While locations such as New York City are chosen as the backdrop of many a movie, occasionally a smaller city such as Providence gets a break and ends up on the big screen.
I have focused on two movies that have location shots in Providence, Federal Hill (1994) and There's Something About Mary (1998). I have made some screen grabs from both movies and in the case of There's Something About Mary I have included a few photos taken in the same area of Providence years before the film was made.
Federal Hill was written and directed by Michael Corrente who is originally from Pawtucket, RI and is currently in production on a new film, The Prince of Providence which is based on the book by the same name (authored by Mike Stanton) and focuses on the career of Buddy Cianci, the former mayor of Providence who wound up in federal prison for racketeering. The Prince of Providence is scheduled for release in 2009 and I'll post about that in the future.
Three of the principal stars of Federal Hill are Nicholas Turturro, Anthony DeSando and Libby Langdon.
While all of Federal Hill was shot on location in Providence, only parts of There's Something About Mary use Providence as a location backdrop. Cameron Diaz, who also stars in the movie, was not part of the Providence filming.
This concludes Phase One of the Providence Series.
A photo I took of the Hot Club and neighborhood in September, 1985.
The Hot Club as seen in There's Something About Mary.
The Narragansett Electric Manchester Street power plant photographed in September, 1985.
Ben Stiller and Matt Dillon at the Hot Club in There's Something About Mary with the renovated power plant in the background.
The Providence Hurricane Barrier in a photo I took in 1975. Back in those days the area was desolate and nothing like today's gentrified neighborhood.
Ben Stiller at the Hot Club with the Hurricane Barrier in the background.
Chris Elliott in There's Something About Mary shown in a conference room in the new Citizens Bank building in downtown. The view out the window shows the new riverfront that was completed in the early '90s.
From Federal Hill, film footage showing the reconstruction in the early '90s of the riverfront just north of Union Station.
The well known gates of Brown University as seen in Federal Hill.
A shot with Anthony DeSando and Libby Langdon in the heart of the Thayer Street commercial area of Brown University.
A scene with Anthony DeSando and Libby Langdon walking along Atwells Avenue in the heart of the Federal Hill district of Providence.
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