One of my favorite movies, maybe my favorite movie, is “Nobody’s Fool.” There might be a few reasons why I like it so much, but the fact that it draws on familiar and interesting architecture and locations, right here in the Hudson Valley, as backdrop is an obvious reason. Most of the buildings in the movie have seen better days. Although some “doctoring” of building facades may have occurred in the movie (Beacon was said to be “made to look worse than it really was for the movie“, according to one message board post), Nobody’s Fool “gets it right” as a visual depiction of the Hudson Valley in the early-mid 1990s – an important time for Hudson Valley Ruins as Tom Rinaldi and I were inspired to begin our little hobby right around then. The Hudson Valley of Nobody’s Fool was the Hudson Valley that made us want to go out and take photographs of all these places, as were we both quite aware that many of them would not be long for this world, if not in outright demolition then in cosmetic (and often not sympathetic) reconstruction.
Tom and I have, for a long time, tossed about the idea of tracking down the locations used in the movie. Quite a few, such as the mills in Matteawan (the East Main Street section of Beacon) have long been familiar to us, as have Hattie’s Diner and the Iron Horse bar. Quite a few stumped us, including the boyhood home of the character portrayed by Paul Newman – one of the most important locations in the movie, and depicted as an abandoned house. Once we found Sully’s House this past winter, this project gained momentum, and I set out to find all of the other locations and to re-photograph those I had captured before. Some internet sleuthing and some bing-map flyovers helped me find the remainders. I realize I probably could have reached out to the Beacon Historical Society for help identifying some sites – indeed, while I was photographing by the old Matteawan Mills in February, a Beacon resident mentioned that the Historical Society led Nobody’s Fool walking tours – but half the fun of this hobby is doing the detective work and finding locations on one’s own.
That’s not to suggest that this was a solo project. Tom Rinaldi helped track down film sites and provided insights and observations, and my friend Marlowe Stern chauffeured me around Beacon one 20-degree day this past February, while I was otherwise tied-up (literally) with a broken collarbone. I wanted to shoot these scenes in the snow as the movie is set in winter, and waiting another weekend or two would mean having to wait a full year. Marlowe also helped as Director of Photography, making sure my shots lined up as close as possible, though discrepancies may exist depending on the focal length of the camera lens used, or whether the film shoot used a lift for elevated photography.
The day we ventured out in Beacon was a bright sunny day which matches some, but not most, scenes in the movie – filmed primarily on blustery gray days – but it sufficed in capturing the massive amounts of snow from the winter of 2015. When I was able to venture out again on my own in March to seek out a few last locations, most of the snow had disappeared.
Directed by Robert Benton, Nobody’s Fool was filmed in the Mid-Hudson Valley during the winter of 1993-1994 when the region was hit by “17 snowstorms and temperatures as low as 20 degrees below zero“. Principal filming locations included Beacon, Fishkill, Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, and Hudson.
Nobody’s Fool is actually a book that preceded that movie. Published in 1993, it must have made quite an impression for being turned into film in quick order, with an all-star cast to boot. Author Richard Russo has made his mark writing about the characters and trials of post-industrial small-towns, inspired by his childhood in upstate New York. “Elsewhere” draws upon his mother’s feelings towards their hometown Gloversville, 50 miles northwest of Albany, when it was a rapidly-declining factory town. Fictional Gloversvilles appear in Russo’s other books, informing “Empire Falls,” “Mohawk” and “Nobody’s Fool.”
Set in late 1984 (updated to the 1990s for the movie), the town of “North Bath” in Nobody’s Fool is, geographically, probably best served by Ballston Spa, overshadowed by its more-glamorous and thriving neighbor “Schuyler Springs” (Saratoga Springs). But it was the Hudson Valley that was chosen for filming locations, and the story doesn’t miss a beat for it. Both areas of New York State were quite similar in their experience of industrial decline and in their social fabric that one area could easily have stood in for the other.
Nobody’s Fool was also filmed right at the time Tom Rinaldi and I began to venture out and photograph the kinds of old and abandoned places that fill the background of Nobody’s Fool. In fact, in Pleasant Valley (a few towns east of Poughkeepsie), Tom photographed the ruins of the Pleasant Valley Finishing Company, a stone Cotton Mill building identical to one of Beacon’s most significant ruins. My first visits to Beacon occurred in 2002 when the Roundhouse was still an empty shell (a decade away from reopening as a restaurant and hotel), when Dennings Point still had a half-dozen or so abandoned ruins and not yet the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries, and Dia: Beacon was still a year away from opening in a formerly-vacant riverfront factory. Beacon was one of “the places” to go for exploring ruins in those days. Even with its abandoned factories and vacant storefronts, I wouldn’t say that I ever felt unsafe in Beacon, but it was definitely not the enticing destination/escape, replete with vintage clothing stores and novelty shops, that it is now.
During much or all of the 2000s, many of Beacon’s major vacant properties were owned by William Ehrlich and his company Beacon Terminal Associates, who may or may not have promised redevelopment and revitalization to the city. Most of those properties – significant remnants of Beacon’s industrial era – remained abandoned as we conducted our documentation of Hudson Valley Ruins prior to the publication of our book of the same name. Redevelopment of some of these vacant buildings did not begin until Ehrlich sold to others who would proceed with revitalization projects.
