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Film > Ghostbusters > Filming Locations > California Filming Locations - Sedgewick Hotel
Sedgewick Hotel

Millennium Biltmore Hotel
506 South Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA. 90071
(the 5th St. entrance was used in the film)

Google Maps Street View
* 5th St. Entrance
* Opposite Side, Alley Entrance (S. Grand Ave.)
* Opposite Side, Alley Entrance (S. Olive St.)
[ Mink Coat Attack usage was identified by Ben King ]

History - written by Richard Alleman & Lindsay Blake
With almost one thousand guest rooms when it opened in October 1923, the Biltmore was the largest hotel west of Chicago. Designed by architects Shultze and Weaver - who also were responsible for the Biltmore in New York City as well as the Waldorf Astoria - the L.A. Biltmore was instantly the city's grandest hotel, boasting magnificent murals by artist Giovanni Smeraldi, a lavish lobby that duplicated a Spanish palace, and a galleria that was even more spectacular.

Many, many stars have stayed at the Biltmore throughout its history - framed photographs of them can be seen hanging on the hallway on the way to the hotel pool - but the hotel's greatest claim to fame as far as movie history is concerned has to do with a birth that some say occurred in its Crystal Ballroom on May 11, 1927. It was during an elaborate dinner to mark the founding of a new organization called the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks were there; so were Louis B. Mayer, King Vidor, Jack Warner, and many more moguls and stars. MGM art director Cedric Gibbons was also there, and during the dinner he is said to have done a rough sketch on a napkin of a little man who would go on to match (and even exceed) the fame of any movie star in history. The little man born that evening was eventually christened Oscar. As Oscar grew, he visited the Biltmore often - since the hotel was frequently the site of Academy Awards dinners. Oscar's Biltmore years were 1931, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, and 1942, but he also spent time at the Hollywood Roosevelt and Ambassador hotels during the early part of his career.

In 1969, the Biltmore hotel received a very special award all its own; it was named a Historic Landmark by the Cultural Heritage Board of the City of Los Angeles. Since then many millions have been spent restoring and maintaining this classic hotel, whose beauty has not been lost on Hollywood art directors. Movie buffs will probably most easily recognize the Biltmore from the first Beverly Hills Cop movie where it was used as the hotel where Eddie Murphy sets up camp during his stay in Beverly Hills. The movie Bachelor Party also filmed extensively at the Biltmore where it was used as the location of Tom Hanks' wild bachelor party. And yes, they really did put a live donkey in the hotel's elevator during the filming! Both Bachelor Party and Beverly Hills Cop were filmed in the Biltmore's former lobby. Currently that room is a part of the hotel's Smeraldi's restaurant and is used for high tea and dinner. Today, the lobby is located in the hotel's former Music Room, which was used in 1960 by JFK as the location of his official campaign headquarters. The Music Room's ornate glass and wrought-iron ceiling was the model for the dining room ceiling of the ship in The Poseidon Adventure.

The Gallery Bar is dark and quiet and definitely evokes an aura of Old Time Hollywood. The Bar was most recently used in National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets as the location of Abigal's date at the beginning of the movie. But the Gallery Bar's main claim to fame is its signature drink - the Black Dhalia Martini, named for one of LA's most famous unsolved murder cases. Actress Elizabeth Short, whose nickname was the Black Dhalia, walked out the Biltmore Hotel doors on January 9, 1947 at approximately 6:30pm. She was never seen alive again. Her mutilated body was found six days later in an abandoned field. The last person to ever see the Black Dhalia alive was the Biltmore doorman who tipped his hat to her as she walked south down Olive Avenue. Although garnering widespread media attention and public fascination that exists even to this day, the case has yet to be solved.

Alfred Hitchcock used the Biltmore's 11 story high back staircase for the vertigo sequences in his 1958 movie of the same name. Hang over the ledge of the staircase on the 11th floor and you might catch a bit of vertigo yourself! Those stairs also doubled for the staircase in Dana Barrett's apartment building in Ghostbusters. In all, over 300 productions have been filmed at the hotel. Once you've visited the Biltmore, you will recognize it popping up all over the big and small screens.

[Richard's portions come from his 2005 book "Hollywood: The Movie Lover's Guide - The Ultimate Insider Tour Of Movie L.A."; while Lindsay's portions come from her website IAmNotAStalker.com and are used with her permission.]

