24 Movies Filmed in New England | The Outdoor Edition
With our stunning scenery, magical coastline, and four distinct seasons, it’s no surprise that there have been so many movies filmed in New England. See how many movies you recognize in our Hollywood tribute to being outdoors in New England.
By Yankee Magazine|May 10 2022|
Making A Scene
Photo Credit: John S. DykesWith our magical coastline, rolling hills, tranquil lakes, and four distinct seasons, it’s no surprise that there have been so many movies filmed in New England that take advantage of the great outdoors. See how many movies you recognize in our Hollywood tribute to being outdoors in New England.
24 Movies Filmed in New England
1. Queen of the Sea (1918)
Forget seal-spotting: Spectators lined Acadia National Park’s Ocean Drive to spy “mermaids” frolicking on the rocks for the filming of this lost-to-history silent film.
2. Carousel (1956)
Yes, Boothbay Harbor is just the spot for a real nice clambake. And the fact that one of its wharves stood up to the pounding of Hollywood hoofers is testament to Yankee workmanship.
3. The Whales of August (1987)
Whale watching has never been more poignant than in this tale of two elderly sisters, filmed on Cliff Island and starring the peerless Bette Davis and Lillian Gish.
4. The Good Son (1993)
The ice-skating sequence on Jackson’s lovely Mirror Lake—ooh, that really gives us chills.
5. On Golden Pond (1981)
Squam Lake gets its close-up, and a tremolo-voiced Katharine Hepburn gives a master class in loon calling.
6. The Trouble with Harry (1955)
In this Alfred Hitchcock–directed dark comedy shot primarily in Craftsbury, a beautiful Vermont fall day lends itself to hunting, hiking, sketching en plein air, and burying the odd dead body.
7. Sweet Hearts Dance (1988)
Don Johnson trades in his Miami Vice linen suits and bundles up for winter camping, skating, and tobogganing with Jeff Daniels in the landscape around Hyde Park.
8. The Four Seasons (1981)
As a director, Alan Alda showed solid judgment in picking Stowe, VT, for his winter scenes. (As a skier, though, he showed appalling form.)
9. Funny Farm (1988)
This Chevy Chase comedy makes being outdoors in southeastern Vermont look terrific. Except for all those pesky lake snakes.
10. The Cider House Rules (1999)
Novelist John Irving’s home state shows up for a scene paying homage to that classic summer pastime: the drive-in movie (shot at the Northfield in Hinsdale, NH).
11. The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
He pilots a dune buggy at Crane Beach! He rides a polo pony at Myopia Hunt Club! And while Steve McQueen didn’t actually fly that famous sailplane over Salem, NH, he looks darn good in that cockpit!
12. Little Women (2019)
If you’re going to have your heart broken, it might as well be while strolling atop a glorious autumn hillside at Groton’s Gibbet Hill Farm.
13. The River Wild (1994)
Meryl Streep having a morning row on the Charles River is three minutes of pure outdoor Zen.
14. The Lightkeepers (2009)
Can’t make it to the Cape this summer? Take a virtual vacation with this seaside period film shot largely at Race Point Lighthouse.
15. One Crazy Summer (1986)
You can practically smell the sunscreen in this Nantucket-set teen romp that revolves around beaches, boats, and summer romance.
16. Jaws (1975)
Before that dorsal fin pops up, let’s face it: People are #lovingbeachlife on Martha’s Vineyard.
17. Sabrina (1995)
From sailing to bicycling to picnicking on the beach, Harrison Ford shows how to use the Vineyard to pitch maximum woo.
18. Grown Ups (2010)
New England native Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, and the rest of the gang make a splash at East Wareham’s iconic Water Wizz water park (which movie buffs will also recognize from 2013’s The Way, Way Back).
19. Wind (1992)
Though many of the racing scenes were shot Down Under, this film’s boats look right at home swanning in and around Newport Harbor (where you can actually go cruise on retired America’s Cup yachts today).
20. The Great Gatsby (1974)
Cast as Jay Gatsby’s Long Island abode, the opulent Newport mansion Rosecliff hosts what might just be the splashiest summer backyard bash ever.
21. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
In this offbeat homage to summer camp, director Wes Anderson brings the eccentricity, and southern Rhode Island brings the scenic beauty.
22. A Birder’s Guide to Everything (2013)
As teen birding enthusiasts pursue a supposedly extinct duck, Connecticut’s second-largest state forest, Cockaponset, plays a starring role.
