The house from the 1962 film “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?,” starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, can be found in the Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.
LOCATION: 172 S McCadden Pl, Los Angeles, CA 90004
The 1995 Ron Howard film “Apollo 13” was filmed in Florida, Texas and California. The house of Jim and Marilyn Lovell, played by Tom Hanks and Kathleen Quinlan, can be found in Northridge, California.
LOCATION: 18325 Index St, Northridge, CA 91326
Marilyn loses her wedding ring in the shower of this motel, supposedly located in Florida. The real motel, the Safari Inn, is actually located in Burbank, California.
LOCATION: 1911 W Olive Ave, Burbank, CA 91506
The same motel was featured in the films “True Romance” and “Coach Carter.”
The house from the 1989 Danny DeVito film, “The War Of The Roses,” starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner, long remained subject to debate. The interiors for the film were shot at Fox Studio Lot (10201 Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064), where a large set was constructed for interior filming. The exterior of the home is located at Fremont Place in Hancock Park, Los Angeles. Despite being a popular neighborhood for filming, Fremont Place is one of the few gated communities in Los Angeles, making it inaccessible to the general public. Other films showcasing locations inside Fremont Place include “Taken,” “Rocky III,” “Zodiac,” “Gone Girl” and more. It is also a popular location for TV shows, such as “Monk,” “Prison Break, “The Mentalist,” “CSI: Miami,” “Rizzoli & Isles” and many more.
While some of the features of the home match what appears on screen, other elements do not. For example, the real home only has a one story portico, while in the film, it is two stories high. Furthermore, in the film, the home has an addition built onto the left side. It long remained unclear if the filmmakers had built set additions onto the real home to enhance the production, or if the home itself was later remodeled. Due to these discrepancies, there remained debate as to the authenticity of the filming location.
In the audio commentary for the film, director Danny DeVito finally put that debate to rest, confirming the exteriors were indeed filmed on location at Fremont Place, with facade portions added to give the home a “more federal look.” The scene of the car getting destroyed was a combination of shots at Fremont Place and inserts filmed at the studio. DeVito tells a story about wanting to use a different home, located outside of Los Angeles, but the studio declined, citing budgetary concerns. Shooting at Fremont Place proved difficult, due to a community restriction at the time of no filming after 11:30 PM. This left the production with only a couple hours per night to film night scenes. Filming was further complicated by a difficult neighbor, who parked on the street and threw parties, disrupting the production. The challenges of shooting at the location ultimately put the production seven days behind schedule, which DeVito points out became more expensive than simply opting for his original location outside of the city, which had relaxed night filming policies. Here is the home as it appears now, confirmed once and for all as the location used for exterior scenes in the film.
LOCATION: 119 Fremont Pl, Los Angeles, CA 90005
The 1991 Steve Martin comedy “L.A. Story” features multiple locations all over the titular city. At the beginning of the film, four cars yield for one another, before all proceeding simultaneously into a four way collision. The intersection can be found at Kingsland St and Butler Ave in Mar Vista.
LOCATION: Kingsland St / Butler Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90066
Trudi, played by Marilu Henner, lives in this apartment in West Hollywood. Harris, played by Steve Martin, continues a dead-end relationship with Trudi, while looking for a way out.
LOCATION: 884 Palm Ave, West Hollywood, CA 90069
The famous freeway sign from the film is not actually located on a freeway. Instead it was filmed on Burbank Blvd in Encino. The sign was of course a prop built by the production. The area where the sign could be found is just past Hayvenhurst Ave. We’ve listed the GPS coordinates below, however, we do not recommend visiting this location. Burbank Blvd has moderate to heavy traffic and there is no sidewalk or parking on the shoulder. It becomes narrow in some places and puts you dangerously close to traffic at times. At best, simply driving past it is likely a safer option to anyone interested in seeking it out.
LOCATION: Just past the intersection of Hayvenhurst Ave / Burbank Blvd, Encino, CA 91436 (GPS coordinates: 34.167274, -118.489291)
Matte paintings were used to depict a city skyline in the distance.
