American Pie | 1999
Despite being set in the fictitious ‘East Great Falls’ (the film's original title was East Great Falls High), the hormonally-fuelled teen comedy was filmed around Los Angeles and its suburbs.
‘East Great Falls High’ interiors were filmed at Long Beach Polytechnic High School, 1600 Atlantic Avenue at Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach, southern Los Angeles, though the exterior is nearby Millikan High School, 2800 Snowden Avenue.
But much of the neighbourhood filming was in Los Angeles’ eastern neighbour Monrovia (a frequently used city – nearby you can see locations used in the excellent John Cusack black comedy Grosse Pointe Blank as well as the Victorian gingerbread residence where William Katt was spooked in House).
Until recently, you wouldn’t have been able to dawdle over a coffee in ‘Dog Years’, the diner ‘six blocks from downtown’ (based on Yesterdog, 1505 Wealthy Street, Eastown, in Grand Rapids, Michigan), where Jim, Stifler, Oz & co hang out. It was no more than an empty store dressed up for the movie, but it's now got a new lease of life as restaurant Caffe Opera, which, I’m told, has a coffee bar and bakery. Visit at 402 South Myrtle Avenue, Monrovia.
The ‘Great Falls’ residential neighbourhood is largely Long Beach, to the south of Los Angeles. The house of permanently frustrated Jim Levinstein (Jason Biggs), where the pie of the title gets some serious abuse, is 4153 Cedar Avenue.
