Magnum P.I. Filming Locations - A Rubber Chicken Guide

[Gorilla Mask]

Preliminary remark: From now, i propose to experiment a rather new and entertaining way of finding very « secretive » filming locations.

I felt sometimes frustrated with MPI scenes whom shooting places are really hard to locate . For numerous scenes, it occurs that the way (very close framing and quick shooting time) It was shot, prevents the observer to spot even any clue. If you consider the 40 years of spanning time elapsed, you understand that it could result in some very elusive findings...or dead ends...

So, feel free to interact with this new heading since the following developpements are only, lacking anything better, my imperfect assumptions.

Of course, for the most verifiable locations, i will pursue as usual !

If everyone agree, i will allocate a specific nickname for each "Mysterious location". What about "Misty"? I find it very evocating for Vietnam war amateurs...

Each MISTY will be duly updated progressively.

For MISTY 1, let's get back to « 1.10- Thicker than blood ».

On the search for TC's buddy poor Joey, occured a very short outdoor scene. Our three heroes, packed in the Ferrari, speeding through what seems to be Honolulu's suburbs, stopped at a decaying slum shack...

https://ibb.co/SRd70VB
https://ibb.co/Zz2pnTh
https://ibb.co/5GmfdzX
https://ibb.co/yPzR7PF

I tried in vain to locate the background residential building.

The number '2426' ont the front of the shack is of no help.

What seems to be second class appartments for renting bears a sign « BLU SHELL ».

I got the intuition that this location might be not so far of waikiki beaches...

Of course the support of a wise Honolulu resident would be appreciated !

Thanks for your feed back !

UPDATE: Thanks to Sam 'Misty 1' is located ! The place address is 2417-2431 Prince Edward St. ! Joey settled only 200 yards off Waikiki beach !

The blue Shell appartements for renting are now the King Edward's:

https://ibb.co/k5Bf6pq
https://ibb.co/dgZVcWV

The Slum Shack disappeared, advantageously replaced by foliage... however, the spirit remains with all that abandonned garbage in front !

https://ibb.co/59qyfHn
https://ibb.co/2KXX3vc

So let's summarize Sam's finding:

https://ibb.co/p0kK7P4

A good teamship work !

[Sam]

Hi GM
The Blue Shell has been renamed.. The shack was located next to the blue shell.
Check
2412 Prince Edward St.

[Gorilla Mask]

Hi Sam !

Thanks a lot for the information. I will check with that address and the surrounding blocks.

[Gorilla Mask]

I update 'Misty 1', following Sam's discover !

One more clarification !

[Gorilla Mask]

Here we are for our 'Mysterious Location number 2'.

I waged up around for this one but i had 'no joy'.

In 2.16-"Italian Ice" Magnum infiltrated a so called Italian Mansion located somewhere at what it was supposed to be Sicily's coast. He made his way through many troubles in order to picked up a signora in distress from a local Mafia Marquese claws...

Here is the establishing shot of the place.

https://ibb.co/vhYKq8J

IMO, the alleged Sicilian coast is doubtful for the following reasons:

- there are not so much palmtrees groves in Sicily,
- the very steepy coast looks like greatly similar to what you could encounter on Oahu's coast;
- Series producers often have a sharp and fussy look towards their travelling fees specially for filming teams abroad...

However, that particular seaside villa features a real mediterranean style. That is probably why it was chosen for these breaking in/escape scenes.

In spite of my efforts i was not able to locate it on Oahu's coast.

However, if you get a closer glance to the shot there are two (maybe three) mere clues:

https://ibb.co/nb40LZb

- a high slope hill on the right;
- another land on the left: mouth of a bay or an island...
- what appeared to be a landing pontoon for boats.

Island, you said island ? But we have an outmost known Island on Waimanalo coast (SE of Oahu), that is, you got it: Manana Island, otherwise called 'Rabbit Island'.

So a first assumption is that this villa is (or was...) settled somewhere , north of 'Robin's Nest', between Kailua Beach Park and Makapu'u point...

Any other idea or hint ?

Thanks for reading and for your help !

UPDATE: Again, Thanks to Sam, the mysterious 'So called' Sicilian Mansion have been found ! It is located just in the immediate surroundings, final approach, of old Bellow military airfield (see picture below):

https://ibb.co/ChQW8kQ

As you may notice, the Mansion was notably altered (mainly with the addition of a new lobby/floor). However, the balcony, parklot and covered terrace are still very reckognizable.

https://ibb.co/xCzRLgK
https://ibb.co/BTkGv0Q

[Pahonu]

Here we are for our 'Mysterious Location number 2'.

