Does anybody know where it is? And does it still exist today?
When I first saw it, I thought it was a relic leftover from the atomic tests, but IMDB says the locations were Carson City and Gerlach, NV. That last is in one of the most God-awful remote places in Nevada (and as an AZ resident, that's saying a lot), so I can't believe a building like that would be erected so far out in the boonies. (Look it up on mapquest) That leaves Carson City, but I don't have a clue.
I'd like to take this movie with me and check it out against present-day Gerlach, but once you see how far off the beaten path it is, it will be a long time before I get up there. You have to wonder why this three-street town even exists, for there are no mines or cattle ranches nearby. Secret govt installation?
UPDATE 04-06: I spent a couple of pleasant hours researching this question as that place really caught my attention. I checked with a webmaster who had a historical site on Gerlach and said I had just seen the movie and asked about that building, among other things. She wrote: "I watched it recently too. I can tell you a lot. The really cool "wireframe" type of building is not in Gerlach, or the old mine in Empire, it's a place called American Flats outside of Virginia City. I'm thinking the tower they were on is somewhere between Virginia City and Sparks, NV.
(I asked about the "Palomino Trailer park" and whether it was still there or did they change the name for the movie.) There is no trailer park around the water tower, that was brought in. Although there ARE some trailers around. The teal colored trailer IS still in Gerlach, and well. you should see that before it's gone. It probably won't be there much longer. The water tower still stands.
(Any locals remember being extras?) Yes, a few locals were extras, but for the most part, much of the movie was shot elsewhere."
What is REALLY cool is that Gerlach has a live cam mounted on the roof of the country store (now an office for the Burning man" event), updated every minute. It's at http://visitgerlach.com/current-conditions-cams/
The water tower (without the trailer park) is on the right and the gas station where the actors first pulled into is across the street center left. Looks like a private residence now. The "office" where the actors met that harridan of an owner (Susan Tyrell) is to the viewers right.
Man, to move in all those trailers, set up the swimming pool, do some weatherbeating on the sign, etc. just for the movie is a mind blower. At first I thought the "trailer park" was a real one filmed somewhere else, but when the camera pans over the scene, the street is in Gerlach.
I found out the town of Empire, 5 miles south, housed a lot of workers for U.S. Gypsum Co. which made wallboard, etc. since 1923. They folded in 2011 due to the housing crash and Empire instantly became a ghost town, with Gerlach not much better. At least that explains the remote location. reply share