Two De Niro’s, Limited Late-Night Pizza Options, and a Phantom Hardware Store
I like where I live.
Could be better, but it’s pretty damn good.
Downtown Cincinnati looks like the kind of neighborhood that should have at least one late-night pizza window, but, alas…there are none.
There’s a few decent places the next neighborhood up—but they’re often swamped with bargoers or DoorDash drama.
And yeah, there’s a Domino’s that’s technically open till midnight, but while that place is more appealing than the casino—it’s still a gamble.
Past 10 p.m. on a weekend? Who knows if your pizza is actually getting made (and bless your heart if you truly thought the tater tots ever had a chance).
It doesn’t matter how loyal of a Domino’s Piece of the Pie Rewards™ member you may be—the folks at the Fourth Street “Pizza Theatre” ain’t getting paid enough for the drama unfolding upon their stage.
You know it. You get it. You empathize.
But, you’re “starving.”
And while you make that sad, defeated, and hungry walk home: you wish that your city was a real city. One with a simple window serving simple slices well past midnight and into the next morning.
So, imagine the palpable and genuine sense of bliss that washed over me one evening as I trudged through the grey snow. There, in the distance, just a few blocks from where I lay my head: the bright, red glow of neon cutting through the winds of a midwestern winter.
“PIZZA”
Finally, it had happened.
The late-night pizza place of the people was here.
We had made it.
Cincinnati had made it.
And look, if this movie turns out to be pretty good, maybe “we” will have “made it” in a way. Some folks say it has “awards buzz,” but those folks are also very (respectfully and understandably) biased towards the Queen City. Should Cincinnati end up becoming the new home of the Sundance Film Festival, though—well, then that’s a whole other level of intrigue. And if we can land that massive, huge, global event—we’d have to also attract the return of a late-night downtown pizza window, right?
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a pretty exciting thing to find on your way home from the dullness of your day job: a film crew flanked by police and taking over what’s normally a quiet street. Before I rounded the corner to see that, though, all I could actually glimpse were the words “pizza.” Once I got closer and saw the unrealistically low prices, I realized it was all just (incredibly convincing) set dressing for the filming of a Robert De Niro starring production.
It won’t really matter if this movie gets Oscar gold, though, the actual greatest movie of all time (shot in Cincinnati) is Airborne. While honorable mentions must go to genuinely heartwarming films such as 2019’s The Public and 1998’s The Mighty—the 1993 film that launched the careers of Hollywood titans Jack Black and Seth Green is a perfect allegory for the city’s early-90s class warfare struggles that were typically resolved through violent street skating races.
For The Wiseguys The Alto Knights: Cincy merely stood in for New York.
Given the film’s synopsis, I don’t think there’s going to be any gladiatorial rollerblade spectacle, but it does sound pretty interesting:
From Warner Bros. Pictures, “The Alto Knights” stars Academy Award winner Robert De Niro in a dual role, directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Barry Levinson.
The film follows two of New York’s most notorious organized crime bosses, Frank Costello (De Niro) and Vito Genovese (De Niro), as they vie for control of the city’s streets. Once the best of friends, petty jealousies and a series of betrayals place them on a deadly collision course that will reshape the Mafia (and America) forever.
“The Alto Knights” was written by Oscar nominee Nicholas Pileggi (“Goodfellas”) and produced by Oscar winner Irwin Winkler (“Rocky,” “Goodfellas”), Levinson, Jason Sosnoff, Charles Winkler and David Winkler, with Mike Drake executive producing.
Note: Originally titled “The Wiseguys” during filming, the name was changed to “Alto Knights” in 2023 before ultimately being dubbed “The Alto Knights.”
The upcoming movie’s first trailer was recently released and while I don’t yet recognize many scenes from my neighborhood, I figured it was probably a good time to revisit this specific collection of photographs.. After being duped by the pizza sign (and also having night turned into day one evening as Mr. De Niro filmed atop the building next to mine), I decided to go photograph the movie’s Eighth Street set on a quiet Sunday when production was paused. I wanted to document not only the artful and extensive details put into the scenery, but also how it all had transformed the area. My eventual plan is to contrast these photographs with how this corner of the neighborhood normally appears, as well as, how it ends up being shown/seen in the film.
One More Note: I’m not sure if the film is set during a winter snowfall, but one had fallen during the January 2023 filming. I’m curious to see how/if that comes across in the final product.
Cincinnati Streetcar passing the Eighth Street set.
Corner of Eighth and Main Streets where the movie’s set (left) can be seen contrasting with the normal storefronts (right).
Not a real pizza place.
This sign, and many others on the set, did illuminate at night when crews were filming.
“The Building That Changes Color” seen in the distance.
A faux-brick wall constructed to hide the nearby parking lot.
Period vehicles assembled nearby.
Set pieces covering up the Shepard Fairey mural in Pancoast Alley.
Arnold’s, Cincinnati’s oldest bar, shut down for several weeks to accommodate the filming. Seen here repurposed as a bakery, I believe a scene was also shot inside the iconic establishment.
Just north of the Eighth Street set, several storefronts on Main Street were also utilized:
The “Dutch Boy Paint” sign seen above can be seen in the film’s trailer at the 1:51 mark. The tiny black ball on the lefthand side seen framed by the car window is a modern streetlight:
Whether via A.I., a mistaken user, or someone playing a very specific (and fantastic joke)—this building is currently showing up on Google Maps as a hardware store when a user searches “Dutch Boy Paints” while in the Cincinnati area:
There’s even hours and a suggestion stating that' the place is “usually not too busy” at 10 AM:
As of this writing, the storefront is vacant and has been so for several years.
Set for “The Alto Knights” blending into the North and South sides of Eighth Street.
Looking forward to revisiting these photographs once the movie comes out in late March.
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