Last updated: March 17, 2024
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Notes on Individual Scenes
Note that I do not post locations on the maps unless I have a pretty good idea exactly where they were filming. I dont post White Sands, for example, because I don't know exactly where they were there.
(The Galloping Horse location and the We Gas Station sites are newly-entered, and still need to be verified and cross-checked, if possible.)
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Stock space imagery from the Apollo program
Southern NM vista & lake?
Fenton Lake, NM
Walk down mining scree hill past ruined building - roughly (35.404241°, -106.153891°)
View from hilltop - roughly (35.403526°, -106.152595°)
Haneyville sign - Los Lunas (34.805019°, -106.719448°)
Trini's Bar and Lounge/ Pawn Shop - Original locations along Highway 6 likely long since erased
Wad of cash - east side of river (34.804022°, -106.716608°)
Oliver's house
View of big city - NYC
Fenton Lake, NM
Walk down mining scree hill past ruined building - roughly (35.404241°, -106.153891°)
View from hilltop - roughly (35.403526°, -106.152595°)
Haneyville sign - Los Lunas (34.805019°, -106.719448°)
Trini's Bar and Lounge/ Pawn Shop - Original locations along Highway 6 likely long since erased
Wad of cash - east side of river (34.804022°, -106.716608°)
Oliver's house
View of big city - NYC
Oliver's house
Limo ride - Thinking SB 3rd St. - (35.085901°, -106.650164°)
Campus - New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI) in Roswell, NM
Dr. Bryce's House
Japanese Kabuki performance
NYC
Limo ride - Thinking SB 3rd St. - (35.085901°, -106.650164°)
Campus - New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI) in Roswell, NM
Dr. Bryce's House
Japanese Kabuki performance
NYC
Oliver Farnsworth's Office/ Dr. Bryce's House
"It's what I want" drive/ View from Highway 165 in the Sandias - (35.227084°, -106.403649°)
Office (Sunspot, NM?)
Vicinity of Hwy 285 and Main St. in Artesia
Hotel Artesia - Hotel
203 N 2nd St
Artesia, NM 88210
Hotel Artesia Barber Shop
Vicinity of Hwy 285 and Main St. in Artesia - NE corner
"It's what I want" drive/ View from Highway 165 in the Sandias - (35.227084°, -106.403649°)
Office (Sunspot, NM?)
Vicinity of Hwy 285 and Main St. in Artesia
Hotel Artesia - Hotel
203 N 2nd St
Artesia, NM 88210
Hotel Artesia Barber Shop
Vicinity of Hwy 285 and Main St. in Artesia - NE corner
Dr. Bryce's House
Artesia Alfalfa Grower's Association and the Navajo Refinery quite recognizable
View out Mr. Farnsworth's Albuquerque office - First Plaza
Artesia Alfalfa Grower's Association and the Navajo Refinery quite recognizable
View out Mr. Farnsworth's Albuquerque office - First Plaza
NMMI Campus
ABQ Sunport - departures
View out Mr. Farnsworth's Albuquerque office - This is in the First Plaza Galeria. The Albuquerque Convention Center parking garage was under construction at this time, but First Plaza was already there (since it had opened in 1972).
Hotel Artesia room - "It's so strange here; the trains"
Artesia Visitors Bureau and Chamber of Commerce
First Presbyterian Church - 402 W. Grand Avenue, Artesia, New Mexico, USA
Galloping Horse - Sandias are clearly visible. Candidate location is 1600 Malpais Rd. SW. I like this location because it's very close to one of the candidate Chevron stations (Isleta Blvd. Chevron, 7630 Isleta Blvd. SW), and thus might well have been a serendipitous bit of footage they captured from already being in the neighborhood.
Artesia Visitors Bureau and Chamber of Commerce
First Presbyterian Church - 402 W. Grand Avenue, Artesia, New Mexico, USA
Galloping Horse - Sandias are clearly visible. Candidate location is 1600 Malpais Rd. SW. I like this location because it's very close to one of the candidate Chevron stations (Isleta Blvd. Chevron, 7630 Isleta Blvd. SW), and thus might well have been a serendipitous bit of footage they captured from already being in the neighborhood.