Currently, renovation and reuse of formerly abandoned mills has been limited to the factory buildings north of East Main Street. Other mills have not been so fortunate. The nearby Matteawan Company Cotton Mill (c. 1811-1814) is perpetually threatened with demolition, the Tioronda Hat Works near the mouth of the Fishkill Creek is slowly crumbling away, the New York Rubber mill on Tioronda Avenue burned and was demolished in 2005, and now the Rothery File Works/Ellrodt & Lynch silk mill building is vacant after its most recent occupant, an auto salvage company, moved out. So it is still possible to get a few glimpses of “North Bath as it was” in Beacon today, but if you want to seek them out, hurry up! More renovation projects are on the horizon, in Beacon and elsewhere, as the Hudson Valley itself continues its post-industrial transformation.
If you have not seen Nobody’s Fool and plan to do so, you might want to come back to this blog post afterwards for a spoiler-free experience. The weather still feels wintery around the Hudson Valley so it’s not too late to get in the mood to watch this film, but one viewing need not suffice. I return to it each winter, usually waiting for a snow-day off from work to watch it again.
Characters shown here are:
Sully – Paul Newman
Miss Beryl – Jessica Tandy
Peter – Dylan Walsh
Rub – Pruitt Taylor Vince
Carl – Bruce Willis
Toby – Melanie Griffith
Officer Raymer – Philip Seymour Hoffman
Hattie – Alice Drummond
Will – Alexander Goodwin
The official summary: “Sully is a rascally ne’er-do-well approaching retirement age. While he is pressing a worker’s compensation suit for a bad knee, he secretly works for his nemesis, Carl, and flirts with Carl’s young wife Toby. Sully’s long- forgotten son and family have moved back to town, so Sully faces unfamiliar family responsibilities. Meanwhile, Sully’s landlady’s banker son plots to push through a new development and evict Sully from his mother’s life. ”
Part Two of this post will conclude with links to reviews and newspaper articles about the time of the film’s production in the Hudson Valley.
1-8: OPENING MONTAGE SCENES
1. Matteawan Falls on the Fishkill Creek at East Main Street, Beacon.
The building at left, indeed abandoned and a ruin during the early years of Hudson Valley Ruins, was renovated c. 2010-2012. Previously home to numerous companies, including Horatio Swift’s Machine Shop, the building is now known as the Roundhouse and includes a restaurant and a hotel. The small ruin at right, perhaps one of the earliest mills built at the falls, was demolished during the renovation process. Tom Rinaldi and I popped in there, precariously, and Tom captured some ancient workers’ graffiti chronicling annual inaugural snowfalls.
2. Sully’s Childhood Home, Cliff Street and Beacon Street, Beacon.
Hidden in plain sight, this building took the longest time to present itself to us. We “discovered” it by chance in December 2014, a few minutes after talking about it. I wonder if it really was abandoned and boarded up, as it appeared in the movie, or whether it was “dressed for the part” by the film crew. We knocked on the door to speak with the owner, but no one answered that day. I wished I had taken a photograph of this house on a gloomy day for a more appropriate comparison. Sunny day or not, the house looks beautiful now.
3. East Main Street, Beacon
This location counts as a classic Hudson Valley scene having been featured, not only in Nobody’s Fool but also in National Geographic’s March 1996 article on the Hudson Valley.
4. Main Street, Beacon
The banner across the street in the movie advertises the proposed Great Escape Theme Park that the town of North Bath is betting its future on.
All of the Main Street locations filmed for Nobody’s Fool are located at the east end of Main Street, in the old Matteawan section of the city. Beacon incorporated as a city in 1913 joining the riverfront village of Fishkill Landing and the inland village of Matteawan into one municipality. The church at center is the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Matteawan, built in 1869. The building at left is the former Matteawan station of the Newburgh, Dutchess and Connecticut Railroad, whose tracks are still extant. Owned now by The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the tracks are rarely used and only for non-commercial purposes, but they are vital for possible future use being the only east-west track system that connects the Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven lines.
5. Rub’s House, North Street, Beacon. Rub’s House was the first “secondary” location that I discovered on my own, and finding it sparked my interest in seeking out other locations. When I first saw the house, it had not changed one iota since the movie. Even the plastic number sticker on the mailbox was the same. Well, as things get better around Beacon, things get “better.” The house has been renovated, or really, essentially demolished and rebuilt – maybe some or all of the original framing is in there still, but otherwise there is a brand new house. I’ve already documented the beginning of that transformation on the blog, and now you can see the finished result below.
6. The Iron Horse Bar, South 7th Street, Hudson
I admit, I did not know that the Iron Horse was a relic of the movie. Sure, a bar existed here before, but it was called the State Grill. The Iron Horse name was concocted for the movie, but it fit – train tracks pass within just a few feet of the bar’s front door – and stuck. So authentic, it had me fooled. It was definitely Hudson Valley working class authentic on the inside, and was a favorite stopping place after a good day of exploring upriver. In fact, Tom and I were really looking forward to some dollar ponies after a day spent on the frozen Hudson River in March 2014 when, in one of our greatest disappointments, we found that the Iron Horse bar had recently closed. It remains shut and tied up in estate proceedings. And – as things change – a cigar store bearing the name Iron Horse has opened up two doors down.
