Occidental College

Occidental College is a private liberal arts college located at 1600 Campus Road in the Eagle Rock neighbourhood of Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887 by Presbyterian clergy and laypeople, the college was originally established in Boyle Heights before moving to Highland Park after its first building was destroyed by fire in 1896. Continued growth eventually led to another relocation, and the present Eagle Rock campus opened in 1914. Architect Myron Hunt created the campus master plan and designed most of its early buildings in a Mediterranean Revival style, organising them around landscaped quadrangles, covered walkways and courtyards. Nineteen Hunt-designed buildings survive, while landscape architect Beatrix Farrand later contributed to the development of several important outdoor spaces. The approximately 120-acre campus includes Johnson Hall, Swan Hall, the Academic Quad, the Lucille Y. Gilman Memorial Fountain, Thorne Hall and the Remsen Bird Hillside Theater. Its combination of historic architecture and relatively self-contained grounds, together with its proximity to Hollywood, has made Occidental one of Los Angeles’ most frequently used college filming locations.

Occidental College has appeared in Pat and Mike (1952), Midnight Madness (1980), Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), Real Genius (1985), Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990–2000), Clueless (1995), Kicking and Screaming (1995), Jurassic Park III (2001), The Holiday (2006), Made of Honor (2008), The Kids Are All Right (2010) and The Face of Love (2013). The campus has represented fictional and real universities, a Beverly Hills high school, Cornell University and even the planet Vulcan, while The Face of Love unusually allows Occidental to appear as itself.

In Pat and Mike (1952), Occidental College represents the fictional Pacific Technical College during the opening section of the film. Pat Pemberton, played by Katharine Hepburn, is working as a physical-education instructor at the college and is preparing to marry athletic administrator Collier Weld, played by William Ching. The opening campus scenes establish Pat’s exceptional athletic ability before sports promoter Mike Conovan, played by Spencer Tracy, eventually persuades her to pursue professional competition. Occidental supplies the college exteriors, while the film subsequently moves to other California locations for Pat’s golf and tennis tournaments.

In Midnight Madness (1980), Occidental College provides the college campus seen at the beginning of the film before “The Great All-Nighter” sends its contestants across Los Angeles. Leon’s assistants Candy and Sunshine roller-skate around the campus delivering invitations to the five students he has selected as prospective team captains: Adam, Harold, Wesley, Donna and Levitas. The opening sequence introduces several of the competing groups in their normal college environment, including the football players and debate-team members, before Adam receives his invitation while helping another student with his academic problems. The contestants later leave campus behind as the scavenger hunt takes them to locations including Griffith Observatory, the Hollywood Wax Museum and the Westin Bonaventure Hotel. Occidental was one of 25 Los Angeles locations used during production.

In Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), Occidental College is transformed into the planet Vulcan for the film’s final sequence. After Spock’s body is regenerated on the Genesis Planet and brought home, Kirk and his crew take him to Vulcan, where the ritual known as fal-tor-pan attempts to reunite Spock’s body with the katra that has been carried by Dr. McCoy. The steps and area around the Lucille Y. Gilman Memorial Fountain were dressed as part of the Vulcan ceremonial complex, with matte paintings and lighting used to conceal the recognisable Los Angeles surroundings and extend the alien architecture. The Occidental sequence was particularly significant because it was the only location filming undertaken for the production; the rest of the film was shot on studio sets.

In Real Genius (1985), Occidental College combines with Pomona College to represent the fictional Pacific Tech, the elite science university attended by Chris Knight, played by Val Kilmer, and teenage prodigy Mitch Taylor, played by Gabriel Jarret. Several exterior scenes were filmed around Occidental, including Mitch dropping his books outside Johnson Hall, Chris running through the campus behind Weingart Hall, Chris and Ick discussing their plan near the Johnson Student Center and scenes around the Academic Quad and Bird and Gilman roads. Other portions of Pacific Tech, including the dormitory and additional academic buildings, were filmed at Pomona College, meaning the fictional university is assembled from two separate Southern California campuses.

In Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990–2000), Occidental College represents the fictional California University after Brandon Walsh, Brenda Walsh, Kelly Taylor, Donna Martin, Steve Sanders and their friends finish high school. Beginning with season 4, the campus becomes one of the series’ principal recurring locations as the characters attend classes, join student organisations, pursue relationships and become involved in campus politics. Occidental’s quadrangles, walkways and academic buildings provide the exterior of California University throughout the college years, while interiors were also supplemented by studio sets and other locations. The transition is particularly noticeable because West Beverly Hills High School had previously been filmed primarily at Torrance High School, giving the characters a completely different real-world campus once they begin university.

