“That’s a wrap,” Eddie Murphy #67, Tony Scott, a cigar and a movie star in his arm and the entire cast. Enjoy this very special pictorial of my pictures I took on this set in 1987.
Director Tony Scott, fresh off TOP GUN, giving direction to Brigitte Nielsen in her final thrilling scene.Cigar in hand as always, this picture is my favorite one of all I took on this location in The Baldwin Hills Oil Fields. Dent Industries is crooked oil business. I could’nt have posed this better, this content laded direction. Cigar, pointed finger, with hat he wore directing TOP GUN. Picture means more to me now than then. Absolutely great director at work….
Eddie Murphy in his impressive Detroit Lions vintage jacket. He is about to be shot in this plot twister moment…
Brigitte Nielsen right before this action sequence is to begin filming. At this time she is married in real life to Sylvester Stallone
I’m Shotgun alongside the Panavision camera. Sequence is the pivotal twist in this film. Who shoots who…Tony Scott in previous picture is directing our blonde star on her movements, what the camera sees and reaction needed.
Brigitte twists and turns as her character is taken out. The legendary Buddy Joe Hooker is assisting this action sequence.
Our female lead, Karla Fry- is about to pull the trigger and kill Axel Foley but Sergeant John Taggart shoots her before she can unload her gun.
A round of applause..excellent death scene indeed!
Buddy Joe Hooker doing his own stunt being shot off this rooftop. Dent is a fictitious oil company.
This crime is all but solved…
Beverly Hills P.D.
Case solved…Axel explains to the chief of Beverly Hills police.
Let’s make 3 – This show is Good. Sure enough, #3 was to be made and they used Universal Studios for several sets and animations for Wally’s World- Theme Park.
Brigitte Nielsen and Donnie Norden. Brigitte never stopped working out in between scenes, part of a hockey family. Her brother was on set and he plays Hockey in Sweden.
Downtown Los Angeles…distant. The final shot of the day on location in the Baldwin Hills Oil Fields.
The Sequel Everyone is waiting for…
Beverly Hills Cop- 2 filmed the action packed finale on a location I grew up on, in Baldwin Hills. In 1956, The Highway Patrol, starring Broderick Crawford, used these exact roads and sets in an episode titled Oil Lease. In that episode a bazooka was used as a weapon to hold up oil workers from their hard earned payroll checks.
30 years later – rocket launchers replaced bazookas as weapons of choice. In each case, the law outsmarted the bad guys and apprehended them. On this set of COP 2, Tony Scott is the hottest director in Hollywood. Fresh off TOP GUN- he’s pumping out gold. This was the first time I met him. Later on, he would film scenes with Deja vu, starring Denzel Washington. A chemistry exists when actors and directors have synchronicity that takes over the stage. It’s a rare quality.
TOP GUN and Deja Vu are serious films, while COP 2 is a comedic adventure. One of my all time favorite sets I’ve ever been on was Blade Runner, directed by brother Ridley Scott. Quite the brother combo. Tragically, Tony took his life by jumping off the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro after a bout with brain cancer. Even in his own death- a finish fit for a sad blockbuster movie was his chosen final scene. Legends never die…they just move on.
Tony Scott R.I.P… This stone at Hollywood Forever Cemetery has his name carved into it and all his films. A fitting tribute to a man who lived life like his own movie…
Written and lived by …Donnie Norden
Phantom of the Backlots 