Brand Library & Art Center

Brand Library & Art Center is a historic mansion and public arts library in Glendale, California, located at the base of the Verdugo Mountains. The building was completed in 1904 as the private home of Leslie C. Brand and was originally called El Miradero. Its Indo-Saracenic design, domes, arches and hilltop setting give it a distinctive look that can suggest somewhere far from Southern California, which has made it useful for productions needing an exotic palace, embassy, estate or foreign government building.

The building has appeared in films and television productions including “The Other Side of Midnight” (1977), “The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!” (1988) and the “Mission: Impossible” episode “Underground” (1972). Its screen use often takes advantage of the fact that the real building does not look like a typical Los Angeles location, allowing it to stand in for places outside the United States.

In “The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!” (1988), Brand Library & Art Center appears in the opening sequence as the setting for the international meeting in Beirut. The building’s domed architecture and ornate façade are used for comic effect, turning a real Glendale landmark into an exaggerated Middle Eastern political setting. The scene sets the tone for the film immediately, with the serious-looking location clashing with the absurdity of Frank Drebin’s world.

In the “Mission: Impossible” episode “Underground” (1972), Brand Library & Art Center is used for a scene involving a casket. The building’s unusual exterior and secluded park setting help give the episode a more mysterious atmosphere, fitting the show’s habit of transforming Los Angeles-area locations into foreign or secretive places.

In “The Other Side of Midnight” (1977), Brand Library & Art Center is used as one of the film’s international-looking locations. The building’s romantic, old-world appearance fits a story that moves through wealth, glamour and melodrama, allowing the Glendale mansion to suggest a setting far removed from an ordinary American suburb.

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