VENICE IN MOVIE LAND

from Jeffery Stanton

Since we are next to Hollywood there have been many movies and TV shows filmed here over the years. I usually mention to people interested in our beach history a few old movies to watch. This is a partial list of shows filmed here at our old beach in Venice and Ocean Park. Jeffrey Stanton the author of the wonderful history book, VENICE CALIFORNIA, has a great list of Venice movies. The book, PACIFIC OCEAN PARK, by Merritt and Priore, also gave me some leads for movies to watch. Some of you nice readers have given me tips. Also I have been spending many, long hours just watching old movies to see if there is any shots of our beach. I have heard of several other movies and TV shows that I haven’t seen yet that are not on this list. This list is only films I’ve seen.

Did you find your favorites here? Please let me know which ones I missed? Thanks, marty liboff-

+Thanks to; Martha Cheresh, Jon Wolff, Jerry Lafayette. books- Venice California (Jeffrey Stanton), Pacific Ocean Park (Merritt & Priore)

*TOUCH OF EVIL. The 1958 film noir classic by Orson Welles. Instead of going to Mexico where the movie was supposed to be at, Welles filmed it in Venice mostly at night around Windward Ave., the oil wells and canals. Charlton Heston drives his car down the old Speedway past Venice Blvd. by the oil wells.

*FISH HOOKY. 1933 Our Gang, Little Rascals run around the Venice Pier trying to get away from the truant officer. Nice films of pier and an old pagoda. A young, cute Spanky. Great fun.

*MAN IN THE DARK. 1953 film noir with Edmund O’Brien originally in 3D has O’Brien being chased by cops and hoodlums around the old Ocean Park Pier. Ride the High Boy roller coaster in 3D and the Whip. Nice shot of the Bug House fun house and the mechanical, laughing lady ‘Sal’ above it laughing at the movie. It was recently remade in a 3D DVD but they only made about 300 copies and now a new copy sells for around $200 or more!
*M. The 1951 remake of the 1931 Peter Lorre classic film noir movie M from Germany. It is not nearly as scary as the original, but the Ocean Park Pier was a great place for the pervert to pick up little girls to murder. Nice film of the back of the Dome Theater and a shot of Zucky’s deli before it moved to Wilshire Blvd. Now Zucky’s deli on Wilshire Blvd. is a bank.

*DANTE’S INFERNO. 1935 Spencer Tracy works at the old Ocean Park Pier. A wild movie. Go on a couple old time rides. Great stuff! However, the Dante’s Inferno attraction I believe was only for the movie.

*WOMAN ON THE RUN. 1950 film noir has Ann Sheridan on the run from a murderer and they wind up at the Ocean Park Pier. Great film of the Dome Theater and Club Monaco. Also ride the High Boy roller coaster that later became the Sea Serpent when the pier was transformed into POP (Pacific Ocean Park). The ‘Sal’ laughing lady also laughs at us for watching this movie! Actually Ann is pretty good in this one but you will probably figure out the mystery before the end.

*QUICKSAND. 1950 film noir has Mickey Rooney in trouble with the cops on the Santa Monica Pier and Peter Lorre running a dingy arcade in Ocean Park. Great film of the Santa Monica Pier in 1950.

*I LOVE YOU ALICE B. TOKLAS. 1968 Peter Sellers pot spoof has Peter walking around Venice Beach. Look for Peter talking in front of the old bakery by Dudley Ave. that my mom managed.

*HOLD ON. In 1966 the band Herman’s Hermits romp around POP (Pacific Ocean Park) which had been made out of the old Ocean Park Pier in the late 1950s. Silly but fun. Herman has to ‘hold on’ to the Sea Serpent roller coaster as he falls out. Nice film of the front entrance and the Sea Shell ride.

*TWO ON A GUILLOTINE. 1965 A sexy Connie Stevens must stay in a haunted house but takes a break to have fun at POP. Take a ride on the Sea Serpent roller coaster, go in the glass house or mirror maze and ride the Sky Ride ‘bubbles’ over the ocean (I worked on the Sky Ride and the glass house). Wow, Connie in a haunted house in her nighty!

*CISCO PIKE. 1972 with Kris Kristofferson as a guitar player and Karen Black his gal mixed up with drugs and a crooked cop. Much of the last 10 minutes is at Venice Beach mostly at night. Nice shot of the old Israel Levin Senior Center.

