There are two things I really love. Movies and photography. Around the time I got my first camera (see me getting film for said camera here) Francis Ford Coppola was shooting a couple of movies in the Tulsa area, from books by the great S.E. Hinton. One of those films, Rumble Fish, featured some key scenes shot right in my home town of Sapulpa. I was 10 years old in the summer of 1982. My friend’s uncle took us down to Dewey Street in Sapulpa to watch a movie being shot. That was the beginning of my love for filmmaking, and the spark of my desire to become a filmmaker. The scene that was being shot that hot summer night involved a conversation on a fire escape between Matt Dillon and Diana Scarwid. We were so far away that we couldn’t really tell what was going on, but I still have a vivid image of that night in my memory.
As a history buff, I have long been intrigued by “then and now” type photographs. I set out to take a few “then and now” pictures from the film Rumble Fish, just to see what’s still around, and how it looks 27 years later. Some of them I tried to match as closely as I could to the film (using screen captures on my Blackberry as a guide). Others I tried from memory. Below are the results of this experiment.
Benny's Pool Hall in the film.
Main Street Productions, 2009. Not much has changed.
The next one was a bit more difficult to find. For years I had wanted to find the location of this shot. It took lots of driving, and looking at satellite images on Google Maps to figure out that this shot was on a stretch of Cincinnati Ave that is no longer a thru street. It is now a dead end street behind a fertility clinic at 15th and Boston Ave.
Rusty James waiting on his girlfriend. 1982
Stretch of Cincinnatti Ave that is no longer a thru street.
After Rusty James meets Patty as she gets off the bus on Cincinnati Ave, they walk down the street towards 15th. For some unexplainable reason there is blowing black and white smoke in this scene. That has never made much sense to me, but who am I to question the genius that is Francis Ford Coppola? This part of the street is now part of the parking lot of the fertility clinic (formerly Luby’s Cafeteria).
Rusty James trying to make up with Patty. She's having none of it. Who would have guessed this would some day be a Luby's parking lot?
15th Street and S. Cincinnati today. Not a perfect match from the picture above, but the best I could do with the layout of the land in 2009.
The next stop in our tour of Rumble Fish’s Tulsa is Parish of Christ The King Church at 16th and Quincy Ave. This was Patty’s school in the film. Matt Dillon, Nicholas Cage (sporting a crazy blow dried pompadour and his natural crooked teeth), and Chris Penn walked right down the middle of 16th St. as school is letting out.
Patty's School.
As seen in 2009. I took this one from memory, so it doesn't line up as well as I would have liked with the original. Almost nothing has changed here in 27 years.
And finally, the scene I saw being filmed that night in Sapulpa. I took this one a few months ago, so I obviously have completely the wrong angle. Some day I will try to get the proper shot. But, since I mentioned this scene, I had to include it.
Rusty James in a discussion with Cassandra
From the other side. The bottom part of the fire escape is now missing. So, unfortunately I couldn't climb up there and do my Matt Dillon impression.
That’s it. Hope you enjoyed the trip around town courtesy of Francis Ford Coppola and S.E. Hinton. Feel free to leave a comment!
