Where was Nightmare Alley filmed? The House & All the Locations

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Featuring great cinematography and magnificent period locations, Guillermo del Toro's Nightmare Alley was primarily filmed in Toronto and Buffalo.

A good portion of this neo-noir thriller is set in Buffalo, New York, situated next to the Canadian border in the Niagara Region.

The American city is full of beautiful Art-Deco style architecture, ideal for this dark story taking place in the late-1930s.

Nightmare Alley house

The plot is based on a 1946 novel by William Lindsay Gresham of the same name, which also inspired a 1947 film adaptation.

The movie stars Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born, The Hangover film series) as Stanton Carlisle, Cate Blanchett (the ethereal elf Galadriel in The Hobbit) as Dr. Lilith Ritter, and Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) as Molly.

Here is our (almost) spoiler-free guide to all the filming locations of Nightmare Alley.


1928 Ford Dealership
The gas station and cafe where Stan gets off the bus is the 1928 Ford Dealership at Country Heritage Park, an open-air museum recreating rural life in the 19th century in Milton, Ontario.

The building is modeled after what a Ford dealership would’ve looked like in the 20s.
(You can open all the locations on Google Maps by clicking on the links below in the captions ↴)
Image courtesy of Searchlight Pictures - Map


Willem Dafoe carnival
The traveling carnival set where Stan learns Zeena and Pete's techniques was built in March 2020 on the grounds of Markham Fairgrounds outside Toronto.

The merry-go-round was bought from a family in Northern California, who kept it sitting in a barn for over 10 years.
Image courtesy of Searchlight Pictures - Map


Nightmare Alley city
The Salvation Army alley from the rainy scene was filmed at the Cotton Factory in Hamilton.

This former industrial building from 1900 is today a creative complex, with space for workshops, galleries, and offices.

Also, a street between the warehouses of the Cotton Factory was used to record the scene taking place after Stan and Molly ran away from Grindle's garden (pictured).
Image courtesy of Searchlight Pictures - Map


Black Creek Pioneer Village
The restaurant where Stan and Clem eat after the Salvation Army scene is the barroom at the Halfway House Inn at Black Creek Pioneer Village in North York.

Opened in 1960, this heritage museum is a step back in time. Most of the buildings, dating back to the early 19th-century, were moved to the location from across Ontario.
Image courtesy of Searchlight Pictures - Map


The Great Stanton
Two years later, Stan -"The Great Stanton"- and Molly are performing a psychic act in Buffalo, New York.

These scenes were filmed at the Round Room of The Carlu Toronto, also known as Eaton's Seventh Floor, a historic event space at 444 Yonge Street in Toronto.
Image courtesy of Searchlight Pictures - Map


Lilith Ritter office
The exterior of psychologist Dr. Lilith Ritter's office is the Buffalo City Hall, a stunning 32-story Art Deco building completed in 1931.

The movie also features the jaw-dropping arched polychrome lobby and the beautiful elevator of this iconic skyscraper.
Image courtesy of Searchlight Pictures - Map


Nightmare Alley house
However, the dazzling geometric paneled interior of the office was a set built at the studios, like about 80% of the film’s interiors.

Production designer Tamara Deverell revealed that this space was inspired by the Weil-Worgelt Study preserved at the Brooklyn Museum in New York, a study made up of olive wood between 1928 and 1930.


Nightmare Alley location
The building where Stan meets auto tycoon Ezra Grindle (played by Richard Jenkins) is the monumental R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant in the former city of Scarborough in Toronto.

The construction of this Art-Moderne style cathedral-like structure, nicknamed The Palace of Purification, started in 1932 and became operational in 1941.
Image courtesy of Searchlight Pictures - Map


RC Harris Water Treatment Plant
The plant, boosting opulent marble interior halls, is still fully functional, providing about one-third of Toronto's water supply.

The exterior served as one of the Mayor of Kingstown series locations.


Walter J Mahoney Building
The New York City Health Department's archive was filmed at the Walter J. Mahoney State Office Building, also located on Niagara Square near Buffalo City Hall.
Image courtesy of Searchlight Pictures - Map


Ezra Grindle house
The snowy garden at Grindle's mansion is the Parkwood Estate in Oshawa.

Built in 1916 by Samuel McLaughlin, founder of General Motors of Canada, this historic house with Italian gardens and beautiful fountains was also featured in The Umbrella Academy and The Boys series.
Image courtesy of Searchlight Pictures - Map


Dónde se rodó El callejón de las almas perdidas
The interior of the house was filmed in the corridors, library, and dining room of the famous Casa Loma in Toronto.

Many notable series and movies including The Handmaid's Tale and Guillermo del Toro's Crimson Peak were filmed in this splendid Gothic-revival style manor erected in 1914.
Image courtesy of Searchlight Pictures - Map


Nightmare Alley drehort
The bus station was filmed on the north side of the Coca-Cola Coliseum on the Exhibition Grounds in Toronto.

As you can see, CN Tower was digitally replaced by the City Hall.

According to Buffalo News, the interior waiting and ticketing area is the foyer of the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum in Buffalo.

The bathroom was a set built on a sound stage in Toronto.
Image courtesy of Searchlight Pictures - Maps: Exterior / Interior


Howard Street Bridge
The scene pictured was filmed under the 1904 railroad bridge on Howard Street Bridge in Buffalo.
Image courtesy of Searchlight Pictures - Map


South Simcoe Railway
The train yards at the end of the movie were filmed at the South Simcoe Railway, a steam heritage railway in Tottenham.

The main cast is completed by Toni Collette as Zeena Krumbein, David Strathairn as Pete, Willem Dafoe as Clem, Ron Perlman as Bruno, and Holt McCallany as Anderson.
Image courtesy of Searchlight Pictures - Map

Can you help to improve this article about the filming locations of Nightmare Alley? To complete and correct this report, any feedback, info, or images that you may have are more than welcome, thank you!

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4 comments:

1- Whelanlp - Feb 11, 2022, 8:09 PM
The bus station is on the north side of the Coca-Cola Coliseum on the Exhibition Grounds in Toronto.

2- Anonymous - Mar 19, 2022, 11:22 PM
CNE, Castle Loma, and Parkwood Oshawa are great places to visit.

3- Mitchell Wilson - Mar 27, 2022, 2:29 PM
A couple more filming locations that aren't in this article:

The service station and cafe where Stan gets off the bus is the 1928 Ford Dealership at Country Heritage Park in Milton, Ontario.

The restaurant where Stan and Clem eat after dropping the geek at the Salvation Army is the barroom at the Halfway House Inn at Black Creek Pioneer Village in Toronto.

The train yards are the South Simcoe Railway in Tottenham, Ontario.

   Reply
   4- Ra Moon - Mar 27, 2022, 9:08 PM
   Thank you , that's great!


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