{"id":2060467,"date":"2025-09-30T20:30:30","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T20:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2060467"},"modified":"2025-09-30T20:30:30","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T20:30:30","slug":"hollywoods-90-year-love-affair-hoover-dam-brings-classics-and-some-real-duds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/hollywoods-90-year-love-affair-hoover-dam-brings-classics-and-some-real-duds\/","title":{"rendered":"Hollywood\u2019s 90-year love affair Hoover Dam brings classics, and some real duds"},"content":{"rendered":"

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LAS VEGAS (KLAS<\/a>) \u2014 From Elvis to Superman to Clark Griswold, Hollywood sends its biggest stars to Hoover Dam.<\/p>\n

The dam\u2019s 90th birthday can\u2019t go by without a nod to movies that only hope to achieve such a lasting impression.<\/p>\n

It was 1964 when Lucky Jackson drove over the dam in \u201cViva Las Vegas\u201d<\/strong> \u2014 famously, in the wrong direction in a race that was supposed to be going from Las Vegas to Arizona. There had already been 12 feature films that used Hoover Dam as a backdrop, along with a handful of short documentaries. IMDB lists 80 TV and movie productions from 1933 to present.<\/p>\n

Christopher Reeve played \u201cSuperman\u201d<\/strong> in 1978, among the most recognized movies at the dam. Moviegoers love destruction, and Hoover Dam is an irresistable target. \u201cTransformers\u201d<\/strong> used the dam as an epic battleground in 2007, and \u201cSan Andreas\u201d<\/strong> brought its wrath in 2015.<\/p>\n

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LAS VEGAS, NV \u2013 APRIL 20: A display for the movie \u201cSan Andreas\u201d at CinemaCon at Caesars Palace on April 20, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Gabe Ginsberg\/WireImage)<\/p>\n

There are dark movies including \u201cThe Lady Gambles,\u201d<\/strong> starring Barbara Stanwyck in 1949. And dark comedies, like 1985\u2019s \u201cLost in America,\u201d<\/strong> with Albert Brooks and Julie Hagerty.<\/p>\n

Hoover Dam: 90 years of power and progress in the West <\/a><\/p>\n

And there are laughs from Chevy Chase as America\u2019s lovable tourist in \u201cVegas Vacation\u201d<\/strong> (1997). Clark Griswold brings his family to Las Vegas and wanders off from the dam tour, starting a leak that he tries to plug with chewing gum. He also scales the face of the dam to get back to his family<\/p>\n

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1997 Chevy Chase and cast stars in the movie \u201cVegas Vacation\u201d<\/p>\n

An amazing array of stars show up in movies featuring the dam, but not all of the movies were screen gems. Some were duds. Others were tired clich\u00e9s on old Vegas themes with barely a mention of the dam.<\/p>\n

Here are some lesser-known moves that stood out for various reasons:<\/p>\n