Where’s That Street Scene? Probably on the Warner Bros. Backlot

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Friday, February 10, 2017 at 12:06 p.m.

Wanrer Bros./Jared Cowan Dick Grayson (Chris O'Donnell) steals the Batmobile and goes joyriding through Gotham City in Batman Forever (1995). 1/165

Warner Bros. Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe), right, leads a group through 19th-century Tokyo in The Last Samurai (2003). 2/165

Jared Cowan Filmmakers turned New York Street into Tokyo for The Last Samurai. 3/165

DreamWorks/20th Century Fox Ambush in the rain in Road to Perdition (2002) 4/165

Jared Cowan Hennesy Street 5/165

Warner Bros./Universal Pictures/Columbia Pictures The theater marquee on New York Street has been used in dozens of films, including April in Paris (1952), top left, Steven Spielberg's 1941 (1979), top right, Funny Lady (1975), lower right, and Auntie Mame (1958). 6/165

Jared Cowan Theater on New York Street 7/165

The Weinstein Company/Jared Cowan Movie premiere in The Artist (2001) 8/165

Warner Bros. Pat Denning (George Brent) waits by the stage door in 42nd Street (1933). 9/165

Jared Cowan Alleyway to the stage door 10/165

Columbia Pictures Annie (Aileen Quiin), left, is brought back to Miss Hannigan's (Carol Burnett) New York City orphanage in Annie (1982). 11/165

Jared Cowan The doorway of the orphanage on Hennesy Street 12/165

Jared Cowan "It's a hard-knock life, for us." —Annie 13/165

Jared Cowan Tenement Alley fire escape 14/165

Warner Bros./Jared Cowan Batman (Michael Keaton) fights the Penguin's henchmen in Batman Returns (1992), in which Hennesy Street became Gotham City. 15/165

Warner Bros. Deckard (Harrison Ford) takes cover from the rain in Blade Runner (1982). 16/165

Jared Cowan Windows on New York Street 17/165

Warner Bros. Showing the way to Mr. Wing's shop of curiosities in Gremlins (1984) 18/165

Jared Cowan The stairs to the shop on Tenement Alley 19/165

Touchstone Pictures/Jared Cowan Warren Beatty walks the city streets as the title character in Dick Tracy (1990). 20/165

Universal Pictures Hundreds of screaming fans wait for The Beatles to arrive at their New York City hotel in I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978). 21/165

Jared Cowan Embassy Courtyard 22/165

Universal Pictures/Jared Cowan Rosie Petrofsky (Wendie Jo Sperber) outside The Beatles' hotel in I Wanna Hold Your Hand 23/165

Paramount Pictures/Jared Cowan Marlena (Lizzy Caplan) on the New York streets, left, during a citywide attack in Cloverfield (2008); Hennesy Street at Warner Bros. 24/165

Warner Bros. Chicago loves Robbo (Frank Sinatra) in Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964). 25/165

Jared Cowan The courthouse 26/165

Jared Cowan Johnny Blake (Edward G. Robinson) makes a late-night run in Bullets or Ballets (1936). 27/165

Jared Cowan The side of the courthouse 28/165

Paramount Pictures Young Quick (Desi Arnez Hines II) walks through the streets in New York in Harlem Nights (1989). 29/165

Jared Cowan New York Street 30/165

Warner Bros. After the Griswolds get lost in St. Louis, the hubcaps of their Family Truckster are stolen in National Lampoon's Vacation (1983). 31/165

New Line Cinema The Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., in Thirteen Days (2000) 33/165

Jared Cowan Embassy Courtyard 34/165

Warner Bros. New York brownstones in the opening shot of Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (1948) 35/165

Jared Cowan Brownstone Street 36/165

Sony Pictures/Jared Cowan Roger (Adam Pascal), left, and Mimi (Rosario Dawson) in Rent (2005) 37/165

Sony Pictures The Lower East Side and the New York skyline in Rent 38/165

Jared Cowan Hennesy Street 39/165

Warner Bros./Jared Cowan Hollywood Hotel (1937) 40/165

Universal Pictures/Jared Cowan Capt. Wild Bill Kelso (John Belushi) crash-lands his plane on Hollywood Boulevard (New York Street) in 1941. 41/165