Harris has to submit financial records to the Fourth Reich Bank of Hamburg to get restaurant reservations at an exclusive restaurant. The bank scenes were filmed at the A.G. Bartlett Building in downtown Los Angeles. The building is currently used for a variety of businesses and lofts. The property has been seen in countless other films, including “Seven,” “They Live” “The Mask,” “The Wedding Singer,” “13 Going On 30,” “The Prestige,” “Ghost,” “Bridesmaids” and many more. This area cannot normally be accessed by pedestrians. However, portions are visible from the street in a couple areas through the windows.
LOCATION: 650 S Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90014
The restaurant where Harris meets Sara, played by Victoria Tennant, was a composite of two locations. The exterior was actually not a restaurant at all, rather an entrance to an apartment complex, which still exists today.
LOCATION: 426 S Norton Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90020
After Harris and Trudi finish eating, Harris initially forgets Trudi on the street curb and starts to drive away. This is the same general spot as the restaurant entrance.
The dining patio, however, was part of the Ambassador Hotel, which was demolished in 2006. The hotel was a staple of film and television, appearing in such films as “The Graduate,” “Forrest Gump,” “Seven,” “Bobby,” “True Lies,” “True Romance,” “Catch Me If You Can,” “The Mask” and dozens more. Only this post and statue from the original building remain at the location.
LOCATION: 3400 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90010 (now demolished)
Harris’ house can be found in West Hollywood.
LOCATION: 1206 N Orange Grove Ave ,West Hollywood, CA 90046
Sara lives at this apartment in, also located in West Hollywood. The same building has been featured in the films “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey,” “The Limey,” “Rush Hour” and more.
LOCATION: 1400 N Hayworth Ave, West Hollywood, CA 90046
Harris’ friend Ariel, played by Susan Forristal, lives just a few doors up from Harris. The location of the apartment complex has since been completely remodeled and no longer bears any resemblance to how it appeared in the film.
LOCATION: 1220 N Orange Grove Ave, West Hollywood, CA 90046
Harris goes skating inside the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). The portion of the museum seen in the exterior establishing shot has since been torn down for remodeling. The same area was seen in the 1988 film “Miracle Mile.”
LOCATION: 5905 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036
The Now! clothing store where SanDeE, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, works is currently a pharmacy.
LOCATION: 8491 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069
Sara’s ex-husband Roland tries to win her back as they stand at the Tail O’ The Pup hot dog stand. It is also seen at the beginning of the film, hanging from a helicopter as it travels across the city. The hot dog shaped site was originally located on La Cienega Blvd. At risk for demolition, it was relocated to San Vicente Blvd in the mid-80s. The business then closed in 2005 and the stand was put in storage until 2022, when it finally reopened in West Hollywood. The iconic stand has appeared in countless films, such as “Body Double,” “Annie Hall,” “Ruthless People,” “My Girl 2,” “Heartbreaker” and more.
LOCATION: 8512 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069 (previously located at 329 San Vicente Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90048, originally located at 311 La Cienega Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90211)
SanDeE’s apartment can be found in Venice Beach.
LOCATION: 25 Windward Ave, Venice, CA 90291
A false doorway was added on the side of the building, making it appear SanDeE lives within the mural.
The Colonic Institute can also be found in Venice Beach. The same building can be seen in the film “Point Of No Return.”
LOCATION: 523 Ocean Front Walk, Venice, CA 90291
Harris and Sara attend an art museum fundraiser at this house in Rancho Palos Verdes. Only a small portion of the home can be seen from the street.
LOCATION: 3456 Vía Campesina, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275
The El Pollo del Mar resort where Harris and Sara unexpectedly run into one another can be found in Long Beach. The front entrance to the property is gated off, but the back side of it, also seen in the film, is visible from the beach.
LOCATION: 20 S 37th Pl, Long Beach, CA 90803
The Marvel TV miniseries “WandaVision” is set in the town of Westview, New Jersey. The show was filmed between Atlanta, Georgia and Los Angeles, California at locations including Pinewood Atlanta Studios, Warner Bros. Ranch and Disney Golden Oak Ranch. Wanda and Vision, played by Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, live at this home, located on Blondie Street at Warner Bros. Ranch. The house is not a real home, rather a facade. The producers sought out an artificial look for the neighborhood, in favor of using real locations. The home is most famous for being the Griswold house in “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” but has also appeared in such films as “American Beauty,” “Hocus Pocus,” “Small Soldiers,” “Pleasantville” and more.
