Northside’s historic architecture and unique character with retro flavor have drawn Hollywood production crews to film within some of the neighborhood’s businesses and buildings as well as right on the streets. The most recent film production, The Old Man and the Gun, featuring actors Robert Redford, Casey Affleck, Sissy Spacek, Danny Glover and Tom Waits, is set to wrap this week, after having filmed at Northside’s beloved diner The Blue Jay, North Side Bank & Trust, and The Hive. The film’s premise according to the film’s IMDB page: “An elderly bank robber, who had managed to escape from prison over a dozen times in his life before moving to a retirement community, looks to spice things up with another heist.”
Last summer, one of Northside’s favorite nightspots, The Comet, became the backdrop for a scene in the film The Life and Death of John Gotti, starring John Travolta as the infamous mob boss, and Travolta’s real life wife Kelly Preston as the mobster’s wife.
Film set decorators and costumers have also been taking advantage of Northside’s three vintage resale shops, calling on Casablanca Vintage, Chicken Lays an Egg, and NVISION, to buy or rent film props, clothing, and accessories, for these and other films being shot in Cincinnati recently, including the films Carol, Miles Ahead, A Kind of Murder, Marauders, Goat, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Mercy, and The Public.
It’s safe to say that Northside loves Hollywood back!