Have I found Dutton Flats?

[FastbackJon]

Just doing some investigating on where they drop off Mary only to find that she took the map. Check out the bench she is sitting on when they come back, it says "Deegan Funeral Chapel" and underneath says "Corner of San Joaquin and HWY 120".

Well a quick search of for that Funeral Chapel netted me a result in Escalon, CA, and what do you know, it is in the same place!

So I wonder if they drop her off is in the same town, Escalon, CA. From the shot where they pick her up and leave, you can see that the convienence store where they drop her off is also an IOOF hall.

But also look at the building address of the IOOF Hall/convienence store. Looks like "25520". I google searched that near Escalon, CA and came up with a grocery store on the corner of two main roads in Farmington, CA (18 miles from Escalon).

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=25520+loc:+Escalon,+CA&ll=37.930041,-120.99889&spn=0.006406,0.014355

There's also an IOOF lodge in Farmington.

http://www.caioof.org/IOOF/CA_Lodges.html#F

This looks VERY promising as the grocery store from the google map is on the corner and there are a couple straight roads coming in and going out. Not only that, but the railroad tracks are in the correct place with respect to the grocery store, and there is even an elementery school to the west of the store across the railroad tracks, just like the movie (see the school crossing sign in the movie). So I'm thinking they came into Farmington from the north, parked at the grocery store, and sped off to the west across the railroad tracks.

Here's the best satellite image I could get. Even looks like in the movie!

[FastbackJon]

Going back to the 1968 issue, look at the cover of the DVD (supercharger edition anyway). The '68 is right there with the roll cage, door locks to the back, and pleated seats!

[tan top]

good detective work   (FastbackJon) ,intresting stuff . like you said the other day it really needs somebody  who lives in that area to drive out there to have a look around, may be shoot some video comming from different directions etc,

[FastbackJon]

Thanks, and if someone can screen capture the 1:25:32 mark, there's only one person in the Charger, the driver!

Then skip ahead to 1:28:35 and you can see about a 6 foot tall antenna sticking up from the passenger fender of the Charger where the stock one should be.

[tan top]

Going back to the 1968 issue, look at the cover of the DVD (supercharger edition anyway). The '68 is right there with the roll cage, door locks to the back, and pleated seats!

   
                    that's it then Jon more proof right there !   ,i will have to buy DMCL on dvd ,because  feeze  framing  is not so good with a video  .i remember reading about they were going to release  2  DMCL dvd's one with deleted movie seens in it, or i might have got it completely wrong .  I'll watch it again tonight, have a look for the antenna, any excuse to watch it

[Ghoste]

Whe you watch it on dvd it gets easy to spot the different cars.  An RT, a non RT, airtemp stickers that vanish and reappear, dash speakers, etc.
I would love to see them release the version with deleted scenes but I doubt it's coming.  They have an interview with Peter Fonda and Susan George and the director on the dvd that is a good watch too.

[Charger_69]

  Does it seem to anyone else that the car pulling into the orange grove has narrower rear wheels and also with the Charger crashes into the train?? is it the 68 that hits the train i wonder??

[Ghoste]

I've heard that from people before that the 68 was the car they pulled into the train but I've watched that scene frame by frame on the dvd and I am absolutely positive it's a 69.

[reghoule]

Does anybody know if the three Chargers were damaged because of the accident with the pickup ?. I'm sure that the 68 and the 69 R/T were, but I cannot see in the DVD a  shot where the non-R/T was.

So it must be the R/T that was crashed into the train  (I try to see the crest between the rear lights but I cant tell if It's the R/T or the Charger one)

[FastbackJon]

Check out the 3:27 mark of the film. You can see the Save Mart they rob. A little bit later you see Larry calling from a payphone and you can see "Stockton" on the pay phone. Well I did a search for Save Marts in Stockton and came up with a list. Only one of them looks like it would fit the one from the movie, with the way the road lightly curves around to the right.

http://www.google.com/local?f=l&hl=en&q=Save+mart&near=Stockton,+CA&t=k&ll=38.018062,-121.322933&spn=0.003199,0.007178

Also at the 3:27 mark I noticed a Wells Fargo Bank sign. So I did a search on that and came up with one exactly where it should be in respect to the Save Mart on the above map and per the film!

http://www.google.com/local?f=l&hl=en&q=Wells+Fargo+Bank&near=Stockton,+CA&ll=38.018666,-121.322402&spn=0.003199,0.007178&t=k

I think those things alone don't convince me 100% because the parking lot layout and buildings look a lot different (but it has been 32 years). In the movie you can also see a steep cathedral steeple off in the distance to the side of the supermarket (3:34 and 3:35 mark), but I don't see that on the map to the east of the current Save Mart. I can also see a sign for Round Table Pizza and something like a Fosters or Posters Bag Center? But I didn't find either of those near the other two on the map.

I did call the grocery store I found in Farmington and confirm it was the one used in the movie!

