Doheny Memorial Library from “Matilda”

Movies have a way of making locations appear more majestic than they truly are, thanks largely to photogenic set dressing, perfect camera angles, and expert production design (anyone who has ever seen a Nancy Meyers film knows exactly what I am talking about).  Amazingly, that is not the case with Doheny Memorial Library, which, though featured to spectacular effect as young Matilda’s (Sara Magdalin) sublime sanctuary in 1996’s Matilda, is just as magnificent in person as it was made out to be onscreen.  I became transfixed by the site upon first catching a glimpse of it while making screen captures for my August post on the Wormwood home from the flick and immediately set about tracking it down.  All of the information I found online seemed to point to filming taking place at Pasadena Central Library (which I blogged about in October), but having lived in Crown City for 15 years and frequenting its book repository regularly, I knew that was incorrect.  Pasadena Central Library, though gorgeous, is much less grand than the one featured in Matilda.  So I headed over to Google and inputted the words “beautiful,” “library,” and “Los Angeles,” which led me to a 2016 TimeOut post conveniently titled “The Most Beautiful Libraries in Los Angeles.”  Third on the article’s list was Doheny Memorial Library on the University of Southern California campus.  One look at the photos running with the column and I knew it was the right spot.  So I added it to my To-Stalk List, ran right over there shortly thereafter, and was elated to see that it is just as magical in person as Matilda made it out to be.

Doheny Memorial Library was commissioned by oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny in honor of his son, Ned, a USC alumnus who was shot in February 1929 at Greystone Mansion in what remains one of Los Angeles’ most famous unsolved murder cases.

Construction on the grand space began on June 6th, 1931 and was finished the following year.  The library, USC’s first freestanding athenaeum, opened to the public on September 12th, 1932.

Designed by Ralph Adams Cram and Samuel E. Lundon in the Italian Romanesque and Gothic styles, the building cost $1.1 million to complete.  Landscape architect A. E. Hanson was responsible for creating the gorgeous gardens surrounding the property.

The result of their efforts is striking . . .

. . . even more so on the inside.  Upon stepping through the hand-chased bronze front doors, visitors to the sprawling four-story site are greeted by a massive rotunda boasting intricate chandeliers, travertine flooring, and six towering stained glass windows designed by artist Wilbur Herbert Burnham.

I challenge anyone not to drop their jaw upon entering!

The ceiling alone is enough to render one speechless!

The crown jewel of Doheny Memorial Library, though, is the Los Angeles Times Reference Room, a 131 by 46-foot space featuring shelving for 6,000 tomes, seating for 400 students, and a blue and gold coffered ceiling that rises 27 feet above the floor.

The gorgeous canopy was designed by muralist Giovanni Smeraldi whose work also hangs in the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, the Vatican, and the White House.

The site, which underwent a $17-million restoration and retrofitting from December 1999 to October 2001, is easily one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen – both inside . . .

. . . and out.

There are countless rooms and floors to explore . . .

. . . with every nook and cranny seemingly prettier than the last.

Even the stairs are cinematic!

So it is no surprise that the place has popped up onscreen.

Doheny Memorial Library appears at the beginning of Matilda as the spot where the titular youngster finds refuge from her horrible family.

The movie made great use of the grand building, showcasing the entrance steps . . .

. . . the Los Angeles Times Reference Room (which was altered a bit for the filming) . . .

. . . and the rotunda . . .

. . . which was also altered via the addition of a rounded circulation desk.

The only part of Matilda’s haven that I could not find on the premises was the children’s reading room.  I am unsure if that room was a set or a real space located at a different library.  If anyone happens to know, please fill me in.

Matilda is hardly the only production to have been lensed at Doheny Memorial Library.  In fact, the building is such a popular filming spot, there is no way I can chronicle all of its appearances here.  What follows is a semi-comprehensive list.

Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) waits outside of Doheny Memorial Library, which is posing as Berkeley, in the hopes of seeing Elaine Robinson (Katharine Ross) in 1967′”‘”‘s The Graduate.

And he later confronts Elaine about her new fiancé inside the Reference Room.

Dustin Hoffman returned to Doheny Memorial Library in 1971 to film scenes for the thriller Marathon Man.  It is there that his character, Babe, first meets Elsa (Marthe Keller) at what is supposed to be Columbia University.

Doheny’s lower level masked as the lobby of Brain’s (Harry Dean Stanton) lair in 1981’s Escape from New York.  Very little of the building appeared in the film, though – the majority of the scenes involving Brain’s hideout were shot at Hoose Library of Philosophy, also on the USC campus.

Thanks to my friend Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, I learned that Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) was recruited to join the army following his graduation outside of Doheny Memorial Library, which was posing as the University of Alabama, in 1994′”‘”‘s Forrest Gump.

That same year, Mitch Robbins (Billy Crystal) and Phil Berquist (Daniel Stern) researched train robberies at Doheny Memorial Library in City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly’s Gold.

Daniella (Elisha Cuthbert) waits for Matthew Kidman (Emile Hirsch) outside of the building, which is masking as Georgetown, at the end of the 2004 comedy The Girl Next Door.

And in the 2000 film Bread and Roses, Ruben (Alonso Chavez) and Maya (Pilar Padilla) meet up at the front of Doheny Memorial Library.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Doheny Memorial Library, from Matilda, is located at 3550 Trousdale Parkway in University Park.

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