One of the shocking things I learned when I was a child (probably from my brother 10 years my senior) was that ‘Escape From New York,’ one of the classics directed by John Carpenter, had scenes shot in St. Louis, a city a mere two hours from me at the time.
For those of you who don’t know, the film’s production designer, the Oscar nominated Joe Alves, couldn’t work out the logistics of shooting the film’s night-time exterior shots in New York City. It was too difficult to make the New York city streets seem like a devastated, prison city as depicted in the film. Alves was sent on a cross-country expense trip where he was to find a city that could stand in for a demolished, downtown NYC. Enter East St. Louis, IL in the late ’70s. In ’76, a massive fire broke out, and entire blocks were left burned up and in rubble. Production moved to Illinois. Scenes were even shot across the river in St. Louis, MO proper at Union Station and the Fox Theater.
Well, for those of you who are within traveling distance to STL, now is your chance to see ‘Escape From New York’ in one of these very locations. As part of their Twilight Under the Train Shed screening series, St. Louis Union Station will be showing an oustide screening of Carpenter’s classic this Friday night, July 5th.
Here’s the promo poster:
In case you didn’t realize, the scene shot at the Union Station is the gladiator-style wrestling match where Snake Plissken fights Slag, played by Ox Baker. The scene was filmed in Union Station’s grand hall before it was renovated. If you look closely in the scene, you will see the stained glass window that still hangs above the entryway into the grand hall on Market Street.
Here is a shot of the renovated grand hall from 2007:
Here’s some interesting ‘Escape From New York’ facts about shooting in St. Louis:
- The final credit is a reference to a strip club and the dancers across the river from St Louis
- The President’s downed plane was an old DC-10 bought from an airplane graveyard in Tucson, Arizona. The plane was carved up into 3 separate pieces and trucked into the film’s St Louis locations in the dead of night as they didn’t have the requisite paperwork
- John Carpenter and his crew convinced St. Louis authorities to shut off the electricity for ten blocks at night
- John Carpenter purchased the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge in St Louis for $1 from the government and then returned it to them for the same amount after filming was completed
The screening starts Friday night between 8:30 and 8:45 PM. For those who haven’t visited St. Louis’ Union Station, note that parking is not free, but the movie is. Come watch the movie. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a prerequisite for knowing me. Sorry. That’s just the way it is. Scope out the familiar locations throughout the movie. Hang out with the Movie Geeks. Let’s have a great time with a great movie Friday night.
