Astoria’s Movie History—and What Film Fans Can Actually Visit

This guide covers Astoria, Queens, in New York City. The neighborhood’s strongest movie connection is Kaufman Astoria Studios, where productions have used soundstages for more than a century.

For visitors, the clearest public experience is Museum of the Moving Image. The working studio complex provides historical context, but it should not be treated as a collection of accessible sets or verified street locations.

First, this is Astoria in Queens—not Astoria, Oregon

Search for “movies filmed in Astoria” and you will often find The Goonies, Free Willy, and Kindergarten Cop. Those films are associated with Astoria, Oregon, not the Queens neighborhood covered here, as reflected in the film category for Astoria, Oregon.

In Astoria, Queens, a movie can have one of three different local connections:

1. Studio production: The film used soundstages or production facilities at the complex now known as Kaufman Astoria Studios.
2. Neighborhood filming: The production reportedly used streets or other locations elsewhere in Astoria.
3. Astoria setting: The story is set in the neighborhood, regardless of where each scene was filmed.

A studio credit does not prove that recognizable Astoria streets appear in the finished film. An interior built in Queens might represent another borough, another city, or a fictional location. Likewise, a broad claim that a movie was filmed in the neighborhood is not enough to identify a particular building without scene descriptions, permits, production records, or an exact address.

The watchlist below focuses on films documented by Museum of the Moving Image.

A selective watchlist of movies connected to Astoria, Queens

Museum of the Moving Image documents several silent films made at the original Astoria Studio and several modern films that used the revived facility’s stages in its history of the Astoria Studio.

The museum identifies these films with the historic studio or its revived stages. The studio connection does not imply a publicly accessible set or a preserved filming location.

For visitors, Museum of the Moving Image and views of the surrounding studio area from lawful public spaces provide the practical connection to this history.

The Astoria Studio story, from Paramount to Kaufman

Construction of the Astoria Studio began in May 1919 near today’s 35th Avenue and 35th Street, and film production was underway in 1920. Famous Players-Lasky, later associated with Paramount, established the complex as its East Coast production center. Museum of the Moving Image reports that 103 films were produced there between June 1922 and spring 1927. Paramount left in 1932, and the U.S. Army purchased the property in 1942, using it for military motion-picture production and distribution for about three decades. The museum also identifies the complex as a New York City landmark and says its National Register listing cited both architectural significance and its extensive role in American cinema.

The studio’s first-party history describes the scale of silent-era production somewhat more broadly: more than 100 films during the 1920s. It says the main stage, basement stages, and exterior backlot could support as many as six feature productions at once.

Gloria Swanson, Rudolph Valentino, W. C. Fields, and the Gish sisters were among the performers associated with the studio’s silent era. Documented films from that period include Swanson vehicles such as Zaza, The Humming Bird, and Stage Struck; Valentino’s Monsieur Beaucaire; and D. W. Griffith’s Sally of the Sawdust.

The arrival of sound brought productions including the Marx Brothers’ The Cocoanuts and Animal Crackers. After Paramount’s departure, the facility operated as a rental studio before the Army era changed its purpose from commercial entertainment to military filmmaking.

By the early 1970s, the property had fallen into disrepair. A later public-private revival established Kaufman Astoria Studios and contributed to the founding of Museum of the Moving Image. The revived stages subsequently supported films including Scent of a Woman, The Age of Innocence, The Bourne Ultimatum, and The Irishman.

This progression—from silent pictures to sound films, military production, decline, and commercial revival—is the foundation of Astoria’s movie history. It also explains why the neighborhood’s film identity is more closely tied to the work of production than to a trail of recognizable exterior locations.

What visitors can see at Museum of the Moving Image

Museum of the Moving Image is Astoria’s reliably public-facing film attraction. It occupies a former studio building beside the working Kaufman Astoria complex and offers exhibitions, screenings, discussions, collections, and programs about film, television, and moving-image media.

The museum currently publishes the following hours, prices, and access information; confirm them on its official plan-your-visit page before going because schedules, admission rates, programs, and access rules can change:

• Address: 36-01 35 Avenue at 37 Street, Astoria, NY 11106
• Thursday: 2–6 p.m.
• Friday: 2–8 p.m.
• Saturday and Sunday: 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
• Adults: $20
• Seniors and adult students: $12
• Ages 3–17: $10
• Members and children under three: Free
• Thursday gallery hours, 2–6 p.m.: Free admission
• Regular screenings: Regular same-day gallery admission includes a regular screening unless otherwise noted
• Digital guide: Free through Bloomberg Connects
• Open-access spaces: Lobby, cafe, and Kaufman Courtyard are free during open hours; courtyard access is weather permitting

Check the screening calendar before choosing a date. A regular same-day screening can turn the visit into a fuller film afternoon, but special screenings and events may have different ticket arrangements.

The free Bloomberg Connects guide can add context to exhibitions and collection objects while you are in the galleries. The lobby, cafe, and Kaufman Courtyard also provide places to pause without paying gallery admission, although access to those spaces is not a substitute for an exhibition ticket.

The museum’s value is broader than a display of productions made next door. It explains the techniques, technologies, and creative work behind moving images while preserving the history of Astoria’s production district.

How to make this a compact Astoria film-history stop

Center the outing on Museum of the Moving Image rather than trying to assemble an uncertain street-location hunt. The museum and the historic Kaufman Astoria Studios complex sit in a compact cluster around 35th Avenue, keeping the visit focused on one part of the neighborhood.

A simple sequence works well:

1. Begin in the museum galleries. Allow time for the core exhibition and any temporary exhibition that interests you.
2. Add a same-day screening if the calendar works. Choose your date around a film or program you genuinely want to see.
3. Use the digital guide inside. It provides additional context without sending you across the neighborhood in search of uncertain locations.
4. Pause in the lobby, cafe, or Kaufman Courtyard. Remember that courtyard access is weather permitting.
5. View the surrounding studio area only from lawful public spaces. Let the exterior provide context for the history you have just explored.

Kaufman Astoria Studios is a working production complex. Gated and restricted production areas are not visitor attractions.

The most useful way to experience Astoria’s movie history is therefore straightforward: choose a few films from the watchlist, visit Museum of the Moving Image, and view the neighboring studio complex as the working center of a century-long production story.