Featured image: United States Department of Energy
In Hollywood, studios compete to put their movies in front of as many eyes as possible. Yet, one studio did the opposite; working to make sure that no one saw their films unless absolutely necessary. In the sun-kissed Hollywood Hills California boasts as a center of creativity, Lookout Mountain Air Force Station stood alone as a high-production film and still photography studio that operated in absolute secrecy. And to say it was prolific is an understatement. Lookout Mountain allegedly churned out around 19,000 films during its two-decade run spanning 1947 to 1969. But we’ll be lucky if we see more than a few dozen of those in our lifetime.
G.I. Joe in Wonderland
In 1943, military developers selected an unassuming two acres of land alongside Wonderland Avenue in Laurel Canyon as the future site of the Los Angeles Flight Control Center. Its primary function? Coordinate radar-based air defense operations. Built to the tune of $132,000, the facility operated only briefly before World War II’s conclusion rendered it superfluous. The Air Force mulled over the best use of this sprawling facility before reaching their decision in 1947.
In the heart of the Hollywood Hills California so strongly associates with its entertainment industry, the Air Force would clandestinely establish the 1352d Motion Picture Squadron. It may sound like satire, but the military wasn’t joking around when they expanded and renovated the 50,000-square-foot facility to include:
- Animation Department
- Audio Mixing Studio
- Bomb Shelter
- Climate-Moderated Film Storage Vaults (17)
- Editing Rooms (Four)
- Film-Processing Laboratories
- Helicopter Landing Pad
- Screening Rooms (Two)
- Soundstages
- Still Photography Department
- Subterranean Parking Garages (Two)
The state-of-the-art studio could efficiently process 35mm and 16mm film in color, not to mention still photographs. Of course, the lion’s share of this material was classified (and remains so to this day). By this point, the facility had been renamed Lookout Mountain Laboratory, though military personnel informally referred to it simply as “the Hill.”
The Organizations Overseeing Operations at Lookout Mountain
Looking back on Lookout Mountain’s run, which spanned just over two decades, two organizations have been cited as chiefly active in the facility’s day-to-day use and operation. The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) is easily the most widely acknowledged and discussed of the two. The other is the U.S. Department of Defense.
When the Air Force purchased Lookout Mountain from the War Assets Administration in 1948, funds provided by the AEC covered the necessary renovations. These upgrades would continue through 1955, bringing the total estimated value of Lookout Mountain to $1.5 million (roughly $17.6 million today). It wasn’t until 1958 that Lookout Mountain Laboratory officially adopted the name Lookout Mountain Air Force Station.
The Controversial Focus of Lookout Mountain’s Lenses
According to the Air Force, Lookout Mountain was solely used by the AEC and no other organizations. And the AEC had very specific needs that made the studio’s placement in the Hollywood Hills California location even more perplexing. Basically, the AEC wanted to record the detonations of atomic bombs to better understand them.
Following the initial atomic bomb test detonation in the Pacific Ocean, the military recognized the necessity for a unit devoted to the photographic and sonic recording of atomic testing in the name of thorough research. Specially trained film units and photographers began to take on the unofficial moniker of “atomic cinematographer” as they traveled from oceans to deserts across the U.S. documenting the tests.
Today, we can look back on this era with grim irony through the gift of hindsight. This is perhaps most artfully summarized in the 1982 documentary film The Atomic Cafe which captures the willful ignorance expressed by the government regarding the horrific capabilities of atomic weaponry. Images of soldiers dutifully marching toward mushroom clouds tend to linger in the mind long after viewing.
The Hollywood Hills California Version of a Military Station
We don’t often consider the relationship between Hollywood and the U.S. military, but the Hollywood Hills California compound devoted to film underscores that link while simultaneously redacting it. Lookout Mountain Air Force Station employed top civilian experts in their field. Hollywood veterans served as Lookout Mountain’s writers, directors, camera operators, editors, animators, and even producers. Even stars of the silver screen provided their talents to Lookout Mountain projects, though the lion’s share of the recordings is still classified. Luminaries alleged to have made appearances at Lookout Mountain include:
- Walt Disney
- Glenn Ford
- James Garner
- Reed Hadley
- Bob Hope
- Lee Marvin
- Marvin Miller
- Marilyn Monroe
- Kim Novak
- Gregory Peck
- Robert Preston
- Juliet Prowse
- Ronald Reagan
- Jimmy Stewart
- Les Tremayne
- Keenan Wynn
But this wasn’t a one-way relationship. Just as Hollywood shared its talents with the military personnel at Lookout Mountain, the servicemembers of Lookout Mountain used their intel and resources to aid in the development of new technology that interested Hollywood’s film studios. Milestones in VistaVision formatting and 3-D cinema were made possible by the efforts of the crew stationed at Lookout Mountain.
Decommissioning the Lookout Mountain Air Force Station
By 1966, the needs of Lookout Mountain had shifted away from nuclear tests, finding a new focus on the war in Vietnam. The facility’s photographers and videographers were often sent directly into the conflict. Their objective? Film and photograph advancements in weaponry and document the conflict from the middle of the battle. Needless to say, this was a more immediately dangerous occupation than filming nuclear blasts. During the decade spent documenting the Vietnam War, 11 camera operators died on duty.
But several of those combat photographers and videographers served beyond the life of the Lookout Mountain Air Force Station deep in the Hollywood Hills California painted in its golden sunshine. The military officially decommissioned the facility in 1969. Personnel and all equipment moved on to Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino. For all of its years of service, Lookout Mountain remained a secret from the general public.
Lookout Mountain Today
By the 1990s, word of the secret facility escaped the shadows of the Hollywood Hills California canyons that harbored it. The Air Force acknowledged its past with Lookout Mountain but stressed that it was a site solely devoted to AEC projects. In 2015, Lookout Mountain earned the distinction of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument number 1098. It’s one of the few historical monuments to have only been discovered after its historical relevancy.
Adding even more color to the story, actor and musician Jared Leto purchased the property in 2015. Guests of his lavish parties revel at the site of countless impermeable mysteries like flowers growing from the blood-soaked soil of a forgotten battlefield. Yet, in a classified, temperature-controlled vault, the memories of Lookout Mountain remain in high quality.
