New York - "Do You feel lucky… punk?” With these iconic words Clint Eastwood etched his character, “Dirty” Harry Callahan, into our collective memory.
It is inescapable how Hollywood has cultivated our impression of what America is all about.
New York
It has songs sung about it, it’s the city that never sleeps and this Big Apple is also home to a truck load of iconic movies that showcase its amazing sights. Travis Bickle, played by Robert de Niro, is the disgruntled taxi driver in the movie of the same name who turns vigilante in an attempt to purge New York of sleaze and prostitution. The iconic yellow cab taxi of New York is central to the movie.
On a much lighter note, Breakfast At Tiffany’s and the Seven Year Itch star two of Hollywood’s most iconic leading ladies – Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe. Who can forget that scene when Marilyn is standing over a subway grate and as the train below her rushes past her dress swirls up reflecting a lovely set of legs and one of the most recognisable images of her ever captured?
The Manhattan skyline is equally famous in the movies. Think of the giant ape that was brought to New York as an attraction but escaped. Yes, the mighty King Kong was “filmed” swatting airplanes and dodging bullets as he clung to the Empire State Building.
Take a bite of the Big Apple and book a Luxury Gold trip on Insight Vacations Elegance of the East and marvel at all the attractions New York has to offer…
San Francisco
Dirty Harry contains so many great scenes that showcase San Francisco such as Golden Gate Park, North Beach, Washington Square, San Francisco City Hall and the Bank of America Building where the “do you feel lucky… punk” words were uttered.
But the city is also the setting for many other classics such as Escape From Alcatraz, Alfred Hitchcock’s classic Vertigo and the movie that still rates as the one with the best ever car chase scenes – Bullitt.
In Hitchcock’s Vertigo, movie- goers are treated to a plethora of San Francisco locations that would make any travel brochure proud. From the luxury apartment atop Nob Hill to Union Square, the Palace of Fine Arts, the Presidio and Fort Point, Scottie (played by actor James Stewart) chases the beautiful Madeleine Elster all over this city.
Steven McQueen takes on the role of Frank Bullitt in the movie Bullitt and is entrusted to guard and keep alive a mobster until he appears in front of the grand jury.
During the film, shot entirely in San Francisco, Bullitt battles police corruption, hit men intent on doing their best work and police bureaucracy in this thriller.
There is a lot of the city on display but it is the iconic car chase between Bullitt and the killer that sets this film apart.
The edited scene is over 10 minutes long as Bullitt drives his way into silver-screen history in his Ford Mustang.
They race from the Fisherman’s Wharf area at Columbus and Chestnut, followed by a midtown shooting on Hyde and Laguna Streets, until it all ends outside the city at the Guadalupe Canyon Parkway in Brisbane.
Insight Vacations offers you two days of exploring San Francisco on its Best of California itinerary, which includes many of the famous sights including the Golden Gate Park, Union Square and Chinatown.
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