I grew up in a small beach town that has one significant landmark: a 19th century resort hotel. When the Hotel Del Coronado opened in 1888 it was the largest resort hotel in the world. Presidents, kings, and Hollywood royalty have stayed there. Prince Edward allegedly met Wallis Simpson there. The hotel has a ghost: a woman who checked in under an assumed name in 1892 and was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head five days later (the coroner ruled it a suicide).

Over the decades, a number of movies have been shot at the Del. It became a minor obsession of mine to seek them all out. One genuine classic was shot at the Del, one cult classic, and several cheesy not-so-classics. I’m on a quest to see them all.

Some Like It Hot (1959)

Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon play prohibition era musicians who witness the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. They flee Chicago incognito by dressing as women and joining an all girls band. The band has a gig at a Florida beach resort (the Del) where Tony Curtis pretends to be a millionaire to seduce band mate Marilyn Monroe and Joe E. Brown (actual millionaire) attempts to seduce Daphne (Jack Lemmon in drag). Some Like It Hot was nominated for six Oscars: best director (Billy Wilder), best actor (Jack Lemmon), best screenplay, best cinematography, best art direction, and best costume design, which it won. It was also nominated for several Golden Globes including best motion picture — musical or comedy, best actor — musical or comedy (Jack Lemmon), and best actress — musical or comedy (Marilyn Monroe). It won all three. Also starring George Raft and Nehemiah Persoff. An uncredited Grace Lee Whitney (Yeoman Rand on Star Trek) is one of the girls in the band. Del appearance: the film begins in Chicago but once they reach ‘Florida’, the Del is prominently featured as the Seminole Ritz Hotel in Miami.

The Stunt Man (1980)

Peter O’Toole stars as Eli Cross, a megalomaniacal director who is shooting a World War I movie set in Germany at the Del. Eli complains, “Palm trees! Who had the audacity to plant palm trees in WWI Germany?” The Stunt Man was nominated for three Oscars: best director (Richard Rush), best actor (Peter O’Toole), and best adapted screenplay (Rush and Lawrence B. Marcus). It didn’t win any of those but it did win a Golden Globe for best original score. The National Society of Film Critics gave Peter O’Toole a best actor award and the Montreal World Film Festival awarded it the Grand Prix des Amériques (Best Film). Also starring Steve Railsback, Barbara Hershey, Alex Rocco, Sharon Farrell. Del appearance: the hotel is never named or situated. The bridge where the opening and climactic scenes occur is nowhere near the Del but the hotel itself is prominently featured throughout the film.

Coronado (1935)

Charming musical about a rich young man (Johnny Downs) on vacation with his parents at a beach resort (the Del). He is mistaken for an impoverished songwriter by June (Betty Burgess), the singer in the hotel band. Johnny lets June go on thinking that in order to spend time with her. Predictable misunderstandings ensue. Jack Haley sings the title song. There’s a terrific tap routine by Downs. A pity there isn’t a decent print of Coronado available. I would pay for a restored version on DVD. I found a blurry copy on the internet archive. Del appearance: the Del plays itself. As a bonus, the Del’s old boathouse on Glorietta Bay (now a restaurant) also makes an appearance. The film is a fascinating time capsule of old Coronado. It was shot when Tent City still existed—a campground south of the hotel that was demolished in 1939. An old neighbor of ours spent time in Tent City as a little girl. I’ve always been intrigued by the photos. Johnny Downs liked Coronado so much, he retired there. I was watching the old Charles Boyer/Hedy Lemarr movie Algiers on TCM one day when my mom walked in and said, “Oh, that’s Johnny Downs. He goes to our church.” Sure enough, she pointed him out to me at church the following Sunday.

Wicked, Wicked (1973)

Wicked, Wicked is an obscure slasher flick that I tried to find for years with no luck until it came to my attention that the Warner Archive Collection released it MOD (DVD manufactured on demand). Of course it turned up on TCM a week after I purchased the DVD. The whole film was shot on location at the Del. In ‘duo-vision’, a split screen gimmick. It stars David Bailey as the hotel detective who investigates several missing women who skipped out without paying their bills. Tiffany Bolling plays a singer who has a gig at the hotel. Also starring Edd “Kookie” Byrnes, Madeleine Sherwood, Arthur O’Connell. Del appearance: the Del plays the Grandview Hotel, located in an unspecified California city. I’m pretty sure the killer’s childhood home shown in flashbacks is also in Coronado. It certainly looks like a Coronado house.

Daydream Hotel (2017)

My sister found this at the Coronado Library, a cheesy affair that premiered at the first annual Coronado Island Film Festival in 2016. The plot has something to do with a contest with the prize being a trip to the titular hotel where your biggest dream will be fulfilled. There’s a subplot involving a mermaid. It’s very silly. Del appearance: the Daydream Hotel of the title.

