Throughout film history, the U.S. state of Oregon has been a popular shooting location for filmmakers due to its wide range of landscapes, as well as its proximity to California, specifically Hollywood.[1] The first documented commercial film made in Oregon was a short silent film titled The Fisherman's Bride, shot in Astoria by the Selig Polyscope Company, and released in 1909.[2] Another documentary short, Fast Mail, Northern Pacific Railroad, was shot in Portland in 1897.
Since then, numerous major motion pictures have been shot in the state, including F.W. Murnau's City Girl (1930), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Animal House (1978), Stand by Me (1986), Free Willy (1993), and Wild (2014). Portland—Oregon's largest city—has been a major shooting location for filmmakers, and has been featured prominently in the films of Gus Van Sant, namely Mala Noche (1985), Drugstore Cowboy (1989), My Own Private Idaho (1991), and Elephant (2003).
This list of films shot is organized first by region, and then chronologically by year.[3] Some films may appear more than once if they were shot in more than one region.
| Film | Year | Location(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Where Cowboy is King | 1915 | Pendleton | ||
| Passing on the West | 1924 | Pendleton | ||
| Winds of Chance | 1925 | Wallowa County | ||
| City Girl | 1928 | [4] | ||
| Our Daily Bread | 1928 | Pendleton | [5] | |
| Singing Waters | 1931 | Pendleton | ||
| The Great Sioux Uprising | 1953 | Pendleton | [6] | |
| Pillars of the Sky | 1955 | La Grande | [7] | |
| Paint Your Wagon | 1969 | Baker | [8] | |
| Napoleon and Samantha | 1972 | John Day | [9] | |
| Joe Bell | 2020 | La Grande | [10] | |
| The Year in Lincoln Plains | 1987 | Condon | ||
| 1993 | Joseph | [11] | ||
| 8 Seconds | 1994 | Pendleton | ||
| Sammyville | 1998 | La Grande | ||
| Dog Story | 1999 | La Grande | ||
| Gold Rush | 2016 | Baker County | ||
| New Life | 2023 |
| Film | Year | Location(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bronco Billy | 1980 | [12] | |
| Meek's Cutoff | 2010 | Burns | |
| Lean on Pete | 2018 | Burns | [13] |
| Film | Year | Location(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fast Mail, Northern Pacific Railroad | 1897 | Portland area | [32] |
| A Nugget In The Rough | 1917 | [33] | |
| Martyrs of Yesterday | 1919 | ||
| The Golden Trail | 1920 | Portland | |
| Headed North | 1920 | Troutdale | |
| The Death Message | 1922 | ||
| The Flash | 1923 | ||
| The Frame Up | 1923 | ||
| The Power Divine | 1923 | ||
| The Vow of Vengeance | 1923 | ||
| Way of the Transgressor | 1923 | ||
| Beaten | 1924 | ||
| Harbor Patrol | 1924 | ||
| Under the Rouge | 1925 | Portland | [34] |
| The Fighting Parson | 1925 | Tygh Valley | |
| Youth's Highway | 1925 | ||
| Flames | 1926 | Portland | |
| Mystery House | 1927 | Mount Hood National Forest | |
| Call of the Wild | 1935 | Mount Baker Lodge | [35] |
| Lost Horizon | 1937 | Mount Hood National Forest | |
| Thunderhead, Son of Flicka | 1945 | Gresham | |
| Golden Earrings | 1947 | Corbett | [36] |
| Bend of the River | 1952 | ||
| The Great Sioux Uprising | 1953 | Portland | [37] |
| Portland Exposé | 1957 | ||
| A Day Called X | 1957 | Portland | [38] |
| All the Young Men | 1960 | Timberline Lodge | |
| Ring of Fire | 1961 | Vernonia | |
| The Mightiest Clydesdale | 1969 | Estacada | |
| Five Easy Pieces | 1970 | Portland | |
| Kansas City Bomber | 1972 | Portland | |
| The Circle | 1972 | Portland | |
