Introduction
TV cop shows have always been a great source when it comes to real-world filming locations. This month, join me for a bit of time travel to 1986 for an in-depth look at the Los Angeles area filming locations used in the episode Scrap Metal from the popular cop show Hunter. This episode filmed on seedy Hollywood Blvd and the (then) equally seedy streets of downtown Culver City, California.
To wrap up the month, I'll take you back to 1929 to look at the filming locations then and now from the Laurel and Hardy movie Liberty, and reveal the connection this movie has to the Hunter episode Scrap Metal.
Hunter - Scrap Metal (1986) - Quick Preview Part 1 of 4
The Plot
The TV series Hunter ran from 1984 - 1991 and often filmed on location all over the Los Angeles area, providing us with a great time 1980s capsule of the area.
This episode of the popular 1980s cop show takes Hunter (Fred Dryer) on a search for his father's killer.
In this Quick Preview Video excerpt from the complete filming locations then and now documentary video for this TV episode, Hunter and his partner McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) begin the search for the killer on the streets of Culver City, California.
A Part Of Culver City Not Often Used As A Filming Location
Most on location filming in Culver City is usually done within a few blocks of the downtown core, centered on the intersection of Culver Blvd and Main Street. For this episode, however, we get to see a part of town not often used as a filming location: the 8500 block of Washington Blvd and residential neighborhood on the south side of this block.
Just two other movies - that I'm aware of - filmed in this part of Culver City:
- The 1933 movie Thundering Taxis from The Taxi Boys series.
- Big Business, the 1929 Laurel and Hardy classic comedy.
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Hunter - Scrap Metal - Filming Locations - Quick Preview Video #1
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Hunter - Scrap Metal - Filming Locations Then and Now - Complete Documentary Video
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Hunter - Scrap Metal (1986) - Quick Preview Part 2 of 4
The Plot
In this second Quick Preview Video excerpt from the complete filming locations then and now documentary video for this episode of the TV series Hunter, Huner's partner McCall poses as a prostitute walking the seedy streets of Hollywood following up on a lead in the case.
A Part Of Culver City Not Often Used As A Filming Location
This scene filmed on Hollywood Blvd, just to the west of the famous intersection of Hollywood Blvd and Highland Avenue in Hollywood, California.
Two notable landmarks pop up in this scene:
- The landmark Hollywood First National Building located at 6777 Hollywood Blvd is the tall white building seen in the background.
- The Hollywood Masonic Temple at 6840 Hollywood Blvd, home to the late-night TV show The Jimmy Kimmel Show.
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Hunter - Scrap Metal - Filming Locations - Quick Preview Video #2
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Hunter - Scrap Metal - Filming Locations Then and Now - Complete Documentary Video
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Hunter - Scrap Metal (1986) - Quick Preview Part 3 of 4
The Plot
Hunter is following up on another lead in the case, but he is being tailed by two thugs. Hunter leads them into a shabby looking building and then confronts them.
A Rare Look Inside A Culver City Landmark
The third Quick Preview Video excerpt from the complete filming locations then and now documentary video for the episode Scrap Metal has Hunter at the (then) seedy Culver Hotel in downtown Culver City, California. We get a quick glimpse of the outside of the building (which at that time was an apartment building, no doubt with some "hourly" tenants!) and also a rare look at the INSIDE lobby area of the building.
In the 2010s, the Culver Hotel was beautifully restored and today is a "must visit" place for anyone interested in TV and movie locations. You can see the hotel in many of the movies and TV episodes on this site, going back to 1923 when the hotel was under construction and all the way up to the present day.
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Hunter - Scrap Metal - Filming Locations - Quick Preview Video #3
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Hunter - Scrap Metal - Filming Locations Then and Now - Complete Documentary Video
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Hunter - Scrap Metal (1986) - Quick Preview Part 4 of 4
The Plot
This last of the four Quick Preview excerpts from the complete filming locations then and now documentary video for this TV episode has Hunter and McCall engaged in a shootout as they wrap up the episode.
Filming Location - A Street That No Longer Exists
This shootout scene was filmed just outside the Main Street side of the Culver Hotel in downtown Culver City, California.
As you'll see, this filming location has changed tremendously since this episode of Hunter was filmed in 1986:
- The Adams Hotel prominently appears in the scene. It occupied the block across Main Street and was bounded by Culver Blvd on the north and Washington Blvd on the south. Today, the massive Culver Steps development has taken its place.
- This part of Main Street has been completely replaced and is now the entrance to the multi-level underground parking garage and part of a pedestrian plaza.
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Hunter - Scrap Metal - Filming Locations - Quick Preview Video #4
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Hunter - Scrap Metal - Filming Locations Then and Now - Complete Documentary Video
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Laurel and Hardy - Liberty (1929)
The Plot
Laurel and Hardy have just escaped from prison. As they walk the streets of the Los Angeles area, they soon arouse the suspicions of a local cop and in their attempt to give him the slip, they end up on top of an under construction skyscraper high above the streets of downtown Los Angeles!
Filming Location #1 - Downtown Culver City
Early scenes in the movie were filmed around the downtown core of Culver City. Specifically, we see Laurel and Hardy at the Adams Hotel (see Hunter - Scrap Metal Part 4 above) and on Main Street between Culver Blvd and Venice Blvd. With the exception of the Adams Hotel, all the other buildings seen in this sequence are still standing today.
Filming Location #2 - Downtown Los Angeles
The climactic final scenes were filmed high above the street of downtown Los Angeles, using a technique previously employed by Our Gang / The Little Rascals in their 1927 movie The Old Wallop and originally made famous by Harold Lloyd in his classic movie Safety Last.
While Laurel and Hardy appear to be walking on steel girders hundreds of feet in the air, in reality, they were on a set that was built on the roof of 939 South Broadway, only a few feet above the surface of the roof. Clever use of camera angles gives us the impression that they are on a real under construction skyscraper!
Several of the buildings that we see in this scene from 1929 are still standing today!
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Laurel and Hardy - Liberty - Filming Locations - Quick Preview Video
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Did You Miss Last Month's Blog?
In case you missed it: My July 2025 featured filming locations then and now videos blog entry.
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