Tiki building in "Every Which Way But Loose"?

Family is about to kill me....We started watching "Every Which Way But Loose", the Clint Eastwood movie where "Clint plays with his monkey"...(sorry, couldn't resist)...

At the beginning of the movie, after the opening credits and the fight scene in the bar, they show Clint driving his truck when he makes a right turn in front of an old tiki-looking establishment. "Whoa!", I shout as I scramble for the remote to rewind the disc. Everybody's asking me what I'm doing....."That looked like a tiki restaurant!!!". Collective groan from the others in the room. I rewind and take in as much info as I can without holding up the movie too much.

Clint turns right, the sign on the roof of the establishment says "Taco Sabroso" or something like that. There's a sign directing towards "I-5", also called the "Golden Gate Expressway".

Movie is still playing, so I can't try to gleen anymore info for now. Did a search for Movie locations for "Every Which Way But Loose", but found no info on this location. Search shows the "Black Widows" motorcycle club of the movie is based in Pacoima, which I believe is the San Fernando Valley?????? (not from California, just info from the net), but the location could be anywhere.

Did a search for the movie, San Fernando Valley and Pacoima on TC, but came up nothing....Anybody know what or where this location is?

howlinowl

On 2011-05-17 13:45, howlinowl wrote:
There's a sign directing towards "I-5", also called the "Golden Gate Expressway".

Well, IMDB list the locations used here, sadly no addresses listed (as they are on some pages).

Are you sure the sign said "Golden Gate" and not "Golden State?" Because I don't see any NorCal locations listed and I've never seen references to the "Golden Gate" anywhere on signage in SoCal. The I-5 is also generally referred to as "The Golden State Freeway/Highway/Etc" (at least in SoCal as far as I've ever heard) because it runs the Entire length of California, The Golden State. If it indeed was "Golden Gate" then maybe it was put up by the film crew as location dressing?

Wish I could help you with the location, but the SFV is pretty large and I'm only familiar with small sections of it, I don't make the trip over the hill too often.

Bear

Maybe Golden State.... just did a quick rewind and pause to get what I could. Movie is over, but I'm getting ready for work (graveyard shift). I'll try to see if I can get any more info from the scene tomorrow, maybe some background businesses or something.

Movie was filmed in '77 or '78 and it looks from the quick peek I took that it had become a taco joint quite a time before that. From what I can remember, not many cars in the lot, so the taco place may have gone under by that time.

Anybody know how to do a screen capture???? Or maybe nip a bit of it to post to youtube?

howlinowl

If you find the scene on YouTube and pause on the frame, sometimes you can use the "Print Screen" key to capture the entire screen. Then you'll need to paste it into a photo editor program and probably crop out the extra.

I looked at youtube, but can't find the scene there. They have the bar fight before, but it doesn't go far enough. I got the DVD, but haven't been able to capture screen or copy any movies before on my wife's 'puter (mine doesn't have DVD drive) before, so I'm sure it's the same with this one. Dunno if anyone knows of any free or shareware that I might be able to take it off the DVD??

howlinowl

The "Taco Sabroso" sign may have been put in place for the purposes of the film so that may not have been the actual name of the establishment.

Some of the film was also shot in Jackson Hole, Wyoming so the Golden Gate/State Freeway sign may have been placed in the shot to locate the story in California. That said...

There was a Golden Gate Freeway planned for San Francisco but I don't believe that it was completed, it may not have even been started. (It was suppose to connect up with the eyesore Embarcadero Freeway which was mercifully destroyed beyond repair in '89 when Loma Prieta quake hit.) At any rate, the sign may be legit as Eastwood made many films in the San Francisco area and it's possible that some signage for the planned freeway had been erected - I have it in my head that I've seen it before.

Ovarian Cancer Research

[ Edited by: LOL Tiki 2011-05-17 16:31 ]

That scene was probably filmed in Los Angeles. The I-5 is called the Golden State Fwy out here.

I'll see if I can Netflix the movie and do a good screen grab using "Power DVD" on my computer. That building sounds very interesting.

Howler, it's pretty low-tech, but you can photograph the TV screen. You can do several and post the best one until something better is posted.

