MovieChat Forums > Charley Varrick (1973) Discussion > Locations - airfield scene

Locations - airfield scene

posted 15 years ago by gschwertley
5 replies | jump to latest

Okay, I have conflicting information re. the airfield/junkyard scene at the end of the movie. One source says this was filmed at the airport south of Fernley, NV. I've been there and it looks right (no junkyard there now). In the movie, on a hill in the background you can see an advertisement for Harvey's Inn carved into the dirt. That's not to be seen at Fernley now.

In the IMDb locations notes on this site, it says that this scene was filmed at a junkyard in Mustang, NV but I don't think the terrain is right for this to be true.

[–] defiant-10 15 years ago

I've done a lot of latter-day site-scouting for this movie, as it's one of my little favorites. Opening bank segment is in Genoa, the gun shop was in Gardnerville. The Chinese restaurant had been in Reno on Virginia {becoming a camera shop and big & tall clothing shop), but has been razed for a Starbuck's recently. The Chrysler repo scene was at the south end of Genoa, and the house is an antiques shop now. That Harvey's sign on the hillside was what got me started. I've not checked Mustang yet, but that's my first suspicion of where the airstrip was. Siegel mentions in his autobiography ("A Siegel Film: An Autobiography") that there was trouble between him and the junkyard owner. I'm sure it was on eastbound I-80 east of Reno, and I don't find other locations likely. I've looked on 50 as far east as Silver Springs, but the terrain just tapers off and out-of-character there.

I'm curious where the "blowtorch and pliers" ranch gate location is, as well.

What I had in mind was boxing the compass.

[–] skatepunkkid 15 years ago

Actually I think that junkyard was somewhere on US 50 east of Carson City, and I think the ranch scene was somewhere in the valley near the bottom of Kingsberry Grade. Great movie BTW.

"Ya never know what ya don't know, ya know?"

[–] gschwertley 14 years ago

I don't think the Harvey's sign carved into the hillside was along I-80. In the closing scenes of the movie, the two-lane road nearby and the sign are in the same area. I-80 was extant at the time of the filming, and not a two-lane road.

[–] gschwertley 8 years ago

Okay, I've nailed this one. I was wrong about it not being along I-80. This location is along Interstate 80 near the locality of McCarran, on the south side of the highway. Wrecking yard has long since been cleared away. The Harvey's Wagon Wheel sign was on a hillside west of here, on the north side of I-80 on the way toward the locality of Lockwood. The materials that comprised the sign have been removed but you can still see unnatural traces of where it was, plus a faint remainder of the dirt road up the side of the hill. There are many other structures that have been constructed in the area since the time the movie was made in 1973.

[–] gschwertley 8 years ago

Actually, it was never an airfield. There was a longish, cleared area east of the junkyard. However, it appears that for the purposes of the film, cars were moved out of the way and this area was extended into the junkyard area. Being a long, clear strip it resembles a short landing field but I don't think it ever really was.

I was looking too hard for the Harvey's Wagon Wheel sign in the terrain. My idea was that it was bulldozed into the landscape, or perhaps even poured concrete (I've seen a couple such before), something of a fairly permanent nature. I now don't think this was the case; I think something more temporary was used, such as corrugated metal panels or similar material. Something that could later be removed without leaving much permanent trace.