Where is Perry Mason filmed? The City of Los Angeles Filming Locations
The new HBO Perry Mason series is a spin-off of the classic CBS television series rather than a reboot. The six-part thriller goes deep in the origins of the cult detective, before he became the black and white criminal defense lawyer, played by Raymond Burr, that we all remember.
The Perry Mason character, played by Matthew Rhys (The Americans, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), is also inspired by the Erle Stanley Gardner best selling book series. Produced by Robert -Ironman- Downey Jr, the show is directed by Tim Van Patten, who also has directed episodes of Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos and Game of Thrones.
This new Perry Mason was filmed in Los Angeles, the city where traditionally the stories of the fictional attorney had always been set. We are spoiler-free and as usual, we will be updating and improving this filming locations report every week:
The Perry Mason character, played by Matthew Rhys (The Americans, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), is also inspired by the Erle Stanley Gardner best selling book series. Produced by Robert -Ironman- Downey Jr, the show is directed by Tim Van Patten, who also has directed episodes of Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos and Game of Thrones.
This new Perry Mason was filmed in Los Angeles, the city where traditionally the stories of the fictional attorney had always been set. We are spoiler-free and as usual, we will be updating and improving this filming locations report every week:
The first episode starts at Angels Flight Railway, a funicular located in Bunker Hill. This historical landmark of the city of Los Angeles closed in 2013 due to a derailment, until the film crew of the La La Land movie arranged to make it running for the shoot. As you can see, the surroundings of the funicular had to be totally CGI'd to set the action back in the thirties.
(You can open all the locations on Google Maps clicking on the links below in the captions ↴)
Image courtesy of HBO and Anson Chu - Map
The rainy scenes in the Ptomaine Tommy restaurant were filmed in San Pedro's 6th Street. The art-deco cinema is the magnificent Warner Grand Theatre, located next door. The production dressed exteriors of store windows to look like the time period Perry Mason is set, during the years of the Great Depression. The courtroom scenes were filmed in the old City Hall building on Sixth Street and Harbor Boulevard.
Image courtesy of HBO and Google Maps / Court House Map
The Radio Assembly of God temple exterior where Sister Alice (Tatiana Maslany) delivers sermons is the Second Church of Christ Scientist at 948 W Adams Blvd (University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles). The interiors were filmed in the 1914 Trinity Auditorium in the old Embassy Hotel at 851 S Grand Ave in Downtown LA.
Image courtesy of HBO and Google Maps - Hotel Map
The funeral home is the spectacular 1923 Mountain View Mausoleum on Marengo Avenue in Altadena. All the scenes in the burial ground, including the awesome episode 7 sequence, were filmed here in the graveyard. The cemetery was established in 1882 and hosts many historically significant personalities. The Chapel of Radiance was also featured in Netflix Lucifer series season 4. Image courtesy of HBO and Ron Gilbert - Map
The clubhouse is the hall of The Ebell of Los Angeles, off of Wilshire Boulevard in The Miracle Mile district. Founded in 1894, this historic women’s club complex includes the Ebell Club, the Clubhouse and the Theater. The First World War scene was shot in the studios in Santa Clarita. Image courtesy of HBO and Los Angeles - Map
The justice court exteriors and some halls and corridors are the stunning Los Angeles City Hall building. Completed in 1928, the neoclassical arched entrance is combined with a 454 feet (138 m) high Art Deco tower. Image courtesy of HBO - Map
The restaurant where Perry and Pete have dinner in episode 3 is the Musso & Frank Grill at 6667 Hollywood Blvd. This classic eatery was also featured in Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Image courtesy of HBO - Map
The casino is the old Rancho Camulos Museum, located in Fillmore, halfway between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. This Spanish Colonial ranch was home of prominent Californio Hispanic settlers and it was believed to have been the setting for Helen Hunt Jackson’s popular 1884 novel Ramona. Image courtesy of HBO - Map
The house pictured above is located at 1415 Bank St in South Pasadena. The beach from episode 5 is the Cabrillo Beach with the historic 1932 Mediterranean-style Bath House, built in 1932 and restored to its former glory in 2002. Image courtesy of HBO - House / Beach
The dam from the last episode is the nearly 100-year-old dam Devil's Gate Reservoir in La Cañada Flintridge.
Image courtesy of HBO - Map
The last scenes were shot in Coastal San Pedro. The bar is Walker's Cafe at Point Fermin Park. Perry and Sister Alice are standing on a cliff next to the Pacific Ocean, with Point Fermin jutting out into the sea. This location is near the Stairway to ocean at Wilders Addition Park, still in San Pedro.
Image courtesy of HBO - Coffee bar / Cliff
Can you help to improve this article about the shooting locations of Perry Mason? To complete and correct this report, any feedback, info or images that you may have are more than welcome, thank you!
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18 comments
The interiors of the church are the Embassy Hotel / Trinity Auditorium at 851 S Grand Ave
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot, updated
DeleteAny idea where the casino scenes in episode 3 were filmed?
ReplyDeleteIt sure looked like the Oasis in Death Valley
DeleteAlmost positive it’s Rancho Camulos on Rt.126 to Ventura.
DeleteThe dam is Devil's Gate Dam located upstream from the Rose Bowl and downstream from JPL between Pasadena and La Canada. It can be viewed from Woodbury Rd. Water behind it is CGI.
ReplyDeleteThe golf course where they found the dead body in Ep. 4 looks like River Ridge in Oxnard. Anybody know for sure?
ReplyDeleteI thought it was scholl canyon in Glendale
DeleteI thought it was #10 at Hansen Dam
DeleteLooks like #2 at the old Mountain View Golf Course in Santa Paula.
DeleteWhere are the homes of sister Alice, EB, Perry, Emily filmed. Thanks !
ReplyDeleteI believe the Dodson home was filmed in Pasadena, on Madison at N. Los Robles Ave.
ReplyDeleteThe bungalow court was filmed on Bank St. in South Pasadena
ReplyDeleteCan somebody tell me where is the farm located? Looks like Ventura County perhaps?
ReplyDeleteAnyone know where were the golf course scenes shot?
ReplyDeleteThe restaurant where Perry and Pete have dinner in ep 3 is Musso & Frank, in Hollywood.
ReplyDeleteMuch more of Perry Mason was filmed in San Pedro besides 6th and 7th Street and Cabrillo Beach... including the finale. On 12/9/2019 filming was done in a 12-hour period at Point Fermin Park and Walker's Cafe (700 West Paseo Del Mar), along with at least 3 different locales nearby. In the last 5 minutes of the final episode, Walker's Cafe stood-in for the cafe in Carmel, CA where Perry sees Sister Alice; and less than a mile west the following scene (after that cafe) is with Perry and Sister Alice (in the series final scenes!) standing on a cliff next to the Pacific Ocean, with Point Fermin jutting out into the Pacific Ocean in the mist. That location is at Wilder's Addition Park (very small; right next to West Paseo Del Mar (inland), still in San Pedro.
ReplyDeleteAlso the Point Fermin Park bandstand where Pete Strickland met the juror in episode 8
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