NEW YORK CITY as seen in "Arthur"

New York City is the most filmed city in the world. Everyday there are at least three filmings of movies and television show's going on in different parts of the city. It is a very exciting place to be for movie buff's and lovers of television shows such as "Friends" and "Sex & The City". Everywhere you turn you are faced with the feeling of deja vu. Landmarks which you have seen dozen's of times on the screen which seem so familiar to you even if you have never been to the city before. New York City is a fabulous place to travel for movie buff's. There are many tours you can do through New York which focus on movie and TV show locations. My personal favourite is On Location Tours, which I took a tour with in late 2008. I was ecstatic to see the "Friends" apartment building (a lot smaller than what you would imagine), "Sex & The City's" Magnolia Bakery and, of course, Tiffany's from "Breakfast At Tiffanys". If you are interested in taking a coach tour of New York City, visit them at On Location Tours.

However, you may want to do a walking tour independantly. That's where we can help you. As New York City has so many famous filming locations, Travelling With The Movies will be looking at only the specific locations in a particular film in each entry. This isn't a bad thing though, as New York has so many filming locations that we are sure to cover the large majority of them overtime. So today we start with the New York filming locations for the 2011 film, "Arthur" starring Russell Brand and Helen Mirren. "Arthur" is a remake of the 1981 film fo the same name starring Dudley Moore and Liza Minnelli. To find out more about "Arthur", check out our sister site, Movie Critical.

"Arthur" is a great tourism product for New York City. Director, Jason Winer has chosen numerous known and accessible to the public landmarks to set his film. The first landmark we see is when Arthur crashes his Batmobile is the Charging Bull at Bowling Park Green in the financial district, very close to Wall Street. The bull symbolizes aggressive financial optimism and prosperity. A fitting symbol to be inserted into "Arthur" at the beginning, as it symbolizes how the film has a great emphasis on Arthur's financial position and his fight to maintain that financial position. The bull has been a great tourist attraction since it's construction and placement in 1989.  Just like Arthur accidently does in the film, tourists seem to have a fascination of the bull's genitals and many photos of people with the bull on the internet are taken from the backside rather than the front. When you visit the Charging Bull, it is a bit of a fight against the other tourists to try and get a photo of yourself with it from the front so be prepared to claim your ownership!

Another extremely popular location featured in "Arthur" is of course, Grand Central Terminal. According to Screen Junkies, Grand Central is the most popular movie location in the world. Grand Central Terminal in "Arthur" is on show. It is one of the very few opportunites you will ever get to see Grand Central station with no one in it. Arthur makes sure the station is completely clear of anyone else except himself and his love interest, Naomi for their first date, it is also where he first sets eyes on Naomi. It is quite surreal seeing Grand Central with no one in it, as is one of the places you can definately feel extremely overwhelmed. 47 platforms and 75 tracks, try not getting lost there when you have never been to New York before and you are trying to find your train back to White Plains.  On the other hand, Grand Central Station is probably the most beautiful train station you will ever see. Grand Central Station as we know it today was built in 1913, with it's magnificent outer facade, large windows, marble suitcase and amazing ceiling, as is greatly featured in "Arthur". The huge American flag was added to the great hall just days after September 11. The Whispering Gallery in which Arthur officially asks Naomi out in the movie is a popular place in Grand Central Station for marriage proposals to take place. Try it out for yourself!

And finally, you will not see a drunk Gummi Bear as you do in the film in Dylans Candy Bar at 1101 Third Ave...or at least we hope so! Dylan's is one of five stores located in the USA and is famous for housing 5000 types of candy and combining the world's of candy and fashion. In 2008 it became the largest candy store in the world with three storeys with a cafe on the upper level and three party rooms. Dylan's has been featured on Oprah and in several fashion magazines such as Elle, Vogue and Town & Country. Recently, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were spotted here with their daughter, Suri. Dylan's Candy Bar is quickly becoming a tourist attraction of New York City and is a great place to take your family.

"Arthur" is just one film which is set in New York and contains advertising to make anybody want to travel to the Big Apple. The city has so much beauty and excitement tied to it, who wouldn't want to be part of their film?