Following is an exerpt about where the filming of some of the film's scenes took place:
The film’s most pivotal set, Frankie’s gym The Hit Pit, was constructed in an empty warehouse in downtown Los Angeles. “This picture is about people who are on the edge of society,” says Eastwood. “This small beat-up old gym in downtown L.A. houses a lot of people who are oddballs, people who just drift in and out. It’s where Frankie and Scrap live their lives.”
“We looked and looked,” recalls Bumstead, “and when I saw pictures of this warehouse, I knew it would make a great Hit Pit. So I showed Clint the pictures of the warehouse, and he went down and looked at it and agreed with me. Then I showed him a plan of what I was going to do, putting his office on a platform looking down on two boxing rings and all the other requirements of the script. Clint looked at it and said, ‘Perfect.’”
Bumstead paid particular attention to achieving the proper time-worn look for the Hit Pit. “I’m a stickler for aging,” says the designer. “It’s glazing the walls and ceiling to give them a patina. Also the light fixtures and all the furniture are aged to look like they have been there a very long time. My assistant, art director Jack Taylor; set decorator, Richard Goddard; paint foreman, Rick Paronelli and my construction foreman, Mike Muscarella make me look good. As I have always said, I’m only as good as my crew, and they are fantastic.”
Million Dollar Baby was shot in various locations in and around Los Angeles, including the Venice Boardwalk, Eagle Rock and Hollywood Boulevard. The fight sequences were staged at the Grand Olympic Auditorium, the site of many current professional boxing matches, and in a number of other locations around the city.
“We found a perfect house for Frankie’s bungalow with dark woodwork and a perfect floor plan,” says Bumstead. “We found the restaurants where Maggie works on the Venice Boardwalk and on Hollywood Boulevard, and for a sequence that takes place in Missouri, we did some driving in wooded areas near Los Angeles and used a service station on Lake Avenue in Pasadena. We also filmed in a pro boxing equipment store on Lake Avenue.”
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