Same Block, Different Eras

The filming for the TV drama Z: The Beginning of Everything that took place on the 300 block of Allen Street last week put me in mind of another movie that included scenes shot in the same part of the city, as well as many others: Ironweed. 

Last week, Hudson was Montgomery, Alabama, in the 1920s. In 1987, when Ironweed was filmed here, it was Albany in 1937, one of the worst years of the Great Depression. 

Looking for scenes from the movie that showed the 300 block of Allen Street and the area around the courthouse, I stumbled upon this article in the UPI Archives about Hudson and the filming of Ironweed, which was published on November 7, 1986: "City becomes 'tinsel town outpost.'" If you read the article (and I recommend you do), here is some background information for those of us who weren't here in 1986. The Mariner restaurant was located at 523 Warren Street, where Earth Foods was for many years and where the new pizzeria Oak just opened. Marsh's department store was located at 551 Warren Street, the building purchased last year and renovated by Colin Stair.

The scenes included above are screen captures from Ironweed. The entire movie can now be viewed on YouTube.
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