The Babylon Court

Many people at the bright, bustling Hollywood & Highland shopping center are there for the chain shops, but you can also go there to gawk at a recreated film set, more than 100 years after it towered over the streets of Los Angeles. 

Babylon Court, with its towering gate and truly enormous pachyderms, is a recreation of a set from D. W. Griffith’s 1916 film, Intolerance, which shot nearby on Sunset Boulevard. This silent film was epic, intertwining multiple plot lines and spanning millennia, from Babylon to America, circa 1914. Production costs were reported to be at least $385,000—and some accounts placed them closer to $2 million, with a full third sunk into the Babylon portions.

It’s no surprise, then, that the set was massive—and when filming wrapped, the colossal Babylon portion of it languished for a few years before it was finally dismantled. When Hollywood & Highland opened as a modern shopping destination, the designers included this nod to filmmaking history. This built-to-scale replica is a big reminder of the city’s legacy. 

 Update as of January 2023: Sadly, the Babylon Court has been replaced with a modern, generic courtyard design.