Lighthouses in Movies

Since I love lighthouses and movies, I thought that many of you probably enjoy both, as well. Gary (Toth) started a list some years ago, so with his help, maybe we can compile a list. The first one that comes to mind follows:

1. "Forever Young" - Point Arena (Mel Gibson)

2) "To Gillian on her 37th Birthday" - Brant Point, Nantucket, MA

3) The Majestic (Jim Carrey) Point Cabrillo

I'm not sure about the name of the movie, maybe "Snow Falling on Cedars", something like that. It had to do with Japanese-Americans - I think a crime had been committed and there was something about the camps during WWII. It was a very good movie but I just don't recall it very well; it was adapted from the book. I believe Portland Head was in it but the story was set on the West coast so the error was pointed out in LHD some years ago. Anybody know the exact title and the lighthouse?

There is an attempted approximation of the inundation of one of the four lighthouses destroyed in the 1883 eruption in "Krakatoa East [sic] of Java." Actually, for those who enjoy models of vanished lighthouses [and let's not get into THAT controversy again], a HL version of the lighthouse [okay, swept over by a humongous wave] might be nice. There are fine color illustrations of the lighthouses in the book:

"Krakatau, 1883--the volcanic eruption and its effects" / [edited by] Tom Simkin and Richard S. Fiske ; with the collaboration of Sarah Melcher and Elizabeth Nielsen.
Published: Washington, D.C. : Smithsonian Institution Press, 1983.

There is a sizable group of films that employ fictional lighthouses as elements in their plots or mood setters, i.e.: "Portrait of Jennie," "Day of the Triffids," "Beast from 20,000 Fathoms," "Light[house] at the End of the World," etc.

The fascinating and telling thing is that the majority of lighthouse representations in films tend to tilt toward the sinister, unsettling, or downright malevolent! Rare is the Thomas Kinkaidian image of benevolent, radiant peace and salvation.

Danny

Danny, I would go for a "vanished" one which is reproduced like the original - no "as we think it looked" ones. Speaking of malevolent, I just remembered the Richard Gere/Kim Basinger/Uma Thurman movie. Does anyone recall if that was a real lighthouse or not? If I can get answers to my last two posts, we'll add them to the list. So far, we are up to three only. Where are all the movie buffs - probably at the movies!

I looked up the movie "Snow Falling on Cedars" and it helped to refresh my memory. It is really a beautiful movie. Interestingly enough, they list "goofs" in the movie but this is all I could find about the lighthouse:

"Anachronisms: A Coast Guard form (reporting weather and shipping messages) shown in the lighthouse scene lists the Coast Guard as part of the Department of Transportation. The Coast Guard was under the Department of the Treasury until 1967."

Anyone know if the lighthouse in "Final Analysis" (Richard Gere/Kim Basinger/Uma Thurman) was a real one?

The final "showdown" between Gere and Basinger takes place on the spiral staircase of the lighthouse.

For now:
1. Forever Young - Point Arena
2. To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday - Brant Pt.
3. Majestic Theater - Point Cabrillo
4. Snow Falling on Cedars - Portland Head
5. Final Analysis - Pigeon Point
6. Krakatoa: East of Java - ?
7. Day of the Triffids - English light?
8. Portrait of Jennie - The Graves, Boston
Harbor
9. Light at the End of the World - Cabo de
Creus, Spain
10. Top Gun - Keeper's House - Point Loma
11. My Sweet Charley - Point Bolivar (right in
my own backyard and I forgot!)
12. Jaws - Gay Head
13. Forrest Gump - Marshall Point
14. Somewhere in Time - Round Island
An oldie but goodie at the reunion,
particularly enjoyable for those of us who
saw it again, since it was filmed on
Mackinaw I. (Nice touch, Dave!)
15. The Perfect Storm - Easter Point, MA; Ten
Pound Island Light,MA, and Thacher Island
Twin Lights, MA
16. Alexander - The Pharos of Alexandria
17. The Aviator - Los Angeles Harbor
18. Hearts in Atlantis - Cape Henry Lights

Hopefully, more people will join in during the week. (See new post with latest entries.)

This might help you, Grace..

FinalAnalysis

Thanks, Paul! Apparently, the exterior shots in "Final Analysis" are of Pigeon Point. Surely the spiral staircase scenes were made in a mockup. I'll have to see the movie again just to check out the lighthouse - I think it was filmed in '92 and I couldn't have identified any lighthouses back then.

The western most keeper's house of the three at Point Loma, was used in the filming of the movie Top Gun. It served as home of Mike Metcalf (Viper), the commanding office of Top Gun. The house and surrounding area are seen when Maverick (Tom Cruise), after the crash that killed Goose, goes to the officer's house to discuss his options.

