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Hollywood Escapes

The Moviegoer's Guide To Exploring Southern California's Great Outdoors

St. Martin's Press

THE MALIBU COAST

Drive the Wild Surf

The freeway is faster, but it lacks a certain majesty ...

— Peter Fonda, on the Pacific Coast Highway, in The

Limey (1999)

MAJOR ROLES:How to Stuff a Wild Bikini
True Romance
The Notebook

BEHIND THE SCENERY

The origins of Malibu's world-famous Pacific Coast Highway (also known as PCH) date back to the late nineteenth century. Frederick Rindge, a wealthy landowner from Massachusetts, and his wife May purchased the sprawling Rancho Malibu in 1891. For several decades, the Rindge clan held on to twenty-four miles of spectacular coastline from Las Flores Canyon to the Ventura County line, claiming "only heaven is more beautiful."

After Rindge died in 1905, his wife followed his wish to protect their vast wilderness from intruders. Dubbed "Queen of the Malibu" by the local press, May Rindge fought against construction of a coastal highway through her property. But California won the battle for coastal access in 1925 and completed the entire road four years later.

To help pay her legal bills, May Rindge leased and eventually sold plots of her Malibu real estate to movie folk like Clara Bow, Ronald Colman, studio chief Jack Warner, and silent screen star Anna Q. Nilsson, who helped form the Malibu Beach Motion Picture Colony in 1926. To this day The Colony still thrives as an exclusive parcel of Hollywood history near Pacific Coast Highway. It has been home to such diverse personalities as Pamela Anderson, Sting, and former Malibu mayor Larry Hagman. One-time Malibu resident Robert Altman even poked fun at The Colony's security gates and armed patrols in his adaptation of Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye: in several funny scenes Elliott Gould (as Philip Marlowe) deals with a movie-mad Colony gate guard who can't resist imitating Walter Brennan and Barbara Stanwyck.

THE SAND AND SEA AT A.I.P.

The Malibu Coast is memorably captured on film in the lovably inane Frankie Avalon/Annette Funicello Beach Party series produced by American International Pictures (AIP), the most successful independent film company of its time. Although the films are remembered today for their camp value, they also provide a remarkable cinematic record of the Malibu landscape of the early sixties.

In a chase scene in Pajama Party, you can see how the Malibu Colony Plaza looked more than forty years ago and how little the area has changed since 1964.

Other films in the series include Muscle Beach Party, Bikini Beach, Beach Blanket Bingo, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, and The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini. Similar AIP fun-in-the-sun spin-offs include Ski Party, and Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine.

"Tourists still arrive in Malibu expecting to see Frankie and Annette dancing around in the sand," notes beach party film historian Michael Marshall. "The musically romanticized imagery of girls, surfers and cars in these movies defined the coastline, and that 'endless summer' aura remains to this day."

DRIVING THE MALIBU COAST

The following Malibu driving tour actually begins on the Santa Monica stretch of Pacific Coast Highway and affords plenty of stopovers where you can soak in the view, stretch your legs, or throw your own beach party (see also MALIBU PIER, PARADISE COVE, ZUMA, and LEO CARRILLO chapters). Set your odometer at zero as you start your trip at the Santa Monica Pier. All mileage counts are approximate distances from the pier or the McClure Tunnel at the western end of the 10 Freeway.

BACK ON THE BEACH (1.3 miles north of the pier)

This unique kid-friendly café in the sand is based in an old Santa Monica beach location that appears in Ski Party, starring Frankie Avalon, Dwayne Hickman, Yvonne Craig, and Dick Miller. To the immediate north is the former 1929 estate built by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst for his mistress (and favorite actress) Marion Davies, hostess of legendary Hollywood beach parties. All that remains of the expansive 100-room complex is the guesthouse, site of a proposed public beach facility. A block south of the café is the former home of Peter Lawford, where the Kennedys allegedly rendezvoused with Marilyn Monroe. 445 Pacific Coast Highway; 310-393-8282.

PATRICK'S ROADHOUSE (1.7 miles)

This eccentric and cozy local favorite is known for its pancakes, waffles, and banana cream pie. Full of nautical memorabilia, Patrick's was a house of ill repute in the 1920s. Today it attracts celebrities like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, Bruce Willis, and Sean Penn. 106 Entrada Drive; 310-459-4544.

A short block north of Patrick's is the Santa Monica Canyon intersection of Chautauqua Blvd., W. Channel Road, and Pacific Coast Highway, glimpsed in two different crime dramas shot in 1950: In a Lonely Place with Humphrey Bogart and Quicksand with Mickey Rooney.

WILL ROGERS BEACH (2.8 miles)

Cowboy, social commentator, and actor Will Rogers once owned this long stretch of sand that was purchased by the state in 1941. In the 1950s, according to sci-fi historian Tom Weaver, the beach was the setting of the eerie clawprints-in-the-sand prologue for The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Today it's best remembered as the lifeguard headquarters for TV's Baywatch. For the finale of the infamous Ben Affleck/Jennifer Lopez comedy Gigli, the original Baywatch set was re-created at Will Rogers, with hundreds of hard-bodied extras added for effect. To find the lifeguard station, enter the parking lot at Temescal Canyon Drive and drive .7 miles south to the lot's end.