23. And So It Goes (2014)
Generations of New Englanders will recognize Lake Compounce (here dubbed “Bristol Park”) as the amusement park visited by Diane Keaton and Michael Douglas as they give romance a whirl.
24. Friday the 13, Part 2 (1981)
Shot mainly on Kent’s North Spectacle Pond, this goofy, gory flick makes being outdoors look like a very, very bad idea. On the other hand: marshmallow roast!
This list originally appeared in the May/June 2021 Yankee feature “Making a Scene.”
What movies filmed in New England would you add to our outdoor-focused list? Let us know in the comments below.
See More:
More Notable New England Film Locations
20 Favorite Books Set in New England
What about The Resurrection of Peter Proud Filmed at Bradley Airport ( saw that when dropping off my then fiancé ). And in Springfield.
Hocus Pocus starring Bette Midler and Jack Nicholson. Filmed partly at Cranes Beach, Ipswich, MA. Also Jumaji starring Robing Williams filmed in Jaffrey and Keene, NH
How can you omit “Manchester by the Sea”? Many outdoor locations along Massachusetts’s North Shore, from Lynn to Gloucester. Also, a sleeper of a film – “Signs of Life” (1980s) – with many outdoor shots in and around Stonington and South Bristol, ME and the Blue Hill Peninsula. GREAT cast, very atmospheric and a very nice story, but nearly impossible to find. Locate it and you will be rewarded.
Don’t forget “Summer”, filmed in Temple in 1980
Don’t forget “Amistad “ filmed in Newport and “Me,Myself and Irene “ filmed in various parts of RI and “The Cardinal” filmed in Lynn, Ma
In The Bedroom (Sissy Spacek), Old Orchard Beach
Don’t forget the great movie “Knives Out” filmed in Massachusetts!
Yes! ‘Knives Out’ Thrombey Mansion interiors were filmed at the Ames family mansion in Borderland State Park, Easton, MA [my home town – there are several Ames mansions]. Mansion exteriors and the chase scene were filmed in in Natick, MA.
Cider House Rules. Gone Baby Gone. Mystic Pizza.
Perfect Storm?
True Lies
Don’t forget the movie, “High Society.” It was filmed in Newport.
Witches of Eastwick was filmed in Cohasset, Scituate and Marblehead.
Love story? Mona Lisa Smile.
“The Stepford Wives” (1975) was filmed in several towns in Fairfield County, CT: Darien, Norwalk, Stamford and Fairfield among them. You can still visit some of the locations, such as Goodwives Shopping Center in Darien, the Lockwood- Mathews Mansion in Norwalk and the Congregational Church in Greenfield Hill (Fairfield). The old Dorr-Oliver building with the beautiful sculpture on the facade can be seen in the film, although the actual building has been long since demolished. The remake of the film in 2004 also used locations in Darien.
For fans of campy horror films, there is “The Horror of Party Beach” filmed in Stamford, CT in 1964. I love to see my home town as it was when I was a small child!
Shutter Island …Boston Harbor Islands
House sitter was filmed in Concord,MA and Tom Cruise filmed War of the Worlds in Naugatuck, CT
Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woofe
Spotlight. My son’s front porch in Jamaica Plain was used for a scene.
Let’s not forget “A Separate Peace” which was filmed in Exeter, NH.
Mr Deeds! New Milford Ct.
Don’t forget the Stepford wives they shot a scene I the goodwill shopping plaza does anybody remember or did I dream it
who can forget Troy Donahue in 1961’s Parrish, filmed in Windsor and other locations around Connecticut’s Tobacco Valley.
One of my favorites, “Baby Boom”. A 1987 film featuring Diane Keaton and Sam Shepard. I visited Manchester and Peru, VT because of this movie and found the various filming locations.
By Love Possessed with Lana Turner filmed in Fitchburg, Ma. back in the 60’s also Lucy Key’s, Princeton, Ma & Black Mass with Johnny Depp, Boston
The Verdict, Good Will Hunting, quite a bit more
The Good Shepherd, The Ice Storm, The Family Stone all filmed in Connecticut
“It Happened to Jane” with Doris Day and Mickey
Rooney’s son – used the old train depot in Southington Conn
Good Will Hunting!
It Happened to Jane with Doris Day and Jack Lemmon et al filmed in Chester CT. Parrish with some scenes filmed in Old Saybrook, CT. And too many to mention by title Hallmark Movies.
