Sumith Prasad
Netflix’s action comedy film ‘Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’ concludes with Axel Foley confronting Captain Cade Grant after the latter abducts the Detroit cop’s daughter, Jane. The confrontation paves the way for a shootout between Axel and Grant’s people. Even though Detective Sam Abbott eventually eliminates the threat of Grant, the narcotics officer shoots down Axel by then. The police officer is then taken to the Pacific Hospital of Beverly Hills. Axel not only recovers well but also displays his rebellious attitude in front of the hospital employees who don’t offer him the food items he wants. Pacific Hospital may seem like a major landmark in Beverly Hills, but that isn’t really the case!
Turning Harbor Building to a Fictional Hospital
There are several medical establishments in California that resemble the Pacific Hospital of Beverly Hills, ranging from the Pacifica Hospital of the Valley in Los Angeles to the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. However, none of these hospitals are related to the one where Axel gets admitted, which is nothing short of a fictional hospital conceived exclusively for the buddy cop movie. The elegant building we see as Pacific Hospital of Beverly Hills is, in real life, the Harbor Building. Located at 4201 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, the building was designed by Claud Beelman for the Tidewater Oil Company.
Since 1958, the Harbor Building has been a major landmark in Los Angeles with its Corporate International style. The tower we see in the film that bears the hospital’s name is a ten-story establishment that connects two six-story-volume buildings by taking up the space of an entire city block. The Harbor Building was built using a wide variety of materials that add to its appeal even today. White marble enhances its elegance above the black-granite-clad first floor, with ribbed stainless steel spandrels and windows. However, as the movie depicts, there is no Norms restaurant right opposite the Harbor Building.
Wilshire Boulevard is a major filming destination in the City of Angels. The region previously hosted the shooting of globally renowned projects such as Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone’s ‘La La Land,’ David Fincher’s serial killer movie ‘Zodiac,’ Leonardo DiCaprio’s ‘The Aviator,’ and the 1984 martial arts film ‘The Karate Kid.’
Read More: Beverly Hills Cop Axel F: Who is Jane’s Mother? What Happened to Axel Foley’s Wife?