In Clueless (1995), Occidental College represents the outdoor portions of Bronson Alcott High School, the Beverly Hills school attended by Cher Horowitz, played by Alicia Silverstone, Dionne Davenport, played by Stacey Dash, and Tai Frasier, played by Brittany Murphy. The production filmed extensively around the campus between December 1994 and January 1995, using the Academic Quad, tennis courts, outdoor cafeteria and surrounding walkways for many of the school sequences. Cher and Dionne discuss their classmates and matchmaking schemes around the quad, Tai is introduced into their social world on campus, and the tennis courts appear during Cher’s notoriously unenthusiastic participation in physical education. The school interiors were filmed separately at Ulysses S. Grant High School in Valley Glen, so Bronson Alcott High is assembled from two different Los Angeles campuses.

In Kicking and Screaming (1995), Occidental College provides much of the unnamed college from which Grover, Max, Otis and Skippy have just graduated. Rather than immediately beginning adult lives, the friends remain close to campus, spending their time drinking, talking about relationships and repeatedly returning to the familiar environment they are reluctant to leave behind. Occidental consequently appears throughout the film rather than merely providing a brief establishing shot, with its walkways, courtyards and academic surroundings forming part of the characters’ prolonged attachment to college life. Much of Noah Baumbach’s feature directorial debut was filmed on the campus.

In Jurassic Park III (2001), Occidental College represents the university where palaeontologist Dr. Alan Grant, played by Sam Neill, is teaching following his experiences on Isla Nublar. Grant gives a lecture about dinosaurs and attempts to distance his scientific work from the genetically engineered animals created by InGen, insisting that the creatures on Jurassic Park were effectively theme-park monsters rather than genuine dinosaurs. The lecture was filmed at Occidental College on 10 October 2000, with Thorne Hall used for the university setting. The sequence establishes Grant’s renewed academic career before Paul and Amanda Kirby persuade him to accompany them on what he believes will be an aerial tour of Isla Sorna.

In The Holiday (2006), Thorne Hall at Occidental College hosts the Writers Guild of America West tribute honouring retired screenwriter Arthur Abbott, played by Eli Wallach. Iris Simpkins, played by Kate Winslet, has befriended Arthur while staying in Los Angeles and encourages him to attend despite his belief that he has been forgotten by the film industry. Iris accompanies him into the hall, where Arthur is surprised to discover a packed audience waiting to celebrate his career. He walks onto the stage to a standing ovation, turning the Occidental location into the setting for one of the film’s most emotional scenes. Both the lobby and auditorium of the real Thorne Hall were used for the sequence.

In Made of Honor (2008), Occidental College represents Cornell University in the 1998 flashback that explains how Tom Bailey, played by Patrick Dempsey, first meets Hannah, played by Michelle Monaghan. Tom, dressed as Bill Clinton for a Halloween party, enters what he believes is the bedroom of a woman named Monica and instead climbs into bed with her roommate Hannah. Their awkward confrontation develops into the friendship that continues for the following decade and eventually becomes the central romance of the film. Occidental supplies the Cornell campus material surrounding their first meeting, while the story subsequently moves to locations representing New York and Scotland.

In The Kids Are All Right (2010), Occidental College represents the college attended by Joni, played by Mia Wasikowska, after she leaves the Los Angeles home she shares with her mothers Nic, played by Annette Bening, and Jules, played by Julianne Moore. Near the end of the film, the family drives Joni to campus and helps her move into her new accommodation. The departure is emotionally difficult following the upheaval caused by Joni and her brother Laser’s decision to contact their biological father Paul. Occidental’s campus provides the setting for Joni’s transition away from home and the beginning of a more independent life.

In The Face of Love (2013), Occidental College unusually appears as itself and is directly connected with the occupation of Tom Young, played by Ed Harris. Nikki Lostrom, played by Annette Bening, is a widow still grieving the death of her husband Garrett when she encounters Tom, who looks almost exactly like him. After repeatedly trying to discover who the stranger is, she learns that Tom is an artist and professor at Occidental College. Nikki goes to the campus and watches him teaching an art class but becomes overwhelmed by his resemblance to Garrett and initially leaves. She later approaches him again and asks for private painting lessons, beginning the relationship around which the rest of the film develops. Filming took place at Occidental in April 2012, with real students used as extras and the college retaining its own name within the story.

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