The village seen in the movie was not near the beach that the characters walk on, they were on opposite sides of Scotland. To make the connection, a cardboard church was built at the end of the beach to match the church in the village.
After the movie came out, many people went in search of the village with the phone booth. Since it didn't exist, they were always disappointed. The village where the movie was filmed finally decided to put up a phone booth for the sake of the visitors.
The building Happer leaves for Scotland from is the former Texas Commerce Bank Tower (JP Morgan Chase Tower as of 2006). In the background is the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Perfoming Arts.
The village used is called Pennan but it is on the East coast unlike the one in the film. The beach used is called Camusdarach and IS on the West coast
During the opening credits, Mac can be seen driving his car while a radio station provides the background dialog. The radio station identifies itself as KNOX, which is the same name of the oil company that Mac works for.