*DOGTOWN and Z-BOYS. 2001 Documentary on skateboarding. Has some great history of Venice and Ocean Park. Fabulous stuff if you love skateboarding and our beach history. RIP Jay…

*LORDS OF DOGTOWN. 2005 After the great Dogtown documentary they made a silly teen movie using the documentary to go by with teen actors. They tried recreating some of the scenes from the documentary and in some cases did a good job because some of the pier scenes are really a set.

*I LOVE TROUBLE. 1948 film noir has the detective drive around the oil wells at the beach south of the Venice Pier.

*THEY SHOOT HORSES DON’T THEY. Made in 1969 in the closed Cheetah Club (Aragon Ballroom) by POP with Jane Fonda trying to win money in a dance marathon. Good but depressing story. The Cheetah Club or previously the Aragon Ballroom was on the south, Venice side of the POP pier at 1 Navy St.

*YOUNG MAN WITH A HORN. 1950 dramatic musical finds Kirk Douglas tooting a trumpet inside the Aragon Ballroom with Doris Day singing. Great scenes inside the old Aragon Ballroom. Doris Day sings some beautiful popular songs.

*PSYCH OUT. In 1968, Jack Nicholson pretends to play guitar with the Strawberry Alarm Clock Band in the Cheetah Club next to POP although it is supposed to be in San Francisco. Pretend, hippie farce and unfortunately not enough of the Cheetah Club. A couple good songs and some bad ones too. The Cheetah Club had most of the big bands of the time including Venice’s own, the Doors.

*ON THE LOOSE. 1931 Thelma Todd and Zazu Pitts short is supposed to be at Coney Island but is really the Ocean Park Pier. Great stuff but the funniest scene is the end with a cameo with Laurel & Hardy.
+>+ Silent Movies +<+

*NEVER AGAIN. 1910 Mary Pickford silent short. I’ve only seen a clip and it has some fantastic film of the early Venice canals with some of the little beach cottages.

*KIDS AUTO RACES. 1914 Early Charlie Chaplin short shot a few blocks from the Venice Pier. You can only see the roller coaster from the distance and it is a pretty stupid movie for Charlie.

*LOVE, LOOT AND CRASH. 1915 silent with a scene towards the end on what may be an early Ocean Park Pier? It looks like the Crystal Pier or Nat Goodwin’s Cafe Pier in the distance? Originally the Ocean Park Pier only had fishing.

*AMBROSE’S FURY. 1915 Silent comedy short partly shot at what looks like Venice Beach? A quick shot of the Ocean Front Walk and a roller coaster ride.

*PERILS ON THE BEACH. My DVD says 1921 but it may be earlier? Silent short starring Napoleon and Sally the chimps and two bathing beauties running around Venice Beach. A few nice background shots of the early Venice and Ocean Park piers, Windward Ave. and the Ocean Front Walk.

*NUMBER PLEASE. 1920 Harold Lloyd chases the girl and her dog around the Venice Pier while the cops chase him. He rides the roller coaster, merry go round and the little Venice train. Nice shots of the early Ocean Front Walk in Ocean Park and a view of the south side of the Ocean Park Pier once called the Pickering and Lick piers.

*THE BALLOONATIC. 1923 Buster Keaton comedy that begins with him at what may be Venice? He is in a fun house then goes on a tunnel of love ride and you can see a roller coaster and a trolly in the background. However I don’t see the beach or canals around Venice and Ocean Park so maybe it could be somewhere else? After that it is balloons, bathing beauties, bulls and bears.

*HIGH SIGN. 1921 A Buster Keaton short with Buster working at a shooting gallery by Venice Pier with some quick film of Windward Ave., the Speedway, Ocean Front Walk and roller coaster. Wild chase scene at the end in a stage house.

*THE CIRCUS. 1928 Charlie Chaplin full length silent comedy. It starts with Charlie running from the cops on the Venice Pier with great film of him in the Noah’s Ark attraction. The rest of the movie he is in a circus. Good story.

*THE CAMERAMAN. 1928 Buster Keaton in a full length silent with one scene that looks like the inside of the Venice Bath House built by Abbot Kinney. I have a couple postcards of it and it looks the same. Buster tries being a newsreel cameraman and tries to win his girl Sally. Amazing Chinese tong war scene. His little monkey is so cute and even is the hero.

*TIRE TROUBLE. 1923 silent Our Gang with the same fun house in On the Loose and a nice shot of Noah’s Ark on the Venice Pier.