Reminisces
White Sands
RR crossing - Desert Road SE crossing of railroad, where it meets 2nd Street SW, in South Valley
Haneyville again (Los Lunas)
Madrid NM again
White Sands
RR crossing - Desert Road SE crossing of railroad, where it meets 2nd Street SW, in South Valley
Haneyville again (Los Lunas)
Madrid NM again
Valle Caldera? Times past come to life
Fenton Lake
White Sands
Fenton Lake (and spinning bodies)
Mr. Farnsworth's House
I'm thinking this might be in the Jemez Valley, near Jemez Springs, NM, with the helicopter hovering about (35.732271°, -106.711415°).
Helicopter Landing - We - There was (and probably still is) geothermal drilling in the Jemez Mountains. Thinking the drilling rig is at about (35.881130°, -106.674103°), with one view looking NW.
Mr. Newton's House at Fenton Lake
Mr. Newton's House at Santa Fe? - Telescope
We drilling rig and trailers
Fenton Lake
Facility - Cement Facility at Tijeras, NM (35.070895°, -106.389709°)
White Sands
Fenton Lake (and spinning bodies)
Mr. Farnsworth's House
I'm thinking this might be in the Jemez Valley, near Jemez Springs, NM, with the helicopter hovering about (35.732271°, -106.711415°).
Helicopter Landing - We - There was (and probably still is) geothermal drilling in the Jemez Mountains. Thinking the drilling rig is at about (35.881130°, -106.674103°), with one view looking NW.
Mr. Newton's House at Fenton Lake
Mr. Newton's House at Santa Fe? - Telescope
We drilling rig and trailers
Fenton Lake
Facility - Cement Facility at Tijeras, NM (35.070895°, -106.389709°)
"Are you Lithuanian?"
ABQ Civic Plaza, seen from SE - walking through plaza - they get in car heading west on Marquette
Drive - near San Ysidro - "Mr. Newton, are you crazy?" (35.638484°, -106.724169°)
ABQ Civic Plaza, seen from SE - walking through plaza - they get in car heading west on Marquette
Drive - near San Ysidro - "Mr. Newton, are you crazy?" (35.638484°, -106.724169°)
Dr. Bryce records Newton at Fenton Lake house
We commercial segment at park in LA?/ White Sands
We commercial segment at park in LA?/ White Sands
NYC/ NYC Office?
Tossed cookies (Santa Fe house)/ Spinning bodies/ cat eyes
White Sands/ Fenton Lake/ White Sands
Near current Valencia Middle School, east of Belen - Dirt road is what became the Manzano Expressway - Watching Indians on TV
House of Trevor and Mr. Farnsworth/ Mary Lou on bed
Near current Valencia Middle School, east of Belen - Dirt road is what became the Manzano Expressway - Watching Indians on TV
House of Trevor and Mr. Farnsworth/ Mary Lou on bed
Near Valencia Middle School, east of Belen again, with big storm behind Manzano Mtns.
Space Pavilion, near Alamogordo/ Mr. Farnsworth's office
We gas station. According to Susan Compo's book, this station was located in Belen. It is probably a valley location (due to the visible, copious amount of Summer Cypress growing from summer rains). Through a label on the pump that wasn't covered, we know the station is a Chevron in real life. Interestingly, a clerk at the Zuzax exit Chevron east of Tijeras on Highway 66 claims their station was in this film. I no longer believe this claim to be true (because the hill behind the station should be evident, and it isn't).. I've tried to verify the active Chevrons in the Albuquerque area, plus a few in the Los Lunas/Belen area. I haven't fixed on any as being correct yet. In my opinion, the most likely candidates are:
Space Pavilion, near Alamogordo/ Mr. Farnsworth's office
We gas station. According to Susan Compo's book, this station was located in Belen. It is probably a valley location (due to the visible, copious amount of Summer Cypress growing from summer rains). Through a label on the pump that wasn't covered, we know the station is a Chevron in real life. Interestingly, a clerk at the Zuzax exit Chevron east of Tijeras on Highway 66 claims their station was in this film. I no longer believe this claim to be true (because the hill behind the station should be evident, and it isn't).. I've tried to verify the active Chevrons in the Albuquerque area, plus a few in the Los Lunas/Belen area. I haven't fixed on any as being correct yet. In my opinion, the most likely candidates are:
- The former Bosque Farms Chevron, 815 Bosque Farms Blvd.; or,
- Isleta Blvd. Chevron, 7630 Isleta Blvd. SW.
