Dates: Originally from 1935. Rebuilt in 1981 for Annie.
This horseshoe shaped area was originally built in 1935 for James Cagney’s Frisco Kid, and was originally known as ‘Frisco Street’.
It was later known as ‘Tenement Street’, and was then renamed in memory of Dale Hennesy, the production designer of the big-budget musical Annie (1982) as this street was redesigned for that movie. Mr Hennesy died partway through the production of the movie, and for the rest of the production period, Gene Callahan took over the design role.
The area is characterized by its Lower-East-Side-themed alleys with fire escapes and storefront windows and has since been used for such features as Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure and the Batman films. The Chinatown sequence at the start of Gremlins (1984) was also shot here, and the shop adjacent to the staircase which Mr Peltzer descended to buy the Mogwai in that movie is named Mogwai, and the adjacent hardware store has spelled Keys as Keyes, in honour of Keye Luke, who played the store-owner (and who also appeared in Kung Fu for Warner Bros in the 1970s).
One of the fire escapes in Tenement Alley was also the location for the photo shoot for the cover of Prince’s Purple Rain album.
Thanks to Dave Potter for corrections.
Seen on Screen: Warner Bros Studios [Hennesy_St]
| Title | Released | Director | IMDB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frisco Kid [Feature Film] | 1935 | Lloyd Bacon |  |
| What is now known as Hennesy Street was originally built for this movie. | |||
| Angels With Dirty Faces [Feature Film] | 1938 | Michael Curtiz | |
| Stage 07, Hennesy Street (known as Tenement Street) | |||
| The Roaring Twenties [Feature Film] | 1939 | Raoul Walsh | |
| Stage 16 (exterior of the stage features as a wine warehouse), Stage 19, Stage 20, Stage 24, Stage 26, Stage 27., Stage 27A Hennesy Street was also featured. | |||
| The Maltese Falcon [Feature Film] | 1941 | John Huston | |
| Stage 06, Stage 09, Stage 14, Stage 17, Hennesy Street (known as Tenement Street) | |||
| The Big Sleep [Feature Film] | 1946 | Howard Hawks | |
| New York Street and Hennesy Street on the backlot, Stage 08 | |||
| House of Wax [Feature Film] | 1953 | Andre de Toth | |
| Stage 12, Stage 15, Stage 18. Also shot on Tenement Alley, off Hennesy Street on the backlot (known as Tenement Street at the time) | |||
| My Fair Lady [Feature Film] | 1964 | George Cukor | |
| The Ascot horse race sequences were shot inside Stage 12 and Stage 18 at Warner Bros Studios. Stage 04, Stage 07, Stage 08 and Stage 11 were also used. The Ballroom sequence was shot on Stage 16. Hennesy Street (then known as Tenement Street) was also used for the song With A Little Bit Of Luck. | |||
| Hart to Hart [TV Series] | 1979-1984 | Sidney Sheldon | |
| Seasons 4-5. Stage 06, Stage 09. The 1982 Christmas special was shot on Hennesy Street on the backlot. | |||
| Falcon Crest [TV Series] | 1981-1990 | Earl Hamner Jr. | |
| Seasons 1-3 were shot at Warner Bros, using backlot locations such as Hennesy Street. | |||
| Annie [Feature Film] | 1982 | John Huston | |
| Hennesy Street on the Warner Bros backlot was built for this movie and was named after Dale Hennesy who designed the production. | |||
| The production used Stage 12, Stage 15, Stage 16, Stage 18 at Warner Bros. | |||
| Gremlins [Feature Film] | 1984 | Joe Dante | |
| Stage 12, Stage 15, Stage 18, Stage 26 at Warner Bros. Chinatown sequence was shot on Tenement Alley, off Hennesy Street on the backlot. Mrs Deagles house is part of the Midwest Street Kings Row area, and Billy and Kate walk past some of the other Kings Row houses. | |||
| Pee-Wee's Big Adventure [Feature Film] | 1985 | Tim Burton | |
| Stage 04, Stage 20, Stage 21, Hennesy Street, Jungle Set and Lagoon | |||
| Bugsy [Feature Film] | 1991 | Barry Levinson | |
| Hennesy Street on the backlot | |||
| Batman Returns [Feature Film] | 1992 | Tim Burton | |
| Stage 03, Stage 11, Stage 12, Stage 15, Stage 16 (Gotham Plaza), Stage 18, Stage 20, Stage 21, Stage 22, Stage 25, Hennesy Street and Ashley Boulevard on the backlot. | |||
| E.R. [TV Series] | 1994-2009 | Michael Crichton | |
| Stage 01, Stage 02, Stage 03, Stage 06, Stage 11, New York Street. The ambulance entrance to the hospital was a prominent feature of the Warner Bros Studio Tour for many years. The apartment building where Dr Ross lived is on Hennesy Street on the backlot. The Jungle set on the backlot doubled for Africa. | |||
| A Little Princess [Feature Film] | 1995 | Alfonso Cuaron | |
| Stage 21, Stage 22, Dijon Street, Hennesy Street on the backlot | |||
| Batman Forever [Feature Film] | 1995 | Joel Schumacher | |
| Stage 15, Stage 16, Stage 20, Stage 21, Stage 22, Stage 25, Stage 27., Stage 27A and Hennesy Street on the backlot. | |||
| Batman & Robin [Feature Film] | 1997 | Joel Schumacher | |
| This massive production used Stage 12, Stage 16, Stage 18, Stage 21, Stage 22, Stage 25, Stage 27., Stage 27A, Stage 28A as well as Hennesy Street on the backlot. | |||
| Minority Report [Feature Film] | 2002 | Steven Spielberg | |
| Hennesy Street on the backlot | |||
| Road to Perdition [Feature Film] | 2002 | Sam Mendes | |
| Hennesy Street featured (final shootout scene). | |||
| Spider-Man [Feature Film] | 2002 | Sam Raimi | |
| The upside-down kiss between Spider-Man and MJ was shot on Tenement Alley, adjacent to Hennesy Street on the backlot. | |||
| Christmas with the Kranks [Feature Film] | 2004 | Joe Roth | |
| Hennesy Street on the backlot was used for the burglary scene | |||
| Rent [Feature Film] | 2005 | Chris Columbus | |
| Hennesy Street on the backlot was the location for the song I Should Tell You | |||
| LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem [Music Video] | 2011 | ||
| Hennesy Street | |||
| Supergirl [TV Series] | 2015 | Ali Adler, Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg | |
| Season 1 was shot at Warner Bros Studios. One episode was shot inside a facade between Hennesy Street and Park Place (Flash crossover) | |||
| The Greatest Showman [Feature Film] | 2017 | Michael Gracey | |
| New York scenes shot on Hennesy Street on the backlot | |||