Throwback Thursday: 1979 Movie Open Reveals GR Christmas Past

Writer Paul Schrader of 'Taxi Driver' fame grew up in Grand Rapids, so for his second big Hollywood film, he laid some GR love down in the opening credits: a full two minutes of Christmastime in Grand Rapids circa 1978.

The movie 'Hardcore' centered around a Grand Rapids dad, played by George C. Scott trying to get his daughter out of the sex film industry. The opening sequence, shot downtown and at Richmond Park, among other places captures a December day in Grand Rapids in 1978.

Among the highlights:

-- Shots of downtown showing off the Christmas decorations of that era.

-- Houses on the West Side digging out from a storm.

-- The toboggan and sledding runs and the skating rink at Richmond Park. (Maybe one of the those little kids hauling their sleds back up the hill is YOU!)

-- A shot of the intersection of Powers and Leonard on the West Side, featuring the West Leonard Christian Church

-- A teenager delivering the Grand Rapids Press. Full disclosure: I was a paper boy. I sucked at that job.

-- A nice winter shot of the Sixth Street Bridge.

-- The Harley Smith Furniture Company building downtown.

-- A building named 'Van Dorn Celery'. I think this was a fake business for the movie.