments in the Civil War. Scenes from the movie were filmed on the Boston Common and you can see the memorial by sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens across from the State House.
3) Mount Auburn Cemetery - Gone Baby Gone
Where: Harvard Square
Info: ‘Gone Baby Gone’ was Boston native Ben Affleck’s directorial debut, and it was based on a book by Boston local Dennis Lehane. So, of course, it was filmed locally. Mount Auburn Cemetery is one of the locations featured as two private investigators hunt for an abducted child. [Photo by Mount Auburn Cemetery]
4) Harvard Yard - Love Story
Where: Harvard Square
Info: You’ve probably heard the famous line from this film, ‘Love means never having to say you’re sorry.’ In this film an old money Harvard student falls for a working-class Italian-American Radcliffe student and a heart-wrenching forbidden romance ensues. Early scenes are filmed in Harvard Yard.
5) The Tobin Bridge - Mystic River
Where: Charlestown
Info: Another film inspired by a Dennis Lehane book of the same title, ‘Mystic River’ follows a complex murder mystery involving three neighborhood friends from Charlestown. The film features scenes set all over Boston including poignant shots of the Tobin Bridge connecting Charlestown to the rest of the city.
6) Polish American Club - Black Mass
Where: Dorchester
Info: Though Southie was Whitey Bulger’s primary territory, ‘Black Mass’ the film about the notorious gangster starring Johnny Depp, was mostly filmed in Dorchester. The Polish American Club there was styled to look like a number of different bars and meet points in the film.
7) Fenway Park - Fever Pitch
Where: Fenway
Info: It’s hard to think of a more classic Boston love story than ‘Fever Pitch’ where love of the Red Sox is as important as the romantic entanglement depicted. Many scenes between protagonists Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore were filmed in Fenway Park.
8) City Hall Plaza - The Holdovers
Where: Downtown
Info: ‘The Holdovers,’ which was recently shouted out at the Oscars, was filmed in Worcester, Boston and Deerfield Massachusetts. In one particularly identifiable scene the two protagonists walk through City Hall Plaza and down towards Faneuil Hall while visiting Boston.
9) Suffolk University Law Library - The Departed
Where: Downtown
Info: You may remember the beautiful views of the State House from Matt Damon’s apartment in ‘The Departed.’ Those scenes were actually shot in the Suffolk University Law Library.
10) Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology - Boston Strangler
Where: South End
Info: The recent film about the Boston Strangler starring Kiera Knightley was filmed primarily in the South End. A lot of the police station scenes were filmed inside the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology. [Photo by WBZ-TV]
Fun fact: my cousin is a stunt double and he “strangled” Kiera Knightley in this film. What a day at work.
11) Peddocks Island - Shutter Island
Where: Boston Harbor
Info: Dennis Lehane makes another appearance! ‘Shutter Island,’ the iconic film based on his book was filmed on Peddocks Island, one of the Boston Harbor Islands. You can take the ferry out there during the summer season and see the buildings that made up the mental institution in the film (they were actually historically military buildings).
12) South End Buttery - Spotlight
Where: South End
Info: In one memorable scene from the ‘Spotlight’ film, Rachel McAdams’ character Sacha Pfeiffer, a Boston Globe reporter, meets with a source at the South End Buttery. Fenway Park, The Boston Public Library, and the former Boston Globe offices also appear in the film.
13) Harvard University - Legally Blonde
Where: Harvard Square
Info: ‘Legally Blonde’ was not actually filmed at Harvard or even in Massachusetts, but the classic movie still deserves a shoutout. I think we can speak for all Bostonians in saying we would be honored to have Elle Woods in our midst.
14) Thirsty Scholar Pub - The Social Network
Where: Somerville
Info: In ‘The Social Network,’ Mark Zuckerberg (played by Jesse Eisenberg) gets dumped by his girlfriend in this local favorite pub just over the border between Cambridge and Somerville. Local legend is that Zuckerberg also made plans for the creation of Facebook in the pub.
15) Museum of Fine Arts - Don’t Look Up
Where: Fenway
Info: Although this social and political satire doesn’t take place in Boston, several scenes were filmed here, including some in the Back Bay Fens and a rally scene shot at the Fenway entrance of the Museum of Fine Arts. [Photo by Museum of Fine Arts]
16) Monument Square - The Town
Where: Charlestown
Info: The crime thriller, ‘The Town,’ follows a gang of local bank robbers led by Ben Affleck’s character Doug and much of the action takes place in Charlestown at Monument Square, home of the famous Bunker Hill Monument.
TV SHOWS
17) Cheers Bar - Cheers
Where: Beacon Hill
Info: The pub that used to stand here, Bull & Finch Pub, was the joint that inspired the hit TV shot ‘Cheers.’ Now it’s become an homage to that long running series and the interior has been completely decked out to replicate the ‘Cheers’ set.
18) 500 Boylston Street - Boston Legal
Where: Back Bay
Info: The iconic facade of 500 Boylston Street (which has since been altered, with the classic columns removed) was the opening shot of the ‘Boston Legal’ TV series. None of the rest of the show was filmed here.
19) Newbury Street - Sabrina the Teenage Witch
Where: Back Bay
Info: Although Sabrina the Teenage Witch wasn’t filmed in Boston, it’s set in a Boston suburb and in the later seasons Sabrina goes to college in Boston. Although her school is fictional, she dates someone from Emerson. In the later seasons opening credits she’s shown on Newbury Street and in front of Union Oyster House.
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Photo by Steven Watson @thepieddogwalker: bit.ly/3x5fjv3
