Why did they let Polanski film Rosemary's Baby at the Dakota?

They didn't dumbass OP. Try google.

And it's far from the world's most upscale address.

COMPLETE DISMAL FAILURE = OP

The Dakota also wasn't nearly as expensive nor even as prestigious fifty years ago as it is now, OP.

Well, it's hardly a dump.

Those are the only two options, dipshit?

“They”? Who is “they”, OP?

He must have been a friend of Betty Bacalls', that's the only way

Cuz it's creepy and attracts creepy people.

Because they got paid.

There are not that many exteriors, so it would only have been a few days shooting at most.

I think it's sad that you think the Dakota is the world's most upscale address, OP.

I can imagine Bacall on the co op board not letting anyone buy an apartment who she deemed not good enough.

It was only two scenes, if I remember. The first approach to the building and the sidewalk after the woman jumped/fell.

Betty Perske unintentionally exorcised the Dakota, because when she moved into the building Satan was seen fleeing the premises in terror.

I have wondered OPs question myself and additionally wondered why the apartment would want to be linked to a movie about Satanism.

Lol r14!!!

Ira Levin based the building on Alwyn Court which is closer to the theatre district, which is why the line about walking to the theaters is in the movie.

The Dakota is not even the city's most upscale address. That would be quite a number of buildings on Park Ave that are unknown to most people, and that's how the tenants want it to be. There are two buildings in particular that are considered the creme de la creme, and yet 99 percent of New Yorkers have no idea which ones they are.

The mere fact that people like OP know about the Dakota indicates it's not at the top of the upscale scale.

Alwyn Court is fabulous! Damn shame all the new construction along "Billionaire's Row" (57th Street) has over shadowed the building.

They foretold Mia' ongoing connection with child demons.

Alwyn Court is one creepy building (in an oddly delightful way.) I can see that as being perfect for Satan's son. Or was it Sinatra's son?

[quote] and the sidewalk after the woman jumped/fell.

Dude! Spoiler alert!

Gawd.

I only know of the Dakota because John Lennon was murdered there. It was also mentioned in a book on hauntings in NYC. Supposedly a little girl with a balloon speaks to people about to die. She says "It's my birthday."

Dakota apartments would not grant permission for anything else than exterior shots. So a set designer visited Lauren Bacall's apartment and made detailed sketches which were used to build sets out in Hollywood for the film.

NYC long has banned filming on that stretch of West 72nd, and IIRC Rosemary's Baby was last film done in area.

[quote] Supposedly a little girl with a balloon speaks to people about to die. She says "It's my birthday."

JFC, that creeped me the fuck out.

Gena Rowlands as Gloria improvised the line, something like, "A million bucks for an apartment and ya gotta slow elevator".

Elevator at 1:13

@R25- I have always wondered if John Lennon saw that little ghost girl before he was shot to death. It has always given me chills as well.

The Dakota is trash. Horrible location swarming with tourists. Dark, dreary apartments with little sunlight. Right on top of a subway. TRASH

Hi Leona.

I agree, R28. It looks dark and depressing. Just dreary. Does Yoko still live there? I have never understood how she has remained there after watching John's horrific and violent death. I would never want to go near that place again.

Especially having to pass the spot every time you leave or return.

I doubt it was permission to film that was the issue, but with a script that specified such a specific layout, it was unlikely to find an apartment that would be right. Not to mention that so much of the camera and lighting work would be impossible with fixed walls.

This was always going to be a constructed set.

Rutanya “Carol Ann” Alda was Mia Farrow’s stand in (not for the nude scene, though.) The opening shot that shows two little figures going down the sidewalk and disappearing under the Dakota archway is her.

(She was also Streisand’s stand in for “Hello, Dolly!”

We now return to our scheduled programming - -

Apparently there are many spooks inhabiting the Dakota apartments.

Personally think it's all a bunch of hooey, but it does make for good marketing copy.

As others have said, the Dakota is certainly not the "most upscale" address in New York, let alone the world. However, it is probably one of the most famous residential buildings in the city, mainly because of John Lennon (as well as being the setting of "Rosemary's Baby", to a lesser degree, as well as the longtime home of Lauren Bacall). If Bacall's apartment is any indicator, it looks like a very typical, old-school Manhattan apartment building. Not a lot of frills, but a lot of old time character. It is creepy looking from the outside, and even the courtyard (as captured in "Rosemary's Baby") is not exactly what I'd consider inviting.

He didn't film at the Dakota. He filmed on a sound stage. Maybe the exteriors were used, but you can't control the lighting which is why they would recreate the set on a sound stage.

Anyone with eyes can see that the interiors were filmed in a studio. The lighting, the size of the ceilings (and never seeing a ceiling).

Its clearly a studio, and actually looks far better for it.

R36 the exteriors were shot at the Dakota, which included Rosemary and Guy entering the building's courtyard. But yes, the rest of it was filmed on soundstage in Los Angeles.

As I said back in R10, there were only two exterior scenes shot at the Dakota.

[quote]Supposedly a little girl with a balloon speaks to people about to die. She says "It's my birthday."

Are you sure she doesn't sing 50 Cent's "It's My Birthday" ?

Yes, R39, but it seems others have forgotten

I much prefer the hotel where they filmed "The Shining".

I doubt all the interiors were shot on a sound stage. The elevator, for example, was just too real and had to be in some pre-war building.

The Shining hotel was super creepy!

R44, I think R42 was being sarcastic—like "Rosemary's Baby", all of the interiors of "The Shining" were filmed on sound stages. The interior sets of the lodge were modeled after the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite; the exterior shots of the hotel feature Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood in Oregon. I grew up close to Mt. Hood and remember going into the lodge as a kid after seeing "The Shining", and being wildly disappointed that the lodge's interior was absolutely NOTHING like what we see in the movie.

R43, if you watch the movie it is pretty obvious the elevator could not have been shot on location. The lens is a normal lens, not the wide angle that you would need to shoot at that close range in a real elevator.

And the effect of the floors undulating when Rosemary comes back from the doctor is probably rear projection, a feature that no pre-war building has.