MALIBU PIER (11 miles)

See Chapter 2.

MALIBU SEAFOOD (14.5 miles)

A coast highway tradition since the sixties, the outdoor café at Malibu Seafood (25653 Pacific Coast Highway; 310-456-3430) is a great spot for a quick, affordable lunch. From the parking lot here check out the Corral Canyon Trailhead, a gateway to a steep three-mile loop trail that affords great views of Point Dume, Paradise Cove, Puerco Canyon, and Corral Beach (aka Dan Blocker Beach) across the highway.

In Beach Party's opening number, Frankie and Annette drive their yellow convertible roadster onto the sand at Corral Beach while crooning the title song. Corral can also be seen in Beach Ball, Bikini Beach, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, and Don't Make Waves (a 1960s sex farce starring Tony Curtis and Sharon Tate as a surf bunny named Malibu).

From your Corral Canyon Trail vantage point, you can also see the stretch of highway where William Holden picks up sun-worshipping hitchhikers Rosanna Arquette and Jennifer Edwards in S.O.B. (directed by former Malibu resident Blake Edwards).

THE ORIGINAL CALIFORNIA BEACH GIRL

Pinups of bikini-clad California girls were popular way before the Baywatch era. During World War II, one of the most sought- after poster girls (after Betty Grable) was Noel Neill in her classic shot reclining against the coastal rocks. Later to play Lois Lane in the original Superman TV series, Neill remembers Will Rogers Beach as a volleyball mecca and 1940s hangout for up-and-coming actors waiting for their big break. "All of our agents would contact us at the beach's pay phone in front of the old bath house," recalls Neill. "When that phone would ring, we all waited with bated breath and burst into applause when someone got a part." Still a beach local after all these years, Neill calls nearby Santa Monica Canyon her home and holds court at Patrick's Roadhouse.

If you look northwest to Latigo Beach you'll see the former site of the Rindge Home that appears as Zachary Scott's beach house in Mildred Pierce. In the same area, Spencer Tracy is pursued by Mickey Rooney, Buddy Hackett, and others in the finale of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. The Union 76 gas station at Corral Canyon Road, clearly visible in this 1963 comedy, is still there.

GEOFFREY'S (16.7 miles)

This is the upscale Malibu restaurant seen in The Player, where ambitious studio exec Tim Robbins glad-hands star Burt Reynolds, and in Hollywood Homicide, where Harrison Ford meets with Martin Landau, Frank Sinatra Jr., and Master P. In real life, you can savor the sunset over a romantic dinner at Geoffrey's. If you want to hit the beach before or after your meal, you'll find a long staircase to Escondido Beach just past the restaurant (look for the COASTAL ACCESS sign). 27400 Pacific Coast Highway; 310-457-1519.

PARADISE COVE (17.7 miles)

See Chapter 3.

TRANCAS CANYON/BROAD BEACH ROAD (21.5 miles)

The corner of Trancas Canyon Road, Broad Beach Road, and Pacific Coast Highway is where Vin Diesel and Paul Walker drag race a Ferrari on their way to Neptune's Net cafe in The Fast and the Furious (2001). Don't follow their lead, as the Malibu police are very efficient at handing out speeding tickets here. Broad Beach is a popular and very private celebrity enclave, as seen in Blake Edwards' 10, with Dudley Moore.

Top Billing: EL MATADOR STATE BEACH (23.4 miles)

Its picturesque, rocky sea stacks protruding from the water make El Matador one of the most photogenic beaches in Los Angeles County. You have to hike down a short but steep and winding dirt trail to get to the beach, but it's worth the trek. El Matador doubles for an exotic Mexican beach in the coda of Tony Scott's True Romance, as Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, and their movie son start their new life free of bullets and blood.

El Matador also appears in the Ashton Kutcher/Amanda Peet romantic comedy A Lot Like Love, the Mel Gibson–produced Paparazzi, and Nick Cassavetes' The Notebook, with Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling.

NICHOLAS CANYON COUNTY BEACH (26 miles)

For his wartime comedy-spectacular 1941, Steven Spielberg picked Nicholas Beach for the seaside residence of the film's panicky civilians Ned Beatty and Lorraine Gary.

According to local lore, Spielberg knew the beach well, as he and 1941 executive producer John Milius, plus other young filmmakers of the 1970s, had hung out at the Nicholas Beach party home shared by actresses Margot Kidder and Jennifer Salt.

PAUL MAZURSKY: NAKED IN MALIBU

"I love El Matador," says director Paul Mazursky. "It looks like no other beach. And when we shot there, it was relatively inaccessible to most tourists."

Mazursky utilized El Matador for the surreal counterculture epic Alex in Wonderland. Donald Sutherland plays a movie director who, in an outrageous dream sequence, imagines hundreds of naked African dancers undulating toward the beaches of Malibu. You can see the African American extras curling around the switchbacks of the Matador Trail, which Mazursky remembers as being a "helluva hike" for the camera crew lugging equipment down to the shore.

