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Crushin' on Brian De Palma

Oct 08, 2023

Not long ago, I rewatched “Body Double,” Brian De Palma’s 1984 erotic thriller. The movie features exterior shots of the Chemosphere, the John Lautner house that looks like a flying saucer slammed into a hillside. I went to the Chemosphere in maybe 1999 to interview its owner, the publisher Benedikt Taschen. And as I watched the movie, I thought I should see if I can visit every shooting location in “Body Double” because … Well, to be honest, I’m not sure. I guess it’s a way to feel closer to something I love, and also because you can slip through the fourth wall and inhabit the real places that you see on the screen if you live in Los Angeles. So, a few weeks ago, I went to Tail o’ the Pup, a hotdog shaped restaurant that’s in the movie. Today it’s at a different location, but the hotdog stand where you place your order is the same one.

Last Friday, I went to Barney’s Beanery, which is a bar / restaurant that’s in the movie. I had a cheeseburger with avocado and bacon. Then I took a photo in the same place where De Palma had stood to film the scene at the bar. I was in the master’s shoes, if only for a moment, big ones to fill, but what can we do but to keep trying?

I should probably go on a bit about the movie, and how there’s a scene in it that takes place on a porn set, and how Melanie Griffith plays a porn star named Holly Body which is one of my favorite porn star names even if it’s not a real one, and what the movie says about ways of looking, but you should watch it, if you haven’t already.

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