For our California readers
Can anyone identify the modernistic campus seen in THE POWER? It has a sort of
Saarinen roof on one of the buildings.
Although San Marino, CA is identified as the establishing location during the opening sequence of the movie, I can tell you that the building is definitely not in the actual city of San Marino. There's nothing even remotely close to that style of commercial building in that city given that the area, more or less, is mostly a bedroom community.
It's a great building, though.
Except, of course, for the magnificent Huntington Museum and Gardens. One assumes that the outside shots were MGM's own buildings, or nearby. Given the way that the studios sold off their fantastic backlots, it would be surprising to find that those buildings still stand.
shareIt's a beautiful building for sure. I would like to know about that awesome house where Professor Van Zandt lived in the movie.
share Surely an indoor set, but, yeah, what a place. I recall, even as a kid, being struck by the Japanese stone garden, too, fitting in perfectly with the character of Mrs Van Zandt. There are a lot of deft touches like that in THE POWER, which speak well of Byron Haskin and the production designer.
About the only "landmark" in San Marino is the Huntington Library but I couldn't find any images on the web that looked anything like the laboratory complex shown in the movie. Assuming they did any shooting in the general area near San Marino, likely stand ins could have been Cal Tech, JPL, Pasadena Community College or Ambassador College.
KS
Thanks for the research! Adam Hart would be pr-- gkkkkk Sorry, what was I saying?
shareHello,
Alas, Professor Van Zandt's house was a studio sets. Look at the sunset and you will see that absolutely nothing was real except turf, gardens and lanes where Professor Tanner is chased by a car...
You just THINK there's nothing even remotely close to that style of commercial building in that city.
"I'm not reckless . . . I'm skillful!"
Actually, curlew-2, I know. ;-)
You may not be aware of this but I was raised and lived in the city of San Marino for over 50 years. I've also co-authored a book about the architecture of that community. So, it's fair to say that I've spent an inordinate amount of time documenting every significant building type in that city and the greater San Gabriel Valley.
But heck, what do I know? lol.
Cheers!