Fun Facts
  • Hotel Map
  • Hotel Brochure (March 2004) [scanned in and made into a PDF by me]
  • The Fifth Street entrance that the Ghostbusters went though in the first movie is the location in the second movie where the rich woman steps in the pink slime, thus causing her mink coat to come alive and attack her. According to the script, she's supposed to be in front of the famous Plaza Hotel at 59th St. and Fifth Ave in New York City (the slime was to come spouting out of the fountain in front). The location was not identified as such in the film proper, but her companion played by Douglas Seale is credited as "Plaza Hotel Man" in the end credits. The filmmakers obviously tried to hide the fact that it was filmed outside the Biltmore Hotel, though I wish they didn't, and just had the attack happen outside the Sedgewick Hotel. A quick shot of the entire front of the hotel entrance should have been put in to firmly establish it as the Sedgewick as a nice nod to the first film.
  • Designed by Schulze & Weaver, the same architects who designed New York's Waldorf-Astoria, the Biltmore was built in 1923 but came close to being torn down in the 1980s. Fortunately, a wise decision was made to restore this beautiful hotel, and 40 million dollars was recently spent on it.
  • The Fifth Street entrance that the Ghostbusters went though, goes into a very long corridor (called the "Main Galeria" on the hotel map) that stretches across the entire building all the way to a similar-looking entrance/exit at the other side. This other entrance/exit is in a private alleyway that runs perpendicular to S. Grand Ave. and S. Olive St. This alleyway entrance is seen in many films including Dave (1993), Junior (1994), and Clockstoppers (2002); not to mention music videos and other media. Although the alleyway entrance was not used in Ghostbusters, multimedia from films and other media that DO use it will appear below on this page, so I felt that it was worth mentioning it and giving the Google Maps Street View links for it at the top of this page. Some differences between the Fifth Street entrance and the alleyway entrance are: Fifth street is on an angle, the alleyway is flat; Fifth street entrance has a wide sidewalk, the alleyway entrance has a narrow sidewalk. Also, when you watch films/music videos/etc. that use the alleyway entrance, you'll notice that everything is rather cramped or closed in.

Movie Shots
                                   

Real World Photos

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(orig photo from Jason)
   

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I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978)
On February 9, 1964, the Beatles made their first live appearance on American television on The Ed Sullivan Show, ratcheting up the frenzy of a fanbase whose ecstatic devotion to the band heralded an explosive new wave of youth culture. I Wanna Hold Your Hand looks back to that fateful weekend, following a group of teenagers, each with their own reasons for wanting to see the Fab Four, from New Jersey to Manhattan on a madcap mission to meet the band and score tickets to the show. The group - Rosie (Wendy Jo Sperber), Janis (Susan Kendall Newman), Grace (Theresa Saldana), Pam (Allen), Tony (Bobby DiCicco), Larry (Marc McClure), and Richard 'Ringo' Klaus (Eddie Deezen) - track down The Beatles to their hotel in New York, the alley and interiors of which are actually the Biltmore in Los Angeles.

The film is available on Blu-Ray (reviewed here) and DVD from the Criterion Collection. The images below came from the Blu-ray and are presented at the full resolution.

Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image

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Dave (1993)
Kevin Kline plays both Dave Kovic and President Bill Mitchell. Dave is a celebrity look-alike who is hired to fill in for the President at a public appearance at the Biltmore Hotel while he is in one of the rooms having sex with one of his aides.

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Janet Jackson feat. Missy Elliott - "Son Of A Gun (I Betcha Think This Song Is About You)" music video (2001)
Janet, Missy, and her zombie friends cavort in the Biltmore's halls while playing mind games on her cheating boyfriend. The Puff Daddy remix features some rap vocals by him, and he also appears in the video. Carly Simon's 1972 hit "You're So Vain" is sampled a few times. The video appears on the 2004 video compilation DVD From Janet To Damita Jo: The Videos (alt url).


(screen captures from poor quality online video)


The video can be viewed at Yahoo Music (requires IE) or at VideoCure.com. The music video is available on the Janet Jackson - From Janet to Damita Jo: The Videos DVD.

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Simple Plan - "Shut Up" music video (2005)
The band plays a wild gig at the Biltmore, only to learn halfway through the song that they're at the wrong place. I have no idea if the ballroom in the video is actually at the Biltmore. I assume it is, so I did a few screen captures of it. You can view the video on YouTube.

Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image

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