As if that weren't enough of a production hurdle, the extras supposedly refused to get naked unless the white crew undressed too. "It was a touchy situation," Mazursky recalls. "Most of the crew members stripped down to their underwear and wouldn't go any further. So in the spirit of fairness, I got completely naked. There's a great photograph in some Swedish newspaper showing me sitting on a camera crane in El Matador, where all I'm wearing is a big ol' hat." The film's El Matador escapade was so infamous that it merited a spread in Playboy magazine.

Forty-nine of these homes — including the Kidder-Salt beach house — were eventually torn down to make way for public beach facilities, allowing Spielberg to return to the spot to build his 1941 house. The two-story structure, which slides off a cliff in the film's finale, was constructed on the knoll where the Nicholas Beach lifeguard station now stands.

Today surfers call this beach "Zeroes" and flock to its point break waves. It makes an appropriate location for Dennis Franz's and angel Nicolas Cage's bodysurfing scenes in the Wings of Desire remake, City of Angels. Dozens of beatific extras in long black coats play angels, who every day watch over the sunrise and sunset.

LEO CARRILLO STATE BEACH (27 miles)

See Chapter 5.

SYCAMORE COVE BEACH/POINT MUGU STATE PARK (31.8 miles)

The beachside headquarters for Point Mugu State Park has a peaceful, shady picnic area near the shore. A twisted rock formation on the far side of the cove marks the location for the climax of Charlie's Angels, in which Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu hang from a helicopter. The trio later enjoys cocktails on the beach with Bill Murray. Sycamore Cove is also a good spot for a family outing, as seen in Junior, in which Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito, Emma Thompson, and Pamela Reed celebrate their offsprings' birthdays. On the other side of PCH, a restored 1929 Spanish Colonial home is now the Sycamore Canyon Nature Center(open weekends, 10 a.m.–2 p.m.) adjacent to the 55- site Sycamore Canyon Campground(reservations: 800-444-PARK; hiking info: 818-880-0350).

THE GREAT SAND DUNE (32.3 miles)

This distinctive Point Mugu landmark can be glimpsed as a romantic backdrop for Vincente Minnelli's Goodbye Charlie, with Debbie Reynolds and Pat Boone, and Move Over, Darling, with James Garner and Polly Bergen. In Spartacus, John Ireland leads an army of slaves-turned-soldiers down the dune to Thornhill Broome Beach, crossing the cleverly concealed Pacific Coast Highway. In 1972, the dune was the site of the climatic confrontation between Yaphet Kotto, Joyce Van Patten, and Andrew Duggan in Larry Cohen's controversial black comedy, Bone.

MUGU ROCK (36.8 miles)

The massive Mugu Rock is briefly glimpsed in Windtalkers and the Chinatown sequel, The Two Jakes. It's from a nearby phone booth that Jack Nicholson makes a call to informant Tracey Walter. If you circle around Mugu Rock you'll find remains of the old Pacific Coast Highway before it was destroyed by storms. According to an April 16, 1940 Warner Bros. production report, the Point Mugu area plays a Panama jungle inlet in the classic swashbuckler The Sea Hawk, starring Errol Flynn. The American Film Institute Catalog cites Mugu as appearing in Citizen Kane for a quick shot of an automobile caravan heading up the coast to Xanadu.

DETOUR: OXNARD'S HOLLYWOOD-BY-THE-SEA

Travelers heading from Malibu to Santa Barbara may want to schedule a stopover at the Oxnard Dunes along the way. According to Ventura County historian Richard Senate, the dunes area was a filming site for Rudolph Valentino's The Sheik. Claiming ownership of The Sheik location is common in movie production lore. Oxnard is one of five areas contending for that honor; the other four are Guadalupe Sand Dunes, Imperial Sand Dunes, El Segundo, and Palm Springs. Senate, however, maintains that this beach was the only one used for the film, as the ice plant in the dunes is a clear giveaway.

Real estate speculators took advantage of the legend and dubbed the sands Hollywood-by-the-Sea, promoting the film industry's connection with the land. Big screen stars bought lots here, with the most exclusive properties named Hollywood Beach and Silver Strand.

Several noted filmmakers have used these beaches since. King Vidor shot the dunes in his Southern soap opera, Ruby Gentry, with Charlton Heston and Jennifer Jones. And the D-Day landing in the Paddy Chayefsky–scripted The Americanization of Emily took place here, with James Garner and James Coburn landing at Omaha Beach. Director Arthur Hiller admits he almost backed out of his location.

"When I saw this beach, I thought it looked great. But when I heard the name of this location, I balked. I thought, 'I can't shoot D-Day at Hollywood-by-the Sea!' But it worked fine, despite its corny name," recalls Hiller.

Today these sands are mostly a residential strand. But tourists may enjoy checking out the clumpy dunes in the accessible area near the Embassy Suites Mandalay Beach Resort. Call for directions; 805-984-2500; or www.embassymandalay.com.

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Excerpted from Hollywood Escapes by Harry Medved, Bruce Akiyama. Copyright © 2006 Harry Medved. Excerpted by permission of St. Martin's Press.
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