Two Hollywood series (actually three – check out “Pawn of the
Dead” near the end of my guide) decided to use the Granary as
their cinematic muse: ABC’s “Spenser: For Hire” in 1985 and, forty
years later, CBS’s 2025 “Blue Bloods” spin-off, “Boston
Blue”, starring Boston native Donnie Wahlberg. “Boston Blue”
seemingly revisits the Granary’s hallowed grounds as a cinematic
homage to its justice-seeking predecessor.
Spenser’s First Stand
The video clip above is from the pilot episode of the
1985-88 detective series “Spenser: For Hire” starring Robert
Urich.
In this scene you can see Spenser “taking out
the trash” so-to-speak on a cold winter day after a brief foot
chase starting at nearby Park Street Station and ending here at
the Ben Franklin Family Memorial in the Granary Burial Ground.
The bad guy had hidden behind the Franklin Memorial but to no
avail since Spenser could clearly see his exhaled breath from
behind the monument. After firing off a few warning ricochet shots
prompting the bad guy to give up, Spenser makes his approach while
verbally reminding the bad guy just where he is:
“You
picked the right graveyard punk. John Hancock is buried here;
Samuel Adams; (lower, menacing) Paul Revere!”
The two then
get in a tussle that is broken up by the arrival of the police.
Boston Blue Through
There seems to be several moments in the "Boston Blue"
scene filmed here that seem to purposely echo it's "Spenser"
celluloid predecessor: chasing
a suspect heading towards the Granary; camera following suspect to
Granary entrance (my "joint" if you will); camera shot stops
following suspect and focuses on a unique feature to be seen at
the Granary entrance - "Spenser" - the Paul Revere sign attached
to the wrought iron fence..."Boston Blue" - the Freedom Trail
plaque embedded in the sidewalk. My punny title “Boston Blue
Through” refers to the fact that, unlike the Spenser episode with
its two minute plus scene, in “Boston Blue” the Granary is used to
film a brief foot chase by entering the Tremont Street front gate
and exiting the side entrance, with the pursuit ending moments
later in a nearby…Toronto alley! (snicker!)