In the book, the bar is known as the White Horse Tavern. Almost ironically, there is in Fishkill a “White House Restaurant” with an authentic neon sign to boot, that could have been doctored to be the “White Horse,” right around the corner from two filming locations.
7. Hattie’s Diner, Warren Street, Hudson
Hattie’s Diner looks much the same on the outside – it’s neon fascia sign is still there and still lights up, thankfully, but a new sign projecting off the building announces the current name of this establishment: “Grazin'” which bills itself as a “farm to table” restaurant. I couldn’t find a menu on their website to see if they serve Rub’s Jelly Donuts.
8. Miss Beryl’s House, Garfield Place, Poughkeepsie
Sully rents a room from his landlord Miss Beryl in this house. Its monochrome appearance has been updated – not quite a rainbow-esque painted lady, but a bit brighter.
9. Miss Beryl’s House, Garfield Place, Poughkeepsie
Rub and Sully check out the porch rail that Miss Beryl is constantly asking Sully to fix – Sully always says he’ll do it, but he never does. The house might have been an apt metaphor for the Hudson Valley in 1994 – still in decent shape, still a grand old place, but in need of a paint job and a front railing, or it might be at risk of declining into irreversible repair.
10. Tip Top Construction, Tioronda Avenue, Beacon
Here Sully drives down Tioronda Avenue in his trusty red Ford pickup truck. Sully frequently pesters Tip Top owner Carl Roebuck for disability payments, which Carl claims he doesn’t owe. Yet, Sully keeps showing up at Carl’s office begging for work.
The intricate-designed brick building at left-center is the Howland Cultural Center.
11. Tip Top Construction, Tioronda Avenue, Beacon
The building is now the office of Miller’s Minutemen Construction Company.
12. Tip Top Construction, Tioronda Avenue, Beacon
Carl won’t give Sully any big jobs, but odds-and-ends are available. Early in the film Sully is sent over to Carl’s housing development where he is seen tossing cinder blocks into the back of his truck, all the while imagining he is actually tossing Carl out of a second-story window. Not only has this brick building been repainted, but it has lost its bracketed cornice.
13. High Street, Beacon
Returning home to visit his mom (Sully’s ex-wife) for Thanksgiving, Peter stops to pick up his dad Sully, who is hitchhiking after having popped a tire on his truck. Not having seen his son for a few years, Sully is introduced to his grandchildren, including Wacker, who promptly lives up to his name and whacks Sully on his bad knee. Sully gets out and walks the rest of the way to Carl Roebuck’s house.
The mailbox is gone today, as the neighborhood mail drop box is now almost entirely non-existent anywhere.
14. Tompkins Avenue, Beacon
With his own marriage breaking-down, Peter starts the process of reconnecting with Sully, inviting Sully to Thanksgiving Dinner as Sully walks away. The Tompkins Avenue and High Street houses look more-or-less similar today. (The 2015 photograph replaces an image from around the corner taken earlier in the year that I misidentified.
15. High Street, Beacon
That’s the spire of the Reformed Church of Beacon at left. What happened to all those grand old trees?!
16. Carl Roebuck’s House, High Street, Beacon
Sully shows up at Carl’s House only to find Carl’s wife Toby tossing Carl’s clothes out the door – Carl’s been caught cheating and Toby is having the locks changed. The house is now Botsford Briar Bed and Breakfast.
17. “Mohawk Valley Country Club,” (Powelton Club), Newburgh
Here Miss Beryl and her son Clive Jr. entertain potential investors in the Great Escape Theme Park and its associated redevelopment projects that will save North Bath. Being that the author of Nobody’s Fool, Richard Russo, is from upstate Gloversville he admittedly drew from the Mohawk Valley, not the Hudson Valley, for inspiration in setting the story. Hence, we have here the Mohawk Valley Country Club (there is a real club of that name in Little Falls, NY).
I missed that piece of information about the movie also being filmed in Newburgh. I bing-mapped all the country clubs between Beacon and Poughkeepsie and did not see anything that matched the Mohawk club. I then reached out to my dad, former golf coach at Westchester Community College. He didn’t recognize it right away, but forwarded the photo on to his upstate colleagues, who let me know right away that it was the Powelton Club.
18. Main Street, Beacon
North Bath’s finest, Officer Raymer, pulls over Sully a short distance west of the Howland Cultural Center.
19. Main Street, Beacon
This scene is the first run-in that Sully has with Raymer.
20. Cozy Corner Diner, Elm Street, Fishkill
After being pulled over by Office Raymer, Sully finds his grandson Will in the bed of his pickup truck. They stop at this truck-stop/diner to place a call to Will’s dad Peter. The building at center today houses a pizza shop and a bar known as Fast Eddie’s. Sully actually pulls his truck into a parking spot at right where the diner was located. The building at right (off-camera) is now the Liberty Baptist Church. The pastor showed me inside and said how it was completely renovated but that there had been a diner counter and seating inside previously, and that scenes for the movie were filmed inside.