Warner Bros. The Dead End Kids run for cover after robbing someone on the street in Angels With Dirty Faces (1938). 42/165

Jared Cowan Hennesy Street 43/165

Warner Bros. Sara (Liesel Matthews) arrives at her New York boarding school in A Little Princess (1995). 44/165

Jared Cowan The boarding school from A Little Princess was built along the southern end of Hennesy Street. 45/165

Warner Bros. Mame Dennis (Rosalind Russell) walks along the streets of New York in Auntie Mame (1958). 46/165

Jared Cowan Embassy Courtyard 47/165

Columbia Pictures Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita), left, and Daniel (Ralph Macchio) arrive at an electronics store in downtown Naha in The Karate Kid Part II (1986). 48/165

Jared Cowan This Hennesy Street storefront also was used as Madam Ruby's fortune teller shop in Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985). 49/165

Warner Bros./Jared Cowan Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart), left, holds a gun on Carol Lundgren (Tommy Rafferty) in The Big Sleep (1946) on Brownstone Street. 50/165

Warner Bros./Jared Cowan The Great Leslie (Tony Curtis) just before the race begins in New York in The Great Race (1965) 51/165

Paramount Pictures The monster attacks in Cloverfield. 52/165

Jared Cowan Hennesy Street 53/165

Warner Bros. Mr. Freeze freezes Gotham City in Batman & Robin (1997). 54/165

Jared Cowan Hennesy Street 55/165

Paramount Pictures Calhoune's on the Park in Harlem Nights 56/165

Jared Cowan Embassy Courtyard 57/165

Columbia Pictures Watching the opening of J.T. Lancer in The Big Chill (1983) 58/165

Jared Cowan Embassy Courtyard 59/165

Warner Bros./Jared Cowan Dorothy Brock (Bebe Daniels), left, and Pat Denning (George Brent) on the Brownstone Street steps of Brock's home in 42nd Street 60/165

Warner Bros. Professor Henry Jarrod's wax museum catches fire in House of Wax (1953). 61/165

Jared Cowan Hennesy Street 62/165

Warner Bros. Gigolo Joe (Jude Law) in Rogue City in A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) 63/165

Jared Cowan This doorway on Hennesy Street from A.I. is the same doorway from Vincent Price's first wax museum in House of Wax. 64/165

Touchstone Pictures John (John Heard), left, and CC (Bette Midler) eat in a Chinese restaurant in Beaches (1988), 65/165

Jared Cowan Inside the store on Hennesy Street 66/165

Warner Bros. "Bugs" Fenner (Humphrey Bogart), left, and Johnny Blake (Edward G. Robinson) face off in Bullets or Ballets. 67/165

Jared Cowan Inside a Brownstone Street set 68/165

Warner Bros. Johnny opens fire. 69/165

Jared Cowan Brownstone Street set staircase 70/165

Warner Bros. Replicants Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), left, and Leon Kowalski (Brian James) approach Chew's Eye World in Blade Runner. 71/165

Jared Cowan New York Street 72/165

Warner Bros. Forster (Robert Picardo) outside Mr. Wing's shop of curiosities in Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) 73/165

Warner Bros. Baby Jane Hudson on the marquee in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) 74/165

Jared Cowan New York Street 75/165

Paramount Pictures Sugar Ray's brownstone explodes in Harlem Nights. 76/165

Jared Cowan Brownstone Street 77/165

Warner Bros. Chan (Diane Venora), left, and Charlie Parker (Forest Whitaker) on a night out in Bird (1988) 78/165

Jared Cowan Looking east on Brownstone Street 79/165

Warner Bros./Jared Cowan Cesar (Armand Asante) walks along a New York Street (Hennesy Street) in The Mambo Kings (1992). 80/165

Warner Bros./Jared Cowan Terry McCaleb (Clint Eastwood), left, Detective John Waller (Dylan Walsh) and Detective Ronaldo Arrango (Paul Rodriguez) arrive at an L.A. crime scene (Hennesy Street) in Blood Work (2002). 81/165

Warner Bros. Julian Marsh (Warner Baxter) sits on the steps of the theater alleyway in 42nd Street. 82/165

