Pasadena City Hall in California

Completed in 1927, the Pasadena City Hall in Pasadena, California is a stunning piece of architecture. From its impressive dome to its ornately manicured courtyard, this impressive landmark is part of Pasadena's Civic Center District. In 1980 this entire district, including the Pasadena City Hall, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

This location has long been popular with filmmakers, however there are two notable examples where the Pasadena City Hall stands out in my mind. One is where it featured prominently as a backdrop in Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator (1940) and the other is as the City Hall of Pawnee, Indiana in NBC's Parks and Recreation. Given how beautiful the building is, it's easy to see why it's still such a popular location. 

Charlie Chaplin Studios / Jim Henson Company

Located on N. La Brea Avenue in Hollywood, California you'll find the former studio of actor, director, and all around film legend, Charlie Chaplin. It was constructed in 1917 and amazingly has survived all these years. After Chaplin sold the property in 1953 it would eventually become home to A&M Records for several decades before the Jim Henson Company purchased the lot in 2000 - hence Kermit the Frog in Chaplin's tramp costume above the studio gate.

Many of Chaplin's classic films were shot at this location, including The Kid (1921), The Gold Rush (1925), City Lights (1931), Modern Times (1936), and The Great Dictator (1940). Next to the front gate you can see Chaplin's signature and footprints in the cement - dated Jan. 21, 1918, which marked the official opening of the studio. 

Chaplin sold the property in 1953 after permanently leaving the United States in 1952. He only returned once after that to accept his honorary Academy Award in 1972. While in Los Angeles the elderly Chaplin briefly visited his former studio one last time.

My fascination with Chaplin goes back to when I was a teenager. I read biographies about him and during film school I went out of my way to see his all of his films and early reels. When I learned that his studio was still standing in Hollywood after my last visit to Los Angeles, I added it to my to-do list. It took a few years to get back, but seeing it in person - and subsequently reading up on all of the history surrounding it - was a really inspiring experience.

The fact that it's now home to the Jim Henson Company seems equally fitting. It's like a combination of my childhood and film school selves all merged into one location. Or, another way of looking at it, a real life depiction of what much of the walls in my film school dorms were plastered with - classic films, kitschy childhood nostalgia, and Hollywood themed ambitions.

 

Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California

Opened in 1923, the Millennium Biltmore is a landmark hotel and designated historic-cultural monument located across from Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles, California. 

The Millennium Biltmore Hotel has been the setting for a long list of notable moments in pop culture history. Guests over the decades are too numerous to list, but in short they span movie stars, politicians, musicians, and A-listers from Charlie Chaplin to Taylor Swift.

The Biltmore Hotel hosted eight Academy Awards ceremonies throughout the 1930s, it's here that JFK became the presidential nominee during the 1960 Democratic National Convention, and it's where the Beatles came to stay on their first U.S. tour in 1964. 

If some of these locations look familiar that's not surprising either, the Biltmore has been a filming location for movies including Beverly Hills Cop, Ghostbusters, and Independence Day - TV shows like 24 and Mad Men - and music videos for Britney Spears and Ed Sheeran.