21. Garfield Place, Poughkeepsie
Sully plays the hero when he shows up Clive Jr. and rushes out to the snow-covered street to rescue Hattie, senile after suffering a stroke some years prior, as she imagines she is running away to her sister’s place in Albany. Sully smooth-talks her back around.
22. Main Street, Beacon
In this sequence, Sully sets Will on his lap and allows him to steer the “nice truck.” They are shown cruising past Beacon’s old textile mills and a row of boarded-up buildings, and one of perhaps only three dummy-lights in the entire United States.
23. Main Street, Beacon
This scene is actually behind where Sully was just shown driving, but appears next in the movie. Ackerman Street was the real name – the street sign was left intact for the movie, but now the street sign stands on the opposite corner.
24. Main Street, Beacon
The factory at left is the site of the original Matteawan Company textile mill. The larger of the two buildings was constructed in 1912 by the Carroll Hat Company. It remained in use much longer than Beacon’s other factories – possibly through the time of filming Nobody’s Fool – Three Star Anodizing was the last active owner, and the Dorel Hat Company rented space here through the mid-1980s.
Be sure to check out Part Two!
(EDIT: This post was updated on April 2 with new photographs for #14 and #20.)
Great post. Love the “then and now” photo comparisons.
Thank you Rebecca! Great to hear from you, glad you enjoyed this one =)
Hello from Spain,
I’m a professional location manager going onto 30 years working in Spain and firstly I have to thank you so very much for putting this post together, if anyone has any idea of how much work and resources goes into a job like this, it may just be me. THANK YOU.
Secondly I think this possibly one of my favorite films too, if not my favourite and the dream of any location manager.
With your permission I shall spread the news about this post to everyone I know and how has enjoyed this fantastic pic as much as I have. Nice work !!!!
Right on target Claus!
Cool concept, and good work!
Thanks Nailhed!!
Rob, scene #4 showing the billboard is Rt. 52 east of the Fishkill Creek just before the East Fishkill Town line. I owned a pool business there and remember the day they closed the road in front of our store for filming. That billboard is still there, but with a different ad, of course.
Thanks John! Would this then be the spot?
http://binged.it/1HQof83
Rob
The house on Cliff Street wasn’t in the best of shape beforehand, but it was distressed even more so for the filming. A kindly, elderly lady lived there at th time. One day, during filming, a neighbor friend pointed out to her in horror, “Miss C., there are beer bottles in your yard!”
Hi Nancy,
thank you for the information! I had a hunch it was made to look worse for the movie. That’s funny about the errant beer bottles, haha. I wonder if she knew they were going to throw one at the house.
Rob
Wrong email address in first message!
See comment above.
I moved to Beacon in 2005, and have watched the transformation of several sites especially the Roundhouse. I own and love this movie and now plan to watch it again after seeing your wonderful photos.
Thank you Stephanie! I appreciate your response.
Wonderful documentation and detective work! The movie is one of my all time favorites, and I wore out a VHS tape soon after I moved to Beacon in early 2001. I love the Mi-ro’s sign in the credits. My realtor told me never to go in there. Now it’s gone and I wish I had. I remember stumbling upon Rub’s house on North Street and marveling that it was exactly as it was in the film. The Beacon that I discovered in 2000 certainly has changed. I watch “Nobody’s Fool” whenever I need a hit of “real.”Thanks for this post!
Thank you for your kind words Sharon! I’m glad you enjoyed this post. Hm, I’ll have to double check the credits for that sign, and anything else I may have missed. Thanks for mentioning it!
Very Cool Rob! Although Sully’s childhood home exterior shots were in Beacon, the interior shots where from another house on Garfield in Poughkeepsie. I have some video footage from inside if you’re interested, as I was thinking about buying it some time back! Anyway, love your work (speaking from a former student of the King’s College/Briarcliff Lodge)!
Thanks again! Craig Burguiere
Thanks Craig! Interesting too about the Garfield Place interiors. I would have assumed that interiors were done in-studio, but what I have read, more and more recently, it seems the movie was shot entirely on-location. Yes, I would be interested to see your footage! Please let me know if you have it posted anywhere.
Thanks!
Rob
There also was a business in Beacon on Tioronda Ave called “Garret Storm”. It was an oil/coal delivery business for many years in Beacon across from “Tip Top Construction” In the move, Bruce Willis is sitting in the office with a real, old Garrett Storm Calendar behind him. Thanks for this page…very enjoyable!
Nice catch, thanks! I never made note of the calendar.
I noticed the calendar too when I first watched the movie…my dad used to get his fuel oil from Garret Storm for the house when we lived in Beacon in the 50s and 60s on Deerfield Place. I have enjoyed this trip down memory lane so much…when we moved there in 1956 I remember one of the hat factories was still in operation down on East Main and the rubber plant on Tioranda Ave. was going strong. I loved the shot in the movie of what was then the Matteawan National Bank on Main st. where my dad worked and I worked there also for a short while. Went back there in 2017 for a visit and loved seeing all the places I knew as a kid. I’m so glad I found this awesome website! Thanks
You’re welcome! And thanks for sharing your memories!
