Movies have been made in Michigan for well over 80 years. Not all have been marquee features: the city was known for film production dating to the 1930s when adman Henry Jamison (Jam) Handy set up shop and turned out thousands of reels and of celluloid in training and educational films for the military, auto companies and other industry giants at the Jam Handy Organization.
The earliest Hollywood film shot on location in the Great Lakes State and recorded at the Michigan Film Office website is the 1947 classic “This Time for Keeps” starring Esther Williams and Jimmy Durante; it was filmed on Mackinac Island at the Grand Hotel’s outdoor swimming pool.
Rent one of these features, grab the popcorn and keep your eyes open for familiar locations:
- Anatomy of a Murder starring James Stewart, Lee Remick and Ben Gazzara
- Cobb starring Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Wuhl
- The Ides of March starring George Clooney and Ryan Gosling
- Out of Sight starring George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez
- Tiger Town starring Roy Scheider and Justin Henry
- True Romance starring Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette and Dennis Hopper
