Lights, Camera, Saratoga! Explore Movies Filmed In & Near Saratoga Springs

What movie was filmed in Saratoga? Answer: Several! Saratoga Springs and County have served as the backdrop for various cinematic productions. See a timeline below that breaks out the range of movies filmed in and near Saratoga, and which hotspots were featured (yes, the race track, but that's not all!).

Paint (2023)

• Plot: Comedy-drama about a painter with his own show on Vermont public television who is thrown for a loop when another painter is hired; loosely based off of Bob Ross
• Stars: Owen Wilson, Lucy Freyer, Ciara Renee
• Features: The Olde Bryan Inn, Desperate Annie's, Lucy's Bar, and the Lincoln Baths, plus Hidden Lake Girl Scout Camp in Lake Luzerne, and the art studio is in Greenfield Center

Aftermath (2013)

• Plot: Dark comedy about a successful developer whose life unravels after he fires the wrong employee
• Stars: Anthony Michael Hall, Chris Penn, Tony Danza
• Features: Saratoga Race Course and Skidmore College
• Written and produced by Saratoga Springs native Tom Farone

Virgin Alexander (2011)

• Plot: Comedy about a 26-year-old scrap hauler who is facing eviction, and turns his house into a brothel in a last-ditch effort to save his home
• Stars: Rick Faugno, Elizabeth Masucci, Paige Howard
• Features: Shot in part in Saratoga Springs, including at Leon's Mexican Restaurant (which has since been relocated to Ballston Spa and rebranded as Mi Casa Mexican Restaurant)

The Skeptic (2009)

• Plot: Psychological thriller about a skeptical lawyer who inherits his aunt's Victorian mansion and is faced with unexplained phenomena
• Stars: Tim Daly, Tom Arnold, Zoe Saldana
• Features: Various Saratoga locations, including the Batcheller Mansion Inn (fixed up as a haunted house!), The Olde Bryan Inn, the City Court House, and Union Gables Bed & Breakfast

A Dog Year (2009)

• Plot: Drama about a writer going through a midlife crisis who adopts a troubled border collie
• Stars: Jeff Bridges, Lauren Ambrose, Lois Smith
• Features: Partially filmed in Saratoga Springs, as well as Greenwich and Lake George
• Based on the book by Jon Katz

Seabiscuit (2003)

• Plot: Biographical sports film about an undersized racehorse and a jockey with a history of injuries who team up with a horse trainer and businessman to achieve success during the Great Depression
• Stars: Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Elizabeth Banks
• Features: The Saratoga Race Course and Canfield Casino

Cremaster 3 (2002)

• Plot: This is the final film in a 5-part series (the series does not go sequentially - this is #3 of 5 but was released last); fantasy thriller that depicts the construction of the Chrysler building
• Stars: Matthew Barney (also directed it), Peter Donald Badalamenti II, Richard Serra
• Features: The Saratoga Race Course

The Time Machine (2002)

• Plot: Post-apocalyptic science fiction action film about a scientist/inventor determined to prove time travel is possible
• Stars: Guy Pearce, Samantha Mumba, Jeremy Irons
• Features: Saratoga Spa State Park

The Horse Whisperer (1998)

• Plot: Western drama about a teenage girl who is traumatized by a riding accident
• Stars: Robert Redford, Scarlett Johansson, Kristin Scott Thomas
• Features: The Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Spa State Park, and a hotel room in the Gideon Putnam (dressed down to the look like a motel room)

Billy Bathgate (1991)

• Plot: Crime drama set in 1935 about a Bronx teenager who gets drawn into the gangster world
• Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Nicole Kidman, Bruce Willis
• Features: The Saratoga Race Course, Hall of Springs in Saratoga Spa State Park, and Gideon Putnam 

Ghost Story (1981)

• Plot: Horror movie about four elderly men in a quiet New England town who are haunted by a vengeful spirit
• Stars: Fred Astaire, John Houseman, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
• Features: Historic homes on North Broadway, Bethesda Episcopal Church, The Adelphi Hotel, and Loughberry Lake

My Old Man (1979)

• Plot: Drama about a normally unlucky horse trainer who wins big at the track and buys his teenage daughter a horse to salvage their relationship
• Stars: Kristy McNichol, Warren Oates, Eileen Brennan
• Features: The Saratoga Race Course

It Ain't Hay (1943)

• Plot: Comedy about a carriage driver who accidentally kills a horse by feeding it candy; two bumbling friends set out to replace it, only to get swept up in a whirlwind of mistaken identity and stolen racehorses
• Stars: Budd Abbott, Patsy O'Connor, Cecil Kellaway
• Features: The Saratoga Race Course

Saratoga (1937)

• Plot: Romantic comedy about a horse breeder's granddaughter who falls in love with a gambler in Saratoga Springs
• Stars: Jean Harlow (who was seriously ill during filming and ended up passing away at only 26 years old, shortly before the film was released), Clark Gable, Lionel Barrymore
• Features: The Saratoga Race Course (although the setting is Saratoga, it was also filmed in Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky, plus Culver City, California)

While several of the above films unsurprisingly center around horse racing, not all of them do! Have you seen any of these films, and will you now?

Learn more about the Saratoga Race Course and upcoming racing events >>

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About the Author: Erin Nudi Erin is an avid reader, yogi, jogger, and hiker living in Queensbury. When she's not perusing books at Northshire, Owl Pen Books, or Beldame Books, you can find her at a local event or park with her family.