Saturday, April 20, 2013

Miracle Mile (1988)

dir. Steve De Jarnatt

La Brea Tar Pits, 5801 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. About 35,000-40,000 years ago, oil deposits rose here to the earth’s surface. The crude oil gradually thickened into sticky asphalt, and prehistoric animals would get trapped in it and drown. The remains of these hapless creatures were first discovered in the early 1900s, and such findings continued ever since. Modern visitors can walk around the area and see the tar pits adorned by life-size models of prehistoric pachyderms.

Harry (Anthony Edwards) meets Julie (Mare Winningham) – George C. Page Museum, 5801 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. The museum tells the story of the tar pits and features fossil reconstructions and a working paleontology lab.

Julie and Harry set lobsters free - Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica, California. The white-and-blue building on the beach is the Sea Castle Apartments. Once a luxury hotel, it was irreparably damaged by the Northridge Earthquake and stood abandoned until its fate was finally sealed by a fire in 1996. The new Sea Castle Apartments building now stands in its place.

Harry’s band plays – Pan Pacific Park, 7600 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. The Streamline Moderne structure with four stylized towers and flagpoles is the Pan-Pacific Auditorium. Sadly, this was its last cinematic appearance. The building was destroyed in a fire on May 24, 1989.

The former May Company department store at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Faifrax Avenue, which now serves as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art western building (LACMA West).

LACMA East, 5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.

Julie’s apartment complex – Park La Brea, 6200 W. 3rd Street, Los Angeles, California.

The coffee shop where Julie works as a waitress – Johnie’s (now closed), 6101 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.

Harry’s hotel – Chateau Marmont, 8221 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. Thanks to Robert from Movie Locations and More for pointing that out.

The view of Wilshire Boulevard at Fairfax Avenue, looking east.

The gas station – It stood at the corner of Wall and Boyd Streets, Los Angeles, California. It has since been demolished.

Julie’s apartment building – 535 S. Curson Avenue, Los Angeles, California

Harry transporting the sleepy Julie in a shopping cart – Art of the Americas Building (formerly the Robert O. Anderson Building), LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.

The steps leading to the Art of the Americas and Hammer Buildings.

5900 Wilshire as seen from the LACMA entrance. It’s the tallest structure in the Miracle Mile district, known as the Mutual Benefit Life Building at the time, but it’s now called the Variety Building.

Harry goes looking for someone who can fly a helicopter – 6010 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.

The department store - 6060 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. The building how hosts the Petersen Automotive Museum.

6 comments:

  1. Thank you very much. This is the movie I like to watch again.

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  2. Thanks Yuri!
    I enjoy watching this movie.

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  3. I visit the Miracle Mile quite often, it's sad to see all the changes. I love Miracle Mile, it's a great movie, I watch multiple times a year.

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  4. sad to see some of these landmarks change so much. Johnie's is a dump nowadays :(

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  5. The department store was originally built for SEIBU, a Japanese department store. Then it became Ohrbach’s dept store.

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  6. One of the worst movies I ever saw. "Maybe we can be like superman and the diamond...and....and" as the lead players die in a pool of tar. Disgusting movie.

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