Your 'La La Land' cheat sheet
If you're not a native Angeleno with a vast knowledge of old Hollywood and jazz, chances are you'll have some questions about the locations and pop-culture references in La La Land.
That's where we come in. Here's the backstory on a few insidery nods in the acclaimed movie, which is bound to boost tourism to Los Angeles and inspire new movie-musical fans.
How does Rebel Without A Cause figure into this movie?
If you're like Mia (Emma Stone), and you've never seen Rebel Without A Cause, it's helpful to know that her trip with Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) to the Griffith Observatory is an homage to the classic film.
The shot of the couple driving up to the astronomy facility is the same one that's used in Rebel, says location manager Robert Foulkes. Their gravity-defying waltz was meant to look like another location from the 1955 film — the Samuel Oschin Planetarium — though it's since been renovated. Production designer David Wasco, who worked on the film with his wife, Sandy Reynolds-Wasco, says the dreamy dance scene was shot on a set so they could give it art deco style and use wires to lift the actors.
What's the deal with the pool parties?
"Pool parties are synonymous with Los Angeles," says Wasco. Mia attends two in the film: an upscale schmooze-fest at night and a swimsuit-filled party during in the day with Sebastian's '80s cover band. The former party was filmed in Encino, but meant to feel like a party in the Hollywood Hills. The latter soirée was based on '60s pop art paintings of L.A. swimming pools like David Hockney's A Bigger Splash (that giant yellow diving board outside of what looks like Don Draper's house).
Is The Rialto a real place?
Yes, the theater where Mia and Sebastian see Rebel Without A Cause is a historic movie palace in South Pasadena. Today, however, it's only available for private parties. Director Damien Chazelle "loved the old red velvet seats that are still in there," says Foulkes.
What inspired the bright clothing?
Chazelle screened classic films for his cast and crew, including Jacques Demy's Umbrellas of Cherbourg, a romantic and colorful French musical that depicts a blue city block and a yellow fire hydrant, says Wasco. That film influenced the primary-colored clothing and vibrant art direction of La La Land.
Do those jazz clubs in the movie really exist?
The Lighthouse Cafe, where Sebastian takes Mia to listen to jazz, is a legendary club that plays more than just jazz music these days, and is located at the Hermosa Pier.
Van Beek Studios, Sebastian's favorite jazz club that turns into a Samba/tapas restaurant, never existed. The fictional "Van Beek" is a nod to jazz producer Rudy Van Gelder. What did exist in that Burbank space? A studio where Barbra Streisand recorded her hits.
Other music venues that get screen time, but with different names, include Club Fais Do-Do on Adams Boulevard, El Rey on Wilshire Boulevard and The Blind Donkey in Long Beach, which becomes Seb's in the film.
The interior where Sebastian plays Christmas songs on the piano is of a Burbank restaurant called Smoke House.
Why does Mia have a giant Ingrid Bergman poster?
Mia looks up to the Swedish actress who was nominated for seven Oscars and won three, for Gaslight,Anastasia and Murder on the Orient Express. Mia, an aspiring actress, is such a fan that she writes her one-woman play about the star. No, you didn't didn't miss that part of the movie: The content of Mia's play was cut out of La La Land for length, but "may end up in the DVD extras," says Wasco.
What's with Sebastian's chair?
One of Sebastian's most prized possessions is a stool that once belonged to Hoagy Carmichael. Why the fascination? It was to "show Sebastian's reverence to the jazz greats," says Wasco. In real life, the stool did not actually belong to the musician who composed Stardust and Georgia on My Mind.