Locations

[cigar joe]

Thanks Jewles, glad you are part of us now, enjoy!

[LITTLE BIG MAN]

Wow, A1!
That is amazing location work!
My name is Jewels (Julie Cohen) I played Young Peggy in the film.
I was going to respond to your earlier post asking about the rooftop scene, but when I kept scrolling down, I saw you had figured it out. Amazing!
It was great for me when we filmed that scene because I was living in Soho at the time and walked about a half a block to go to work.
One incredible thing to me was that the crew had to go around the neighborhood for a couple of weeks before the shoot and persuade people to let them take down their TV antennas. As you've said this was way before any CGI.
Another great memory of shooting that scene-
Denier came to the set that day for an old age make up test. I totally DID NOT recognize him!
He watched us shoot the scene and afterwards gave me a hug (yes, a HUG!) and told me I did a good job. It meant so much to me....
It was actually the only time I met him while working on the film.
I'm really enjoying cruising around this board and I'm happy to answer questions about my experience working on OUATIA.
Peace!

Hi Julie (Jewels) - Really kind of you to come on and share your recollections with us of the OUATIA shoot and especially your meeting with the great Bobby D - Great Story

Thought you (& other posters) would be interested in the amazing lengths De Niro went to to portray the elderly Noodles.  One of the first things he did, was to study the behaviour of elderly people, to arrange a series of makeup tests and to practise ageing his voice.  "It took so long to put the makeup on - four to six hours - that I was so tired I had to look old.  You get up at three, start at four, and go to work at eight or nine.  After weeks of tests with De Niro's first choice of make up artist Chris Tucker (Elephant Man) - De Niro/Leone took on three Italians - Jacoponi/Rocchetti/Zamprioli "One of the great make - up jobs in movie history (Leone). "De Niro put on that makeup for two and a half months.  And he had to shave his head and his cheeks.  He entered into the spirit of things with a made love, a professionalism and a total obedience.  He loves his craft so much" (Leone).  There is a great photo of De Niro in full makeup/costume as the elderly Noodles sitting sleeping at the Mausoleum Riversdale Cemetery scene - while the crew go about their business.  Also remember Leone telling a story - when the cast/crew had finished a long days shooting and were thinking about going home or going for dinner - De Niro was still acting like an old man - asking for extra blankets while he was in his trailer!

Anyway Jewels keep the stories coming

PS Your scene with Scott Tiler (toilet) is one of the great scenes in the film - you really hit it out the Ball Park

[Jewels]

Hey there!
The scenes in the building hallway were shot in Chinatown, can't remember exactly where.....
maybe Canal & Bayard St?
Thanks for posting the photos! I have one of the moment Peggy's Mom opens the door and Patsy sees me in the tub.
I'll have to scan it and post it for you guys. I'm sure you know that playing Peggy's Mom was Estelle Harris - later to get REALLY famous as George Costanza's mother on Seinfeld.

Thanks for your compliment about the toilet scene. That was the only scene I got to shoot at Cinecitta. They replicated that Chinatown tenement down to the last detail. It was amazing.

[rusty26]

This thread just gets better and better, now with Jewels adding valuable first hand information from the actual filming.

A1, your trip to NY is quickly approaching.  This may already be your intention - but if not - how about writing a OUATIA related diary from your trip for all of us to share?  Maybe with your own recommendations on how to make the most out of such a trip, and perhaps some useful tips on which public transportation to use in order to get to the various location spots in the NY area (if you are not using a car).  Myself, I have been planning a trip to NY (from Norway) for quite some time in order to visit the locations.  I have good hope that it will take place next spring, much thanks to the inspiration from all the research you have been doing. Thanks again!   

[cigar joe]

If I can help any of you guys let me know (I was a NYC resident for years), 

[LITTLE BIG MAN]

Thanks to Jewels we now know that the toilet scene was filmed at Cinecitta and the hallway scenes in Chinatown.



The view from this window looks genuine and the bridge structure and height very similar to the Chinatown end of Manhattan bridge. 













Best guess at the moment is a building to the south of Henry St or Madison St

A1 Your work on this thread is nothing short of staggering - absolutely indispensable.

Kudos 

[Noodles_SlowStir]

Thanks to Jewels we now know that the toilet scene was filmed at Cinecitta and the hallway scenes in Chinatown.

Thanks Jewels.

Thank you A1.  You identified the area so quickly.  Great updates. 

[LITTLE BIG MAN]

A1 came across this by accident a while back and thought you would be interested.

In the scene where young Noodles kills the cop, you can see the sign The Weekend Feeling Abraham & Straus at the top of a building!

Did a bit of research and discovered that Abraham & Straus had their flagship Dept. store on Fulton Street Brooklyn (sold to Macy's in the 90's).

The sign looks a bit 80's was thinking maybe Sergio didn't think the camera would pick it up and therefore didn't think the sign would need to be covered.

Anyway maybe some NY/Brooklyn posters may remember the store - back in the 80's.

[moviesceleton]

There's probably some signs of modern life behind this fence which have been temporarily covered up.

I've never noticed how suspicious that fence looks

[Noodles_SlowStir]

Leone talked about some of the difficulties he experienced in filming in the States compared to Canada, France or Italy.
I guess mostly issues with the various unions.  He did say that while filming in those neighborhoods in New York, many of the residents were quite gracious.  He was appreciative and impressed with the sacrifice they made in allowing him to shoot on location.  In addition  to allowing him to take down their television antennas, many of their buildings and windows were covered by set facades.  He said that they put up with this inconvenience for almost four months and were hardly compensated.


 

[PowerRR]

I don't think it's possible for anyone to love OUATIA as much as A1.

[dave jenkins]

Thanks, A1. As someone who just re-located to Westchester County this week (at a spot 30 miles north of Manhattan), I'm particularly interested in your comments. One of these weekends when I get the chance I'll go down into the city and take the "tour." And a word to the wise: I too made the mistake of flying into JFK (90 minute wait for bags!) only to learn that my friend who flies frequently to NYC always goes via the Newark airport. Apparently, there's a super convenient train that runs into Grand Central from there. In future, that's the way I'll be entering and leaving the region.

EDIT: The train actually runs into Penn Station, not GC.

[moviesceleton]

Thanks, A1! That was a nice read  I can't wait to see the pics.

Anyone else think that we should make some kind of tour instructions that could possibly be added to the main site (fistful-of-leone.com)? This, of course, should be done with care and it would need an approval (and probably some work) from Cal, but I think it would be a really great addition to the site.

[dave jenkins]

Good idea! I'd also like to see directions to the Arch and something about the Almeria locations.

[cigar joe]

Yea for sure  tour instructions

dj maybe we should meet up in the city and check out the Brooklyn sites some day,