Photos: Wisconsin-made movies, from 'Major League' to 'Blues Brothers'

Director James Goldstone (left) and star Paul Newman talk about a scene during filming of the racing drama "Winning" at the Road America track in Elkhart Lake. This photo was published in the May 22, 1968, Milwaukee Journal.

Paul Newman rehearses a scene in the winner's circle at Road America in Elkhart Lake during the filming of the movie "Winning" on May 20, 1968. The movie crew spent a week and a half filming in Wisconsin, most of it at Road America. Some biographers say Newman's love of auto racing got its start on the track at Elkhart Lake. This photo was published in the May 21, 1968, Milwaukee Journal. 1968 role in "Winning" sparked his interest in race car driving. Paul Newman got a kiss from actress Eileen Wesson Monday as they rehearsed a scene from the movie " Winning" , a portion of which is being filmed at the Road America track in Elkhart Lake. The fingers in the foreground are those of director James Goldstone. SCAN FOR PAUL NEWMAN OBIT

A block-long stretch of N. 5th St., between Vliet St. and McKinley Ave., is transformed into a 1910 green market for scenes being shot for "Gaily, Gaily," a big-budget Hollywood movie, on June 28, 1968. Seen at top left: the old Ambrosia Chocolate factory. This photo was published in the June 28, 1968, Milwaukee Journal.

Brian Keith (right, with hat) makes his way down a Third Ward street, made up to look like turn-of-the-century Chicago, in the newspaper drama "Gaily, Gaily" on July 6, 1968. Much of the movie was shot in Milwaukee during the summer of 1968; it was released in theaters in 1969. This photo was published in The Milwaukee Journal on July 6, 1968.

A log cabin in Milton provides the set for "The Emigrants," a Swedish film about Swedish immigrants to the United States in the 1850s, with some filming in Milton in September 1969. Max von Sydow (center) and Liv Ullmann (second from right) starred in the movie written and directed by Jan Troell. Released in 1971, the movie was nominated for five Oscars, including best picture, actress (Ullmann) and director (Troell). This photo was published in the Sept. 9, 1969, Milwaukee Journal.

Ruth Schudson (left0 and director Robert Wise confer on a scene during filming of "The Hindenburg" in Milwaukee on May 21, 1974. The Milwaukee stage actress was one of several local actors cast in a brief scene in the 1975 movie centered on the historic air disaster.

There are more spectators than cast and crew during filming of "The Hindenburg" in the 2400 block of N. 38th St. in Milwaukee on May 21, 1974. This photo was published on the front page of the May 22, 1974, Milwaukee Sentinel.

A kitchen in Shawano is the center of activity as actors, directors, writers and crew members gathered for the filming of "Things in Their Season," a television special starring Patricia Neal (at the table). Director James Goldstone (left) checked camera angles before filming. This photo was on the front page of the Oct. 3, 1974, Milwaukee Sentinel. The TV special aired in November of that year.

Sylvester Stallone (left) listens as director Norman Jewison described a scene before filming began on a scene for the movie "F.I.S.T." near Dodgeville on June 2, 1977. The movie was filmed mostly in Dubuque, Iowa, but the cast came to Dodgeville to film night sequences. The film stars Stallone as an organizer for a trucking union. This photo was published in the Oct. 23, 1977, Milwaukee Journal.

Edward Herrmann (right) shows Tommy Lee Jones around an automobile assembly plant during the filming of a scene of "The Betsy" in American Motors' automobile assembly plant in Kenosha on Sept. 20, 1977. This photo was published in the Sept. 21, 1977, Milwaukee Sentinel.

Cadets serve as extras in a scene for "Damien: Omen II" being filmed at what then was Northwestern Military and Naval Academy in Lake Geneva on Oct. 14, 1977. This photo was published in the Oct. 15, 1977, Milwaukee Journal.

Wreckage marks the key scene filmed in Milwaukee for the movie "The Blues Brothers," shot in Milwaukee in August 1979.

Robert Hays and Barbara Hershey practice an embrace while a crew member checks lighting during filming of "Take This Job and Shove It" at the old Potosi Brewery in Potosi. The 1981 movie was filmed in Potosi in September.

Mel Gibson (left) stands in the opening of the boxcar waiting for his cue to jump during filming of "Mrs. Soffel," a period drama shot on location at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom in February 1984. The 1985 film, also starring Diane Keaton, was about a love affair between the wife of a warden and one of his prisoners. This photo was published in the Feb. 14, 1984, Milwaukee Journal.

The 1986 Rodney Dangerfield comedy "Back to School" was filmed in part on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.

Randall Batinkoff and Molly Ringwald starred in "For Keeps." The 1988 comedy was set in Kenosha, but except for one scene filmed on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, it actually was shot in California.

Charlie Sheen plays with a baseball during a break in filming the movie "Major League" at County Stadium in Milwaukee on Aug. 18, 1988.

Mark Harmon walks off the set of the movie "Dillinger" with gun in hand after the filming of a bank robbery scene Sunday in the 200-300 block of N. Broadway in June 1990. The made-for-TV movie about Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger aired in 1991 on ABC.

Mark Harmon portrays bank robber John Dillinger as he leaps from a recreated bank on a movie set at Old World Wisconsin in Eagle on May 24, 1990. This photo was published in the May 30, 1990, Milwaukee Journal.

