Calgary Heritage on Film
Anderson apartments, Calgary, Alberta, 1912. Glenbow Archives. NA-1469-22
Calgary and southern Alberta have a rich filmmaking history, and the city continues to be one of the top destinations for film and television productions in North America. According to Calgary Economic Development, this year Calgary made MovieMaker’s list of Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker in 2021.
Martin Freeman as Lester Nygaard in a scene from television show "Fargo." THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Rogers Media/FX/Matthias Clamer
Calgary is the fourth largest film jurisdiction in Canada, and we love spotting Calgary’s unique heritage buildings on the silver screen. Here we explore a list of locations from the Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources which have been featured in TV & film.
Fraser Block. Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources.
The dark comedy television series Fargo has filmed all three seasons in and around Calgary, standing in for locations set in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The pilot episode features Inglewood Pizza in the Fraser Block as “Norm’s Pizza”.
The Fraser Block is a well-preserved example of the late Edwardian Commercial style. Since its construction in 1911 as stores with residential apartments above, the Fraser Block has been an integral component of the retail and commercial activity which made 9th Avenue S.E. Inglewood's high street, and one of Calgary's historic principle commercial thoroughfares.
Anderson Apartments. Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources.
Also filmed in Calgary is the upcoming Ghostbusters: Afterlife, a supernatural comedy-drama film directed by Jason Reitman and written by Reitman and Gil Kenan. The film stars Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, and Paul Rudd. Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, and Annie Potts reprise their roles from the original films. It is the fourth film in the Ghosbusters series.
The historic Congress Apartments and Anderson Apartments both appear in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. The Anderson Apartments building is a six-storey, red brick structure located on two lots in the Lower Mount Royal area of Calgary. Situated close to the prestigious Mount Royal district, it is an excellent example of early twentieth-century construction technology and fashionable apartment living. The heritage value of the Anderson Apartments building lies in its association with Calgary's pre-World War One housing boom and its eclectic architectural style.
Congress Apartments. Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources.
The Houlton House (Congress) Apartments is a three-storey, Classical Revival-style building contructed 1911-12. It is a landmark in the community due to its elegant architecture, distinctive buff-coloured brick exterior, pairing with the adjacent and identical Moxam Apartments, and contribution to the collective historic character of the streetscape. The development of the Houlton House (Congress) Apartments and Moxam Apartments produced two of Calgary's most handsome and high-class apartment residences, with the buildings being among the best examples in the city of Classical Revival style architecture.
W.R. Castell Central Library. Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources.
The exterior of the former Central Library provided the facade for the FBI Headquarters in season one of Fargo. The original portion of the W.R. Castell Central Library is valued for its distinctive exterior construction materials, expressive of the new trends in modern architecture in the 1960s.
Plaza Theatre. Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources.
In season two of Fargo, the neighbourhood of Kensington, including The Plaza Theater, was used to film scenes set in Sioux Falls, Kansas City, and Luverne. The Plaza Theatre is the last functioning neighbourhood movie house in Calgary. It recalls a time when neighbourhoods theatres were developed to satisfy the enourmous demand for movie entertainment and when each neighbourhood could support a theatre of its own. It is in a modest Art Deco style with Spanish Colonial Revival influences.
Carson Block. Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources.
Swan’s of Inglewood stands in as the Fargo bar where Ray Stussy later meets up with his parolee Maurice LeFay to hatch their plans in season three. Swan's is located in the Carson Block building in the historic Inglewood district of Calgary. The Carson Block, an elegant and well-designed example of the Classical Revival Style in Calgary, has a level of refinement rarely found in a smaller scale building. The exterior has retained almost all of its original design, with commercial signs being the only additions in recent years.
Fraser & Seabloom Block. Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources.
Spoilers ahead for the third season of Fargo; LeFay meets an unfortunate fate involving the building across the way. The Fraser & Seabloom Block is an excellent example of the late Edwardian Commercial style. When it was constructed, the Fraser & Seabloom Block was one of the two tallest buildings in Inglewood. Over a century after its construction, it remains one of tallest buildings on Inglewood's main commercial street. Its ornamental brick and sandstone façade adds to its landmark presence.
The iconic St. Louis Hotel, featured in the 1983 film, Superman III. (Warner Bros. Pictures)
The first three Superman movies were filmed in the Calgary area, with scenes filmed in the village of Baron and the hamlet of Blackie. Filming moved to Calgary for Superman III (1983), and the façade of the St. Louis Hotel in East Village can be spotted above. The St. Louis Hotel was developed by one of Calgary's most prominent citizens, Col. James Walker. Due to its close proximity to City Hall, in its later history it gained the reputation for being popular watering hole with city hall employees, including a string of mayors. Ralph Klein, who frequented the bar as a journalist in the 1970s, planned his candidacy for mayor at the hotel and thereafter entertained visiting dignitaries at the blue-collar tavern.
View of the Palliser Hotel in Calgary, Alberta. 1920-1940. Photo from Peel’s Prairie Postcards.
The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford recounts the final days of America’s old west outlaw Jesse James (Brad Pitt) and his death at the hands of Robert Ford (Casey Affleck), who shot him in the back. Filming took place in Calgary, Canmore, Edmonton, and Winnipeg. At the Fairmont Palliser Hotel, 250 Calgary residents were used as extras in the governor’s ballroom scene. Scenes were also filmed at Heritage Park.
The Palliser Hotel has been a Calgary landmark since its construction for the Canadian Pacific Railway between 1911 and 1914. Designed by the Montreal architectural firm of Edward and W.S. Maxwell, it is an excellent example of the Edwardian Commercial Style. The Palliser, named after geographer and explorer Captain John Palliser, has excellent historical significance. Many of the most important functions in the civic, social and public life of Calgarians have taken place here. The building has hosted royalty, dignitaries from many countries, entertainers and other public figures.
Scene from The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, with the old McDougall Memorial Church at Morley in the background.
Many other iconic films have been filmed or partially filmed in the Calgary area. In 1953, Marilyn Monroe stayed at The Fairmont Banff Springs during the filming of the movie River of No Return in Banff National Park. Among the many other beloved Calgary-area classics are Legends of the Fall, Brokeback Mountain, Unforgiven, Days of Heaven, and The Revenant.
Days of Heaven by Terrence Malick. Filmed at Whiskey Gap, Alberta, and Heritage Park in Calgary.