*SPEED BOYS. 1924 Our Gang (Century Comedy Kids) silent short has them running the old Venice little train that ran from Windward Ave. around the canals. Amazing films of the old train and a shot by Windward Ave.
*IT. 1927 Clara Bow in a fun length, silent romance. About 2½ minutes are shot in the Venice Pier Fun House that is in some of the other silent comedies with Clara and her boyfriend having fun. Wow, Clara couldn’t keep her dress down on the barrel roll ride!

*SUGAR DADDIES. 1927 Early Laurel and Hardy silent comedy short with the duo running around in what looks like the same fun house Thelma Todd goes to in On the Loose?

*SPEEDY. 1928 Harold Lloyd full length silent. Harold (Speedy) takes his gal to the Luna Park amusement park in Coney Island, New York for some madcap adventures. There is stock film of the entrance to Luna Park but Lloyd filmed most of his films here in LA and so this must be the Venice and Ocean Park piers. They ride an airplane ride that looks like the one at Ocean Park in Dante’s Inferno and they go on a chutes ride and a barrel and a fun house that also look the one’s at the Ocean Park and Venice piers.
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*HOLLYWOOD STORY. 1950 Richard Conte wants to make a movie about an old, unsolved Hollywood murder and gets caught up in a who done it. Couple nice shots of Hollywood. He goes to Jack’s at the Beach restaurant which was on the north side of the Ocean Park Pier. You could eat there and watch the waves crashing. It stayed there until after POP closed then moved to Wilshire Blvd. It wasn’t ‘at the beach’ anymore and finally closed.

*The BREAKING POINT. 1950 John Garfield is the skipper of a small fishing boat and is in need of money and keeps getting in trouble. His boat is supposed to be at the docks in Newport but his house looks like it was in the Venice canals?

*MODEL SHOP. 1969 Starring Gary Lockwood of 2001 Space Odyssey. They want to repossess his MG car and he drives all through much of the movie around the west side of LA. He lives by the beach in Venice by the oil wells and drives down the Speedway. Quick film of Windward Ave. and a great look of south Venice Beach with old homes and oil wells. In one scene he hangs out with the band Spirit and talks about LA and says,”It’s a fabulous city. To think that some people think it’s an ugly city when it’s just plain poetry.” The movie is slow and could have used more plain poetry.

*BLACK EYE. 1974 Starring Fred Williamson. Romance by the beach and around the Marina and murder and car chases on the canals. A couple shots of a broken down POP and a fight inside the ruins of POP.

*MOTHER, JUGS & SPEED. 1977 Bill Cosby and Raquel Welch and other actors are ambulance drivers around LA. Even if you’re dying you are better off walking to a hospital than to have these jerks and idiots drive you! Did Bill need to make this tasteless movie for money to buy drugs to rape women? A couple scenes shot in the canals and Venice and on Rose Ave.

*MIKE’S MURDER. 1984 Debra Winger gets mixed up with a couple young drug dealers trying to get away from rival drug dealers trying to get them. A couple shots of the Ocean Front Walk and the canals. A nice shot of the Music Machine on Pico Blvd. where me and my pals went all the time for live music and dancing.

*BLACK GIRL. 1972 Leslie Uggams has family and job problems in what looks like the Oakwood area in Venice. Quick shot by Windward Ave. Is that the First Baptist Church of Venice in the distance in one scene and is that Oakwood Park they hang out in?

*WALK PROUD. 1979 Chicano gangs fight over Venice and Santa Monica turf and teen falls for a rich White chick. The best line is, ‘Venice ain’t the Marina!’ The beginning has some film of cool low rider cars by Windward Ave. and the old Venice Pavilion Recreation Center. Great scene of Mexican music being played at the outside stage at the recreation center by Windward Ave.

*THE CHAMP. 1979 Remake of the classic boxing movie with John Voight as the Champ jogging in a scene on the bike path. Also him on the Santa Monica Pier by the arcade. Skip this and watch the 1931 original with Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper.

*XANADU. 1980 Olivia Newton John sings her hit,’Magic’ in a musical with disco, dancing and roller skates. A couple scenes on the Venice Ocean Front Walk and roller skating by a pagoda. Also film in Palisades Park. Not even the bands the Tubes, Rush and ELO could save Xanadu doo doo. Gene Kelly should have retired before this.

*MAX DUGAN RETURNS. 1983 Matthew Broderick in a nice but unreal Neil Simon story of a poor boy and his mom who live in an old shack in Venice. He plays baseball at Venice High and mom gets her car stolen on Abbott Kinney Blvd. They drive over the canals and around Venice.

