Ken Jennings can usually hold it together. Even though he’s met his fair share of celebrities since becoming the contestant with the longest winning streak on Jeopardy! and now hosting the quiz show, Jennings doesn’t often become starstruck when meeting a person. However, the show host has recently admitted to being mesmerized by a famous…location?
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Jennings recently shared that he was starstruck in a picture he tweeted of a popular LAX corridor. The airport passageway is so famous that it has been the location for scenes in many popular films and TV shows, including one of the host’s favorite movies.
Apparently, Jennings is a fan of Quentin Tarantino’s movie Jackie Brown. As the Jeopardy! host shared, “I don’t get starstruck easily but this is the wall from the Jackie Brown opening credits!”
In Jackie Brown’s opening sequence, the movie’s title character, played by Pam Grier, is gliding on an airport moving walkway. While confidently standing on the people mover and then walking through security, Grier takes bold steps to the song “Across 110th Street” by Bobby Womack. The title sequence begins in the famous corridor at LAX that Jennings tweeted.
No Wonder This Spot Took Jennings’ Breath Away
However, the 1997 Tarantino movie was hardly the first to use the mosaic wall for a movie setting. In fact, the opening to the movie is said to have been inspired by the 1967 film The Graduate. The title sequence shows college graduate Benjamin Braddock, played by Dustin Hoffman, standing on the people mover in LAX. The scene in Jackie Brown is very reminiscent of this sequence.
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These two movies also inspired an opening scene in the hit TV show, Mad Men. The location was used in 2014 during the show’s final season. In the show’s last season premiere, Don Draper (the lead character) is seen on the people mover. One can’t help but notice how the sequence pays homage to Jackie Brown.
The colorful corridor is also used in many other movies and TV shows. The classic 1967 American crime film Point Blank, has a famous scene in the passageway. There’s also a famous scene from 1980’s Airplane! in the LAX corridor. Plus, Michael J. Fox’s first movie Midnight Madness uses the setting as college students attempt to win a game in the Disney film.
Even though Jennings may not be starstruck often, we can certainly see why being in this location took his breath away. It also makes us wonder what celebrities would cause him to be starstruck…perhaps Tarantino or Grier?