Does this count?

I don't know why not; I've edited the post with the list. Thanks for your addition, Margret. I hope we get lots more.

I found a few more web pages listing some movies and their lighthouses..

More Movies

Another List

one more list

This one has Two Parts

Part Two of the above..

Very helpful, Paul, thanks. I found some I should have remembered. But let's try to remember as many as we can and go to the reference sources only to determine the identity of the lights. I will get a ruler and slap you on the hand. (All Catholic girls wanted to be nuns sometime in their lives - I was no exception!) See edited list above.

Thanks to the lists provided by Paul, I was able to identify the lights in several of the movies Danny listed. I will keep checking on those.

Paul and Grace, you both did an excellent job with the Lighthouse Movies! It would be nice if they were all still available so we could see them again.

I saw one a long time ago and I don't remember the name. All I can remember is a scene at a lighthouse near the Golden Gate Bridge. It wasn't Fort Point, (the little one under the bridge). It was real tall and white, so it couldn't a real one. The BAD guy fell from the top. That's all I can remember. Does anybody know what movie this could be? It haunts me because I can't remember.

Did anybody mention the Perfect Storm? There was a lighthouse in that but I don't know what it was.

Kay, I found this response on the last one listed in Paul's post for Perfect Storm:

Eastern Point Light, MA 1832
Ten Pound Island Light, MA 1821
Thacher Island Twin Lights, MA 1771

I've lost count how many times I've watched that movie. Next time, I'll be more mindful of the lighthouses.

Alexander - shows a day image of the Pharos of Egypt including smoke

The Aviator - shows 2 shots of Los Angeles Harbor

Kay, the one you are thinking of is Final Analysis which we have listed. It was a pretty good thriller. Thanks to Kay and Judy for the addition of The Perfect Storm and to Eric for his two! We're doing pretty well here; let's keep it up!

Don't know if this one's been listed, but Anthony Hopkins starred in Hearts in Atlantis, a 2001 movie that was supposed to take place in Bridgeport, CT. However, one of the scenes showed him at an amusement park and the backdrop was the two Cape Henry lights. I stayed for the credits to see if any of the movie was actually shot on location in Bridgeport because I lived there for the first 11 years of my life and nothing looked familiar--no indication in the credits that any filming took place in Bridgeport. I did, however, recognize the Cape Henry lights because of HL's sculpture.

Sandy

Thanks, Sandy, the list has been updated accordingly - I'd not heard about that movie before. Do you all remember the tv program "Providence"? Why on earth did they pick Pigeon Point - probably filmed on the West Coast. That one was pointed out in some issue of LHD, as well. I think the errors I read about were letters written to the editor - or maybe short blurbs in "Tidbits from the Tower".

That seems to be the name of the game for Hollywood movies.

Look at 'Message in a Bottle'. The story takes place in Chicago and North Carolina. They used these lights in the movie scenes: Chicago Harbor Light, IL 1832, Sequin Island Light, ME 1795, and Pond Island Light, ME 1821.

The second two were to depict the scenery along the NC coast. :rolleyes:

I believe two different lighthouses appear in Jaws 2, but I couldn't identify them.

just watched one on TV .. do TV movies count?

"Still Crazy Like a Fox" was an American television movie (1987) starring Jack Warden and John Rubinstein as a father and son team of private detectives who become mixed up in a high-level murder case whilst on vacation in England.

And while they get involved with all kinds of mix ups etc. they end up at the Belle Toute Lighthouse on the South Coast of England - not far from Eastbourne.

Belle Tout by the way is one of the lighthouses which had to be moved inland due to coastal errosion. see the description by Ken Trethewey

TV movies should be okay, too. Thanks, Margret.

