The quest to find every Twin Peaks film location continues with a return to Los Angeles, California. In Part 4 on Showtime, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Deputy Director Gordon Cole visits Federal Bureau of Investigation Chief of Staff Denise Bryson to inform her that they found the missing Special Agent Dale Cooper. This scene, like several others that served as the location for the FBI Headquarters in Philadelphia, was shot inside the iconic downtown Los Angeles City Hall Building. Here’s how I found it.
The Los Angeles City Hall building is located at 200 North Spring Street in Los Angeles, California. The exact coordinates for this building are: 34°03’13.3″N 118°14’34.2″W.
Designed by John Parkinson, John Austin and Albert Martin, Sr., the building was completed in 1928. At one time, it was the tallest building in downtown Los Angeles, with 32 floors extending 454 feet high. According to Martin Turnbill’s website, the concrete in its tower was “made with sand from each of California’s 58 counties and water from its 21 historical missions.”
I LOVE the building’s Art Deco design (reminds me of my favorite building in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio – the Lincoln Leveque Tower). According to GlamAmor, the tower was “based on the shape of the Mausoleum of Mausolus” (or Halicarnassus).
The building’s exterior has appeared in numerous films and television shows including Adventures of Superman (1950), War of the Worlds (1953), Dragnet, Perry Mason, and a favorite film of mine, L.A. Confidential.
While the building exterior is not shown in Twin Peaks, the FBI Chief of Staff’s office is found on the third floor. Let’s examine the scene
The scene in Part 4 opens with an empty shot of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Chief of Staff’s Office (isn’t it nice to say “Federal Bureau of Investigation? It sort of just rolls off the tongue).
Bill Kennedy (played by Richard Chamberlain) escorts Gordon Cole into Denise Bryson’s office. He asks Bill about “Martha” who had a thing with “Paul.” It sounds like the thing was resolved and “Paul” is in the “North Pole” now.
Gordon Cole sits and waits for Denise to arrive.
Based on the interior design, I figured the building was probably located in downtown Los Angeles and was somehow involved with the government. It looked too formal to be anything but a government building.
I stumbled upon the LA Mayor’s website which featured current mayor Eric Garcetti standing behind a podium in this same room as Denise’s office.
Additional image searches revealed some fantastic black and white photos from August 1997 by Monica Greisbach. The image above is titled, “VIEW OF LOS ANGELES CITY HALL THIRD FLOOR MAYOR’S RECEPTION ROOM, FACING SOUTH.”
While patiently waiting, Gordon looks around the room.
He looks at the chair next to him and spots a bouquet of flowers.
Fortunately, Mayor Garcetti posted this image on his Flickr account that showed the room looking north. Notice how the windows match the window behind Gordon Cole.
FBI Chief of Staff Bryson enters the room. The bottom image by Derek from ImageEvent shows the same room with probably the same conference table as Mayor Garcetti’s photo. Denise entered from the far right side.
Cole stands to greet Bryson. An image from Derek again shows the windows behind in the room.
Denise crosses to her desk and sits. Take a look at the seal behind her – it’s a logo for the FBI which was added to the set.
A close up photo from AsianJournal.com the same area shows the actual seal.
Denise and Gordon discuss Agent Preston and Cole’s history of supporting Bryson during her younger days. During the scene, Cole utters one of the most perfect quotes from all of Season 3, “When you became Denise, I told all of your colleagues, those clown comics, to fix their hearts or die.”
Bryson knows Cole is onto something big and he is approved to proceed.
Photographer Monica Griesbach also took a photo of the room looking north. Again, the windows match the scene.
Cole departs and is greeted by Bill Kennedy again before leaving Bryson’s office.
Griesbach posted a closer look of the spectacular wooden doors that Cole and Kennedy exit.
As Cole exists, we catch a small glimpse of the black-and-white checkered floor outside Bryson’s office. The same floor can be seen in an image by Derek from ImageEvent.
The scene ends with Denise Bryson fanning herself. Is it hot in here?
Stay tuned for additional looks at other scenes of the “FBI Headquarters” shot inside the Los Angeles City Hall from Season 3.
Just noticed this same room in 1996’s Mulholland Falls with Nick Nolte, had to come here and double check.