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  • Speakeasies

    I'm outlining a confined-setting horror film that takes place in the 1930s at a Speakeasy in New York City. Any ideas where I can find good period photos, floor plans, etc.? I want to draw up a complete map of the place as an aid to staging the action beats.

    Movies that feature speakeasies would be helpful as well.

    Any help greatly appreciated.

  • #2
    Re: Speakeasies

    Great interview on Fresh Air with the author.

    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=126613316

    Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition
    By Daniel Okrent
    Hardcover, 468 pages
    Scribner
    If you really like it you can have the rights
    It could make a million for you overnight

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    • #3
      Re: Speakeasies

      Thanks for the link, Odo, I'll give that a listen tonight.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Speakeasies

        a horror? sounds interesting. my minds a buzzin' thinking a blind, two-headed monkey would be involved.

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        • #5
          Re: Speakeasies

          Two headed monkey- that makes me think of Demogorgon from the old AD&D Monster Manual.

          That would be a scary visual.

          In this script, however, no monkeys.

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          • #6
            Re: Speakeasies

            Originally posted by johnmonster View Post
            I'm outlining a confined-setting horror film that takes place in the 1930s at a Speakeasy in New York City. Any ideas where I can find good period photos, floor plans, etc.? I want to draw up a complete map of the place as an aid to staging the action beats.

            Movies that feature speakeasies would be helpful as well.

            Any help greatly appreciated.
            Speakeasies, by their very nature, were located in a wide variety of buildings and settings...Warehouses, residential basements, back rooms of shuttered storefronts...It was the depression, so a lot of closed shops.

            In other words, figure out what kind of building would best suit your story and create it yourself.

            Do you want to have band and a crowd? Design it as a night club with a bar, tables, stage and dance floor.

            Do you want a warren of rooms? Then you have the bar in one room, with hallways and offices/bedrooms/storage spaces with small tables set up.

            My grandfather was a bootlegger in Detroit. He ran a hardware store(yeah, right)...Decades later, the building was raised for redevelopment, and dozens of jars of coins were found stashed behind a panel in the basement.

            There's an old movie "The Purple Gang", probably not available, but it was based on the Jewish Mob in Detroit.

            Be creative with your setting and design it to serve your story, not the other way around.

            Good luck...And FWIW; in 1918, at the beginning of Prohibition, Detroit had roughly 2,300 establishments serving liquor. By 1925, there were 15,000...Those were the days.

            Midnite
            Last edited by Midnite; 05-15-2010, 01:24 AM. Reason: Statistic addition

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            • #7
              Re: Speakeasies

              FWIW, the Uptown Chicago had an elaborate underground tunnel system connecting Speakeasies during the prohibition era. It ran out to the lake where the hooch was brought in from across and then distributed to all the Speakeasies.

              Some of it still exists today.

              There are multiple websites you can use as reference. Just google "Uptown Chicago Tunnels" or "Capone Tunnels".

              Some of the old speakeasies are still still there. One is called the Green Mill.

              EDITED TO ADD:

              Agree with Midnight. You can be very creative here and basically invent whatever works best for you.

              Also, I think Detroit is another STRONG choice along with Chicago as a possible reference point.

              And setting your film in either city is not going to hurt since they both have incredible Film incentive programs.

              Hollywood is shooting a lot of movies in those states. Especially Michigan.

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              • #8
                Re: Speakeasies

                Originally posted by Midnite View Post
                Good luck...And FWIW; in 1918, at the beginning of Prohibition, Detroit had roughly 2,300 establishments serving liquor. By 1925, there were 15,000...Those were the days.
                Where today there are over 15,000 liquor-serving establishments on the average block in Detroit.

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                • #9
                  Re: Speakeasies

                  Originally posted by Sinnycal View Post
                  Where today there are over 15,000 liquor-serving establishments on the average block in Detroit.
                  And I won't stop until I've hit every one!

                  Prescribe is right. Illinois and Michigan have some incredible incentives these days.

                  Since it's a contained flick, it probably doesn't matter. But really, when talk turns to bootleggin' & the Prohibition, the conversation starts with Chicago & Detroit.

                  Midnite...Who's doing his best to get some jobs going for his peeps back in his hometown.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Speakeasies

                    Thanks for all the input, y'all. I'll just whip out the graph paper and map out something that fits what I imagine the place to be.

                    For plot reasons, it pretty much has to be set in NYC or New Jersey, but it could be filmed just about anywhere. There are few scenes outside the speakeasy.

                    This is my most research-intensive project yet.

                    Thanks again for the help and suggestions.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Speakeasies

                      Can I ask what restricts you so rigidly to NYC? It just seems sort of odd to me that you would want to do a story set in a speakeasy but not be able to set it in Chicago or Detroit.

                      It's sort of like writing a confined thriller in a NASA space center but not wanting to put it in Houston or Cape Canaveral.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Speakeasies

                        The reason for the NYC or NJ setting is because the events take place during the October 30, 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast and subsequent panic. I chose NYC or NJ because the narrative from the broadcast indicated that those areas were the most affected by the "martians".

                        I know the panic was not limited to those areas, but they are the best documented.

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                        • #13
                          Re: Speakeasies

                          Check out Once Upon A Time In America.

                          Also, the History channel periodically has shows about prohibition, so keep an eye out for those.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Speakeasies

                            ROAD TO PERDITION has a nice little speakeasy scene.

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                            • #15
                              Re: Speakeasies

                              Thanks for the comments and suggestions, guys. I have the hook written and I'm well into the first act now.

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