1. Forever Young - Point Arena, CA
2. To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday - Brant
Pt., MA
3. Majestic Theater - Point Cabrillo, CA
4. Snow Falling on Cedars - Portland Head, ME
5. Final Analysis - Pigeon Point, CA
6. Krakatoa: East of Java - ?
7. Day of the Triffids - English light?
8. Portrait of Jennie - The Graves, Boston
Harbor, MA
9. Light at the End of the World - Cabo de
Creus, Spain
10. Top Gun - Keeper's House - Point Loma, CA
11. My Sweet Charley - Point Bolivar, TX (right
in my own backyard and I forgot!)
12. Jaws - Gay Head, MA
13. Forrest Gump - Marshall Point, ME
14. Somewhere in Time - Round Island, MI
An oldie but goodie at the reunion,
particularly enjoyable for those of us who
saw it again, since it was filmed on
Mackinaw I. (Nice touch, Dave!)
15. The Perfect Storm - Easter Point, MA; Ten
Pound Island Light,MA, and Thacher Island
Twin Lights, MA
16. Alexander - The Pharos of Alexandria, Egypt
17. The Aviator - Los Angeles Harbor, CA
18. Hearts in Atlantis - Cape Henry Lights, VA
19. Still Crazy Like A Fox - Belle Toute
Lighthouse, England
20. Jaws 2 - Edgartown and Gay Head
lighthouses, MA
21. Message in a Bottle - Chicago Harbor, IL,
Seguin Island, ME and Pond Island, ME
22. The Last Stand - Alcatraz Island, CA
23. So I Married An Axe Murderer, Alcatraz
Island, CA
24. The Fog - Point Reyes Lighthouse, CA
25. The Enforcer - Alcatraz Island, CA
26. Passions (tv show) - Owl's Head, ME
27. Providence - Pigeon Point, CA
28. Heartbreak Ridge - Point Ferro, Puerto Rico
29. The Fog (2005) - Estevan Pt., BC
30. Wings (TV) - Great Pt., Brant Pt., Sankaty,
MA
31. Half Light - Twr Bach Lt.(?), Llanddwyn
Island, Anglesey, North Wales
32. The Good Son - Split Rock, MN
33. Men in Black (I & II ?) - Fire Island, NY

Bob, I haven't forgotten about your Jaws 2 entry. I have been looking for it. One was Edgartown. I went through reams of narrative at one site (a critique by some movie buff) which claimed to address the lighthouse location - no luck. There was a small picture of a light - not Edgartown - so I am trying to find which one it is. Thanks for your post.

Note: Apparently it is Gay Head; the shot was taken at such an angle that I didn't recognize it.

Oops!! Sorry, Judy, I missed your "Message in the Bottle" msg. I will update the list.

Thanks Grace, for " Final Analysis" as the one I was trying to remember. I would like to see it again. I can't remember anything about it. except the lighthouse beside the Golden Gate Bridge, that isn't really there!

Kay, I think I'm going to have to see several of these movies again! I saw so many of those on the list before I could identify most lights, so I would like to go back and see them from a different perspective now. If only there were enough time for all the books I haven't read, all the trips I'd like to take, all the movies, etc., etc., etc.

Thank Goodness for Blockbusters I went and asked them if they could get some of the movies and they promised to try! So I hope I can watch the ones I have not yet seen, when they find the DVDs

An interesting tidbit of local (VA) interest about the movie "Message in a Bottle"...the first choice for location was Tangier Island.

The movie company requested a permit to build a temporary stage in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. The uproar of the community was so loud, the permit was turned down. It seems the locals considered the story line "too racy".

This is really an interesting topic, Grace. I want to see as many of these as I can find!
Think I'll have to take a trip to the local Blockbuster and Hollywood stores in my area.

Kay, we can thank Gary Toth for getting me going on this topic. As I said earlier, he started a list several years ago; hopefully, he will help us keep this one going. It certainly has inspired several of us to watch some of the movies on the list. I hope more people will jump in with their contributions.

Thanks for the tidbit, Judy - "racy", for goodness sake! They must not watch a lot of movies up there. However, some of these film companies are notorious for spoiling natural areas to which they have been given access, so perhaps it was for the best.

Margret, good luck getting the DVD's; I know you will enjoy them!

Susan and I just saw the newest X-man movie "The Last Stand" and it had Alcatraz Island Lighthouse in it.

Good to know about new movies. I've added it to the list.

So I Married an Axe Murderer Alcatraz Island, CA

Americal Pie II had a pier lighthouse in the scenes at the party house. When watching the movie, you picture it being a Great Lakes lighthouse. Turns out it is a fictitious lighthouse created by a set designer, and placed on the end of the Malibu Pier. The original lighthouse was too heavy for the end of the pier, so, rather than the studio pay the expense of strengthening the pier, they built a smaller lighthouse. The lighthouse was even moved ashore during winter storms.

Jim

Thanks for the info, Jim! We are finding out a lot about lighthouses in movies.

Remember "The Fog"? That was a pretty spooky movie. It's a John Carpenter movie but he is better known for "Halloween". Point Reyes was in this film.

In the back of my mind there is a film with Tyne Daly and Clint Eastwood (was it one of the "Dirty Harry" movies?)
Some part of this movie plays on Alcatraz and the lighthouse plays a role.
Any ideas? Was it "The Enforcer" ?

