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The day Chuck Norris came to town
1979 film A Force Of One was filmed around downtown San Diego
Chuck Norris climbs the stairs at downtown's Palms Hotel
Chuck Norris once busted into my hotel room and beat up a drug dealer. For real! He was filming a movie in downtown San Diego in the late 70s, with one scene at the storied Palms Hotel flophouse on 12th & Island, across from the detox center, and my room was the one at the top of the crappy old staircase that best suited movie producers who wanted to shoot the scene of Chuck busting up a baddie at the Hotel!
A Force of One is a Chuck Norris/Jennifer O’Neal thriller with Chuck kicking ass all over downtown San Diego, circa 1979. Some shots were done on 5th Avenue, at the all-night grindhouse theaters where I was working at the time, the Casino and the Aztec. Above is a screenshot of Chuck chasing a bad guy down Fifth.
One notable scene was filmed at the Palms, seen above in pics I took in 1979 and 2004. Chuck and Jennifer walk into the lobby, and Chuck wants to do some tough talking at the front desk, at the bottom of the staircase. Jennifer instead applies a little charm (as much as glacial Jennifer O'Neal can exude charm, anyway, IE not a whole lotta).
The street level lobby, usually filled with senior citizens watching the already-ancient TV, was lit to highlight the dreadful worn-out walls and some of those very same Hotel denizens, sitting on the couch benches (like converted bus benches), pretending to stare at the tube.
A lot of residents coveted the movie “roles,” not so much to be in the film but for the $50 fee. The old guy who used to rent me his car was in the scene: he used the $$ to pickup a rent-to-own TV for his dinky second floor room, which needed a cleanup just to make room for set.
In the movie, Chuck and Jen head up the grand staircase maze. Note the poor wall "repairs," with masking tape over the cracks and painted in various colors that don't even come close to matching the wall paint. So, the duo makes their way to a room atop the stairs. And Chuck kicks some serious druggie ass.
On the day of the film shoot, Norris and O’Neal were seen walking around outside a lot, being very cordial to anyone who wanted to talk to them. Which wasn’t that many people. The majority of Hotel residents seemed unaware or uncaring about who they were and what they were doing. They just grumbled about having to go in and out thru the back door, and not having lobby access for the 15-or-so hour shoot.
The one hotel pay phone was in the lobby, and thus off limits all day. That was the REAL pisser for most of the residents. That, and Beezely’s pub next door being closed to the public, to instead serve as a Kraft Services roach wagon for the film crew and talent.
When A Force of One came out in theaters, I went to my own beloved Casino Theater on 5th to see it with Jerry the King of Cans and old Donald the Bear, the only time I recall ever seeing Donald outside the Hotel (other than going to and from Beezley’s).
We cheered like soccer hooligans during the Palms scene.
I didn’t remember another thing about the flick until screening the DVD recently, to pull screenshots for this web feature -
Here's something you might be interested in.
The day Chuck Norris came to town
1979 film A Force Of One was filmed around downtown San Diego
The day Chuck Norris came to town
1979 film A Force Of One was filmed around downtown San Diego
Chuck Norris climbs the stairs at downtown's Palms Hotel
Chuck Norris once busted into my hotel room and beat up a drug dealer. For real! He was filming a movie in downtown San Diego in the late 70s, with one scene at the storied Palms Hotel flophouse on 12th & Island, across from the detox center, and my room was the one at the top of the crappy old staircase that best suited movie producers who wanted to shoot the scene of Chuck busting up a baddie at the Hotel!
A Force of One is a Chuck Norris/Jennifer O’Neal thriller with Chuck kicking ass all over downtown San Diego, circa 1979. Some shots were done on 5th Avenue, at the all-night grindhouse theaters where I was working at the time, the Casino and the Aztec. Above is a screenshot of Chuck chasing a bad guy down Fifth.
One notable scene was filmed at the Palms, seen above in pics I took in 1979 and 2004. Chuck and Jennifer walk into the lobby, and Chuck wants to do some tough talking at the front desk, at the bottom of the staircase. Jennifer instead applies a little charm (as much as glacial Jennifer O'Neal can exude charm, anyway, IE not a whole lotta).
The street level lobby, usually filled with senior citizens watching the already-ancient TV, was lit to highlight the dreadful worn-out walls and some of those very same Hotel denizens, sitting on the couch benches (like converted bus benches), pretending to stare at the tube.
A lot of residents coveted the movie “roles,” not so much to be in the film but for the $50 fee. The old guy who used to rent me his car was in the scene: he used the $$ to pickup a rent-to-own TV for his dinky second floor room, which needed a cleanup just to make room for set.
In the movie, Chuck and Jen head up the grand staircase maze. Note the poor wall "repairs," with masking tape over the cracks and painted in various colors that don't even come close to matching the wall paint. So, the duo makes their way to a room atop the stairs. And Chuck kicks some serious druggie ass.
On the day of the film shoot, Norris and O’Neal were seen walking around outside a lot, being very cordial to anyone who wanted to talk to them. Which wasn’t that many people. The majority of Hotel residents seemed unaware or uncaring about who they were and what they were doing. They just grumbled about having to go in and out thru the back door, and not having lobby access for the 15-or-so hour shoot.
The one hotel pay phone was in the lobby, and thus off limits all day. That was the REAL pisser for most of the residents. That, and Beezely’s pub next door being closed to the public, to instead serve as a Kraft Services roach wagon for the film crew and talent.
When A Force of One came out in theaters, I went to my own beloved Casino Theater on 5th to see it with Jerry the King of Cans and old Donald the Bear, the only time I recall ever seeing Donald outside the Hotel (other than going to and from Beezley’s).
We cheered like soccer hooligans during the Palms scene.
I didn’t remember another thing about the flick until screening the DVD recently, to pull screenshots for this web feature -