International Savings & Exchange Bank Building

International Savings & Exchange Bank Building
International Savings Bank Building.jpg
The International Savings & Exchange Bank Building, which stood at the corner of Temple & Spring in downtown Los Angeles
General information
Architectural style Renaissance Revival/Italianate
Address 226 North Spring Street
Town or city Los Angeles, California
Country U.S.A.
Construction started 1906
Completed 1907
Demolished after 1954
Technical details
Structural system steel frame
Floor count 10
Design and construction
Client International Savings & Exchange Bank, Inc.
Architect H. Alban Reaves

The International Savings & Exchange Bank Building (also known as the International Savings Building), was built in the Spring Street Financial District of Los Angeles in 1907. Standing ten floors, it was designed in the Renaissance Revival and Italianate styles by architect H. Alban Reaves (some sources spell Reeves), who had previously designed several structures in New York, including what is now the south building of the historic Schuyler Arms.

It stood at 226 North Spring Street, the intersection of Temple and Spring, (sometimes referred to as Temple Square) across from the Main Post Office and was featured in several postcards from the 1920s.[1] Occupying the ground floor[2] was the International Savings & Exchange Bank, “an institution much in favor among foreign born and descended residents,”[3] which had been incorporated four years earlier in 1903.[4]

In 1928, the building was dwarfed by the new 30-story Los Angeles City Hall, and soon after calls for its demolition increased, resulting in its razing sometime after 1954. The portion of Spring Street in which its front entrance faced no longer exists.[6]

Role in Safety Last!

It was this building that was featured in the 1923 Harold Lloyd film, Safety Last!, wherein Lloyd’s character climbs and performs several stunts on its exterior, including famously hanging from a clock face (a prop that was added for the film).

The ten-floor International Savings Building is presented in the film as ‘the 12-story Bolton Building’ and is the setting for the story’s “DeVore Department Store” (The interior store scenes at ground level were not filmed at the International Savings Bank Building but at Ville de Paris, a department store at 712 South Olive at 7th Street).

For several years it has been incorrectly reported that the building shown in both the film and photo stills for these daredevil scenes was the 12-story Beaux Arts-styled Brockman building, designed by St. Louis architects Barnett, Haynes & Barnett in 1911 [7][8] (some sources say 1921) and still standing today at 530 West Seventh Street at Grand Avenue. Although the two buildings look nothing alike, this erroneous understanding has appeared in numerous sources, including The Los Angeles Times, Daily Variety, Los Angeles Business Journal, and countless real estate websites.[9][10][11]

The International Savings Building was used for all of the long shots showing Lloyd’s character scaling its exterior. Medium and close shots were executed using a full-scale replica of two floors of the International Savings Building’s façade, placed on a platform on the rooftop of several other buildings as the climb progresses on film – making it appear that Lloyd’s character was hanging up to 12 stories over the sidewalk. (A similar method was used for 1921’s Terror Trail, wherein a building façade was reconstructed over the Hill Street Tunnel to give an illusion of grand height on film - while actually being only a story and a half above a solid surface.)[12]

Only the roof of the Brockman Building was used for Safety Last!, but the Brockman itself is not seen in the movie.

The International Savings Building is seen clearly in a large photograph (showing a stuntman climbing it for Safety Last!) on page 140 of the book, Hollywood – The Pioneers by Kevin Brownlow (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1979).

See also

References

  1. ^ A Visit to Old Los Angeles, Section 5: Spring Street 9 (Part 1.) by Brent C. Dickerson [1]
  2. ^ A History of California and an Extended History of Los Angeles and Environs, Volume 2 by James Miller Guinn, page 390. Los Angeles Historic Record Co. 1915.
  3. ^ Los Angeles, the Old and the New, by Scott Winfield. Pg. 67. Copyright 1911 J.E. Scott
  4. ^ Attorneys & Bankers Directory of California, 1908-09, pg 90.
  5. ^ Scott, Charles Fletcher (August-September 1931). "Los Angeles on Parade". Overland Monthly 89 (8-9): 14. 
  6. ^ A Visit to Old Los Angeles, Section 5: Spring Street 9 (Part 1.) by Brent C. Dickerson [2]
  7. ^ American Architect and Architecture, published 1912, New York. Volume 102, page 168: “Application has been filed in the city building department by John Brockman … for a permit to erect a 12-story Class A store and office structure on the corner of W. 7th St. and Grand Ave. The building was designed by Architects Barnett, Haynes & Barnett, of St. Louis.” [3]
  8. ^ California Office of Historic Preservation, Department of Parks & Recreation, Brockman Application for National Register of Historic Places, Page 11: “According to Henry F. and Elsie Withey’s 1956 Biographical Dictionary of American Architects (Deceased), the Brockman Building is considered to be among the respected firm’s [Barnett, Haynes & Barnett] greatest achievements.”[4]
  9. ^ “New Hopes Hung on Building,” by Roger Vincent, Los Angeles Times, February 5, 2004.
  10. ^ “New Line Home Entertainment introduces Harold Lloyd DVD set,” by Shira Gotshalk. Daily Variety, November 1, 2005.
  11. ^ Los Angeles Business Journal; Danny King, September 10, 2003.
  12. ^ Hollywood – The Pioneers, by Kevin Brownlow, 1979, page 139. ISBN 0-394-50851-3