| Death of a Sideshow | 1972 | Portland | |
| Isn't It Shocking? | 1973 | ||
| Lost Horizon | 1973 | Mount Hood | |
| Closed Mondays | 1974 | Portland | |
| Deafula | 1975 | Portland | [39] |
| One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | 1975 | Salem | |
| The Possessed | 1977 | Portland | [40] |
| First Love | 1977 | Portland | [41] |
| Fire | 1978 | Yamhill County | |
| The Shining | 1980 | Timberline Lodge | |
| Paydirt | 1980 | Hood River, Newberg, Yamhill County | |
| Just Before Dawn | 1981 | ||
| Unhinged | 1982 | ||
| The Courier of Death | 1983 | Portland | |
| Quarterback Princess | 1983 | McMinnville | |
| Off Sides | 1983 | Salem | |
| American Taboo | 1984 | ||
| Station to Station | 1984 | Portland | |
| Toby's Gorilla | 1984 | Salem | |
| The Adventures of Mark Twain | 1985 | Portland | |
| Mala Noche | 1985 | Portland | [42] |
| The Last Innocent Man | 1985 | Portland | |
| Short Circuit | 1986 | Portland, Columbia River Gorge | |
| Shadow Play | 1986 | Portland | |
| The Penalty Phase | 1986 | Portland, The Dalles | |
| Promise | 1986 | ||
| A Claymation Christmas Celebration | 1987 | Portland | |
| Permanent Record | 1988 | Portland | |
| Homer and Eddie | 1988 | ||
| The Watcher | 1988 | Portland | |
| Fatal Revenge | 1988 | Portland | |
| Meet the Raisins: The Story of the California Raisins | 1988 | Portland | |
| Drugstore Cowboy | 1989 | Portland | [43] |
| Breaking In | 1989 | Portland | |
| The Haunting of Sarah Hardy | 1989 | Portland | |
| Spy | 1989 | Portland | |
| Dangerous Pursuit | 1989 | Portland | |
| Come See the Paradise | 1989 | ||
| The California Raisin Show | 1989 | Portland | |
| The Vernonia Incident | 1989 | Vernonia | |
| Love at Large | 1990 | ||
| Murder COD | 1990 | Portland | |
| Cops and Robbers | 1990 | Portland | |
| Fatal Exposure | 1990 | Portland | |
| The Favor | 1990 | Portland | |
| The Marla Hanson Story | 1990 | Portland | |
| Ironheart | 1990 | Portland | |
| Love & Dynamite | 1990 | Portland | |
| Ski School | 1991 | Mount Hood | |
| My Own Private Idaho | 1991 | ||
| Run | 1991 | Portland | |
| Child of Darkness, Child of Light | 1991 | Portland | |
| Deadly Game | 1991 | ||
| Deceptions: A Mother's Secret | 1991 | Portland | |
| Frozen Assets | 1991 | ||
| Wild Child | 1991 | Portland | |
| Chrome Soldiers | 1991 | ||
| Claire of the Moon | 1992 | ||
| Duplicates | 1992 | Portland area | |
| Body Language | 1992 | Portland | |
| Devils Keep | 1992 | Portland | |
| Programmed for Murder | 1992 | ||
| A Claymation Easter Special | 1992 | Portland | |
| Perfect Family | 1992 | Portland | |
| Dr. Giggles | 1992 | Portland | |
| Sam & Ed | 1992 | Portland | |
| The Bed You Sleep In | 1992 | Toledo | |
| Frameup | 1992 | Newport | |
| Fade to Black | 1993 | Portland | |
| Even Cowgirls Get The Blues | 1993 | Portland | |
| Free Willy | 1993 | Portland | |
| The Temp | 1993 | Portland | |
| Body of Evidence | 1993 | Portland | |
| Gayle Moffatt Story | 1993 | Portland | |
| Hear No Evil | 1993 | [44] | |
| 1993 | [45] | ||
| 1993 | Portland | [46] | |
| Brainsmasher... A Love Story | 1993 | Portland | [47] |
| Praying Mantis | 1993 | Portland | |
| Terror in the Towers | 1993 | Portland | |
| Maverick | 1993 | Columbia River Gorge | |
| To My Daughter With Love | 1993 | Portland | |
| Save the Last Dance for Me | 1993 | Portland | |
| Imaginary Crimes | 1993 | Portland | |
| Guns on the Clackamas | 1993 | Oregon City | |
| Rose City | 1994 | Portland | |
