A six way brick junction with a working theatre marquee, and the balcony Alexander Payne used for The Holdovers.
What Davis Square looks like
is a wide, angled junction where six streets meet, with a red and blue city seal painted across the asphalt at its center. Low brick buildings line the corners, one to three storeys, with shops filling the ground floors under the brick above. Traffic signals and street trees mark the edges where Holland Street, Elm Street and the others come in.
The Hobbs Building fronts the square, three storeys of brick with an arched stone window and a marquee in red neon reading Somerville Theatre. Storefronts fill its ground floor, and the theatre's lobby and balcony open through street level doors under the marquee.
A concrete canopy covers the Red Line busway on the square's east side, where buses line up along College Avenue under the trees. The Rosebud, a chrome diner car with a red neon sign, sits a short walk south on Summer Street.
Off the square, the streets narrow into two- and three-storey wood-frame houses. Some have wraparound porches and bay windows, set back behind small yards, with cars along the curb on blocks like Chester Street.
Shot in Davis Square
The Hobbs Building's marquee at 55 Davis Square appears in two films, Ted's Star Wars premiere line and The Holdovers' own scene inside its balcony and lobby. Down the block, played itself in a scene from Next Stop Wonderland.
Ted, 2012
The Somerville Theatre marquee
Played present day
The exterior stood in for a movie theater on opening night, with Ted and John waiting in line for the Star Wars Episode I premiere, dressed as Yoda and Darth Maul. The shot uses the real marquee and entrance rather than a redressed one. Street View
The Holdovers, 2023
Played 1970s
The theatre's own balcony and lobby appear in one of the film's key scenes, dressed to look like 1970 rather than the year it was actually shot. Alexander Payne called the Somerville Theatre a special place to him before screening the finished film there in 2023. Street View
What Davis Square can double for
Coolidge Corner in Brookline, Massachusetts
Coolidge Corner's brick storefronts sit at the same low two to three storey scale, and the Coolidge Corner Theatre's marquee is as prominent as the Hobbs Building's own. Beacon Street's trolley tracks and overhead wires are the giveaway in a wide shot, since Davis Square's own junction has none. Try searching brick storefronts and a marquee now.
Astoria in Queens, New York
Broadway's brick storefronts in Astoria sit at the same low, two to three storey scale as the Hobbs Building's block. The elevated N and W trains cross overhead at the Broadway station, the giveaway in a wide shot, since Davis Square's own junction has open sky above it. Try searching low brick storefronts Broadway now.
Muswell Hill in London, United Kingdom
Muswell Hill's Edwardian shopping parade along the Broadway sits beneath the former Odeon cinema's marquee, at the same scale and signage as the Hobbs Building. London's parked cars and street furniture need dressing out, and the Broadway's parade runs longer and flatter than Davis Square's six way junction. Try searching Edwardian shopping parade now.
