Location #11: The building
400 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, United States
Location #12: The church
1407 West Church Road, Beecher, Illinois, United States
Location #13: Englewood Diner
This is a studio backlot / movie set
Note from the Webmaster: The restaurant seen in the movie was fake. That structure was bought by the movie studio and moved somewhere in Illinois to serve as the Englewood Diner.
Location #14: Bank & Trust Company
Momence, Illinois, United States
Note from the Webmaster: For some strange reason, I can’t find that building. Perhaps it was a facade.
Location #15: Michael Sr. leaves a bank
North Locust Street & East Washington Street, Momence, Illinois, United States
I was on site during the Momence filming. They used 2 banks at the same intersection, repeatedly redecorated for several banks within the film. They also repainted / installed different signs along the same main intersection for about a block in each direction. Digital effects created a fictitious T intersection based on these re-imaged buildings. Some of the signs and props were forwards while others had their signs and props (canned goods for example) in mirror image, so when they flipped the film everything looked normal. Yes, some scenes were filmed in mirror image.
And for the record, Tom Hanks was very personable.
The Englewood Diner was placed just North of Plattville Rd on Church Rd outside Plattville, Illinois. It was neat to get pictures on the set before it was removed and turned back into farm field.
The filming for the beach scene at the start of the movie and the beach house at the end was done at Olive Shores Park. This park is part of the Ottawa County park system and is located about halfway between Holland and Grand Haven.
I knew 2 sets of families that lived in the “Country House.” I played at that house when I was younger. It burned down a few years after the filming.