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Does anyone know the name of the streets in Georgetown that Chris walks along when she is going home after the film shoot? I have tried on google earth but I am not sure about the exact location.
Maybe the street looks much different now than it did back in 1973 so I probably couldn’t recognize it. I have slowly and carefully gone the entire route, from the house on Prospect to the University {not far at all, in fact I was shocked at how close it actually is, because in the film it seems much further for some reason} and all over the nearby streets and still I am not sure about the exact street/s.If anyone is familiar with that particular area I would love to know.
Try using google street view. I did it and found most of the locations. I’m afraid I can’t remember them now but they are all pretty near to Prospect Street, however not necessarily actually between the house and university.
Iron Fist,
We’ve all had a huge discussion over the house location and it’s appearance then and now (look around a little bit on here). The exact filming location is 3600 Prospect Street.
What is a little confusing viewing the house using Google’s Street View, as Jagged suggests and I agree with, is that a part of the exterior of the home was built exclusively for The Exorcist. With this exterior left-wing facade, the infamous “Hitchcock Steps” appear much closer to Regan’s bedroom window and vice versa. In fact, the steps are really far away. For obvious reasons, the wing was torn down after filming. While the house is real, only exterior shots were filmed using the combined real house and fake addition.
Trust me, it’s very confusing to get your mind around it, especially today. Here’s a quick view of the Hitchcock Steps and notice where the house is actually located: here.
“He is a liar, the demon is a liar. He will lie to
confuse us. But he will also mix lies with the truth to attack
us.”Father Bowdern
Yes I know all about the house and how they added a fake wing. What I was trying to figure out was which streets in the area Chris took on her walk home. After carefully studying street view and all possible options it appears that her ‘walk’ was not the exact route from the Uni to the house. They must have filmed this scene in another part of Georgetown. Now if I only knew which part.
Location 1 outside 1488 36th St NW. At the junction with 37th St NW and P St NW. Heading south down 36th St. This is where she walks past the girl with the shopping bag and the kids dressed for Halloween.
I should have added her journey starts at the University’s South Gate House, junction of 37th St NW and N St NW.
That old brick wall to the north around the university grounds looks very much like the one the nuns walk past but I haven’t found a section that matches yet. Street view doesn’t go all the way round so it’s searching on Google Earth for me now.
I have a nagging feeling I read somewhere that Freidkin stated the shot with the bike was done in new York. I will check and report back.Jagged,
Where did you find out about these filming location coordinates? Just curious if you’ve read this or if you’re using Google Earth’s street view to approximate.
Father Bowdern
I just wandered around using street view on Google Maps and some logic. Took me about an hour to cover most of the local area The locations are easy to check, there are only 5 shots in that sequence 2 of those are junctions and there are only so many in the area around Prospect Street and the University. Just a matter of elimination and patience.
The location of the shot of Chris leaving the University grounds was easy to find. Just check out all the available ways in and out.
The wall with the nuns walking by is most likely to be one of those around the university as the stone type matches to a tee, it could be shot from within the grounds though, I’ve not found the location.
The shot of Karras talking to the novice is a tricky one, it’s a church exterior alright, I’m pretty sure that’s a genuine notice board on the wall but it could be another New York shot.Jagged,
Very nice work! The real reason I asked is because I may have a trip to D.C. coming up next week (although I may wiggle my out of going). These addresses/coordinates will help me out. I’ll use my GPS during my journey.
Also, I remember somewhere on here that a contributor published a “then-and-now” of the sites in D.C. Alas, I can’t find this more fleshed-out video. However, I did find this one that is perspectively more informed regarding the house and the steps here.
Father Bowdern
Thanks Jagged!
The wall with the nuns walking by is most likely to be one of those around the university as the stone type matches to a tee, it could be shot from within the grounds though, I’ve not found the location.
The wall with the nuns walking by is definitely 37th St NW, right next to the entrance to the Uni where Chris begins her walk.
The shot of Karras talking to the novice is a tricky one, it’s a church exterior alright, I’m pretty sure that’s a genuine notice board on the wall but it could be another New York shot
This shot as you say must be from NY as I simply can’t find its location in the general area.
Father Bowdern said:
However, I did find this one that is perspectively more informed regarding the house and the steps here.
In that video the guy says that the interior shots of the MacNeil house were filmed in LA. From what I remember it was NY, a sound stage on Manhattan I believe.
Iron Fist,
I didn’t even pay attention to what he said regarding NY or LA for interior shots. I’ve only known about NY. However, here’s the link to the film’s sites with additional information.
Like a lot of interior shots in this film, “Dahlgren Chapel on the Georgetown campus, … is the site of a ritual desecration; however, the chapel interior seen in the film is not that of Dahlgren. Since church officials did not give William Friedkin permission to shoot the scene depicting a desecrated statue of the Virgin Mary (it was considered too blasphemous), a church in New York was used as a stand-in.”
Gee, I wonder why one church was okay with this in NY, but Dahlgren officials were not?
Father Bowdern
Iron Fist said:
The wall with the nuns walking by is definitely 37th St NW, right next to the entrance to the Uni where Chris begins her walk.I’m not 100% convinced. I did a frame by frame comparison and couldn’t find matching stone patterns. There is also that ironwork behind the nuns (either a drainpipe or railing of some kind) that is missing, that could have been removed over the years though.
Father Bowdern said:
Like a lot of interior shots in this film, “Dahlgren Chapel on the Georgetown campus, … is the site of a ritual desecration; however, the chapel interior seen in the film is not that of Dahlgren. Since church officials did not give William Friedkin permission to shoot the scene depicting a desecrated statue of the Virgin Mary (it was considered too blasphemous), a church in New York was used as a stand-in.”
Gee, I wonder why one church was okay with this in NY, but Dahlgren officials were not?
Father Bowdern
That is quite interesting.
Maybe the church in NY was just more liberal. It could have been a ‘progressive’ Protestant Church, as opposed to an extremely conservative Catholic one which would never allow something like that to be filmed inside its walls.
I’m not 100% convinced. I did a frame by frame comparison and couldn’t find matching stone patterns. There is also that ironwork behind the nuns (either a drainpipe or railing of some kind) that is missing, that could have been removed over the years though
You could be right.
I will have to have another closer look. My initial feeling was that it had to be the same wall.By the way, I also tried to look for the tennis courts where the Karas Kinderman scene is shot and found some in the university grounds but they dont seem to correspond with the scenery in the film.
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