Jared Cowan Theater alleyway 83/165

Warner Bros./Jared Cowan Eddie Bartlett (James Cagney), right, does a favor for his customer in The Roaring Twenties (1939). 84/165

Columbia Pictures Escaping from the orphanage in Annie 85/165

Jared Cowan Hennesy Street rooftops 86/165

20th Century Fox/DreamWorks/Jared Cowan John Anderton (Tom Cruise), right, is confronted by Fletcher (Neal McDonough) and the PreCrime police in a Washington, D.C., alleyway (Hennesy Street) in Minority Report (2002). 87/165

Walt Disney Pictures "Carrying the Banner" in Newsies (1992) 88/165

Jared Cowan Tenement Alley 89/165

Warner Bros. Face off on the streets of Tokyo in The Last Samurai 90/165

Jared Cowan New York Street 91/165

Warner Bros. Richie (Eric Laneuville) goes to L.A. headquarters of the Family in The Omega Man (1971). 92/165

Jared Cowan The courthouse steps 93/165

Warner Bros. Batman (Michael Keaton) parks the Batmobile in Batman Returns (1992). 94/165

Jared Cowan Tenement Alley looking toward Hennesy Street 95/165

Warner Bros. Primal Man (Miguel Godreau) creeps along a Boston alleyway in Altered States (1980). 96/165

Jared Cowan Hennesy Street alleyway 97/165

Warner Bros./Jared Cowan The Big Sleep in Embassy Courtyard 98/165

Warner Bros./Jared Cowan Fanny Trellis Skeffington (Bette Davis), left, George Trellis (Walter Abel) and Job Skeffington (Claude Rains) in a New York park in Mr. Skeffington (1944). 99/165

Warner Bros. Murray Futterman (Dick Miller) fights off a bat-Gremlin on the streets of New York in Gremlins 2: The New Batch. 100/165

Jared Cowan New York Street 101/165

Paramount Pictures Dr. Alex Tremor (Jeff Daniels), left, and Marina Lemke (Demi Moore) inside the butcher shop in The Butcher's Wife (1991) 102/165

Jared Cowan Inside the butcher shop storefront on Hennesy Street 103/165

Warner Bros. Taking the whole safe in Jersey Boys (2014) 104/165

Jared Cowan Tenement Alley 105/165

Warner Bros. Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr (Steve Martin) is turned off by a couple of prostitutes in Vienna in The Man With Two Brains (1983). 106/165

Jared Cowan New York Street 107/165

Walt Disney Pictures Jenny (Jennifer Connelly) leaves an L.A. nightclub in The Rocketeer (1991). 108/165

Warner Bros. John (Dean Martin), left, Will (Sammy Davis Jr.), Robbo (Frank Sinatra), Allen A. Dale (Bing Crosby) and Marian (Barbara Rush) meet on the streets of Chicago in Robin and the 7 Hoods. 109/165

Jared Cowan New York Street 110/165

Columbia Pictures Spider-Man (2002) 111/165

Jared Cowan Hennesy Street 112/165

Columbia Pictures Spider-Man ties up a crook after robbing a bodega. 113/165

Jared Cowan Inside the bodega storefront 114/165

Columbia Pictures/Warner Bros./Jared Cowan Erica (Diane Keaton) gets a call from Harry (Jack Nicolson) after seeing him in a restaurant with another woman in Something's Gotta Give (2003). 115/165

New Line Cinema Jim Carrey as The Mask (1994) 116/165

Jared Cowan New York Street 117/165

Warner Bros./Jared Cowan A car crashes into a downtown L.A. store in Lethal Weapon 2 (1989). 118/165

Warner Bros. Pee-wee Herman (Paul Reubens) saves animals from a burning pet shop in Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985). 119/165

Jared Cowan The pet shop on Hennesy Street 120/165

Warner Bros. Tony (Paul Newman), center, roughs up his boss on a Philly street after harassing Joan (Barbara Rush) in The Young Philadelphians (1959). 121/165

Warner Bros. Dehl Swift (Richard Roundtree) is thrown out the window of a Kansas City apartment building in City Heat (1984). 122/165

Jared Cowan Hennesy Street 123/165

Warner Bros./Jared Cowan Neville (Charlton Heston) blows up a bunch of stuff on New York Street in The Omega Man. 124/165