*BREATHLESS. 1983 Richard Gere gets his philosophy from reading Marvel comics but the comics are better than this movie. Yes I know some people loved it. Acting like an adolescent punk he steals cars and babes hearts. He chases the girl and the cops chase him all over LA. Scenes around Ocean Park Blvd., Main St. and Venice beach. A shot of the Mishkon Tephilo synagogue on Main St.

*WHITE MEN CAN’T JUMP. 1992 A street basketball movie starring Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson with some games played in the parking lot by Dudley Ave. and also the basketball courts south of Windward Ave. They used a couple Venice locals for extras.

*THE OUTSIDE MAN. 1972 Who is chasing who, the cops, gangsters or innocent people? They chase around a half demolished POP and the canals. With Roy Scheider, Ann Margret and Angie Dickinson. Quick shot of the Beach House rock & roll club that opened for a time near the closed Cheetah Club.

*LA STORY. 1991 Steve Marin in a funny, romantic fantasy filmed around LA including him and Sarah Jessica Parker getting an enema on the Ocean Front Walk.

*COBRA. 1986 Bad ass cop Sylvester Stallone lives near Venice Beach and picks on a gang dude by a beach pagoda. You lose count how many punks he kills with a machine gun and grenades as he chases and is chased in his old car all over LA including the canals. It should have been called Rambo in LA.

*POINT OF NO RETURN. 1993 A cute Bridget Fonda is a convicted murderer to be executed but is given a government reprieve to go undercover and take out the bad guys. She rents a place on Venice Beach and there are scenes on the Ocean Front Walk and beach. Some good action but it should have been called, POINTLESS AND NO TICKET RETURNS.

*SPEED 1. 1994 A demonic Dennis Hopper blows up a bus at Main St. and Rose Ave. Much of the movie is in a bus on freeways or roads with Keanu Reeves tying to save the bus with passenger Sandra Bullock.

*CLEAN SLATE. 1994 Dana Carvey plays a bungling detective that forgets everything every time he goes to sleep. Scenes around Venice Beach and side streets while he is being chased by killers he doesn’t remember and also beautiful girls he forgets and we can also forget this movie. Should we laugh at a poor one eyed dog banging his head?

*ROMY AND MICHELE’S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION. 1997 Mira Sovino and Lisa Kudrow doing lots of dumb blonde jokes most of them stupid but sometimes funny. They go to the Venice Ocean Front Walk and drive their junky car down the walk. How come only movie stars get to drive and park on the Ocean Front Walk? Why are there only gorgeous, sexy women walking around our beach in these movies and TV shows?

*MIXED NUTS. Steve Martin works and plays at Venice Beach with a host of crazy characters in 2003. He rides his bike along the bike path and we see the old street pianist Barry the Lion and other boardwalk stuff. Funny and unusual.

*MONKEY TROUBLE. 1994 Harvey Keitel is an organ grinder with his pickpocket monkey at Venice Beach. They get mixed up with crooks and jewels and the cops. The monkey runs away and adopts a little girl. Some scenes at Venice Beach, bike path and Ocean Front.

*ROLLER BOOGIE. 1979 and roller skating is BIG. Linda Blair of the Exorcist fame doesn’t throw up green slime even though the story could use some! Good dance skate scenes at Venice Beach. Nice shots of the old Venice Pavilion Recreation Center by Windward Ave.

*DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS. 1986 Nick Nolte and Richard Dreyfuss made an ad for the world’s homeless to come to LA and Venice Beach. Of course the super rich in Beverly Hills will let the homeless live with them in their mansions! BULLSHIT!!! They take a stroll down the Ocean Front Walk and get drunk at the pagoda at Dudley Ave. They sing, ‘We are the Bums’.

*THE DOORS. Story of Jim Morrison partly shot at Venice Beach in 1991. Val Kilmer is fabulous at channeling Jim. They even hired a couple locals for extras on the Ocean Front Walk.

*HARRY AND TONTO. 1974 Wonderful story of an old man and his cat being evicted from their apartment by greedy developers, ”Capitalist bastards!” Art Carney sits on benches in Venice and around LA. Even if you’re old you can still find love and enjoy life.

*VENICE UNDERGROUND. 2005 Drug gangs in Venice and young, rookie cops sent out to stop them. It should have been called the Mod Squad in Venice Beach. They are seen on the Ocean Front Walk, canals, the beach and side streets of Venice.

