The Rockford Files
The Rockford Files - Season 1, Episode 12: In Pursuit of Carol Thorne
- Release Date: November 8th, 1974
The Rockford Files (1974–1980) is a classic American detective TV series starring James Garner as Jim Rockford, a private investigator based in Los Angeles. The show is almost entirely shot on location in LA, so there are many great scenes of LA in the 1970s throughout.
The Culver Hotel makes an appearance in Season 1, Episode 12: “In Pursuit of Carol Thorne”. In this episode, Jim trails a young woman, Carol Thorne (Lynnette Mettey), in search of some missing loot. There are a series of double-crosses as Jim uncovers the mobsters behind the caper.
About 12 minutes into the episode, Jim gets a visit from the police in his hotel room at the Culver Hotel.
The “Hotel Culver” sign can be seen as the hotel is filmed from across Culver Blvd. This must have been filmed from in front of what is Public School restaurant and bar today. Below is a shot from the same location in 2025.
An interior scene of Jim talking to the cops follows, but it is unclear if this was filmed inside the hotel. Based on the spaciousness of Jim’s room, and having been in a couple of the rooms myself, I tend to think another location served as the interior.
