culture
Reel Toronto: Mrs. Winterbourne
Toronto’s extensive work on the silver screen reveals that, while we have the chameleonic ability to look like anywhere from New York City to Moscow, the disguise doesn’t always hold up to scrutiny. Reel Toronto revels in digging up and displaying the films that attempt to mask, hide, or—in rare cases—proudly display our city.
Remember when the city went crazy about Shirley MacLaine coming to town and how the box office went wild when Mrs. Winterbourne finally hit? No, neither do we. This is one of those grand, Toronto-shot films that essentially came and went without a sound, unless you happen to be an aficionado of films in which Brendan Fraser plays a double role.
As you well know, however, quality is not a prerequisite for inclusion in Reel Toronto. Au contraire, this film’s seven per cent Rotten Tomatoes rating is hardly even noteworthy in the context of achievements like Glitter and Cheaper by the Dozen 2. Sigh.
So, the film is set in the Boston area and New York and features Ricki Lake, who was making her transition from a member of the John Waters repertory company to daytime talk show host serious actress.
The film opens and closes with a lovely wedding. The framing is perhaps a bit too tight for it to be entirely obvious, but these are the steps of the St. James Cathedral.
You can see it a bit wider here…
…and you can see King Street in this reverse shot, with St. Lawrence Market just hiding in the background there.
They also used the handsome interior.
The Winterbourne mansion is played by King City’s lovely Eaton Hall.
You may recognize this entrance from the climax of David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence…
…which also made use of this lovely lakeside lawn, albeit in a completely different context.
Hey, it’s Brendan Fraser hanging with a fairly young Jane Krakowski!
Inside Eaton Hall is nice enough but it hardly compares to Oshawa’s Parkwood Estate, where they shot the interiors. We’ve seen that old chestnut in Billy Madison and a billion other things. (It was, somewhat incongruously, the X-Mansion exterior in X-Men; the interiors were Casa Loma.)
They used the dining room….
…these steps…
…and the indoor pool.
They shot something down in Hazelton Lanes so we’re guessing it’s this spa.
About the same level of speculation can be applied to this city street, which may be ol’ Queen Street West, where they shot something or other.
With greater certainty, we can declare that this motel…
…is actually the Andrews Motel, out on Kingston Road.
If you read the credits (which we have to; every frame, to the bitter end) you’d hardly know they even shot here, what with all the hearty thanks to the Big Apple and Beantown. You’re welcome, Hollywood! You’re welcome, people of Earth, for our invaluable contribution to human culture!