Wednesday, January 29, 2014

The Rockford Files - FILMING LOCATIONS - Episode: Joey Blue Eyes (1976) - Long Beach California - Hotel Del Mar - Dr. Vail Dentist Long Beach 1st Street - Silver Dollar - Roi Tan Bar - Long Beach City Hall East 100 Long Beach Blvd - Biltmore Apts. - Long Beach Blvd Greyhound Bus Depot - Midway - Al's - Globe Cleaners - International Tower - Long Beach's THE PIKE - Murguders salt water taffy stand - Eddie Fontaine - Michael Ansara - Suzanne Charny - The Smoke House 4420 West Lakeside Drive Burbank - Toluca lake

A VERY BIG THANK YOU TO Vahram Keshishian
for leading me to these filming locations!

 ABOVE & BELOW PHOTOS: Intersection of Long Beach Blvd & 1st Street in Long Beach, CA.  Hotel Del Mar - Silver Dollar - Roi Tan Bar / Lounge

ABOVE PHOTO: Angel is grabbed by a thug outside 100 Long Beach Blvd. - Today this building is used by the City of Long Beach as CITY HALL EAST and also the Long Beach Police Department.
Michael T. said...
Also, what was City Hall East (or in the episode, Striker Industries) had been vacant since 2005, and last year was redeveloped to become Edison Lofts. The building itself dates to 1959, and given the amount of change in the area, it's remarkable that it still survives (and externally, is nearly unchanged) today!

ABOVE PHOTO: The image is actually two scene shots merged together of intersection of Long Beach Blvd & 1st Street in Long Beach, CA. 
The large building on the far left: Biltmore Apts

ABOVE PHOTO: Jim Rockford's car takes off on Long Beach Blvd. on the 100 block. On the right is an old unidentified hotel, on the left is a restaurant and Greyhound Bus Station depot.



BELOW PHOTO: Looking for help on the full name of the "Al's" business... the sign has a name before Al's but can't make it out.... Could it be Famous Al's??? Also there is cocktails place on the below right side photo. It was right next to Globe Cleaners - The sign has 8 letters in its upright sign. 
ABOVE FOUR PHOTOS: A ride down 1st Street in Long Beach, CA 1976
Businesses seen in this episode: Midway, Al's, Globe Cleaners, Dr. Vail Dentist, among others.
gweilo8888 said...
The "Al's" location was "Trader Al's", formerly known as "Trader Al's Windjammer" and located at 238 E. First St. since at least the early 1950s.

ABOVE PHOTO: Jim racing down an alley, in the background the round building is the International Tower in Long Beach, CA - as shown below.


ABOVE PHOTO: Michael Ansara, who died in 2013, played the tough former mobster Joey Blue Eyes - Joseph DiMinna 


ABOVE PHOTO: Eddie Fontaine returned to another episode of the Rockford Files as mob enforcer Sweet Tooth London. He is seen riding the Ferris Wheel at Long Beach - The Pike with Jim Rockford.





ABOVE THREE PHOTOS: Businesses seen - DUCE CLUB 201, Long Beach's SECURITY BANK BUILDING

ABOVE PHOTO: The very beautiful Suzanne Charny played Joey Blue Eyes daughter Paulette DiMinna.

Joey Blue Eyes' restaurant in this episode was actually
THE SMOKE HOUSE
4420 West Lakeside Drive, Burbank, California, USA
at

9 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 29, 2014 at 1:27 PM

    One of the weird things about this episode was that James Luisi who usually plays a police Lt on this show played the bad guy. Never really saw such a sudden change take place in any other TV series. I have a feeling whoever was about to play the Burt Stryker role either couldn't do so or wasn't liked by the director so they used Luisi as an emergency replacement.

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  2. AnonymousJanuary 29, 2014 at 7:18 PM

    Suzanne Charny is a heart throb. What a great actress and a beautiful woman.

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  3. AnonymousJanuary 30, 2014 at 9:15 AM

    That area of Long Beach was kind of like skid row in the 1970's. Now it is all hotsy totsy and expensive.

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  4. Laci RosenblumJanuary 30, 2014 at 6:16 PM

    You brought some nice memories back for me. I grew up in Long Beach and remember this area all so well.

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  5. AnonymousFebruary 14, 2014 at 2:21 PM

    Found this location a few weeks ago, but didn't see a thread for this episode.
    The car chase is excellent.
    And it looks like they took the fountain out, at the office building where Angel visits.

    If I remember correctly, there is another episode that is shot near this location, near a theater, but I can't remember which episode?? Could have been Kojak...they shot in some of the same locations in the LA area.

    Great site!
    mozilla

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  6. UnknownMay 2, 2014 at 7:04 AM

    Thanks for this site....brings back so many memories...........

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  7. UnknownMay 2, 2014 at 7:04 AM

    Thanks for this site....brings back so many memories...........

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  8. UnknownMay 26, 2015 at 5:04 PM

    Watched this episode today! Thanks for the fun!

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  9. BrianJune 29, 2017 at 6:40 PM

    Joey's restaurant was actually Martoni Marquis on Sunset Blvd. I went to the Smokehouse in Burbank but the exterior didn't match. The Marquis, later Carlos n Charlies, and then Dublins was at 8240 Sunset.

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