The Location Managers Guild International (LMGI) is the largest organization of Location Managers and Location Scouts in the motion picture, television, commercial and print production industries. Their membership plays a vital role in the creativ
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48 • LMGI COMPASS | Winter 2023 Back in Pasadena, the filmmakers were able to transform rooms and corridors at the First Baptist Church of Pasadena into a Belgian hospital and Valerie's Amsterdam apartment, built in place on the top floor. The Romanesque-style church was built in 1925. Foulkes says, "That was definitely an example of, you're looking for a period aesthetic and you're not going to hospitals for this. You're creating it somewhere with the correct type of corridors, the correct type of hardware on the doors, and the size of the room and the way the light comes in." "Sometimes we'd just find a room that would work for one shot and turn it into something entirely different," says Wei, referencing a quick shot of a deceased general played by Ed Begley Jr. lying in a pine coffin. "It was probably my favorite of all the locations," says Becker. "It had so much we could do there!" RALLYING FOR THE GRAND FINALE The film's dramatic finale, where the evil plot to co-opt a modest veterans' gala is exposed, is loosely inspired by two dissimilar events both held inside the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden: a 1937 "Boycott Nazi Germany" rally and a 1939 Nazi rally billed as pro-American. Becker says, "It was envisioned as more of a huge hall, more like a Nazi-looking assembly place, very brutalist, very Albert Speer." Her East Coast location manager, David Velasco, had already presented the perfect location in the Worcester Memorial Auditorium in Massachusetts. With the move to L.A., it was now up to Foulkes to match the venue—and meet the expectation. He was given the time to scout what he says were incredible auditoriums throughout California. "The theater was sort of the anchor," he says. "The idea was if we could find an auditorium that made everyone go 'Wow, we have to use this one,' then you could definitely find period houses." But nothing ever stuck. L.A.'s Shrine Expo Hall and Variety Arts Center were favorites for a while, says Foulkes, but COVID meant limiting extras. The idea of a large, cavernous space gave way to finding something less massive in downtown L.A.'s historic movie houses. The decision was finally made to use the 1911 Palace Theatre. Valdez, who managed the Palace with Daoussis, says the max amount of background permitted was about 120. "Looking at those scenes, they did look pretty full of people. I think the Palace gave David flexibility because once you're in the thing, and the way they had it set up, you could almost do a 360 and you're still in New York in the '30s." Becker says, "There was less to cover up at the Palace. It looked more period; it didn't have anything egregious. By egregious, I mean for the story. All of the theaters are beautiful, but the Palace is not so fancy that it feels weird for the scene. It feels a little bit more down to earth." "It's a little more intimate," says Daoussis. "It does have an older Broadway feel." A staircase off the stage right wing that leads into the rafters provided a dynamic, multilevel setting for a climactic chase sequence. Scenes shot at the Palace featured not only the three leads, but also the remaining star-studded cast, including De Niro, Rami Malek, Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Rock, Michael Shannon, Mike Myers, Zoe Saldaña and Timothy Olyphant. "It was probably the biggest base camp that I've had to deal with," says Daoussis. Without one central parking lot that could handle the infrastructure, and COVID dictating social distancing, Daoussis had six or seven parking lots being utilized at all times. The amount of talent and producers on set meant major coordination in the narrow alley behind the Palace, where Escalades were on constant rotation dropping off and picking up at the backstage door. Valdez says that garbage trucks, disgruntled businessowners and the homeless—all who require or desire access to the alley—are standard items to address at a location like the Palace. "But when you have 20 Escalades," says Valdez, "it just multiplies. Most shoots you've got four or five Escalades to deal with. One day on Amsterdam, I counted 25." Interior of New York's famed Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Queen Mary, Long Beach Photo by Merie Weismiller Wallace L-R: Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, and John David Washington at Amsterdam Apartment, First Baptist Church of Pasadena. Photo by Merie Weismiller Wallace