Films:Lethal Weapon 4 - Chinatown - Rush Hour - 8 Millimeter - Hunter - The Rockford Files - Beverly Hills 90210 - Melrose Place.

About: Fifty years ago on the sunny Saturday of June 25, 1938, California's Governor Merriam and a host of dignitaries dedicated Los Angeles Chinatown's Central Plaza in a gala Grand Opening ceremony. One of the Nation's first malls and certainly the first modern American Chinatown, owned and planned from the ground up by Chinese, Central Plaza would provide a magnificent hub and lexus for growth into the famous colorful, vibrant Chinese American community we all know today.

Originally, New Chinatown consisted of many notable restaurants, shops, an herbal store, a grocery store, a bean cake factory, a Chinese deli and offices. In 1938, these long-time establishments were all moved from Los Angeles' Old Chinatown, not quite a mile away.

Films: The Sting - Beverly Hills Cop III - Ruthless People - The Net - Clean Slate - Funny Girl - They Shoot Horses Don't They.

About: On September 9, 1909, after sixteen months of construction, the Santa Monica Municipal Pier opened to the public. Thousands of people swarmed onto the 1,600-foot-long concrete pier to enjoy a festive day of band concerts, swimming races and the novelty of walking above the waters of the Pacific Ocean. While originally built to satisfy the City's sanitation needs, the Pier quickly became a magnet for the fishing community and fueled the imagination of many local entrepreneurs.

In the new millennium the Pier is as vital as it has ever been, drawing over four million visitors annually. Today’s Pier atmosphere is decorated with a variety of street performers and artists who put their talents on display for crowds of admirers every day. Below the Pier’s eastern deck is the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, where you can experience some of the denizens of the Santa Monica Bay up close and personal. And, of course, the Pier’s Carousel still offers old-fashioned entertainment for under a dollar. The Pier today is a popular recreational destination as well as a vibrant reminder of the past.

Films: The Way We Were - Shampoo - California Suite - American Gigolo

About: On May 12, 1912, Margaret J. Anderson and her son, Stanley S. Anderson, opened The Beverly Hills Hotel. After unsuccessful attempts had been made to drill for oil, water was found. With that discovery, Burton Green formed the Rodeo Land and Water Company. He announced plans to build a city with large lots of curved, tree-lined streets. But Green needed a special attraction to set his city above all the other housing developments sprouting up around Southern California at the turn of the century.

A grand hotel was envisioned, and Green persuaded the Andersons of Hollywood Hotel fame to come and build their dream. Against all advice, they left their secure surroundings in Hollywood and came to the undeveloped area that was later to become the city of Beverly Hills, literally built around the new hotel.

Films:War of the Worlds - Dragnet - Superman - 48 Hours - Another 48 Hours - Die Hard II - Hoffa - Thorn Birds - Kojak - Cagney & Lacey - Rockford Files - L.A. Law - Hill Street Blues and many more.

About: Los Angeles City Hall, completed 1928, is the tallest base isolated structure in the world. It is the center of the government of the city of Los Angeles, California. It houses the mayor's office as well as the meeting chambers of the Los Angeles City Council.

The building was designed by John Parkinson, John C. Austin, and Albert C. Martin, Sr., and was completed in 1928. It has 32 floors and, at 454 feet high, is the tallest base-isolated structure in the world. The concrete in its tower was made with sand from each of California's 58 counties and water from its 21 historical missions.

Films:The Terminator - Rebel Without a Cause - Jurassic Park - The Rocketeer - Batman - Bonanza - Beverly

About: Griffith Observatory is located in Los Angeles, California, United States. Sitting on the south-facing slope of Mount Hollywood in L.A.'s Griffith Park, it commands a view of the Los Angeles Basin, including downtown Los Angeles to the southeast, Hollywood to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. The observatory is a popular tourist attraction that features an extensive array of space- and science-related displays.

