OK. We told you it wasn't complete.
No single article could hold all the movies filmed in the Old Dominion, which, incidentally, is never old but always hip.
So we forwarded to the editors a suggestion that if "The Godfather" can have three parts, a story on the record of films hatched in Virginia can have at least a sequel. Particularly since the story on Virginia-based films inspired a hefty number of responses.
You readers have added much to my efforts to learn about these sites - such as the exact location of where Liz Taylor filmed the scene from "Giant" and more details on the scandal involving use of Navy equipment on "The Final Countdown."
But, yes, we know of other titles that were not listed and we'll share them, and clarify a few films that were not shot here, in this Part II.
"The Last Detail"
It was the most embarrassing omission on our list, because the 1973 film was shot in downtown Norfolk, just one block from The Virginian-Pilot office - at what was then the Greyhound bus station.
Yes, there was a young Jack Nicholson in a sailor outfit and cussing up a storm when our photographer asked if he would step outside for better lighting. He wouldn't. (Maybe he was just staying in character because, after all, "The Last Detail" has a slew of "F" words in its dialogue. Anyway, Nicholson refused to step outside, but the photographer took a picture anyway.
The scene involved two sailors taking another to jail, and the culprit shoplifts candy as he passes. Not knowing the plot, I pointed out that the guy was stealing candy every time he passed. (Just looking out for the local merchant!) "Get these guys off the set," ordered the director, Hal Ashby. I wasn't dismayed because, after all, I've been thrown out of better places than the waiting room at the bus station.
The movie, incidentally, features Hampton Boulevard during its opening scene and was also shot in Portsmouth, Newport News and Richmond.
"Cinderella Liberty"
This 1973 flick is set in Norfolk, although it was not filmed here. Like "The Last Detail," it is based on a novel by Darryl Ponicsan, who served in the Navy here and wrote several novels set in Hampton Roads.
This one is about a sailor who adopts a lovable, earthy prostitute who has an illegitimate son with bad teeth. The story's bars are set in Norfolk, but when the movie scouts came here they found that downtown Norfolk wasn't nearly seedy enough for the film. (Ain't we proud? Or, on the other hand, do we miss the color?)
In any case, they filmed it in Seattle, where I went to spend a day on a ferry boat which went back and forth (endlessly) to capture a single scene.
"Shenandoah"
This 1965 release features James Stewart as a Virginia farmer who tries, valiantly, to keep his family out of the Civil War. He wants no part of it, but he can't avoid violence and the kind of trauma that sent audiences out crying. We think the mountain scenery is authentically Virginia, but there's some debate about that. The film's official locations don't list anywhere outside of California and Oregon.
"The Final Countdown"
Filmed in Norfolk and largely on the USS Nimitz out on the nearby waters of the Atlantic, this intriguing sci-fi entry posed the question of how history would have been changed if a modern nuclear vessel could have been time-traveled back to Pearl Harbor during that unpleasantness. The 1980 film starred Kirk Douglas.
The press, particularly me, was barred from getting on board during filming, to the point that we began to wonder if there was a cover-up. Rumors persist even today about conflicts in using Navy equipment, but Andris Dambekaln, who flew most of the flight scenes for the movie and was the squadron representative to Hollywood for its coordination, forwards me that, "The captain of the USS Nimitz was never court-martialed, never took kickbacks from anybody, nor was he ever accused of any wrongdoing. There was a federal trial associated with the movie, concerning the commanding officer of the fighter squadron onboard the ship, which concerned many issues beyond just the scope of the movie. '60 Minutes' did a special on this topic in the early 1980s."
It's a memorable and continually fascinating part of Norfolk filming.
"The Littlest Rebel" (1935)
Set in Richmond and someplace called "the Cary Plantation," this 1935 Shirley Temple film leaves no record to indicate it was actually shot here. It's a part of Virginia film lore, but IMDB.com lists only California locations.
"The Howards of Virginia"
Much of the 1940 film was shot at Colonial Williamsburg, which had only been recently restored or reconstructed at the time of the production. The Capitol, Raleigh Tavern and Governor's Palace are prominently featured. In a film set during the American Revolution, Cary Grant gets the girl (Martha Scott) even if his lowly beginnings are resisted by her relatives, who are identified as Tidewater aristocrats. A young Thomas Jefferson is seen, but the plot concerns, mostly, how Grant, as Matt Howard, builds a fine plantation, Albemarle, in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia as a tribute to his wife, only to see it destroyed by the war.
OK. It still is an incomplete list and, hopefully, will remain forever incomplete because, after all, this is the state that offers mountains, seashore, beautiful actresses, handsome actors, crew members and sunsets. We're ready for both close-ups and long shots - just not too close.
Mal Vincent has been a longtime culture writer for The Virginian-Pilot. His work will appear occasionally in The Pilot and on HamptonRoads.com. He can be reached at mal.vincent12@gmail.com.
If you go
"Duel in the Sun" wasn't shot or set in Virginia, but the 1946 film does have a strong connection to the commonwealth: Joseph Cotten, second from left. The actor, who stars here alongside Jennifer Jones and Gregory Peck, second from right, was a Petersburg native who spent his summers with relatives in Virginia Beach.
The movie will be presented at 7:15 tonight as the finale of Mal Vincent's "Virginia Is for Movie Lovers" mini-film festival at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art in Virginia Beach. Admission is $10, or $5 for museum members.