Stepping aside, into TV land for a minute, The soap opera "Passions," has a shot of Owls Head, ME in its opening credits.

Jim

Margret, you are right! Jim, I'm adding "Passions" and "Providence" so if anyone else knows of a TV show, let us know. As long as we distinguish between movies and TV shows, I don't know why we can't include tv movies and shows. After all, what we want is to see lighthouses, whether on the big screen or the "little" one.

I think I've seen previews on TV of a new movie that's coming out that shows a lighthouse that's either blown up or explodes for some reason???

Just saw the 1952 film "The Gift Horse" about HMS Campbeltown, an American lend-lease destroyer (USS Buchanan).
The ship runs a raid on St. Nazaire on the French coast, to stop the Germans from using it as a re-fit station.
HMS Cambeltown is guided into the harbour by the "The Old Mole lighthouse" Even though in the film all you see is the light beam, does it count?

Margaret, I think seeing the light should count.

Sure, Margret! Is there another name for the "Old Mole"?

I ran into a blurb on "The Lightship" made in 1986. It was supposedly filmed on the Lightship Hatteras. However, all I can find on this ship is that it was in service back in the 1800's and was replaced by Diamond Shoal Tower. Anyone know anything about this? Sounds as if a newer ship (or a replica of one) was used.

If it is the Film with Klaus Maria Brandauer, the actual ship used was the Lightship Fehmarnbelt, which is now a museum ship in Lübeck in Germany.
You can see more about it on Iris' pages:
Lightship Fehmarnbelt

Lightship Films and Movies



Another film that just occurred to me ... But does it belong here or with the haunted lighthouses? The Phantom Light (1934)

The lighthouse in question is South Stack Lighthouse in Wales, where Stan was nearly born His Granddad was keeper there and his mum went visiting. You must know that the lighthouse can only be reached via 432 steps ... so you can immagine what that did to Stan's mum in her expectant state

We just watched another film where a lighthouse played a role:
Topkapi (1964) with

A small-time con-man - Peter Ustinov- with passport problems gets mixed up with a gang of world-class jewelry thieves plotting to rob the Topkapi museum in Istanbul. Turkish intelligence, suspecting arms smuggling, gets involved, and under pressure the con-man rises to heights he'd never dreamed of.

The lighthouse in question is supposed to be very near the Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul. Hmmm ???? ... not sure which lighthouse it is.
The Kizkulesi tower is in the water and too short and dumpy ... Must carry on looking

I'll try to find it, too. I didn't remember that there was a lighthouse in this movie. Thanks, Margret! Melina Mercouri played the female lead, if I recall correctly.

that's right Grace.
And the lighthouse was sending it's beams accross the roof of the museum, so they had to distract the keeper, while they where slowing the mechanism down, so they had time to crawl over the roof and then enter the museum through the window.....
But the tower they showed as "the lighthouse" looked really more like a wailing tower ... Hmmm... :rolleyes:

Puerto Ferro LH in PR was used in Heartbreak Ridge
Great Point, Brant Point, and Sankaty are in the opening credits of Wings. I also saw New Cape Henry on House Hunters once.
Estevan Point in British Columbia was used in the remake of The Fog

Thanks for the additions, Zachary! Slowly but surely, we keep adding to the list.

Another movie for the list.

"Half Light" with Demi Moore, which was released in Great Britain, but never the U.S., debuted on TNT tonight, with a "doctored" lighthouse.

The real lighthouse is in North Wales, and can be seen at the following web site:

http://www.halflightlocations.com/llanddwyn.html


Jim

Okay, back from Tidewater. Thanks, Jim. Don't you just love the Welsh language? I love to hear it spoken but don't understand a bit of it. It appears that Twr Bach was the one used for the movie but I'm not 100% sure.

Split Rock in MN is in "The Good Son".

Thanks, Brindfan! I've added it.

Just remembered another:

"Men In Black II" - Fire Island Lighthouse

There are a few shots of I believe Peggys Cove in Stephen Kings Storm of the Century. Anyone else seen it?

A lighthouse (a pier light or breakwater light) is shown in the final scenes of a movie called "The Skulls". Movie is about a secret college faternity. Craig T Nelson, Paul(can't remember his last name, was the undercover copy in "Fast and the Furious") were in the movie as a father and son.

Since a thread on Lighthouses in Films was started, I thought I'd bring this up for those who weren't around in May 2006.

Bring it to the Front for Judy

Thanks, Bob. This is just want I was looking for.

Judy

Thanks also to Beachcomer. I remember thinking what a fun topic to discuss.

Judy