I waged up around for this one but i had 'no joy'.

In 2.16-"Italian Ice" Magnum infiltrated a so called Italian Mansion located somewhere at what it was supposed to be Sicily's coast. He made his way through many troubles in order to picked up a signora in distress from a local Mafia Marquese claws...

Here is the establishing shot of the place.

https://ibb.co/vhYKq8J

IMO, the alleged Sicilian coast is doubtful for the following reasons:

- there are not so much palmtrees groves in Sicily,
- the very steepy coast looks like greatly similar to what you could encounter on Oahu's coast;
- Series producers often have a sharp and fussy look towards their travelling fees specially for filming teams abroad...

However, that particular seaside villa features a real mediterranean style. That is probably why it was chosen for these breaking in/escape scenes.

In spite of my efforts i was not able to locate it on Oahu's coast.

However, if you get a closer glance to the shot there are two (maybe three) mere clues:

https://ibb.co/nb40LZb

- a high slope hill on the right;
- another land on the left: mouth of a bay or an island...
- what appeared to be a landing pontoon for boats.

Island, you said island ? But we have an outmost known Island on Waimanalo coast (SE of Oahu), that is, you got it: Manana Island, otherwise called 'Rabbit Island'.

So a first assumption is that this villa is (or was...) settled somewhere , north of 'Robin's Nest', between Kailua Beach Park and Makapu'u point...

Any other idea or hint ?

Thanks for reading and for your help !

I have no clue about this but remember, this is an establishing shot. It is highly likely that the actual scenes that followed were not filmed there. The Mediterranean detailing we see in those scenes may not be present in the structure shown from a distance and at night in that establishing shot. In fact the shot could simply be stock footage from somewhere completely unrelated. By way of example, in Hawaii Five-O, one episode shows Pahonu being approached at the beginning of the scene, but after they walk through the doors it is an entirely different home used for the interiors. That’s not unlike the soundstage sets used as interiors on MPI rather than Pahonu’s interiors. Just some things to remember.

[Gorilla Mask]

I have no clue about this but remember, this is an establishing shot. It is highly likely that the actual scenes that followed were not filmed there. The Mediterranean detailing we see in those scenes may not be present in the structure shown from a distance and at night in that establishing shot. In fact the shot could simply be stock footage from somewhere completely unrelated. By way of example, in Hawaii Five-O, one episode shows Pahonu being approached at the beginning of the scene, but after they walk through the doors it is an entirely different home used for the interiors. That’s not unlike the soundstage sets used as interiors on MPI rather than Pahonu’s interiors. Just some things to remember.

Thanks Pahonu fot that clever comment . Yes, i had already considered that possibility. Nevertheless, IMO, the following scene appeared to have been filmed on the same location as you can notice with these few extracts:

https://ibb.co/0j78Kq6 In this you can perceive the cars parked and the first building body (with the balcony)
https://ibb.co/FwBHgrT Here is the balcony and the large French window
https://ibb.co/hDPLSH9
https://ibb.co/nsrBDPG the stone arcades/pillars with the covered terrace of the second building body.

Of course the DVD resolution do not allow a perfect examination.

https://ibb.co/Rj10kDD

I might be wrong but there are some good clues. I will remember your good advice concerning stock footage 'recycling'

[Pahonu]

I have no clue about this but remember, this is an establishing shot. It is highly likely that the actual scenes that followed were not filmed there. The Mediterranean detailing we see in those scenes may not be present in the structure shown from a distance and at night in that establishing shot. In fact the shot could simply be stock footage from somewhere completely unrelated. By way of example, in Hawaii Five-O, one episode shows Pahonu being approached at the beginning of the scene, but after they walk through the doors it is an entirely different home used for the interiors. That’s not unlike the soundstage sets used as interiors on MPI rather than Pahonu’s interiors. Just some things to remember.

Thanks Pahonu fot that clever comment . Yes, i had already considered that possibility. Nevertheless, IMO, the following scene appeared to have been filmed on the same location as you can notice with these few extracts:

https://ibb.co/0j78Kq6 In this you can perceive the cars parked and the first building body (with the balcony)
https://ibb.co/FwBHgrT Here is the balcony and the large French window
https://ibb.co/hDPLSH9
https://ibb.co/nsrBDPG the stone arcades/pillars with the covered terrace of the second building body.

