Retrochrome

Los Angeles Dept. of Power & Water Circa 1969

This is a wonderfully exposed shot of the Los Angeles Department of Power and Water building in the Bunker Hill section of downtown LA. I loved the glow of the lights and especially the orange trim of lights at the very top.

What I found recently is the building had a starring role as God’s office building in the Carl Reiner directed and Larry Gelbart written 1977 movie Oh, God!.

The plot of the movie begins with a simple invitation. Jerry Landers (John Denver) receives a letter from God (George Burns) inviting him to an interview at:

1600 North Hope Street
Los Angeles, CA
Room 2700

Courtesy Warner Brothers Pictures

As you can see the building falls short of 27 floors, by about 10 stories. But that’s the gag, right? God proves himself by sending Jerry to a nonexistent floor. See if you can do that, Zeus!

The building was designed by Albert C. Martin and Associates in 1965, about four years shy of this photograph and actually stands at 111 North Hope Street.