It’s a wonderful site — Christmas movies find ideal backdrop in the suburbs

The historic Long Grove Bridge doesn’t get much respect from the dozens of vehicles that have bumped it over the years, but directors of Christmas movies love it.

Some of the many holiday films shot in the suburbs over the years have used the iconic covered bridge as a backdrop.

Dare we say it’s a hallmark of the season.

The romantic comedy “Christmas on the Ranch,” which debuted last month on Hulu, features scenes filmed in Long Grove, Mundelein and Hawthorn Woods. It’s the story of a relationship expert who gets stranded on a ranch, where the owner helps sort out her own troubles.

And last week, “Once Upon a Christmas Wish” premiered on the Great American Channel. It’s a family affair, as Mario Lopez stars alongside his real-life wife, Courtney Lopez, and their son, Dominic. In it, he’s the mayor of a fictional town called Long Grove, and it was filmed earlier this year at real Long Grove locations, including the town’s Sock Monkey Museum and the photogenic bridge.

Peter Hawley, director of the Illinois Film Office, says filmmakers are lured to the suburbs because many Christmas movies are set in smaller towns.

“A man or a woman lead character goes from the big city to a smaller town and falls in love, things like that, Christmas miracles,” Hawley said. “The suburbs of Illinois have lots and lots of great locations, and we are very lucky that way.”

Here are some of the other holiday films shot in the burbs.

“Christmas Again” (2021): Though mainly shot in Chicago, director Andy Fickman’s Christmas twist on “Groundhog Day” — a girl’s wish has her repeatedly reliving the holiday — also filmed scenes at Santa’s Village in East Dundee.

“Reporting for Christmas” (2023) and “Christmas with Felicity” (2021) were filmed in suburban locales such as Palatine’s Cutting Hall Performing Arts Center, Glenview’s Wagner Farm, and in Long Grove, Barrington, Buffalo Grove and Vernon Hills. “Reporting for Christmas” included the Cherry Tree Inn B&B in Woodstock, where Bill Murray’s character stayed in “Groundhog Day.”

Producers Chris Charles of Arlington Heights and John W. Bosher of Mundelein, partners in Very Merry Entertainment, also made “Christmas on the Ranch.”

“Long Grove has been a perfect locale for our Christmas movies,” Charles said. “With its cobblestone-lined streets and quaint shops, the village embodies the charming small towns audiences love to see in these films.

“It also helps that Long Grove is so festive, having been named one of the 10 best Christmas towns in America by Fox News in 2021,” he added.

“The Christmas Thief” (2021): The movie positing Santa Claus as a crime suspect used Geneva sites, including Town & Country Gardens, City Barber Shop and the Geneva Diner. Scenes also were shot in and around the Naperville Township facility, 139 Water St.

“The Christmas Pitch” (2021): When two Chicago marketing executives’ holiday pitch falls flat, the boss sends them to, yes, Kringle Lake to recapture the Christmas spirit. Romance ensues. Screen Magazine reported Glen Ellyn as a location.

“A Christmas Witness” (2021): Also known as “A Holiday Hideout,” according to the Internet Movie Database, a federal marshal must keep an informant safe until he testifies after Christmas. Romance ensues. Locations included a Wheaton residence and, according to IMDb, a Naperville site.

“8-Bit Christmas” (2022): Screenwriter Kevin Jakubowski, a Batavia native, adapted his own novel for this one. The film, starring Neil Patrick Harris, was shot in Canada but references Batavia and other suburbs. “I actually wrote the book to help get the movie made,” Jakubowski said.

“Home Alone” (1990): The Holy Grail of suburban Christmas movies, the Chris Columbus classic, written by John Hughes, has earned more than $470 million worldwide according to Box Office Mojo. Daily Herald film critic Dann Gire noted that while scenes were shot at the “McCallister House,” 671 Lincoln Ave., Winnetka, most interiors were filmed in sets built inside a high school. The McCallisters also race through O’Hare International Airport.

In “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” (1992), the McCallister House has a role as do several Chicago sites, but the Big Apple is the main location. “Home Alone 3” (1997) moves back to the suburbs without Macauley Culkin and uses an Evanston address, according to the Internet Movie Database.

“Merry Switchmas” (2021): Two identical sisters (played by twins Rachel and Rebekah Aladdin, opposite twin actors Joel and Joseph Harold) switch identities during a Christmas party. The Internet Movie Database identifies Naperville as a film site.

Hawley — whose favorite locally filmed holiday movie is the Thanksgiving-themed “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” with some scenes shot in Gurnee — said Illinois attracts film productions because of a competitive film production tax credit, a great union and nonunion crew base, and attractive locales.

“The trickle-down effect from a production going to any neighborhood, any area, has great benefits to that specific location,” Hawley said.

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