Of course the DVD resolution do not allow a perfect examination.

https://ibb.co/Rj10kDD

I might be wrong but there are some good clues. I will remember your good advice concerning stock footage 'recycling'

You’re right. It very well could be, but it’s so much harder to be certain because it’s so dark.

[Gorilla Mask]

I have no clue about this but remember, this is an establishing shot. It is highly likely that the actual scenes that followed were not filmed there. The Mediterranean detailing we see in those scenes may not be present in the structure shown from a distance and at night in that establishing shot. In fact the shot could simply be stock footage from somewhere completely unrelated. By way of example, in Hawaii Five-O, one episode shows Pahonu being approached at the beginning of the scene, but after they walk through the doors it is an entirely different home used for the interiors. That’s not unlike the soundstage sets used as interiors on MPI rather than Pahonu’s interiors. Just some things to remember.

Thanks Pahonu fot that clever comment . Yes, i had already considered that possibility. Nevertheless, IMO, the following scene appeared to have been filmed on the same location as you can notice with these few extracts:

https://ibb.co/0j78Kq6 In this you can perceive the cars parked and the first building body (with the balcony)
https://ibb.co/FwBHgrT Here is the balcony and the large French window
https://ibb.co/hDPLSH9
https://ibb.co/nsrBDPG the stone arcades/pillars with the covered terrace of the second building body.

Of course the DVD resolution do not allow a perfect examination.

https://ibb.co/Rj10kDD

I might be wrong but there are some good clues. I will remember your good advice concerning stock footage 'recycling'

You’re right. It very well could be, but it’s so much harder to be certain because it’s so dark.

Indeed... We need a 'good hand' to help and to provide us with the blue-ray edition capture...

Any volunteer ?

[ConchRepublican]

Test topic reply after update

[Sam]

Hi GM
The villa is located just north of the runway at Bellows Air Station. You can see two red roofed buildings at the point.
Sam

[Gorilla Mask]

Hi GM
The villa is located just north of the runway at Bellows Air Station. You can see two red roofed buildings at the point.
Sam

First i would like to warmly thanks Conch and his tech team who made a wonderful work with resetting (rather, mainly rebuilding from scratches, i guess ) our board ! I like very much the new style of it !

After that little foreword, back to our main subject...

Again for 'Misty 2' Sam gave us a perfect match ... that is funny (and a little frustrating too... ) because i've spotted that mansion for long but just discarded it until then (obviously a little hastily...) since, at that time, my version of Google Earth was unable to give me a clear look of it... However, thanks to Sam, the evidence came to light (at least for me, i might have been really short-sighted ! ).

So Misty 2 is now revealed and updated !

[Sam]

Hi GM.. All credit goes to Rembrandt's Girl who posted the location years ago.

[Gorilla Mask]

Hi GM.. All credit goes to Rembrandt's Girl who posted the location years ago.

Thanks Sam for this reminder... I know that with the passing time, such informations might be 'buried' deep within the forum... By the way, do you have the reference of the topic were it was noticed ? In such case, I would certainly post a link toward it.

Sorry for having 'broken in an open door' with this... Unfortunately, it could happen again, that is why, IMO, the idea is also to re-link such scattered informations on the forum to this Rubber chicken's topic...

Anyway, this is not useless from that point of view.

[Gorilla Mask]

Hi people of good company !

This one was much easier to find since the surroundings were not arranged/altered much with the years.

Just warp to 2.21 - «  Three minus two » for two fiming locations.

First, a quite unusal spotting view, just North-East of the well known 'Beach Bar' : You can see in the background, behind TS and Jill S. John, what seems to be an artificial very small island.

https://ibb.co/z5mgDQ1
https://ibb.co/9VQYd0L

Second, a more interesting place where TS and Jan Kona stopped with the Ferrari :

https://ibb.co/BPxVvBM
https://ibb.co/61f5d62

Whereas Magnum expressed and shared his doubts with Jan in that scene, we should have none concerning the accurate location of it :

https://ibb.co/25bBrYc
https://ibb.co/m5sPpsz

The place is some sort of rough belvedere, just in the extension of the highway (Kalaniana'ole Hwy), just after the Haunauma Bay Lookout site.

https://ibb.co/Y2tRm2w
https://ibb.co/zfbZbLL

Today that place seems unreachable by road : The path is blocked by safety rails.

https://ibb.co/mR4WMjS

Thanks for reading !