In the preceding movies, the Del is as much a character as the human actors. There are a lot of films that use the Del more minimally. Including:

The Married Virgin (1918)

Silent melodrama starring a pre-fame Rudolph Valentino (credited as Rodolfo di Valentini) as a lothario and a cad. He schemes with his married lover to entrap a young heiress into marriage and take her money. It’s on YouTube if you care to watch it. Del appearance: Mary (the young heiress) meets Count Roberto di San Fraccini (Valentino) at the Del Coronado, as it is called in the film.

The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything (1980)

TV movie with Robert Hays (of Airplane! fame) and Pam Dawber (of Mork & Mindy fame) based on a John D. MacDonald novel involving a watch that can stop time. No authorized version of this is streaming anywhere but I found a blurry VHS upload on YouTube. This is an odd film. For one thing, it takes forever to get to the point. An hour in before Hays figures out he has a magic watch. There’s a horrifying ‘meet cute’ (more like ‘meet creep’) in which Pam Dawber slips into bed with Hays thinking he’s her boyfriend. They have sex before she turns on the light and discovers a stranger in her bed. There are a bunch of rape jokes regarding another female character, the implication being that she’s sex-starved and would welcome it. In another awful scene, Hays uses the magic watch to deposit femme fatale Jill Ireland in the back of a truck, naked, with a bunch of sailors on shore leave. Hays acts like a moron and a creep with his newfound power. Del appearance: the villains (Jill Ireland and Ed Nelson) stay at the Del. There are a couple of scenes inside the Del and one establishing shot of the exterior. The Del appears as itself, referred to as the ‘Del Coronado’. Locals simply call it the Del.

Dive Bomber (1941)

Aviation movie starring Errol Flynn and Fred MacMurray as pilots. I discovered this on TCM in the middle of the night. Flynn is a navy doctor trying to determine what causes pilots to black out in combat situations. There’s a love triangle with Flynn, MacMurray and Alexis Smith. The first time I saw this I was surprised to see the Hotel Del from above. The production was based at North Island, the naval air station on the north side of Coronado. Del appearance: just that one flyover scene.

His Mistress (1984)

TV movie with rich exectutive Robert Urich having an affair with an executive assistant at his company (Julianne Phillips). Of interest mainly as a time capsule of the mid-80s – the fashion, the hair, the cringey sexual politics. Del appearance: Urich takes Phillips to the Del for a weekend 15 minutes before the end of the movie. That’s it, except for some beach scenes earlier on Coronado Beach. I recognized Point Loma in the background.

Yours For the Asking (1936)

Casino owner Johnny Lamb (George Raft) goes into business with down-on-her-luck socialite Lucille Sutton (Dolores Costello). When his casino underlings begin to fear that Johnny will go straight and leave them behind, they hire grifters Ida Lupino and Reginald Owen to distract him. Del appearance: The iconic Del exterior appears nowhere in this film but I think they used the beach and portions of the beachfront patio.

My Blue Heaven (1990)

Steve Martin/Rick Moranis comedy I know I saw but I have no recollection of it. It’s only available to rent at the moment so I haven’t revisited it. I’ll update this later if I do.

That’s it for the Del movies I have seen. Here’s a list of Del movies that I have not seen:

• The Flying Fleet (1929) – Another naval aviation movie written by the same man who wrote Dive Bomber. Wikipedia says it’s the first major Hollywood movie to use NAS North Island.
• $ [aka Dollars] (1971) – Heist comedy I’ve never heard of starring Warren Beatty and Goldie Hawn. Most of the movie takes place in Germany with a final coda at the Del.
• Loving Couples (1980) – Rom-com I’ve never heard of starring James Coburn and Shirley MacLaine as a couple who are cheating on each other with Susan Sarandon and Stephen Collins, respectively. The Del and its beach are supposed to be Mexico.
• K-9 (1989) – Jim Belushi cop/canine movie.

A lot of tv shows were shot at the Del too, including a horror anthology show that Sebastian Cabot hosted from the Del’s patio [Circle of Fear (1972-1973)]. There was a two-part Baywatch episode called “Coronado del Soul” (with a ghost at the Del but not the ghost). Simon & Simon also did an episode involving a Del ghost (the ghost? not sure). There is a Hart to Hart that lists the Del as a filming location, masquerading as the Bahamas.

There is at least one novel that is set at the Del: Bid Time Return by Richard Matheson. It’s a romantic fantasy about a man who falls in love with a woman’s portrait, then travels back in time and meets her. It was made into a movie (Somewhere In Time with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour) but they changed the location to the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island in Michigan.

This list wouldn’t be complete without a music video. Dashboard Confessional shot a video at the Del, with a pre-fame Olivia Wilde.