A couple of weeks ago we explored Carson City’s history with film and the iconic movie moments that cemented Northern Nevada forever in movie history. Seeing the city and its surrounding area immortalized in scenes with John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe and Clint Eastwood is a surreal experience. You can actually walk those same streets and visit the same buildings, and they’re practically in our own backyard.
Reno’s own history is so dense and so well documented, with periods of violence, romance and heartbreak and plenty of mystery and intrigue, that it's the perfect setting for a classic. So take this trip back in time and tour Reno in the movies, where the Biggest Little City in the World has become a character itself.
Let’s start all the way back in the early days of Hollywood: 1939. The year spectacles like Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz were shattering the expectations of what a movie could be, a much smaller film called Reno was released. In the days where the city’s reputation was for quick, easy divorce and booming casinos, Reno told the fictional story of a divorce lawyer and gambler who built that reputation, essentially “saving” the city from irrelevance. It’s kind of a time machine that takes you to a place far removed from modern-day Downtown Reno and its onetime infamy – the beginning of the story of Reno’s evolution.
Similarly – and I mentioned this as well in Carson City’s film tour – The Misfits (1961) found a home in Downtown Reno. You can visit iconic scenes where Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable filmed the last movie of each of their careers: the Virginia Street Bridge, the spot where the great Mapes Hotel once stood and the Washoe County Courthouse down the street. Early in the movie, Monroe’s newly divorced character throws her ring over the bridge and into the Truckee River in a famous moment. It’s an image of Reno long past, but this movie will forever be linked to its history.
Photo: Marilyn Monroe Forever in Our Hearts, Facebook
For something much more recent, there’s Hard Eight (1996). It’s visionary director Paul Thomas Anderson’s first movie, and it’s set right here among the casinos of Downtown Reno. The story of violent gamblers starring Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly and Gwyneth Paltrow was filmed all over the downtown area, including the Eldorado and the Sands Regency as well as the Nugget and Jack’s Cafe in Sparks. It’s been a couple of decades, but you’re sure to spot some recognizable landmarks by giving the movie a watch.
The decades of films set in Reno surely tell an interesting, if not always consistent, story of the city’s history from an outside perspective. Though plenty of left-field movies have instantly iconic moments that take place in the area. Here are a few of those:
Classic comedy Kingpin (1996), starring Woody Harrelson and Bill Murray, takes advantage of Reno as the home of the National Bowling Competition, with the climactic competition taking place at the National Bowling Stadium downtown.
Another 90s comedy, Sister Act (1992), is about a Reno lounge singer with mob ties becoming a nun under witness protection. Whoopi Goldberg’s character performs at the now closed Nevada Club downtown.
Photo: Carson City Pix, Facebook
Perhaps the most famous movie to film scenes in our area is The Godfather Pt. II (1974). The character Fredo meets his end on the shores of Lake Tahoe, where the Corleone family lives in the massive Fleur du Lac house. That house is hard to get to if you’re interested in tracking it down, but good news: as of recently, it’s up for sale!
If you’re a movie lover and inclined to witness these immortal spots for yourself, watch the movies and take this tour of Reno and walk the 75-plus years of film history in Northern Nevada. Then be sure to keep your eye out for the next generation of movies that will surely solidify Reno’s place in movie history for the next 75 years.