Thank you so much! I have been trying to find all of these locations!!! I live in Beacon and have spent so much time trying to find Sully’s house…I have driven by it many times but had no idea how nice it has become since the movie! That is why I didn’t recognize it! I love this page!!! Now I can scope out the rest of the locations…have been in all of the towns so now I need to find the actual buildings!
You’re welcome! Glad this is actually helpful!
I love your website! I grew up in Fishkill in the 60’s and when I was young we use to go to Beacon shopping on Main Street, because there were no stores or malls on route 9 at the time. My family dentist had his office in the building behind the store in your East Main Street photo and I use to ski at Duchess Ski Area on Mount Beacon. Storm Oil use to own the shed they filmed the Tip Top Construction scenes. I have a mental picture of many of the filming sites from my childhood. The filming crew rented my mother’s church (the Methodist Church in Fishkill) when they filmed the Fishkill scenes including the sidewalk scene on Broad Street where he drove his truck down the sidewalk near the Fishkill Library.
Hi Mark,
thanks for sharing your comments! I wish I’d seen Beacon before. Thansk for shedding a little more light.
Rob
(Sorry about the above website, it’s the only one I have-LOL)
Thank you, thank you, thank you for researching all of these locations. This is my all time favorite movie, have watched it hundreds of times, and can repeat it word for word. (It’s not because I have nothing else to do, I work full time, go to school full time (MBA), have 4 kids and 6 grandkids!) My family used to pick on me relentlessly about watching so much (I am watching it now!) and I thought maybe it was because I was depressed! So one day, I accessed the reason I watched it so much… it was the scenery. I was obsessed with the scenery of this “town”. Now to figure out why I was so obsessed.. so I started researching my genealogy. Guess what? This area is where my paternal and maternal families lived in the 1700 & 1800’s. Some still live there. Some migrated to Washtenaw, Jackson & Ingham Counties, Michigan in the 1850’s, and that’s how I ended up in Jackson, MI! Peekskill, NY was named after one side of the family, and Vail Mills, NY was named after the maternal side. (which I had no idea!) I’m far from a crazy woman, but I feel sometimes like I have been in these locations where Nobody’s Fool was filmed. Thank you so much for listening my crazy story, and I will be following your blog now! Thanks again!! Judy Peek Lueer
P.S. Maybe I missed this… but what is the name of the cemetery that was used during Miss Hattie’s funeral?
I found this in Part II, you guys are amazing!!
Thank you Judy! Very glad that you enjoyed this entry.
A wonderful movie.
I too looked around hudson to see locations and was lucky enough to meet the owner of th ed IRON HORSE shortly before he passed away. Thank you for doing the research.
You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed these posts!
This is fantastic!!!!! My wife and I love the movie Nobody’s Fool and I have also read the book. We also set out to find the various shooting locations. We found “Tip Top Construction” by spotting the concrete silos. We found the house that Melanie Griffith and Bruce Willis were supposed to have lived in. We found Rub’s house. We found the street where Sully let his grandson drive his old Ford pickup truck. We found the hospital where Jessica Tandy went when she had a stroke. We could not find Sully’s childhood home or Sully’s first wife’s home or the street location where Sully drove down the sidewalk and Officer Bramer shot at him. Do you know where the house they used to shoot the scenes of Sully at his ex wife’s house for Thanksgiving and where Sully and Bramer had their “shoot out”?
Great book, great movie and you guys did a great job of finding and photographing these locations!!! Thank You!!!
You’re welcome! Sully’s ex-wife’s house is in Poughkeepsie. I was hoping to shoot it this winter but did not get up there during the few days we had snow. The “shootout” scene is in Fishkill – covered in Part 2 of this topic:
http://www.hudsonvalleyruins.org/rob/?p=2382
Thanks for your kind words, I’m glad you enjoyed the post!
My mistake. I hadn’t realized there was a part 1 on the webpage I found of yours. So much more appreciated info.
What a treat it is to find your page this morning! Thank you so much for helping satisfy my curiosity about this film as it is my all time favorite. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you…..
Thank you so much for your thorough, persevering work! I grew up in Poughkeepsie, my closest friend lived on Garfield Place, and my family spent summers just north of Gloversville–the “big” city. Nobody’s Fool brought it all back.
Many thanks HV ! Believe me your efforts are greatly appreciated for one of my favorite movies ! For some reason all I kept think of was ” Where is Rub’s house ?” lol Thanks for solving the mystery :)
You’re welcome! I appreciate the kind feedback=)
Great page! “Nobody’s Fool” because my favorite movie as soon as I first saw it back in early ’95. It’s one of the reasons why I moved to Beacon, about 8 years ago.
I just found this wonderful site as I’m watching Nobody’s Fool for about the 10th time! Great, great job. Now, if I can just find a ” The Iron Horse Bar” cap like the one Newman wore.
Thank you! Surprised if those hats aren’t on ebay or etsy.