The 1980s and 1990s brought unprecedented crowds to the Observatory, with attendance reaching an annual average approaching two million visitors. A series of major astronomical events, such Halley's Comet in 1986 and the impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter in 1994 raised the Observatory's national and international profile even further. The copper domes of the Observatory were cleaned back to a "penny finish" in 1984, a year before the building celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Films: Vertigo - The Sting - Chinatown - A Star is Born - - New York New York - Buddy Holly Story - Airport 79 - Ghostbusters - Splash - Bugsy - Rocky III - Beverly Hills Cop

About: The Millennium Biltmore in Los Angeles, California opened in 1923, at the time was the largest hotel west of Chicago and designed by architects Schultze & Weaver. Its lobby and entrance featured in the movie Ghostbusters, as the fictional Sedgewick Hotel. Also the last place that Elizabeth Short was seen alive. "Nerve center"[3] of the 1960 Democratic National Convention; headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, TV networks, and candidates including John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Adlai E. Stevenson. Room 8315 was used by the Kennedy campaign

Films: Dragnet - Falcon Crest - Knight Rider - Remington Steele - Incredible Hulk

About: Mission San Fernando Rey de España was founded on September 8, 1797 by Father Fermín Lasuén, making it the fourth mission site he had established in as many months. The prime location the padre selected, located along the principal highway leading to the Pueblo de Los Angeles, had been occupied by Francisco Reyes , then Los Angeles' mayor.

The Mission was utilized in a number of ways during the late 1800s: it was a station for the Butterfield Stage Lines; it served as a warehouse for the Porter Land and Water Company; and in 1896, the quadrangle was used as a hog farm.

San Fernando's church became a working church again in 1923 when the Oblate priests arrived. Many attempts were made to restore the old Mission from the early 1900s, but it was not until the Hearst Foundation gave a large gift of money in the 1940s, that the Mission was finally restored.

Films: Poseidon Adventure - Death Cruise - Chaplin - Someone to Watch Over Me – Pearl Harbor

About: RMS Queen Mary is an ocean liner that sailed the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard Line. Built by John Brown and Company, Clydebank, Scotland, she was designed to be the first of Cunard's planned two-ship weekly express service from Southampton to Cherbourg to New York, in answer to the mainland European superliners of the late 1920s and early 1930s.

After their release from World War II troop transport duties, Queen Mary and her running mate RMS Queen Elizabeth commenced this two-ship service and continued it for two decades until Queen Mary's retirement in 1967. The ship is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is permanently berthed in Long Beach, California serving as a museum ship and hotel. The Queen Mary celebrated the 70th anniversary of her launch in both Clydebank and in Long Beach during 2004, and the 70th anniversary of her maiden voyage in 2006.

Films: What Women Want - The Bodyguard - The Witches of Eastwick - The Big Lebowski - Ghostbusters II - Death Becomes Her - Jumpin' Jack Flash - Air Force One - Heat

About: The largest home ever built in Beverly Hills, Greystone manor, wasn't built by a movie star, even though many movies have been filmed at this spectacular estate.

This fortress-like Tudor mansion was built by famed oil-tycoon Edward Doheny in 1928, as a gift to his son. With over 46,000 square feet of living space, it cost more than $4 million to build in 1928. Many people hail this massive home as one of the grandest mansions on the West coast.

Films: Pearl Harbor – Catch Me If You Can – The Way We Were –Species – Blade Runner – Speed – Star Trek: First Contact – The Italian Job

About: Union Station in Los Angeles, which opened in May 1939, is known as the "Last of the Great Railway Stations" built in the United States, but even with its massive and ornate waiting room and adjacent ticket concourse, it is considered small in comparison to other union stations. It was formerly designated the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal, but its current owner, Catellus Development, officially changed the name to Los Angeles Union Station.

Union Station was partially designed by the father and son team of John Parkinson and Donald B. Parkinson, assisted by a group of supporting architects, including the famous Jan van der Linden.

Now Union Station is once again heavily visited, especially since the construction of the Metro Red Line and Purple Line subway station and Gold Line light rail station. Union Station also serves as a terminus for 4 of Amtrak's long distance trains, is a major station on Amtrak California's Pacific Surfliner, and serves as the hub for Metrolink's passenger trains.