[Crazy Larry]

Fastback John, you are too cool for words - great legwork on the movie locations!

Bravo!

[tan top]

more good  dective work( FastbackJon)  good stuff

[FastbackJon]

Well after even more checking around, I was wrong. The Save Mart is not in Stockton, CA but rather in Sonora CA, on Stockton Street.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=l&hl=en&q=Save+Mart&near=Sonora,+CA&ll=37.983352,-120.384107&spn=0.004287,0.010064

Looks like it still looks like it did back then!

[tan top]

that does look like it , the  way   it is positioned to road

[FastbackJon]

Pretty sure I just found the bridge they jump too. I was just looking around for big waterways with straight roads going over them. Waterways big enough to need a draw bridge, in that area, and found this one.

http://www.google.com/local?f=q&hl=en&q=&t=k&ll=37.819743,-121.449893&spn=0.002148,0.005032

They would have jumped going south to north. The station looks the same shape, roads and turnoffs on the north side of the bridge look in the same places, breakwater near the sation looks the same. Even the house with the tan roof and the barn with the metal roof to the north east side of the bridge look to still be there!

[moparsinbarns]

 

[Ghoste]

Jon, I gotta admit, you have my admiration on this one.  This has been my favorite movie since my dad and I watched it together when I was 12.  I have a small collection of lobby posters and so forth from the flick but you have provided a wealth of cool information on this.

[Mike DC]

       
I see 3 Chargers in DMCL:

--  1969 R/T, no headrest holes, speaker grilles present. 
--  1969 base model, with headrest holes present, but no speaker grilles.
--  1968 model, roughly converted, with rollbar.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The '68 car wasn't used much.  Maybe just the sideswiping stuff and that one closup of the damage.

The car that rammed the truck was one of the '69s, but I don't know which one.

The only car I see being driven & chased around after the front end hit is the '69 R/T.  The '68 obviously got the damage duplicated on it by the prop guys, but I don't actually see it anywhere else in the footage.

The car that hits the train is one of the '69s.  It's hard to see the taillight panel clearly, but I think it may have been the non-R/T.  I'm guessing maybe they had to hold that one aside during the chase footage to get it rigged up for the train impact.

       

[Mike DC]

1969 R/T



(THESE TWO PICS ARE THE SAME LONG SHOT)

No chromed headrest holes on the tops of the seats (hafta scroll this pic over to see all of Dingleberry's seat):


=======================================

1969 non-R/T

[Mike DC]

Rough 1968 conversion:


'68 signal light hole in the front:


(SAME SHOT AS ABOVE)
'68 signal on the quarter: 


(MORE OF THE SAME SHOT)
They yanked the '68 taillights, but mistakenly left on the '68 trim just above the bumper.  So the '69 taillights were mounted way too high up on the taillight panel:


---------------------------------------------------------

Compare this REAL 1969 taillight panel against the one on the '68 conversion above:


     

[Mike DC]

The car that hit the truck looks like a '69.  (It's impossible to tell in this freeze-frame, but when the film is rolling you can see the red signal light on the quarter panel a little bit more.)



=======================================

Looks like one of the '69s hits the train.  You can see the '69 signal light on the quarter panel here. (scroll the pic over to the edge)
Can't tell for sure, but it might have been the non-R/T judging by the blurry taillight panel on the high shot just before impact.



     

[tan top]

been studding the map ,more good detective work( FastbackJon ), sure looks the the place to me also , long  straight road before the bridge slight curve to the left after ,
      i been studding your charger screen shots ( Mike DC) , i have been trying to work out witch charger is witch  and how many were used since i got in to mopars in the  late 70's early 80's. the best i can make out so far i think  is the 69 R/T hit the red truck  and had left rear quarter panel damage from being hit the cop car, the 68 had 69 rear lamps fitted and damaged to look like  the 69 R/T ,the XP charger with the tall bumper guards is not shown with any damage in any of the seens unless i have missed a bit. the 69 charger that hit the train ,did not look like it had left rear quater damage to me .....

[Mike DC]

           
Yeah, good point about the '69 not having any quarter panel damage. 

That means (assuming we're all correct about three Chargers being used) it had to be the '69 non-R/T car that got towed into the train.

     

[Charger_69]

  Yep i never noticed the one that hits the train had no 1/4 damage, now i have a silly question, ive seen this movie maybee more than a million times LOL and i saw it at the theater in 74 when i was 12 also, now the question is (where were they running to???) , i know it was northern Ca but the next county? state or?   i mean in 74 you could run out of jurisdiction and be safe?? Anyway one of my favorite movies ever, its unbelievable how many not seem to ubderstand the movie !!!!!!!!!

[reghoule]

One more question about wich car did what! In the scene where the Charger bump the police car into the river, we all agree that we see the 68 (front shot) and a 69 (rear shot), but i'm not sure wich one we see crossing the bridge. The car is going to fast and i cannot clearly see the tailights, but it looks to me like 68