I just happened onto your page. This is an excellent photo essay! I’ve loved this movie since I first happened onto it one night on HBO back in the early 2000s. And like you, I think it has to be my favorite movie of all time. It competes with Empire Falls, another film adaptation of one of Russo’s works. I’ve owned a DVD of this since 2001 and bought the Empire Falls DVDs several years later when HBO ran the two part series.
I’ve been to Skowhegan, ME and saw what had been the Empire Grill and took a couple of photos, but these photos are excellent in my opinion.
Thank you very much for sharing this with others.
You’re welcome! Thanks for sharing your comments.
Nobody’s Fool is one of my all time favorite movies. I love any movie with Paul Neuman and the cast in this movie is spectacular. After the Nor’easters we just went through, I watched it again to see how much it had snowed I actually do remember how bad that winter was. I lived in Washingtonville at the time. I was curious about where they filmed the movie and if they existed today. I remember how everyone was so excited about having a movie filmed in the Hudson Valley. I think it was the beginning of a few of the being filmed here. Thank you SO MUCH for doing your investigating (even while you were injured) and showing the pictures of Then and Now. Maybe after some of this snow melts, I may take a short ride to take a tour of the various places. Although, maybe seeing it WITH the snow, might be even better. Thank you again.
My girlfriend and I are staying at the Thayer hotel at West Point academy. I saw this movie in the theater 24 years ago, and the tone and texture and nostalgia and music had a big impact on me. Then I stumbled upon it a few days ago and recalled why I loved it so much. Guess where we’re going tomorrow? Right.. beacon, Poughkeepsie and Hudson.. I have goosebumps. Thank you soooo much!!
Ray duckler
Fantastic detective work.. One of my favorite films. We will have to make a pilgrimage this summer. I hope that the diner is open.
I love this page!
I found your page a few years back when I was driving through Hudson Valley. I decided I wanted to find where Raymer shot off his gun…I never found it but I visited a few places you have on here and it was enjoyable. I really appreciate the hard work you put into not only finding and photographing these locations, but posting them in such an intelligible manner.
Thank you!
“Nobody’s Fool” is my all-time favorite movie (still), and I will have the chance this coming summer to explore the mid-Hudson valley–albeit not a lot of time. I was looking up filming locations when I happened across the fabulous work you have done on the subject. I cannot thank you enough for it, as it will allow me to explore much more efficiently with respect to some of the things I would like to see.
I have always appreciated Richard Russo’s depiction of the human element behind the decline associated with these once-thriving areas and the film spoke to me in a way I still do not understand. So, thank you for doing the leg work. I shall look forward to a thorough reading of your research on “Nobody’s Fool” before I leave for the east, next July.
Deb Shoup
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I’ve been obsessively watching “Nobody’s Fool” sometimes twice a day for the last week. I first saw it in theaters with my dad in 1995. We wanted to see Pulp fiction but the theater thermostat was broken and they weren’t letting anyone into that screen. The only other movie playing at that same time was “Nobody’s Fool,” so we got tickets and marched into a practically empty theater. We traded witty gangster dialog and exploded heads in the back of Jules’ Chevy Nova for witty small-town banter and an escort for Ms Hattie, lest she walk all the way to her sister’s in Albany. I was so happy to have watched this movie instead of Pulp Fiction. I recently purchased the soundtrack off of EBay… and I may re-read Richard Russo’s book. This movie has always meant a lot to me… and this blog post was so great to read… I’d like to get up to Beacon myself and just be there for a snowy afternoon… maybe even take a picture of the Iron Horse… Thank you for this.
Yes in photo #2 the Sully House was Boarded up before doing the movie and it did look like the same as in the move.
This movie transports me to the Hudson Valley and I grew up in every time I watch it. I even feel the cold when I watch it. Great job hunting down the locations. I always wondered where Hattie’s Diner was located. It reminded me of one in Albany, I think it was on State Street.
Thanks and I am glad you enjoyed this post.
Thank you HV for taking the time to track down these locations and posting it on line. This film was a favourite of mine. Such a strong cast all around. Not a well known film of Pauls, but one of his better ones. His lesser known films are the ones I seem to like the most. IE: The Drowning Pool and Slap Shot.
Again…Thanks from Nova Scotia, Canada.
You are welcome, and thanks for sharing your thoughts. Yes the lesser known films are very rewarding.
Beacon resident since 1987 w/ the exception of a 4 year stint in the south. When I 1st moved here, Beacon was known as “THE ARMPIT OF DUTCHESS COUNTY”! HA NOW IT’s “THE COOLEST SMALL TOWN IN AMERICA”! I 1st saw the Movie when it came out, recall the excitement of the filming etc. (In fact I think Jessica Tandy wore my earrings in one scene [I consigned them to a local shop back then]) & recetly watched it on HULU. it took on an entirely new meaning to me- it’s one of THOSE movies, a quiet, sleepy, subtle movie that still manages to pack a wallop of a punch emotionally. I was shocked to realize upon my 2019 viewing that my life now had many parallels to Sully’s life, both his character & the real me are 60 years old, both have had family issues, & a love affair w/ Upstate NY (Beacon), per Wikipedia “his fortune takes a turn for the better” (ditto-finally!) “Sully realizes he can’t leave his grandson” (Jeannie realizes she can’t leave Beacon), “In the end, Sully is pretty much back where he began, boarding at Miss Beryl’s. But now he is a little richer, both financially and in his soul, he’s a new dog owner, and he has become the picture of contentment.” (In the end, Jeannie is pretty much back where she began, living in her townhouse in Beacon- But now she is a little richer, both financially and in her soul, she’s a cat owner, and she has become the picture of contentment.) THANK YOU! XOX—- PS- wish there was a sequel, w/ Bruce Willis now walking in Paul Newman’s shoes so to speak, Paul Newman’s character’s son in Bruce Willis mode, and the young boy now a young man…theme of movie would be the renaissance of North Bath/Beacon.