I've come to believe the Isleta Blvd. Chevron is the most likely... (see Galloping Horse, above).
Mr. Farnsworth's/Trevor's apartment
NYC
Mr. Peter's Pool (maybe one of the 4 Hills houses used in the film?)
122 Second St. SW (It's unclear if the Sunshine Bldg. was actually used as a filming location, but the building that once stood at 122 Second St. was definitely used.)
Mr. Peter's Pool
Clinic
Clinic
Restaurant
Mary Lou arrives (122 Second St. SW)
Mary Lou arrives (122 Second St. SW)
(Flashback to eastern end of Highway 6 bridge over Rio Grande at Los Lunas)
Clinic - SW corner of building at 122 2nd SW
White Sands
Bedroom - southwest corner of building at 122 2nd SW
Building hallway, elevator, and lobby - Hotel Andaluz.
Hotel Plaza - TWA Airlines - Continental Airlines - 2nd & Tijeras
Liquor Store - Allstate Saving
Dr. Bryce's and Mary Lou's house
Record store
Apparently MacArthur Park Boathouse
White Sands Missile Range acknowledged in credits
Pictures
Looking out the window on the 3rd floor (400 level) - Mr. Farnsworth's Office, which, strangely enough, was in the elevator lobby rather than in a separate office ("The Man Who Fell To Earth").
Looking out the window on the 3rd floor (400 level) - Mr. Farnsworth's Office, which, strangely enough, was in the elevator lobby rather than in a separate office ("The Man Who Fell To Earth"). Marquette Avenue is now behind the Albuquerque Convention Center and can no longer be seen.
Hotel Andaluz Lobby ("The Man Who Fell To Earth"). Newton walks rapidly through the lobby on his escape to freedom.
Clinic scene, with the top of the octagonal cupola of the U.S. Court House visible in the distance west down Gold Avenue.
Looking out the window on the 3rd floor (400 level) - Mr. Farnsworth's Office, which, strangely enough, was in the elevator lobby rather than in a separate office ("The Man Who Fell To Earth").
Looking out the window on the 3rd floor (400 level) - Mr. Farnsworth's Office, which, strangely enough, was in the elevator lobby rather than in a separate office ("The Man Who Fell To Earth"). Marquette Avenue is now behind the Albuquerque Convention Center and can no longer be seen.
Hotel Andaluz Lobby ("The Man Who Fell To Earth"). Newton walks rapidly through the lobby on his escape to freedom.
Clinic scene, with the top of the octagonal cupola of the U.S. Court House visible in the distance west down Gold Avenue.
Here is a schematic diagram of Newton's Prison, as far as I can make out by orienting myself to the street scenes outside, as visible through the windows, plus a fuzzy aerial photo from 1961. Most or all of Newton's Prison was hosted on the second level of the building at122 2nd St. SW, just to the south of the Sunshine Building, in downtown Albuquerque. According to Susan Compos' book "Earthbound: David Bowie and The Man Who Fell To Earth," the structure at 122 Second St. SW was formerly Washburn's Clothing and then the offices of Albuquerque Housing and Development, before becoming a filming location. After filming, the structure was torn down and later rebuilt.
The solo numbers in the schematic diagram refer to the story level. Certain features can be glimpsed through the windows (a glimpse of the Sandias to the northeast; the western end of the Lead Avenue overpass over the railroad to the south, and its intersection with Second St. SW; the starlike top of the cupola on the Albuquerque Federal Building & United States Courthouse, at 421 Gold Ave. SW; the former PNM Building (Public Service Company of New Mexico) and the NM Bank and Trust Building). I'm sure there are errors here with the schematic diagram, but the winding path where Newton spends most of his time is here.
Thanks for this. My favorite film of all time.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely Hotel Andaluz
ReplyDelete