MovieChat Forums > The Satan Bug (1965) Discussion > Palm Springs location

Palm Springs location

posted 16 years ago by mojaveguy
12 replies | jump to latest

I enjoy the scene early in the movie where Frank Sutton drives to the hillside home to meet the psycho partner, Ed Asner. Below the house is the sprawling desert of 1965 with a mountain range in the distant view. Every time I watch that scene I think that the vast expanse of desert is now wall to wall subdivision, shopping malls and/or wind generators. Can anyone from Southern California confirm if that is the case?

The location house for the scientist found dead in the swimming pool is also a beautiful location. Easy to imagine taking a swim and having a drink on a warm evening under the stars with Frank Sinatra on the hi-fi system. Oh yes, a beautiful babe hovering near by.

[–] BigJohnPilgrim 16 years ago

My first thought exactly on both of those scenes, Palm Springs and especially the hillside homes.

Come see a fat old man sometime!

[–] zxcv-9 16 years ago

I love the locations in this movie. I think the hillside home is on Southridge Drive. I haven't yet found the house where the body was found in the pool - it might not exist now. I believe I have located the spot where the research facility exterior was built. It's under a golf course, predictably.

The Pines to Palms Highway is where the helicopter lands and almost crashes on takeoff near the end of the film.

[–] zxcv-9 15 years ago

The house where the body is found in the pool is still there. It is off JFK Trail, about 450 yards south of the intersection of Portola Ave and Irontree Dr.

The house has had an extension built on it, but the pool looks just the same. It's a pity that the glorious view across the desert doesn't exist anymore - the surrounding area has been developed.

[–] jbogos 15 years ago

I can't believe I did this. I google-mapped it based on your street names and got it to what I think is one square block. I'm wondering if its the near empty lot w/ the pool in the middle at the end of JFK Trail. It's been years since I seen the movie but remember the wonderful desert vistas from that particular location.
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=33.689839,-116.3893&z=17&t=h&hl=en

Great movie btw - and even better double feature: Andromeda Strain/Satan Bug. Anxious to get this on DVD.

[–] zxcv-9 15 years ago

It certainly looks like it to me. Microsoft Virtual Earth gives you a pretty good view of the pool.

[–] bwiggins-1 12 years ago

The hillside home with the Sutton & Asner scene is at 2203 Southridge Drive. The house has been remodeled since the film was shot there (e.g. the garage seen in the film is now a living area), but the walk-down entry is the same. It's known as "The McQueen House in Southridge."

From http://www.expointrealty.com/printable.php?property_ID=130995...

"Previously owned by the famous actor, Steve McQueen, this home is a "mid-century time-capsule" of Palm Springs' past. Located high on the ridge above Palm Springs in the prestigious Southridge community, it has the seclusion, glamour, history and mystique of the '60s and '70s Hollywood elite. A double door front entrance with brass lion head doorknobs soars two stories. Inside, a split-level terrazzo foyer is adorned with hand carved, braided wooden and metal railings. The living room is a steel I-beam and glass Modernist box projected into the magnificent city and mountain views and is surrounded by a cantilevered wrap-around balcony with sliding glass door entries to the pool & private yard. The master suite sprawls along the second level, open entirely to the view by floor to ceiling glass. Each bedroom has a private bath and is furnished with original pieces of the period. The home offers a separate guest casita with full bath. Designed by Hugh M. Kaptur for Thomas Griffing."

At the time of that web page, it was offered for sale at $3,470,000.

The brochure for the house is at http://www.expointrealty.com/files/images/10591/arch/MCQUEEN_FLYER.pdf

[–] zxcv-9 12 years ago

Thanks for that bwiggins. Good work.

Now, where's that $3,470,000? It was around here somewhere...

[–] bwiggins-1 12 years ago

Thanks zxcv-9.

Another "wow has Palm Springs ever changed" location is at 1:33 into the picture, when Hoffman's car with Barrett as his captive pulls off the road near a Texaco service station and parks in front of a 50's ranch house-style cafe.

It's at the northwest corner of N. Indian Canyon Drive and Garnet Avenue (33 54.141N, 116 32.724W). The white, warehouse-looking building on the southwest corner is still there, somewhat remodeled, but the rest of the area has been transformed from a quaint roadside cafe to a big truck stop complete with (you guessed it) a Jack-in-the-Box.

The $3,470,000 Question is... where was the location of the abandoned gas station set where Jimmy Doohan bit the dust? Lining up the mountains on GoogleEarth, my guess would be somewhere near the intersection of N. Gene Autry Trail and E. Vista Chino (33 50.706N, 116 30.358W)... or possibly a couple miles east near Vista Chino & Landau Blvd.... both in areas that are now heavily built up.

[–] victor-41 11 years ago

While we're on the subject of imaginary money, am I the only one who fell in love with the trailer park used in the movie? Never thought of living in one in my life but that one was so cute. Wonder if it's still there and, if so, how much.

[–] jimking-2 11 years ago

As someone who is always wondering about movie locations; let me thank you all for the great contributions to this thread!

[–] zxcv-9 11 years ago

I'm feeling quite proud of myself because after a pretty lengthy search I have found the trailer park. It is still there after nearly fifty years. It hasn't changed much either.

It is at 33°41'11.66"N 116°24'19.05"W off the Pines to Palms Highway and is now called "Silver Spur Mobile Manor."

I was looking around all over the place with Google Earth until it occurred to me the trailer park might still be a trailer park. All I did then was to put "trailer park" in the search box. Silver Spur was the first one I looked at and I confirmed it by looking at the profiles of the mountains.

[–] WhiteWolf_McBride 8 years ago

I ~thought~ I recognised the house next door in Google, the so-called 'Elrod House', so I selected it - 71 images but it only took 2 for me to recognise it.

Its Willard White's residence from James Bond #7,"Diamonds are Forever", where White is kept captive by Bambi & Thumper, and Bert Saxby tries to shoot him. from the slope below (toward Rim Road)