Where was Trading Places filmed?

This Trading Places location opens on Valentine kneeling on a cart, pushing himself down the city street while he pretends to be both blind and legless. He runs across two policemen who suspect he is not actually handicapped or blind. One of the policemen stops his cart with his foot. Valentine, still playing blind, asks who it is. The policemen tell him they have had some complaints about people in the area claiming to be crippled and blind when they in fact are not. The following conversation ensues in one of many funny scenes in Trading Places.

Valentine: Oh, I’d love to help you man, but I ain’t seen nothing since I stepped on that landmine in Vietcong back in ’72. It was rough, very painful.

Policeman #2: You were in ‘Nam? So were we. Where?

Valentine: I was in Sang Bang, Dang Gong. I was all over that place, basically a lot of places, a lot of places.

To visit this Trading Places production location, you are spoiled for choice when it comes to public transit options. If traveling by bus, the following lines all have stops at Rittenhouse Square: 16, 2, 21, 27, 4, 402, 409, 42, and 44. Subway routes BSL and MFL also lead here. Rittenhouse Square can be reached by train from the following stations: Airport, Manayunk/Norristown, Media/Elyn, Paoli/Thorndale, Patco, and Warminster.

In this classic Trading Places scene, Valentine is in Winthorpe’s old home. He is dressed in a suit, and he’s finding it difficult to believe his sudden reversal of fortune. He starts juggling a vase and accidentally drops it on the ground, destroying it. He apologizes to the Duke brothers, and the men engage in this conversation together:

Randolph: Perfectly alright, William, it was your vase.

Valentine: That’s a cheap vase, man. That was a fake, right?

Randolph: I think we paid $35,000 for it. But I seem to remember we estimated its value at $50,000 for the insurance company. {He laughs} You see, Mortimer? William has already made us a profit of $15,000.

{The men all laugh}

Valentine: You want me to break something else?

The men: NO!

This Trading Places scene takes place in a private residence in a suburb of Philadelphia. To visit this site, take John F Kennedy Blvd, turning left onto N 20th Street. Make another right onto Market Street and a left onto S 21st Street. Turn left onto Delancey Place, and the former film set can be seen on the right-hand side.

This Trading Places film set is a local police station where Winthorpe’s bail has been posted by his fiancé Penelope. Penelope waits in a crowded lobby for Winthorpe’s release. The man next to her stares at her, leaving her feeling awkward and uncomfortable. Winthorpe comes through the door looking disheveled and dressed in strange attire.

He calls out her name and runs to her, trying to embrace her, but Penelope resists. Penelope tells him that she is embarrassed by his appearance, and Winthorpe starts to enumerate the things he has been through since his imprisonment. In one of the most memorable lines from this movie, Winthorpe points and yells out, “Those men wanted to have sex with me!”

To visit the infamous city jail where Winthorpe spent a night in prison in Trading Places, follow FRD Drive to I-278 E, taking exit 54 for Bruckner Boulevard. Continue on this route until you reach your destination at Barkley Ave/Marge Jeffries Way.

In one of the best scenes in Trading Places, Valentine sits at the head of the boardroom table in the Dukes’ brokerage firm. He has just advised the brothers about a less-than-wise financial investment in pork bellies. He tells the brothers that pork bellies are going to drop in price, and Randolph asks him why he thinks this. Valentine addresses the brothers, showing an excellent grasp of the financial market is saying.

Valentine: Pork belly prices have been dropping all morning. Which means everybody’s sitting in their office and they’re waiting for them to hit rock bottom, so they can buy cheap and go long. People that own the pork belly contracts are going bat sht ‘cause they’re thinking, “Hey, we’re losing all our dmn money, and Christmas is around the corner, and I ain’t gonna have no money to buy my son the G.I.Joe with the kung fu grip. Okay? And my wife ain’t gonna f—my wife ain’t gonna make love to me cause I ain’t got no money, right?” So, they sitting there panicking. They screaming, “Sell! Sell!” Cause they don’t want lose all their money, right? They out there, panicking right now. I can feel it. They out there. They’re panicking. Look at them.

Just a short distance from NYPD 45th Precinct Station House, you can reach this Trading Places filming location by taking FDR Drive to exit 12 for E 61st street. Turn onto Park Avenue and just up the road, you will discover the Park Avenue Armory.

In this scene from Trading Places, the Duke brothers, Penelope, and Valentine are out for dinner with business associates of the brokerage firm. They enjoy a meal in an elegant eatery. It is pouring rain outside, and Winthorpe walks past, stopping when he notices the group in the dining room. Valentine is asked for his opinion on one of the businessman’s ideas.

He tells him he has three reasons why his plan is not sound. His final point is, “And three, judging from all these jewels around your girlfriend’s neck, you’re going to need every penny you’ve got just to keep her happy.” The room falls silent with everyone staring at Valentine. The businessman bursts into laughter, and the group happily continues on with their meal.

Though this stunning building is now closed to the public, you can still view the outer façade at its location on Liberty Street. You can easily access the New York Chamber of Commerce Building by following the short path from Federal Hall which takes approximately three minutes in total.

Valentine is in the bathroom smoking a joint when he hears the Duke brothers enter his office. Randolph gets on his knees to see if Valentine is hiding under the desk. Satisfied that Valentine is not present, he says, “Pay up, Mortimer! I have won the bet.” Mortimer hands him his prize: a single dollar bill. Saying, “Here, one dollar.” They continue in this conversation.

Randolph: We took a perfectly useless psychopath like Valentine and turned him into a successful executive. And during the same time, we turned an honest, hardworking man into a violently deranged would-be killer. {He laughs} Now, what are we going to do about taking Winthorpe back and returning Valentine to the ghetto?

In the same filming location that was used for other scenes in the Dukes’ main offices at Duke and Duke, you will find this former film set within the Park Avenue Armory on New York City’s iconic and elegant Park Avenue.