Los Angeles Transit in Film
Historic films that include transit in Los Angeles:
Angora Love (Laurel and Hardy) 1929 - Pacific Electric trains running on Venice Boulevard
Autumn Leaves (Joan Crawford) 1956 - Several Los Angeles GM TDH-4801 old looks appear.
Bright Eyes (Shirley Temple) 1934 - Pacific Electric bus accident scene
D O A (Edmond O'Brien) 1949 - Views of then new trolleybuses in Los Angeles, and PCC cars on LA's Seventh Avenue.
Dead Ringer (Bette Davis) 1964 - Davis rides a Los Angeles old look GM to a funeral as the film opens. You don't see her riding the bus, but it pulls up, stops, and as it pulls away you see Davis walking to the cemetery.
For Heaven's Sake (Harold Lloyd) 1926 - Silent classic shot in Los Angeles features a chase scene involving double-decker bus 663 of Metropolitan Motor Bus Company, also several trolley cars.
Girl Shy (Harold Lloyd) 1924 - Lloyd steals a Los Angeles trolley while the driver and conductor are still leaning on it. Wild scenes ensue.
Haunted Spooks (Harold Lloyd) 1920 - Lloyd tries to kill himself by standing in front of a Los Angeles trolley.
Off His Trolley (Harold Lloyd) 1924 - Late for his wedding, Lloyd commandeers a tram. Views of a Los Angeles streetcar, including a famous sequence in which Lloyd is seen dangling from the trolley pole as the car is moving.
Safety Last (Harold Lloyd) 1923 - Lloyd tries to jump on a moving Los Angeles trolley.
Syncopation (Bonita Granville) 1942 - Los Angeles Railway footage.
The Dancing Masters (Laurel and Hardy) 1943 - Towards the end of the film, Ollie gets trapped aboard a runaway double-decker bus.
The Road to Yesterday (Iron Eyes Cody) 1925 - Pasadena Ocean Park Stage
Trapped (Lloyd Bridges) 1949 - Man rides a Trailways ACF-Brill IC-41: one to two minutes in length near beginning of movie. Later man is cornered in a Los Angeles trolley barn and gets electrocuted on top of a trolley.
Truth, Justice and the American Way (Ben Affleck, Adrian Brody, Diane Lane) 2005 - scenes of Los Angeles MTA buses/streetcars from 1959.
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (Bette Davis) 1962 - There is a brief scene of a Los Angeles New Look GM as Bette Davis pulls up beside it in an old Lincoln Continental auto.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Bob Hoskins) 1988 - Features the tramcars of 'Pacific Electric', otherwise the 'Red Car'. Two cars seen are 721 and 731. Film is a sinister plot to take over the two streetcars lines in Los Angeles in order to dismantle them.
Contemporary Films with Metro bus, rail and facilities:
- Adaptation
- Collateral
- Cradle To The Grave
- Double Bang
- Fat Albert II
- Freaky Links
- Gia
- Hanging Up
- Hollywood Homicide
- LA Confidential
- Last Man Standing II
- Lawnmower Man II
- Lethal Weapon II
- Lost Night
- Minority Report
- Nurse Betty
- Pentagon Wars
- Scorcher
- Speed
- Strange Days
- SWAT
- Swordfish
- The Italian Job
- The One
- Virtuosity
- Volcano
- White Men Can't Jump
Additional information on Metro's appearance in the media can be found at: http://www.metro.net/doing_business/filming_metro/credits.htm
Additional information on various transit systems from across the country and around the world appearing in films, adverts, newsreels and music videos can be found at: http://www.busstation.net/screen/screenfm.htm