Thanks, Lizard...that's it.

howlinowl

Well, I watched the scene again....not a whole lot to add. Earlier in the frame, when the camera is facing the other direction (with the suspect building at your back), you can see a "Chet's Truck Repair" shop across the street. Looks to be a run of the mill concrete block building. There is part of a phone number for Chet's..prefix is something like "763" or "743" or "748" or "746" or something....first number looks like a seven but the other two are hard to make out (at least I think it's a prefix...back then area codes, at least in Kansas where I was from covered large areas, area code were pretty much a given". The rest of the number is covered by a truck. Chet's building doew have a round clock mounted on top...looks old, so it was probably there for a while. Did a google search for "Chet's Truck Repair", but only came up with links to "Chet's Truck Service in Yakama, Washington, so Chet's is probably no longer in business.

As Clint's truck rolls directly in front of the camera, the background is nothing but blurred, so nothing to be found there.

Looking for clues as to the direction this particular road goes, as looking down the street with the suspect building to your back, there are mountains in the background, and some in the background as you are looking toward the suspect building. And from the sign, this street looks to lead toward I-5 as you face the suspect building. Being unfamilar with California, this means little to me, but may mean something to a native.

howlinowl

I'm no expert on the San Fernando Valley. (Sure I love the Bear Pit and can find my way along Sepulveda. AND I used to shop at FEDCO. But I'm no expert.) But that looks like the very east side like San Fernando Road or there abouts. It also looks to me like the shot is looking to the south.

Some valley experts need to chime in.

Edited to add: the building looks more like a San Fernando Valley BBQ joint than a tiki establishment.

[ Edited by: Naneki 2011-05-18 14:35 ]

I posted a topic in the Los Angeles section of the forum on city-data.com to see if anybody might be able to identify the building or location. Bit of a long shot, I tried this with "Moon Garden" in Fort Pierce but got no replies....

http://www.city-data.com/forum/los-angeles/1282032-building-id-every-way-but-loose.html#post19210056

howlinowl

Maybe, but based on the columns to the entrance (visible just behind Clint's truck) I was thinking at least asian....might just be a Chinese joint that never was polynesian. That long thing off of the side, looks to be a covered walkway, had me thinking maybe drive-in restaurant? We used to have a A-frame drive-in restaurant in Lake Park Florida that they tore down a long time ago (bastards!), but it didn't have the cantalever style (i think that's the word I'm looking for) roof. Still leaning towards chinese or polynesian to me.

howlinowl

I think folks tend to forget how popular the A-frame shape was in roadside culture from the 60s on. A-frame does not automatically spell Tiki. This one is too close to the road for a Polynesian restaurant, and probably was some burger stand. It could have been a Wienerschnitzel, an I-Hop, a Mr. Swiss or a Whataburger:

http://www.agilitynut.com/eateries/aframe.html

i'm going with hot dog stand..... looks like a long thin roof coming off the side, the kind car hops would roll up to to take your order. sven's right.... and for a side note, the mid west is full of A-frames, most if not all of which were never tiki. A-frame homes were a big deal around here in the 70's. - as for an Ihop, the building is not long enough to be an Ihop. - there are a least 5 I know of in the area here still in operation, though not all as Ihops.

That was all shot at the northern end of Lankershim where it dead ends into San Fernando road. That A-frame is still standing just north of the 5 fwy. about 3 blocks south of valley thrift (if anyone is familiar.)

Received a reply on the post at city-data.com

"That"tiki house" could be located at Lankershim and Telfair. I think that the residential house was on Peoria."

Getting ready for work (damn graveyard shift), I'll probably pull it up on google maps later, unless someone beats me to it.

howlinowl

I know where this is!!

It is Lankershim just south of Valley Thrift. I've driven past it hundreds of times. Old burger joint.

?

I WIN !!!!

Just got home and checked this thread.... what a letdown. Sure looks different close up. I had mentioned drive in restaurant in a previous thread....but I let the thought of discovering....MY DISCOVERY... of a long lost tiki paradise, cloud my senses and see what I wanted to see. I could have been like Magellan when he discovered the Philippine Islands. Brought Christianity to the natives. What ever happened to him?? Oh, yeah. That's right. Nevermind. Maybe it's a good thing it was just a burger joint.

Thanks for everybodies help in identifying this. At least now when I watch the movie, I won't always wonder what that was or where it is.

howlinowl

The Google Street View looks like it has been modified, since the movie. In the movie, it looked like an open air drive-in awning, extending out. Now, it looks 'filled-in'.