Hooray for Newport Beach! Err ... Hollywood

The Academy Awards are Sunday night, and if you think men were crazy during the Super Bowl, you should see me during the Oscars. I have my picks already, and I've bet money on this game.

This is serious stuff.  

But what I love more than the competition is the celebration of film—an art form that has influenced culture in the U.S. and around the world for the better part of a century. And although we don't always feel the Hollywood energy living here in Newport Beach, the city has been a location for many films.

In fact, back in Hollywood's early days, Newport was one of the more popular locations. Lighting and special effects for film were still primitive, so Newport's sunny skies and quiet beaches were exactly what filmmakers needed when filming called for tropical and exotic locations.

Let's take a look:

• In a silent Cleopatra (1917), the Santa Ana River was used as the Nile, and additional scenes were shot in Newport's Back Bay.
• Buster Keaton filmed many of his silent comedies in Newport Beach,  including The Boat (Newport Harbor), Sherlock Jr. (chase scene from Back Bay to San Joaquin Hills Road), The Scarecrow (Marine Avenue, Balboa Island), College (Balboa Island Ferry),  and The Cameraman (Balboa Pavilion).  
• Academy Award winner All Quiet on the Western Front's battle scenes were filmed at Irvine Ranch, which then was south of Corona del Mar.
• The film Sands of Iwo Jima (1945), starring Newport Beach resident John Wayne, was filmed on Linda Isle, formerly Shark Island.
• In Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, exterior shots were filmed at our Central Library.
• Barbara Hershey's beach house in Beaches was at beautiful Crystal Cove.
• A scene from A Few Good Men was filmed here.
• Pirate's Cove (the north end of Corona del Mar State Beach) is rumored to be the inspiration for Disney's Peter Pan. 
• John Wayne Airport served as a filming spot for Jerry Maguire, Clear and Present Danger, The Out of Towners, Rat Race, The Insider, Elizabethtown and Up Close and Personal.
• Newport Harbor is featured in the Gilligan's Island intro, and cave scenes were filmed in Newport south of the Balboa Peninsula. 
• Although not shot in Newport Beach, with exception of some exterior shots, Arrested Development and The OC were both shows set in Newport. The family on Arrested Development owned a frozen-banana stand on Balboa Island. 
• MTV's Newport Harbor was filmed in Newport, and parts of Bravo's The Real Housewives of Orange County are filmed here.  
• Gleaming the Cube, starring Christian Slater, and INXS' video for "Devil Inside" were partly filmed at the Balboa Island Fun Zone. Devil Inside additionally filmed at the Balboa Saloon bar. 

Hollywood may be two hours away in traffic, but we have our own piece of it right here in our .