| Medicine Ball | 1994 | Portland | |
| Mystery Dance | 1994 | Portland | |
| Mr. Holland's Opus | 1994 | Portland | |
| Gathering Evidence | 1994 | Salem | |
| The Ox and the Eye | 1994 | Portland | |
| Tinkercrank | 1994 | Portland | |
| Things I Never Told You | 1995 | St. Helens | |
| Foxfire | 1995 | Portland | |
| Assassins | 1995 | Portland | |
| Dead by Sunset | 1995 | Portland | |
| Lords of the Tanglewood | 1995 | Hood River | |
| Batman Forever | 1995 | Corbett | [48] |
| Nowhere Man | 1996 | Portland area | |
| Reunion | 1996 | Portland | |
| Reggie's Prayer | 1996 | Portland | |
| Payback | 1996 | Portland | |
| Forest Warrior | 1996 | [49] | |
| In the Line of Duty: Blaze of Glory | 1996 | Portland | |
| The Catalyst | 1997 | Portland | |
| Total Reality | 1997 | Portland | |
| Zero Effect | 1997 | Portland | |
| Fifteen and Pregnant | 1997 | ||
| Big Red | 1997 | Portland | |
| Anoosh of the Airways | 1997 | Portland | |
| Final Justice | 1997 | Portland | |
| Kurt & Courtney | 1998 | Portland | [50] |
| A Change of Heart | 1998 | Portland | |
| Love is Strange | 1998 | Portland | |
| Physical Graffiti | 1998 | ||
| Halloweentown | 1998 | ||
| No Alibi | 1998 | Portland | |
| Bongwater | 1998 | Portland | |
| The Joyriders | 1998 | ||
| Night Ride Home | 1998 | ||
| Take My Advice (Ann & Abby Story) | 1999 | Portland | |
| Hollyriridge | 1999 | Portland | |
| Switched at Birth | 1999 | ||
| The PJs | 1999 | Portland | |
| Double Jeopardy | 1999 | Salem | |
| Men of Honor | 2000 | ||
| The Sexy Chef | 2000 | Portland | |
| Gary & Mike | 2000 | Portland | |
| Pay It Forward | 2000 | Portland | |
| Therese: The Story of a Soul | 2000 | ||
| Down and Out with The Dolls | 2000 | Portland | |
| Antitrust | 2000 | Portland | |
| Bandits | 2000 | ||
| A.I. Artificial Intelligence | 2000 | Gresham | [51] |
| The Wise Ones | 2000 | Gresham | |
| Eban and Charley | 2000 | Portland, | |
| Extreme Days | 2001 | ||
| The Hunted | 2001 | [52] | |
| The Ring | 2002 | Columbia River Gorge | |
| Don't You Cry For Me | 2002 | St. Helens | |
| The Dust Factory | 2002 | ||
| 2002 | Portland | ||
| The Skin Horse | 2002 | Portland | |
| Sacred Science | 2002 | Portland | |
| Elephant | 2002 | Portland | |
| Coming Up Easy | 2003 | Portland | |
| Twilight Conspiracy | 2003 | Portland | |
| Mean Creek | 2003 | [53] | |
| Harvest of Fear | 2003 | Estacada | |
| Losers Lounge | 2003 | Portland | |
| The Good Lot | 2004 | Portland | |
| Are We There Yet? | 2004 | Portland | |
| Bigger Than the Sky | 2004 | Portland | |
| Donut Hole | 2004 | Portland | |
| Nearing Grace | 2004 | Portland | |
| Monday Night Gig | 2004 | Portland | |
| 2004 | |||
| Damaged Goods | 2004 | Portland | |
| What the Bleep Do We Know!? | 2004 | Portland | |
| Thumbsucker | 2005 | ||
| Tillamook Treasure | 2005 | Vernonia | |
| Film Geek | 2005 | ||
| Path of Evil | 2005 | Portland | |
| Drama Queens | 2005 | Portland | |
| Spiral | 2005 | Portland | |
| Kate's Smile | 2005 | Portland | |
| 2006 | Philomath | ||
| Music Within | 2006 | ||
| Feast of Love | 2006 | Portland | |
| Raising Flagg | 2006 | ||
| Old Joy | 2006 | ||
| Into the Wild | 2006 | Cascade Mountains | |
| The Sasquatch Gang | 2006 | [54] | |
| Paranoid Park | 2006 | Portland | |
| Mr. Brooks | 2006 | Portland | |
| Dark Horizon | 2006 | Salem | |
| Cathedral Park | 2006 | ||
| Untraceable | 2007 | Portland | |
| The Valley Of Light | 2007 | Scotts Mills | |
| Selfless | 2007 | Portland | |
| Follow | 2007 |