Hi !
Thanks for your blog comments! Glad you enjoyed the post. And sorry for the late reply. I appreciate the information. That is good to know about Mi-Ro’s. The building is still there but I believe it has been extensively renovated. nevertheless next time I am up that way I will see if the inside looks anything the same.
Best regards,
Rob
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Thank you so much. Probably one of my top ten movies. Paul Newman could just take on a role leaving the viewer in that time and place which makes your photos so great.
Thank you and you’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed the photos and write up.
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I lived in 19 Garfield Place, Ms Beryl’s house in the movie, from 1971-1976. Before that I lived in Beacon. Seeing this movie was very special. Took me back to a time and a place in my childhood.
I love the photos and information you’ve posted here!
Thank you!
Thanks so much for this post, photos, now and then, and narrative. One of my favorite movies and brings me back to my childhood in upstate NY.
I’ve lived in Seattle since the late 60s and this movie takes me back.
Appreciate all the work you put into this post. Thank you. Scott
Great post(s) – so glad I found them.
Comparing the shot of Rub’s house in the film with the newly renovated house, I can’t help but wonder what happened to the concrete steps Messrs. Newman and Vince sat on during the scene where the two reaffirm their friendship.
Based on the picture you shared, those concrete stairs do not seem to exist any longer.
What a shame.
Thanks! Very little if anything remained of the original house when it was rebuilt.
Hi –
Thanks again for this post – love it.
I’m curious as to the real name of Hattie’s Diner during filming. The first shot of the diner cleverly angled the hanging neon sign out of sight. Do you happen to know the name?
Thanks so much,
Ken
Newport News, VA
Hi –
Thanks again for this post – love it.
I’m curious as to the real name of Hattie’s Diner during filming. The first shot of the diner cleverly angled the hanging neon sign out of sight. Do you happen to know the name?
Grazin’ Diner, 717 Warren St, Hudson, NY, may have been the name of it as far back as when director Robert Benton chose it.
I absolutely love this movie! I watch it over and over again whenever life has gotten me down. Anyway, thank you for the photographs. I know it was painstaking. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
I write screenplays, as well as children’s stories. I truly appreciate your time and hard work.
http://www.bryancarrierauthor.com
Bryan C
I am really glad you have these pages and photos up. “Nobody’s Fool” is my favorite movie and I enjoy showing people your website.
I’m really grateful that you have taken the time and put forth the effort to assemble all of this information. I know it took a lot of time and I am genuinely appreciative.
Thank you!
Now, I’m wishing they’d make a sequel of some sort. I’m usually not one to want to tarnish a good movie and book, but I think if done properly it could be pulled off. We could have the boy, Bruce, Melanie, Dylan, guy who played Rub and whomever else is still alive all come back. The thing is you can’t have Bruce or Dylan be the main characters, they’d have to find someone exquisite to play Sully. Believe it or not it may not be such a terrible idea to have Robert Redford play Sully. He’s played some ‘down home’ parts that I liked just fine. He has that about him just like Paul did. Sort of a rustic down to earth but intelligent guy you want to like.
Sully would own Ms Beryl’s house now and Rub would be his renter. Melanie owns the Iron Horse now and bartends. “Dummy” still owns Tip Top and Dylan Walsh is a foreman for him. It’s set in the year 2010 and it opens with Mr Peoples’ burial.
I think it’d be fun to revisit everyone in North Bath.
Well, I’m a complete sucker for this movie.
Thanks for all the research. I’ve visited this page many many times. I’m in my home office watching the movie for the hundreth(?) time and looking through your pictures and having a great time.
This movie speaks to me… when it first came out it seemed a morality play about finding your place within the world around you. 30 years later it confirms that I found my place in my own small town, on the shores of Lake Michigan, and yes my dog sleeps on my foot.
By 30 minutes into the movie I’m sobbing like a kid with a skinned knee. I’d pay real money to see Sully sit down with George Bailey to compare notes.
Going back to weeping now… have a nice evening.
Hi again, Mr Yasinsac-
As I was watching “Nobody’s Fool” – again – I was making liberal use of the “pause” feature and caught two men in Hattie’s Diner wearing jackets with “Mohawk” embroidered on the back. Just a guess but I would think this is a deliberate nod to Mr. Russo’s first novel.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Thanks again for this great website.