In the first episode, the house is depicted as a single story home in the 1950s. By episode 2, the period has jumped ahead to the 1960s and the home has become a two story house. Warner Bros. Ranch is located separate from the main Warner Bros. Studio lot and is not open to public tours.
LOCATION: 411 N Hollywood Way, Burbank, CA 91505
Dottie, played by Emma Caulfield Ford, lives at this house, also located on Warner Bros. Ranch. The house is best known for appearing in “Lethal Weapon,” but has also appeared in many other productions, such as “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” “American Beauty“, The Three Stooges serials, “Pushing Daisies,” “The Middle” and many more.
LOCATION: 411 N Hollywood Way, Burbank, CA 91505
Dottie has a party at a pool in her back yard. This is the same pool at Warner Bros. Ranch where Clark fantasizes about the department store woman in “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” While it is located fairly close to Wanda and Dottie’s houses, it’s actually on the opposite side of the street. If not for the trees in the background of the photo below, you could see Wanda and Vision’s house in the distance.
LOCATION: 411 N Hollywood Way, Burbank, CA 91505
Special thanks to James Gelet for first identifying the house of Wanda and Vision.
In the 2000 drama “Thirteen Days,” Kenny O’Donnell, played by Kevin Costner, lives in this home, supposedly located in Washington D.C. The real house can actually be found in Alhambra, California.
LOCATION: 504 N Almansor St, Alhambra, CA 91801
The popular spy drama TV series “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,” which ran from 1964 – 1968, featured this 1966 AMT Pirahna. For the show, a special, lengthened version was of the car was built, to accommodate spy gadgets. The vehicle could be seen at the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California, which ran an exhibit entitled “Hollywood Dream Machines: Vehicles Of Science Fiction and Fantasy” from May 2019 through May 2020.
LOCATION: Peterson Automotive Museum, 6060 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036
The 2020 David Fincher film “Mank,” about screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and his story of writing the screenplay for “Citizen Kane,” is set in the 1930s and 1940s, against the Hollywood studio backdrop of that era. The film likewise shot around Southern California. The movie employs heavy use of CGI to maintain the period look, often taking portions of real locations and adding computer generated elements and different backgrounds altogether. Fincher himself described the process as being as labor-intensive as a Marvel movie. It makes it challenging at times to nail down specific locations, as the real life places in present day don’t always align with what is seen in the film.
One location that matches up very well is the ranch where Mank, played by Gary Oldman, spends much of the film writing “Citizen Kane.” The Kemper Campbell Ranch in Victorville, known at the time the film takes place as the Verde Ranch, is where these scenes were shot. The ranch is, in fact, also the actual location where the real Herman J. Mankiewicz wrote much of “Citizen Kane.” Today, the property is a private estate and cattle ranch. Due to the fact that there are full-time residents living at the ranch, they do not offer tours to the public. However, they do offer guest rentals at the property. The guest rentals are currently only available at group rates, with a two night minimum, so it can be quite a costly stay, unless you have a larger party to help split the costs. Here is the area of the ranch featured most heavily in the film, where Mank stays.
LOCATION: 10 Kemper Campbell Ranch Rd, Victorville, CA 92395
Here is a closer look at the building. The door, stairs and courtyard are all featured throughout the course of the film, as it cuts between Mank writing in 1940 and various flashback scenes throughout the 1930s.
Here is a look at one of the roads leading to the ranch, which is also seen several times in the film.
Here are some additional views of the ranch and surrounding mountains.
In a flashback scene, Charlie invites Mank on a weekend trip to what turns out to be the Hearst Castle. They depart from the Glendale Station, just as the characters state in the film. Mank arrives at the station drunk. While the real building was featured in the scene, visual effects were used to add additional buildings and palm trees into the background.
