American Beauty - Filming Location (Los Angeles, California)

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American Beauty is a 1999 American dark comedy film, directed by Sam Mendes and written by Alan Ball. Kevin Spacey plays Lester Burnham, a middle-aged office worker who has a midlife crisis after becoming infatuated with his teenage daughter's best friend. The film co-stars Annette Bening and Thora Birch as Lester's wife and daughter respectively. Mena Suvari, Wes Bentley and Chris Cooper also feature. American Beauty marked acclaimed theater director Mendes' film directorial debut; it was also Ball's first produced film screenplay.

The production found it difficult to find buildings that were appropriate for the Burnhams' and Fitts' homes. They selected two adjacent properties on the Warner Bros. backlot "Blondie Street", one of which director of photography Conrad Hall had filmed for Divorce American Style (1967). The production rebuilt the houses, and Shohan built several false rooms to accommodate the lines of sight between Ricky and Jane's bedroom windows, and those between Ricky's bedroom and Lester's garage. The garage windows were designed for the specific purpose of obtaining the crucial shot toward the end of the film in which Frank mistakenly assumes that Lester is paying Ricky for sex after watching the pair from Ricky's bedroom. The production filmed the homes' interiors on the backlot, on location, and on soundstages when overhead shots were required. The location interiors for the Burnhams' home were shot at a house close to Interstate 405 and Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles; those for the Fitts' home were shot in the city's Hancock Park neighborhood.