CODA, 2021, filmed in Gloucester.
The Defection of Simas Kudirka filmed in Portsmouth and Kittery, Denzel Washington’s The Equalizer shot in Boston and Northshore Massachusetts, Something Wicked This Way Comes filmed in Vermont, In the Bedroom filmed in and around Camden, Maine. The Crucible (1996), Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone.
“The Judge” filmed in (and around) Shelburne Falls. Ma. Robert Downey Jr. & Robert Duvall.
Peyton Place 1957
Peyton Place
“Our Town”, Thorton Wilder ? Peterborough.
The man without a face (1993) with Mel Gibson was filmed in many locations in Maine
How can you omit jumanji in Keene.”Parrish Shoes”
I’ve got one – “Pretty Poison” (1968), starring Anthony Perkins and Tuesday Weld was filmed in Great Barrington MA. Some friends & I cut school a couple of times to go down and watch the filming. (Got to meet Anthony Perkins, a really nice guy!)
One of my all time faves, Christmas in Connecticut
Guess someone did not do their homework. They missed soo many scenes shot in Good Old New England!
“they” only had space for 24…
The cabin and lake scenes in “The Judge” were filmed at Ferring’s Pond, Myles Standish State Forrest, Plymouth, MA.
Message in a bottle. Filmed at Popham beach, Phipps burg and Bath Maine.
Peyton Place in Camden, Maine in 1958
Mystic Pizza
My favorite summertime movie is “What About Bob?” but it saddened me to learn it was filmed in Virginia rather than New Hampshire.
Yes, at Smith Mountain Lake. That’s very near to where I live. It’s a lovely part of the world, but I’m often craving some New England time!
The Judge was filmed in and around Shelburne Falls, MA, home of the famous Bridge of Flowers.
Also, parts of Labor Day were also filmed on Shelburne Mass.
Whitches of Eastwick – Cohasset Ma – Cher
Parrish starting Karl Malden, Troy Donahue and Connie Stevens was filmed in Windsor, CT.
What about Mystic Pizza? ????
The cemetery scene in Love Story was filmed in Uxbridge, MA. Local residents were used as extras.
What about “Bed and Breakfast” with Roger Moore filmed in York Maine
I believe Mystic Pizza was filmed in Connecticut.
Can’t wait to receive my first issue of Yankee magazine. I love Autumn… looking forward to watching some more of the movies, falling in love with all the familiar areas, if at least on film!
The Cider House Rules also has a scene filmed Sand Beach in Acadia NP
‘Knives Out’ (2019 – Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Christopher Plummer) Thrombey Mansion interiors were filmed at the Ames family mansion in Borderland State Park, Easton, MA [my home town – there are several Ames mansions]. Mansion exteriors and the chase scene were filmed in in Natick, MA.
Baby Boom!!!!!
The skiing scenes during and in the credits of “Shallow Hal” with Jack Black and Gwyneth Paltrow were shot at Mt. Wachusett in Princeton, MA.
-Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe, Northampton Mass.
-Silent Night, Lonely Night. A lost movie filmed in Amherst.
-Good Will Hunting, Boston area, WMass.
– Death be Not Proud
– Malice, 1993 Alex Baldwin and Nicole Kidman.
– The Family Stone, Connecticut, written by Amherst man.
– Mystic River
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I forgot…
-The Verdict , in Boston
-The Human Stain, Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman, filmed in the Berkshires
– Dreams, filmed in Northampton Massachusetts, with Annette Benning.
– The Finest Hours, filmed in Quincy, Mass.
Wow,you completely ignored Western MA!. Both Cider House Rules and Little Women were filmed in western MA.
Janet Planet was filmed in the greater Amherst area and my friend’s house in Leverett was used in the movie
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Northampton
Carnal Knowledge Amherst
The Reincarnation of Peter Proud Springfield
Dexter: New Blood, The Judge, Labor Day were all filmed in Shelburne Falls
Little Women and The Holdovers were filmed in Deerfield
Cider House Rules was filmed at the Old Northampton State Hospital
In Dreams was filmed in Northampton, my mother was an extra and even had a speaking part
Cider House Rules was no. 10
I would have definitely included ..
Manchester by the Sea
Love Story
Good Will Hunting
The Haunting
The Resurrection of Peter Proud
The Perfect Storm should be on the list.
Also, Jumanji filmed in Keene, New Hampshire in Nov. 1994