From Superman to Jack Sparrow, Marilyn to Jimmy Stewart: Niagara Falls, Hollywood’s Misty Stage
Niagara Falls: The Star That Never Fades
Niagara Falls has always had a cinematic soul. The roar of the water. The shimmer of the mist. The edge-of-the-world feeling that lingers in the air. It’s not just a tourist destination—it’s a place where stories live, and where some of the greatest legends of Hollywood came to chase something real.
Marilyn, Part of the Niagara Legend
No moment captured that magic more than Marilyn Monroe’s time at the Falls.
In 1953, Monroe arrived to film Niagara, the sultry noir that would help transform her from rising starlet to global icon. The camera loved her—but so did the Falls. They framed her perfectly. Her silhouette in a tight red dress, walking along the edge of the water, is still one of the most hauntingly glamorous images ever captured here.
Crowds gathered. The town buzzed. Stories still echo about where she stayed, where she walked, where she smiled through the spray. You can almost feel her presence today, in the murals, the souvenir shops, the soft hush that falls when you first see the water.
She wasn’t just filming a movie. She was becoming part of Niagara’s legends.
Jimmy Stewart: The Gentleman Tourist
A few years earlier, in the summer of 1940, Jimmy Stewart came to Niagara Falls not for a role, but for a rest. Fresh off his Oscar win for The Philadelphia Story, he’d been fishing in northern Ontario when he decided to make an unplanned stop at the Falls.
No press. No entourage. Just Jimmy and his wife, strolling quietly along the promenade. Locals remember him shaking hands, signing autographs, and pausing often—not to perform, but to take it all in. In an era when stars were larger than life, Stewart came simply as a man—drawn by the water, seeking peace, and letting Niagara do what it’s always done best: restore.
Superman Took Flight Here
Fast forward to the 1980s, and Niagara was no longer just a retreat—it was a set. In Superman II, the Falls became a dramatic backdrop for one of Clark Kent’s pivotal moments. When a child falls into the rushing water, Clark—still pretending to be human—must decide whether to reveal his true identity.
He does. And just like that, Superman becomes part of Niagara’s mythos.
For a generation of fans, that scene tied the superhero to the place. The real water. The real danger. The sense that something powerful lives just beyond the railing.
Jack Sparrow’s Final Plunge?
In Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Niagara Falls helped shape one of the franchise’s most unforgettable moments—when the crew of the Hair Peng sail off the edge of the world and into the unknown.
To bring that epic plunge to life, the filmmakers turned to Niagara for inspiration—and for footage. In October 2006, a crew collaborated with Niagara Parks staff to film the roaring water and mist from a crane positioned above Horseshoe Falls. The real-world intensity of the Falls helped generate the film’s sweeping water-based effects and gave visual weight to the mythic “World’s End” waterfall.
The scale. The danger. The unknowable depths.
When Hollywood needed a metaphor for the edge of existence, it turned to Niagara.
Still Rolling
Over the decades, Niagara has welcomed stars like Bruce Willis, Jackie Chan, Brad Pitt, and Beyoncé—each drawn not just by its beauty, but by the feeling that something bigger is always just around the bend.
They didn’t all come to perform. Some came to escape. Some came to film. Some came to feel something they couldn’t find anywhere else.
Because Niagara Falls isn’t just a natural wonder—it’s a stage. A screen. A force. A character in its own right.
So next time you visit, pause a little longer. Look past the crowds. Listen to the water. Somewhere in that mist, Marilyn still poses. Jimmy Stewart still strolls. Superman still flies. And Jack Sparrow, as always, sails straight over the edge.
Over the years, Niagara Falls has drawn an impressive list of other notable visitors from politics, literature, entertainment, and innovation, including:
U.S. Presidents: James Monroe (1817), John Quincy Adams (1843), Abraham Lincoln (1857), Teddy Roosevelt (1900), John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon (1960), Gerald Ford (1970), and Jimmy Carter with First Lady Rosalynn (1980).
Writers: Oscar Wilde (1882) and Mark Twain (1900).
Inventor: Thomas Edison (1885).
Activist: Helen Keller (1893).
Hollywood Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten, and Jean Peters (1952); Jimmy Stewart (1940); Shirley Temple (1944); Jack Benny (1960s); Ginger Rogers (1974); Elvis Presley (1975); Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder (1979).
British Leader: Winston Churchill (1943).