After photographing this bizarre facade (just two doors down from the Little Brown Jug), I discovered that it makes an appearance as the exterior of a mobster warehouse in the 1990 movie Quick Change, starring and co-directed by Bill Murray (his only directing credit to date, in fact).
You can just barely make out the fan pattern as the main characters open the door at the beginning of this scene, in which they encounter the mobsters. But the building is easily recognizable, though partially painted blue and graffitied, in this subsequent scene, at 2:36, when Mario, "that big bald giant with the stupid sunglasses", walks up to the door.
Day 1218
Funky fan facade
May 1st, 2015
From whence do you learn this stuff!?
When I was looking up information about the Little Brown Jug, the bar in the previous photo, I read that part of the movie was filmed in the vicinity of the bar. With fond, but vague, memories of the movie, I watched a couple of scenes online, hoping to spot the bar in the background. But I had no idea which scenes were shot in the neighborhood, so I didn’t figure my odds were too high. I never saw the bar, but I was delighted to very unexpectedly catch a glimpse of this distinctive facade in the “exact change” scene.