In Alex Garland’s Civil War, a grim movie about journalists traveling through a war-torn U.S., the group drives under a highway overpass spray-painted with graffiti that says “GO STEELERS.” The location isn’t recognizable as Pittsburgh (and I’m omitting a gruesome reveal), but the suggestion of it was enough for the Pittsburgh audience at an advanced screening to clap and cheer. I know because I was among them, hooting and hollering, grateful that Pittsburgh pride remains undefeated.
Though the region has positioned itself as “Hollywood East,” it’s still a thrill to see it on screen, and in my movie-watching at least, a relative rarity. We’ll always have our go-to Pittsburgh movies that make the city look magical, like Striking Distance, The Dark Knight Rises, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and horror classics Night of the Living Dead and Silence of the Lambs. But for those of you who get excited at the mere sight of the Smithfield Street Bridge, curl up and settle in with these lesser-known movies filmed in Pittsburgh.
Desperate Measures (1998)
This San Francisco-set, but mostly Pittsburgh-shot action thriller features Michael Keaton as a crazed serial killer bolting across the Bridge of Sighs. This comes to pass thanks to a high-wire plot where a police officer (Andy Garcia) finds that the only bone marrow match for his leukemia-stricken son is a convicted killer (Keaton). In a bizarro Pittsburgh version of John Q., Garcia’s character breaks Keaton out of a supermax prison to make the transplant. Predictably, things go awry, leading to a madcap chase through Downtown Pittsburgh — viewers will recognize the Allegheny County Courthouse and BNY Mellon Center on Grant St. — with explosions, helicopters, snipers, SWAT, and, of course, a bridge scene.
Where to stream: Amazon Prime Video, YouTube TV, Apple TV, Google Play
The Clearing (2004)
I happened to watch The Clearing, a movie about the kidnapping of a rental car company tycoon, the day after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and found it to be a rich text. (When the news broke, I immediately thought of another quickly forgotten Pittsburgh movie, Sweet Girl. In the 2021 Netflix release, a grieving husband, played by Jason Momoa, strangles a Martin Shkreli-like character who denied his wife life-saving care, inside the Carnegie Music Hall. Quarter-zip vests truly are the mark of the beast.)
The Clearing is a quieter, more contemplative entry in the eat-the-rich genre, loosely based on the real-life kidnapping of a Dutch businessman in 1987. The movie is anchored by a trio of heavy-hitting actors — Willem Dafoe as the abductor, Robert Redford as his captive, and Helen Mirren as Redford’s stricken wife — and by Pittsburgh itself. Get hooked as you watch Dafoe take the T into Downtown, drive through the Armstrong Tunnel, and ominously pick up a briefcase and envelope, or stick around for a ransom drop at the Omni William Penn Hotel.
Where to stream: Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV
The Cemetery Club (1993)
Pittsburgh shines as an action movie backdrop, but what about for a ‘90s rom-com? The Cemetery Club is centered around three Jewish widows who pay a weekly visit to their husbands’ graves in Allegheny Cemetery (which has never looked better on film). The ensemble of “three divas” — as described by famed actor/director Bill Duke — includes Olympia Dukakis, Diane Ladd, and Ellen Burstyn, who make this movie a delight even before Burstyn’s character peels off for a date at the Original Oyster House with a suitor played by Danny Aiello. The movie is poignant on its own (and boasts a 12-year-old Christina Ricci), but Duke brings a Striking Distance-like reverence to filming scenic swaths of Pittsburgh, and I lost count of the number of recognizable locations. Dig in for Downtown vistas, a gaudy wedding with an 80-year-old groom at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association, and another memorable scene at the William Penn.
Where to stream: Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV
The Next Three Days (2010)
I’m not sure how unsung The Next Three Days is (I suspect it might have a cult following already), but it should be considered a Pittsburgh classic. The crime thriller belongs in the yinzer canon if only for Liam Neeson leaning over during a prison visit to utter, with his full Irish brogue, “Pittsburgh’s tough.”
The Next Three Days kicks off with leading lady Elizabeth Banks nearly getting into a drunken fistfight at the Grand Concourse, getting wrongfully arrested for murder in the next scene, and then quickly evolving into its true form — a Pittsburgh jailbreak movie. Brennan’s mild-mannered husband (Russell Crowe) stages her escape amidst the region’s bridges, tunnels, and inscrutable belt system, all looking spectacular with peak fall foliage. Enjoy the ride and some choice views from Mount Washington (and don’t scrutinize the escape route too much).
Where to stream: Peacock, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV
Mrs. Soffel (1984)
I’ve probably obsessed over Mrs. Soffel and the Biddle brothers enough, but we used to be a proper country that made these kinds of smoldering romantic dramas, and Pittsburgh should rightfully claim this one. Mrs. Soffel dramatizes the Biddle brothers’ real-life escape from the Allegheny County Jail in 1902 (yes, that’s three jailbreak movies on this list), aided by the besotted prison warden’s wife, Kate Soffel. The movie stars Mel Gibson and Matthew Modine as Ed and Jack Biddle, and Diane Keaton as Kate. I have mixed feelings reporting that the chemistry between Keaton and Gibson is absolutely out of pocket, and on its own makes Mrs. Soffel worth the watch.
But Mrs. Soffel took the true crime element to a new level by filming inside the Allegheny County Courthouse and the actual old Allegheny County Jail where the Biddles were imprisoned. If you know the story, you already know our protagonists’ fates, but you can still buckle up for the chase with real-life police detective Charles “Buck” McGovern portrayed by Terry O’Quinn (aka John Locke from Lost). Mrs. Soffel celebrated its 40th anniversary on Dec. 26, and I’m raising a glass to it.
Where to stream: Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV
This article appears in Jan 8-14, 2025.
