Marmont Monday: Room 54, Pt. 1

When I first acquired this vintage image of actor Anthony Perkins at the Chateau Marmont Hotel on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, I assumed it was shot on the balcony of Room 64, the Penthouse. When I finally got around to attempting to match it up with a contemporary shot though, it just didn’t line up. Until…I was able to stay in Room 54...and then it all came together.



One of my favorite films, “Laurel Canyon” (2003), features sweeping aerial shots of Los Angeles and Hollywood during the opening credits. One of the shots includes the Chateau. You can also see the now demolished Lytton Savings Bank in the lower right of the frame:



A number of scenes take place at the Hotel, which are established by this frame:



Here’s a shot I took in May 2002, right about the time “Laurel Canyon” was released at the Cannes Film Festival:



A more contemporary view from March 2016:



Our first glimpse inside of the Chateau shows actress Frances McDormand lying on a couch. The fabric on this couch is used in many of the hotel’s rooms. Not a good indicator of which room it is.



A few minutes later though, Alessandro Nivola talks on the phone on the same couch, but the camera has pulled back much more to reveal…



Room 54! The light on the end table has changed, but the rest is the same.



While Alessandro is on the phone, McDormand’s character stands between a window in 54 and the entrance to the Dining Room.



Willis stands in for Frances.



Later on, Kate Beckinsale’s character makes a call from the balcony, with a bottle of MGD on the billboard behind her.



It just so happens I shot the same bottle back in May 2002, too.



The one mystery is what room they used for the bedroom scene. It doesn’t appear to be 54, as the windows/doors do not line up. One of the employees said they used two different rooms for the movie; the other room that was mentioned didn’t seem to match up either.



Once again, Willis attempts to stand in for the actors.



The bathroom was an easy one to match.



Same tile, same towel rack, and same window.



You can match just about everything from these two frames with my contemporary shots of 54.





Frances McDormand and I have a toilet seat in common now.



ROOM SERVICE! A shot from the movie shows the waiter bringing champagne for Beckinsale, McDormand, and Nivola:



Same view today from 54:



Christian Bale exits the elevator on the 5th floor:



My contemporary view of the same location:



Room 54 is a beauty; it also has the distinction of once being the residence of Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski, just before they had the bad fortune to move to Cielo Drive.

See more Chateau Marmont photos at my main website.

La La Land

I saw the movie "La La Land" the other night and my brain is still buzzing. A movie has not affected me so much since "The Artist" in 2011. This post will contain some spoilers, so if you haven't seen "La La Land," please do so...and then you can come back here.

It's one of those movies that I wanted to immerse myself into and stay for days. Stylistically it is a throwback to the musicals of the fifties, but story-wise, it is a very modern tale of pursuing your dream and what may have to be left behind to do so.

The movie begins with a powerhouse musical number filmed on the offramp of the I-105/110. How the hell did they do this?!? If you're not into musical numbers, just patient...the story line will begin soon enough and you too will be swept away.



It is also a colorful postcard of Los Angeles and Hollywood, featuring some of the iconic landmarks and secret treasures that I adore.

The Angel's Flight Railway was put back in action to film a very short sequence showing the two main characters Sebastian and Mia, played by Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.



Oh how I wish it were still working.



The Griffith Observatory is also prominently featured as Mia and Sebastian visit the location where "Rebel Without A Cause" was filmed.















A walk down the Colorado Street Bridge was filmed at just the right time, capturing the globe lights and saturated sunset/sunrise.



I was not so lucky when I shot this photo; the lights had just gone off!



Quite a few scenes take place on the Warner Brothers lot, where Mia works as a barista to help pay the bills while she struggles to be an actress.



The casting call audition scenes are brutal; apparently they were based on actual experiences by both Stone and Gosling.









My fave hotel the Chateau Marmont is shown in a brief clip of where "future" Mia stays while visiting from New York. Unfortunately, the interior room shoots were filmed elsewhere. That was a bit of a buzzkill!



Run...or dance...to the nearest theater that is showing this film.

See more Los Angeles photos at my main website.