LOCATION: 400 W Cerritos Ave, Glendale, CA 91204
Mank awakens at the Hearst Castle to screams coming from outside. It is made to appear the scenes shot at the real Hearst Castle, located in San Simeon (750 Hearst Castle Rd, San Simeon, CA 93452). However, the scenes were actually shot at The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens in San Marino. The southwest corner of the Huntington Art Gallery building served as the grounds of the Hearst Castle, with quite a bit of visual effects added to the shot, such as the Hearst towers and palm trees. The Huntington grounds are quite large, so we’ve provided GPS coordinates below of the exact spot.
LOCATION: 1151 Oxford Rd, San Marino, CA 91108 (GPS coordinates: 34.126274, -118.113582)
Mank follows the sound of the screams and discovers a film set, where Marion Davies, played by Amanda Seyfried, is performing a scene in which she is burned at the stake. This scene was also filmed at The Huntington Library, near the Australian Garden and Desert Garden, according to comments online. The film employs so many visual effects, adding mountains and open land, to the point that we were unable to match with certainty the exact spot the set was built.
In yet another scene at the Huntington Library, Marion walks with Mank to a fountain, where she asks him about which roles he feels she could play. The fountain can be found on the North Vista, with the GPS coordinates 34.128229, -118.113415. More visual effects were used in the scene, showing the Hearst Castle in the distance.
While at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles, Mank sees Upton Sinclair giving a political speech. The hotel is one of the most frequently used locations in all of Los Angeles, having appeared in “Ghostbusters,” “Beverly Hills Cop,” “Independence Day,” “Fight Club” and countless more productions. The interior of the hotel also appears at the end of the film, when the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay is awarded.
LOCATION: 506 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90071
Mank runs into his friend C.C. in front of Bullocks Wilshire, a famous art deco building on Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles. Mank learns that MGM is hiring actors to play outspoken citizens against Upton Sinclair. Once a luxury department store, Bullocks Wilshire now operates as a law school. The building has also been featured in the films “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” “The Aviator,” “The Public Enemy” and “Dunston Checks In,” the TV series “Moonlighting” and Areosmith’s music video for “Love in an Elevator,” in addition to many other productions.
LOCATION: 3050 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90010
The Trocadero Nightclub was not a real club. The exterior location used was Cicada Restaurant in Downtown Los Angeles, with a few visual effects composited into the shot, such as the Trocadero sign. The location has been featured in countless films, such as “Once Upon A Time In… Hollywood,” “Pretty Woman,” “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” “Indecent Proposal,” “Suicide Squad” and “Bruce Almighty,” as well as such TV shows as “Mad Men, “The Morning Show” and “American Horror Story.”
LOCATION: 617 S Olive St, Los Angeles, CA 90014
Mank tries to intervene in a potential suicide of his friend Shelly Metcalf, pulling up in front of the brick sidewalk on the right.
LOCATION: 1944 N Kenmore Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027
Mank then knocks at the front door of Shelly’s home, which is located in Hollywood.
As Mank is leaving, he drives over La Loma Bridge in Pasadena, with the Griffith Observatory visible in the distance. This is another visual effect. In reality, the Observatory is not visible from the bridge, although it is visible from Shelly’s home. The same bridge was featured in the film “The Little Things.”
LOCATION: La Loma Bridge, 799 La Loma Rd, Pasadena, CA 91105
Related articles: Seven (1995), The Game (1997), Fight Club (1999), Panic Room (2002), Zodiac (2007), The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button (2008), The Social Network (2010), Mindhunter
The house from the TV series “Lizzie McGuire,” starring Hilary Duff, can be found in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. Interiors for the same home were used in the film “American Beauty.”
LOCATION: 11388 Homedale St, Los Angeles, CA 90049
In the 1988 film “The Seventh Sign,” a married couple played by Demi Moore and Michael Biehn live in this house, located in Venice, California.
LOCATION: 902 Palms Blvd, Venice, CA 90291
The couple rents out an apartment space above their garage to David Bannon, played by Jürgen Prochnow. The garage is located just behind the house, as depicted in the film. For the most part, the entire property remains similar to how it appeared in the film.
Film Oblivion 