*TENACIOUS D AND THE PICK OF DESTINY. 2006 Jack Black tries to do a Who style rock movie with a couple beach scenes. A scene near the Santa Monica Pier and one along the Venice, Ocean Front Walk. Sometimes crazy, stupid or fantastic, Jack searches for Satan’s magic guitar pick and has to battle him in a rock & roll sing off.

*THE CUTTING EDGE: Going for the Gold. 2006 Teen love fantasy with teen ice skater falling for surfer boy who can also roller skate. She teaches him to ice skate and of course they quickly get into the Olympics. Maybe if you are 3 you might believe this! He roller skates near Windward Ave. with quick shots of the Ocean Front Walk and a glimpse of ‘The World’s Greatest Wino’ who used to hang out near Windward and would tell a joke for drinking money. Also a shot of the Santa Monica Pier.

*THE LAST CASE OF AUGUST T. HARRISON. 2015 Very cheap and disappointing movie about a retired detective getting mixed up with witches and H.P. Lovecraft monsters around Venice. Night shots of canals and Abbot Kinney Blvd. and a bit of Windward Ave. Are there other dimensional creatures in our canals?!

*ONCE UPON A TIME IN VENICE. 2017 Bruce Willis gang farce set in Venice. Pretty dumb but fun and entertaining. Filmed around Venice and a scene by Windward Ave.
++This list is mostly Venice and Ocean Park beaches and I left out a lot of the Santa Monica Pier which was in many movies such as; NIGHT TIDE-1961, The STING-1973, SYNANON-1965. Also the now demolished Samohi history building in, REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE-1955.
=OTHER STUFF and OLD HOME MOVIES=

*NUMBER OUR DAYS. 1976 Academy Award short documentary filmed at the now demolished Israel Levin Senior Center that was in Venice on the Ocean Front Walk. I was a member. A couple good shots of Rose Ave. and the benches that used to be all along the walk. It is now the new BAR Center at the Beach that hasn’t opened yet.

*HOPALONG IN HOPPY LAND. Cowboy star Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd) had his amusement park at 400 W. Washington St.(Blvd.) and filmed the opening in a 10 minute promo in 1951. I met him there.

*WHERE THE MOUNTAINS MEET THE SEA. A 1959 advertising promo for Santa Monica. Now it is a historical snapshot of Santa Monica. I include this because they have some nice shots of POP. Some great footage of Santa Monica and the piers.

*VENICE BEACH MEMORIES-part 1 & 2. 1971 Home movie about 21 minutes at one of the ‘love ins’ free music shows they used to have on the storm drain just north of Rose Ave. Hippies having fun. Film of a deteriorated and partially demolished POP. Also other places on the Ocean Front Walk that are gone like the L & A Market by Rose Ave. and the vacant old synagogue by Brooks Ave. that recently burned down. Nice film of a concert in the outside stage with the tables next to the Pavilion that used to be by Windward.

*VENICE BEACH CA-August 1993. Two young dudes just strolling along the Ocean Front Walk with their video camera looking at the babes and crowd in a poorly filmed 39 minute video. Quick shots of some of the old entertainers who are gone like the One Man Band and Jerome the dancing midget. Also see old shops, the Venice Pavilion and Jack Herer’s Hemp for Victory stand.

*1970s,80s VENICE BEACH- 8 minute home movie of Venice Beach with film of skaters by the Venice Pavilion, the chain saw juggler and pretty girls.

*VENICE BEACH 1985. Captain Cloud made a 45 minute film of Venice Beach. Great interview of Peter Demian and his music. Peter we love you! Also an interview of Jingles. Shots of Harry Perry, the chain saw juggler, muscle men and skaters. Wonderful bit in the beginning with old Miss Daisy singing with her ancient Gibson guitar. We miss you Miss Daisy…
> In addition there were many TV shows- These are only the ones I’ve seen-

*BAY WATCH filmed at our beach and canals all the time from 1989-99. Mich (David Hasselhoff) lived on the canals in some of the seasons. I was in one episode. If anyone sees me on the show I was in please get the episode name or the season it was from. In the same scene they also had a shot of Dr. John who had a table by Windward Ave. with a big peace flag.

*ROUTE 66 had an episode filmed at POP in 1962 called, ‘Between Hello and Goodbye’. Great film of the main entrance, inside Neptune’s Kingdom and Sky Ride bubbles.

