500 Days of Summer Tour - Downtown L.A.

 500 Days of Summer is a movie that came out in 2009 that stars Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Needless to say that both my fiance and I love the movie. Seeing as how it was shot primarily in Downtown Los Angeles and we live 45 minutes away from DTLA, we decided to make a day of seeing where some of the popular spots were shot.



Bradbury Building

 We started by going to the Bradbury Building where Tom meets Autumn, at the end of the film, while waiting for a job interview. The building itself was built in 1893 and has been the home of quite a few movies. The building itself from the outside doesn't look like much but once you are inside it is absolutely beautiful.

The intricate detail, that is present every where, really has to be seen in person to truly appreciate it. The picture I took to the right just doesn't do it justice.

When you first walk in it almost feels like you have been transported back in time and you tend to forget that it's still a working building that houses offices of many different businesses to this day. It's an amazing LA landmark that should be visited even if you haven't seen the movie. It's that cool.

We next moved on to the scene in the movie that Tom calls his favorite spot in Los Angeles. It's a bench that he brings Summer to and it really becomes one of the hallmark shots that takes place in 500 Days of Summer.
 


Angel's Flight

  We walked through the Grand Central Market, crossed the street, and arrived at Angel's Flight. Angel's Flight isn't in the movie but it's another LA landmark that dates back to 1901. It calls itself "The Shortest Railway in the World" and I'm not going to argue. It's only 298 feet long but is totally worth it seeing as how it only costs 50 cents and it is much better than walking up the stairs.

Not to mention you are riding a little bit of history. So if you have some change in your pocket, hop on!

500 Days of Summer Plaque

When you get to the top, after a very short ride, you'll find yourself walking down a flight of stairs to get to Angel's Knoll. This is where the bench is. It really brings you back to the movie and it does have a very cool and unique view of the City. I've been there twice and the first time I went, there was a plaque on the actually bench used in the movie. But when I went back a second time the plaque was missing. But it's still pretty easy to find if you line up the view from the screen shot in the movie. Or you can just find the only bench that has a plaque holder with nothing in it. Either way will work.

500 Days of Summer Bench

The picture of us on the bench also has the building that Tom mentions while sitting on the bench. It's the tall building (kind of a gold color) in the middle left. We tried to recreate the famous shot as best we could. I think we did a pretty good job. Nobody sits at a bench quite like we can.

We also walked by the theater that Summer and Tom watched The Graduate. It's called the "Million Dollar Theatre" and it has some really cool architectural designs on the building. It was closed when we walked by and I'm not sure if that's permanent. It looked like it.

The last place we walked through was the site of the famous dance scene in the movie. It's in what's now called Grand Park and the name of the fountain is the Arthur J. Will Memorial Fountain. This is where after a night with Summer, Tom dances to Hall and Oates song 'You Make My Dreams Come True'.

Arthur J. Will Memorial Fountain - 500 Days of Summer

And that's it! If you get a chance to come and visit Los Angeles you should make an effort to visit some, if not all of, the places!

500 DAYS OF SUMMER BY LEVITT,JOSEPH GORDO (Blu-Ray) [2 DISCS] (Google Affiliate Ad)