Back Street, 1961
Susan Hayward, John Gavin, Vera Miles and Virginia Grey; directed by David Miller; Universal; a Ross Hunter remake of a story about a married man with a sweet-tempered mistress who effaces herself for 20 years.
Bandits, 2000
Actors: Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchet.
Director/Studio: Barry Levinson/MGM
Two fugitive bank robbers played by Bruce Willis and his hypochondriac partner, Billy Bob Thornton, rob a string of banks from Oregon through California. Hoping to finance their South-of-the-Border retirement dream, things get complicated when they meet a runaway housewife and they both fall in love with her. The “Wildwood Bank” scenes were filmed in and around a former bank building in Oldtown Salinas at Main Street and Gavilan.
Basic Instinct, 1992
Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone; directed by Paul Verhoeven; TriStar; murder mystery, billed as a psychological thriller; controversial because of its portrayals of gay and lesbian murders; rated R because of strong sex and violence; Oscar nominee for musical score and film editing; scenes filmed at Carmel Valley Village, Carmel Highlands and Garrapata Beach south of the Highlands; Garrapata Beach stood in for Marin County's Stinson Beach.
Beautiful Monterey, 1917
A travelogue; Prisma Motion Picture Co. of New York; scenes filmed at Fisherman's Wharf and elsewhere on the waterfront, on the streets of Monterey and at Point Lobos.
Beauty Market, circa 1920
Produced by Katherine MacDonald, who also was one of the stars along with Joseph Dowling; silent film about resort hotels; during the filming, the working title was "Guest of Hercules"; scenes filmed at the Highlands Inn in Carmel Highlands.
The Big Bounce, 1969
Ryan O'Neal, Leigh Taylor-Young, James Daly, Robert Webber, Lee Grant and Van Heflin; directed by Alex March; Warner Bros.; drama about an ex-GI with a criminal record who gets into trouble; filmmakers, including stars of the movie, were in town for about a month from mid-July to mid-August of 1968; scenes filmed at Point Lobos, Colton Hall, Monterey Boat Works and elsewhere around the Peninsula.
The Birthmark, 1912
One-reeler.
Blind Date, 1987 *
Bruce Willis and Kim Basinger; Blake Edwards film; comedy about what happens when Willis goes out with Miss Basinger on a blind date and gets her drunk; scenes filmed in July 1986 on the beach below Bay School near Monastery Beach south of Carmel. Peninsula-filmed scenes cut from the picture; kept on list with an asterisk because filming was done here and did involve the principals.
Brainstorm, 1983
Natalie Wood, Christopher Walken, Louise Fletcher and Cliff Robertson; directed by Douglas Trumbull; MGM-UA; Natalie Wood's last film released two years after her death (she drowned while the film was still in production); scene filmed at Bixby Creek Bridge on Highway 1 south of Carmel in which the driver of a large truck crosses the bridge and continues south until he reaches a turn in the road, where he drives over a cliff high above the ocean (10 to 15 seconds of the movie).
Braveheart, 1926
Rod La Rocque and Tyrone Power Sr.; directed by Alan Hale; from the studios of Cecil B. De Mille; silent film; cavalry scenes filmed at the Presidio of Monterey, then a cavalry post; filming done here in October 1925 and was delayed three days because of fog.
Breakthrough, 1950
Frank Lovejoy, John Agar, Brian Keith and Richard Egan; directed by Lewis Seiler; Warner Bros.; World War II action film about an Army unit after D-Day; scenes filmed at Fort Ord, where beaches and inland areas stood in for Normandy and indoor scenes were shot in an orderly room and a barracks; local National Guard tanks were made to look like German Tiger tanks; Seaside resident Carney Hartley was a stand-in for Brian Keith.
The Bugle Sounds, 1942
Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone and Marjorie Main; directed by S. Sylvan Simon, with Clyde De Vinna as director of photography; MGM; cavalry picture about an old sergeant discharged for insubordination who wins re-instatement; scenes filmed at Fort Ord.
Our thanks to Joe Graziano of the Monterey County Herald for providing this information.
* - Indicates that Peninsula footage ended up on cutting room floor.