Warner Bros./Jared Cowan New York's Birdland in Bird 125/165

Warner Bros./Jared Cowan Norman Maine (James Mason) takes Esther Blodgett (Judy Garland) to the movies in A Star Is Born (1954). 126/165

Jared Cowan "With a Little Bit of Luck" on London streets in My Fair Lady (1964) 127/165

Jared Cowan Hennesy Street 128/165

Paramount Pictures Quick (Eddie Murphy) picks a fight with Vera (Della Reese) in Harlem Nights. 129/165

Jared Cowan Tenement Alley 130/165

Warner Bros. Professor Jarrod's new wax museum in House of Wax 131/165

Jared Cowan New York Street 132/165

Warner Bros./Jared Cowan Professor Fate (Jack Lemmon) jumps into his car in The Great Race. 133/165

Universal Pictures Hollywood Boulevard USO in 1941 134/165

Jared Cowan New York Street 135/165

TriStar Pictures A rainy New York street in Bugsy (1991) 136/165

Jared Cowan Hennesy Street 137/165

Warner Bros./Jared Cowan Mr. Applegate (Ray Walston) in Damn Yankees (1958) 138/165

Warner Bros. Meeting up years later at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Jersey Boys 139/165

Warner Bros./Jared Cowan Little Caesar (1931) on Brownstone Street 140/165

Warner Bros. Dark Passage (1947) 141/165

Jared Cowan Hennesy Street 142/165

Sony Pictures/Jared Cowan Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia) on the corner in Rent 143/165

Warner Bros. George Gershwin (Robert Alda) learns that his piano teacher has died in Rhapsody in Blue (1945). 144/165

Jared Cowan Brownstone Street 145/165

Columbia Pictures The upside-down rain kiss in Spider-Man 146/165

Jared Cowan The alley from Spider-Man 147/165

Columbia Pictures/Jared Cowan Kaite (Barbra Streisand) enters the Office of War Information in New York in The Way We Were (1973). 148/165

Warner Bros. Cesar walks in the rain in The Mambo Kings. 149/165

Jared Cowan Hennesy Street 150/165

Warner Bros. Allen A. Dale (Bing Crosby) in Robin and the 7 Hoods 151/165

Jared Cowan Brownstone Street 152/165

New Line Cinema The Mask 153/165

Jared Cowan Hennesy Street 154/165

Warner Bros./Jared Cowan Rhapsody in Blue on New York Street 155/165

Walt Disney Pictures "Santa Fe": Christian Bale as Jack Kelly in Newsies on Hennesy Street 156/165

Warner Bros./Jared Cowan Maggie (Bridget Fonda) and J.P. (Dermot Mulroney) are mugged at Mardi Gras in Point of No Return (1993). 157/165

Warner Bros. Foggy London streets in Time After Time (1979) 158/165

Jared Cowan Hennesy Street 159/165

Warner Bros. James Cagney as George M. Cohan, right, in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) 160/165

Jared Cowan Stage door 161/165

Warner Bros. The Young Philadelphians 162/165

Jared Cowan Brownstone Street 163/165

Warner Bros. Mame (Lucille Ball) takes young Patrick (Kirby Furlong) to the eye doctor in Mame (1974). 164/165

Jared Cowan Hennesy Street 165/165

Where’s That Street Scene? Probably on the Warner Bros. Backlot

In the early days of the major studios, Universal Pictures was famous for its monster movies and MGM had its musicals, but it was Warner Bros. that was known for the urban crime drama or, more simply put, the gangster picture. The Warner Bros. backlot is the most expansive studio lot when it comes to shooting films set in cities all over the world.

Brownstone Street and New York Street date back to the late 1920s, when the studio was known as First National. Hennesy Street — originally Tenement Street, but renamed as a tribute to the production designer of 1982 film Annie, Dale Hennesy — goes back to the mid-1930s.

We scoured about 70 city movies — just the tip of the iceberg — and roamed the Warner Bros. backlot to prove that even though some of these sets have changed over the decades, it's still possible to identify where some of the most famous urban-set movies were shot.

All photos by Jared Cowan except where noted. Follow Jared on Twitter at @JaredCowan1.