COULD YOU POST ANY PHOTOS OF THE FILM SHOTS FROM THE MASONIC TEMPLE AT 48 GRAND ST. IN NEWBURGH NY ?
I was borne in Middle East and came to US in 1997. I was 17 years old. My college years were in Albany New York and those were very difficult years for me. All alone in US and first time away from home I had known all of my life. I experienced first hand the economic stress Albany and its surrounding cities experienced. In all this adversity and difficult times I noticed the incredible generosity of people I came to know and appreciate. There were many weeks where I was luck if I had three meals in a week! To my amazement many people who had very little to share were sharing all they had. This period of my life changed me forever. Since then I moved away and live in Ohio. I have children and grand children and grateful for all I have and mostly for all I do not have!
Nobody’s Fool is a movie which brings me home every time. My wife and I start our holiday season by watching the movie the Saturday before Thanksgiving every year. We have also tried to drive from Ohio to Albany and Hudson every other year by taking the side roads and reliving the tough but incredible years of my life. This movie touches me in so many aspects I cannot even describe. Sully is a man amongst men. He is irresponsible yet so lovable and admirable. His friendship is pure and flawed. The friendships in the movie are admirable. One moment the characters are fighting and next moment the love and care they show each other is heart warming and very special. Through the tragedy and time and economic downturn the constant in the movie is human love. There are so many lines from this movie which live in my hear and mind. The casting was flawless and the scenes depict all which was true for upstate New York communities at the time and maybe even now!
This holiday season and more importantly everyday after, please let’s remember lessons softly thought by this movie. What is real, permanent, unchanging and most reliable is love. Love takes effort and even work at times. What and whom the love is directed at deserves the effort of recognition and care. For us as humans to be close to perfect we have to learn to love for the right reasons and for the right cause. Watch the movie with someone you love and remember as the movie brilliantly teaches us “Try and try again. Your trifecta will come in when you least expect it.”
Thank you for posting these photos. I am planning a trip to Hudson Valley this January to relive this beautiful movie.
Happy Holidays to all. Live with love everyday.
You are welcome, and thank you for your thoughtful comments and for sharing your story. Happy Holidays to you as well!
It’s my 60th birthday today and as a gift to myself I rewatched this movie.
The post from Chad absolutely nails the theme. The acting is perfect, and it depicts the complicated nature of the human condition: relationships- flawed, difficult and strained, but rooted in love ultimately.
Life is imperfect, people are imperfect, but through it all, love, joy and beauty peek through. Seeing life for what it is allows you to accept things and people as they are and embrace the imperfection.
This movie is in my Top 10 favorite movies of all time and I’ve done a street view of many of the locations and seen the many changes since it was made. One location I haven’t found is Ralph and Vera’s house.
That’s located at 8 Elmwood Avenue, Poughkeepsie, NY.
Loved this piece. My favorite movie. I grew up in one of those upstate villages and the movie captures the feel of that experience.
This movie I finally saw on a VCR tape at Xmastime in the late 1990’s after having it unwatched for years. Sully and his friends reminded me of me and some of my friends; a rare Hollywood movie catching Real People in a part of their lives, even tho’ I’m descended from Irish Protestants so always have trouble identifying with Irish Catholics. BUT… Unfortunately there IS a BATH NY and I’ve been there and stayed there several times. OK, it’s northwest of Corning and almost touching the Finger Lakes. Bath & Hammondsport was the shortline RR and brief tourist train operation near there. All through the movie I kept thinking of the real Bath NY which is NOT like the Hudson Valley at all. Can’t be helped; that’s the risk of fiction! Carolyn Chute and her “The Beans of Egypt, Maine” had the same problem–turns out there WAS/IS an Egypt, Maine whose few residents were NOT amused by her book; Chute had assumed there was no Egypt, Maine.
I have always wondered: when Sully tosses the “Mohawk” match book to Clive Jr. and accuses him of being “somewhere he shouldn’t have been,” what was/is the Mohawk? This is a spectacular blog and I’m sorry I’ve found it so late in the game, but thank you for your photographic diligence! This is in my Top 10 of all-time great films. I saw it on PPV in a hotel in SF while missing loved ones back in PA, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I love the film for its economy and the novel for its detail.
Didn’t realize how much of a Christmas movie this is. Watched it again Christmas eve 2023.
Fabulous blog – thank you, thank you, thank you!
If memory serves, the First Methodist Episcopal Church was repurposed as a library. I borrowed my first book of chess (Petroff’s Defense) there ca 1972. As I recall, there was a staircase which led to a walkway which went ’round the upper level.
Interesting fact (?) about the dummy light there on E. Main as possibly only one of three remaining in all of America.
Selfishly, I would have enjoyed a scene or two from The Alps Sweet Shop! When my family lived on Willow Street, my neighbor Tommy and I would drop in often for the basket of fries, which we’d DRENCH in ketchup! :)
That said, the movie is wonderful. The scenes “capture” the dreary Beacon that I grew up in. But, having returned once or twice in recent years, I’m encouraged that its renaissance will continue.
Best to all who’ve contributed and read these postings!
Alexandria, VA
February 2024
Thank you for sharing!