*77 SUNSET STRIP. 1959 Jay North of Dennis the Menace fame sees a murder and he is chased by the murderer around POP in an episode called, ‘Eyewitness’. Lots of very quick shots of rides, but unfortunately filmed at night. Nice views of the front entrance and a fun ride on the Sky Ride bubbles over the ocean.

*I SPY. In a 1966 episode called, ‘Little Boy Lost’, a young Ron Howard with Bill Cosby and Robert Culp are chased by foreign agents at POP. Nice shot of Mr. Octopus ride and Aragon Ballroom.

*GET SMART. Maxwell Smart and 99 are chased by Chaos spies around POP in a 1965 episode called, ‘The Wax Max’. You see the outside of the Sea Tubs and a look at the Midway with the Dome Theater in the back.

*THE MAN FROM UNCLE. In 1966 secret agents David McCallum and Robert Vaughn are running around POP by the Sky Ride and Midway in an episode called, ‘The Concrete Overcoat Affair’.

*THE FUGITIVE finally finds his one armed man at a closed POP in the final episode in 1967. David Janssen fights him on top of the sadly broken Mahi Mahi ride. Quick shots of the front of Sea Tubs and other closed rides.

*THE INVADERS. Space aliens invade a closed POP in a 1968 episode called, ‘The Pit’. Not much but a little scene of the entrance to the closed Mystery Island banana train ride.

*MOD SQUAD. Also filmed in a closed POP in 1968 with a couple shots of some of the closed and broken rides in an episode called, ‘Bad Man on Campus’. They go into the Deepest Deep ride. Good film of the Midway. They talk about the closed and derelict POP as,”the ghosts of fun city.”

*THE TWIGHLIGHT ZONE. In a 1959 episode called, ‘In Praise of Pip’, Jack Klugman is at POP with a young Billy Mumy playing his son. Billy Mumy later was a star on the TV show Lost in Space. They ride the merry go round and go in the glass house.
In another 1959 episode called, ‘Perchance to Dream’, Richard Conte is haunted in his dreams by a sexy cat girl at POP with quick shots of the merry go round, glass house and Mr. Octopus rides.

*THREE’S COMPANY. The opening credits and theme song play,”Come and knock at our door…” with John Ritter riding a bike along our bike path. As the seasons went by they changed the locations for the beginning credits to the Santa Monica Pier and then the zoo.

*CHIPS. It’s the 70s and Disco and roller skating is in. Ponch and Jon leave their Highway Patrol motorcycles and go to Venice Beach to watch cute gals skate to the music by the old Venice Pavilion by Windward Ave. Nice skate girls with sexy ass-stronomy! The episode I think is called, ‘Party Disco’ or ‘Roller Disco’?
++MUSIC STUFF++

*MOVIN’. Nancy Sinatra shot a music special and sang the song called, “Who Will Buy” at a closed POP in 1967. She stands on top of the roller coaster and rides on it and a couple other rides. Dancers dance around the entrance and the park. Was this also an ad for, ‘Who will Buy’ the bankrupt POP?

*THE DOORS AT VENICE BEACH. Around 1969, Henry Diltz the Doors photographer shot a 5 minute video of the Doors tripping down the Ocean Front Walk. Jim is even carrying a beer, or is it whiskey? They stroll by the Gingerbread Court and Cadillac Hotel where the bakery was on Dudley Ave. You see the old benches and then they walk by the beach and under the pier. A little too much film of the birds and ocean, but it is still good to see the Doors at Venice Beach.

*SHINDIG! In 1965 Dick & Dee Dee sing, ‘Where Did All the Good Times Go?’. Not much to see except they ride one of the old trams that used to run along the Ocean Front Walk.

*THE GAP BAND. In 1983 the Gap Band sang ‘Party Train’ at Venice Beach in their music video. Venice’s own Harry Perry starts the train rolling and then the Gap Band gets everyone on board this fantastic dance number. Don’t miss the party having good fun along the Ocean Front Walk.

* WINK MARTINDALE’S DANCE PARTY. Shot at POP in the Sea Circus in the 1960s, they had many famous singers and bands of the day with teens dancing and sometimes even a seal or dolphin. For a while it was rocking TV 6 days a week.

*LAWRENCE WELK SHOW. Welk filmed his music variety show for many years in the Aragon Ballroom and occasionally filmed his entertainers outside at POP. One special show had musical numbers at POP with several singers including Venice’s own Lennon Sisters singing on and around the rides. One song is on the Mystery Island banana train.

imdb list of movies with Venice Beach Locations.