The George Washington Bridge was dedicated on this day back in 1931 and traffic started rolling the next day. When it opened it had the longest main span of any bridge in the world (3500 feet). 77 years later it is still the 4^th longest suspension bridge in the US. Each year more than a hundred million vehicles cross the bridge. Originally, the Hudson Bridge, as it was called during construction, was going to hide the steel towers in concrete, but due to budget reasons, the concrete never was installed giving the bridge its modern, ionic look. There were 6 lanes on a single level in 1931, but now has two levels with 14 lanes for traffic. It didn’t take long for movie makers to find that the bridge made a good back drop for their movies anytime the move was filmed in New York. Cop Land with its all star cast made the bridge a focal point of the movie. Today’s list includes some of the more famous movies that feature shots of the bridge.

1. Cop Land – Stallone, Kietel, Rapaport, De Niro, and Liotta
2. Ball of Fire – Gary Cooper
3. How to marry a Millionaire – Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall
4. X-Men – Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart
5. The In-Laws – Peter Falk, Alan Arkin
6. Desperately Seeking Susan – Madonna
7. Manhattan Murder Mystery – Woody Allen, Diane Keaton
8. Born to Dance – James Stewart
9. Hollywood or Bust – Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
10. My Dear Miss Aldrich – Maureen O’Sullivan (Jane in Tarzan)

In addition to being shown in movies, video games have used its shape as well. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty uses the bridge extensively in its game. Dozen of other movies show it or reference the bridge in some way (Network and Escape from New York both come to mind). Maybe next year we’ll look at songs or TV shows that feature the bridge. But it was sure tempting to mention F. Abraham Murray’s Birthday or join in the celebration of Kilobyte Day.

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