Actors Nick Nolte (left), Julia Roberts and Saul Rubinek discuss the filming of a scene of "I Love Trouble" just off the square around the state Capitol in Madison on Oct. 13, 1993. This photo was published on the front page of the Oct. 14, 1993, Milwaukee Journal. The movie came out in 1994.

A film crew turns King St. in Madison into a movie set for the film "I Love Trouble" on Oct. 13, 1993. Onlookers crowded behind barricades to catch a glimpse of the movie's stars, Nick Nolte and Julia Roberts. Other scenes were filed in the State Capitol and areas near Madison.

Charles Bronson (center) braves the elements on the deck of the Iroquois while the boat cruises the Milwaukee River at Water St. during filming of the TV movie "Family of Cops" in September 1995.

Keanu makes a break for it in a scene from "Chain Reaction," a science-flavored thriller from 1996 filmed in part in Madison and at Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay.

Brent Briscoe (left) and Bill Paxton (on right) go through a scene in the town of Saxon during filming of the thriller "A Simple Plan" on Jan. 8, 1998. Thornton received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor for his performance in the movie, about three friends who stumble on a cache of cash.

Filmmakers Chris Smith (center) and Sarah Price (second from right) commune with the subjects of their documentary "American Movie," including filmmaker Mark Borchardt (right), at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. Filmed in Milwaukee, the movie about Borchardt's attempts to make a low-budget horror movie to finance his dream project, won the top documentary prize at Sundance that year.

Greendale native Stephen Burrows (right) stars with Traci Lords in Burrow's semi-autobiographical comedy "Chump Change." The 2000 movie was mostly filmed in Milwaukee in 1999, with locations including the former 24 Outdoor Theatre in Muskego and the Holler House.

For "Novocaine," a dark comedy starring Steve Martin, a Cedarburg farmhouse stood in for a French chateau during filming in May 2000. This photo was published in the May 15, 2000, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Writer-director Chris Boebel lines up a shot for a scene for the movie "Red Betsy," a drama set in the 1940s. This day's shooting, in March 2001, was at N. Murray Ave. and E. Park Place; other locations included the Downer Theatre neighborhood and Delafield. This photo was in the March 6, 2001, edition of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; the movie was released in 2003.

A crew films a scene for the movie "Milwaukee, Minnesota" at Goldmann's Department Store on Jan. 6, 2002. The movie is about an idiot savant ice fisherman (played by Troy Garity, whose back is to the camera). In this scene, he's being interviewed by a woman (played by Allison Folland), who is trying to con him out of his prize money. The indie dark comedy was released in 2005.

Bernie Mac, star of the movie "Mr. 3000," greet fans who volunteered to be extras during filming at Miller Park on July 18, 2003. Mac plays a Milwaukee Brewer who has to un-retire when he discovers he's just short of having 3,000 hits in his career.

The 2006 comedy "The Last Kiss," starring Zach Braff (right) and Rachel Bilson, was filmed in part in Madison, and on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Tony Shalhoub (left) and Ross Partridge co-star in "Feed the Fish." The 2009 movie, written and directed by Shalhoub's nephew Mike Matzdorff, was set and filmed in Door County. Shalhoub is a Green Bay native.

Johnny Depp (right) shoots a scene from the movie "Public Enemies" outside the Milwaukee County Historical Center on N. Old World 3rd St. on June 10, 2008. Much of the 2009 movie, centered on the exploits of bank robber John Dillinger (Depp), was filmed in Wisconsin.

David Strathairn plays a lawman investigating radicals in 1919 in the drama "No God, No Master." The movie was filmed in Milwaukee in 2009, with shooting at 42 different locations, including Villa Terrace, South Shore Park Pavilion, City Hall and the old Pabst Brewery. The movie wasn't released until 2014.

"Bridesmaids" - starring, from left, Melissa McCarthy, Ellie Kemper, Rose Byrne, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig - was partly set in Milwaukee. A handful of exteriors, a few bar shots and a country road in Germantown were filmed in August 2010, and made it into the 2011 movie.

Shia LaBeouf walks across the set during the filming of a scene for "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" near the Milwaukee Art Museum on July 12, 2010. The movie, the third in the franchise, came out in 2011.

Patrick Dempsey (center, from behind) walks in the Milwaukee Art Museum toward Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Shia LaBeouf (background, left) in a scene from the 2011 movie "Transformers: Dark of the Moon." The art museum "co-starred" as Dempsey's office. "It leaks," he tells LaBeouf in the scene.

Lauren "Lolo" Spencer, from left, Steve Wolski and Chris Galust star in 2019's "Give Me Liberty," filmed in Milwaukee by Milwaukee-based filmmakers Kirill Mikhanovsky and Alice Austen.

"Give Me Liberty," a film festival favorite filmed in Milwaukee, opened in theaters in August 2019.

The 2020 documentary "All In: The Fight for Democracy" explored efforts to limit access to voting, including the "pandemic primary" in Wisconsin in April 2020. 

Milwaukee filmmaker Niels Mueller filmed "Small Town Wisconsin" in and around Milwaukee. The movie's cameos include the Pfister Hotel and what was then Miller Park. The movie was shown as part of the 2020 Milwaukee Film Festival.

The indie drama "Ringolevio," made with an all-Wisconsin cast by Milwaukee filmmaker and poet Kristin Peterson, was filmed in several locations, including Milwaukee, Dane and Janesville. It was screened as part of the 2020 Milwaukee Film Festival.