Midcentury America is currently alive and well on HBO and HBO Max! The premium network and its sister streamer have recently released a wave of throwback series set in the 60s and 70s, including “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty,” which dramatizes the “Showtime” era of the revered Los Angeles basketball team, “Julia,” another dramatization detailing the origins of chef Julia Child’s famed television show, and “Minx,” a feel-good comedy about the creation of the first erotic magazine geared toward the fairer sex. Illicit sounding premise aside, the latter is a sweet, heartwarming program (albeit with an abundance of nudity) that sees staunch feminist writer Joyce Prigger (Ophelia Lovibond, of “Elementary” fame) team up with gruff Van Nuys-based men’s magazine publisher Doug Renetti (Jake Johnson, best known as “New Girl’s” loveable Nick Miller) to establish a Playgirl-esque periodical, initially named The Matriarchy Awakens, but later changed to the titular Minx.
Released in mid-March, the show quickly proved popular with viewers and critics alike, garnering a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer as well as an 82% audience score, with the website lauding the chemistry between Johnson and Lovibond and cheekily deeming the program “a bawdy and sharp comedy that merits a full-page spread.”
Though the performances of the two leads and those of the rest of the cast are easily the series’ biggest draw, the heavily styled retro costumes, sets, and locations are equally as gripping. As creator Ellen Rapoport told Creative Screenwriting, “We realized that the early ‘70s was a bit of a hangover from the ‘60s, so we tried to communicate that visually. Our production designer was a storyteller.” Indeed, “Minx” gleefully embraces all the vibrancy and splashiness of the era by showcasing loud, colorful clothing, all manner of feathered hair and a delightful array of midcentury backdrops.
To re-create a period-appropriate L.A., the production team looked to several local stalwarts, including landmark Fairfax District eatery Canter’s Deli, where Joyce and Doug grab lunch in the pilot. The adjacent cocktail lounge, the Kibitz Room, also pops up as the spot where the Minx team celebrates after landing their first centerfold model later in the episode. A heavily-dressed World Cruise Center in San Pedro plays the Los Angeles Conference Hall, where the Southern California Magazine Pitch Festival takes place in the series’ opening scene. Even Farralone, Frank Sinatra’s former swinging Chatsworth bachelor pad, makes an appearance!
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Image Credit: Google But it is the stunning La Cañada Flintridge Country Club, a midcentury masterpiece nestled in the foothills of the Angeles National Forest, that really steals the show portraying the fictional Winmark Club in episode two.
Located about 15 miles north of downtown Los Angeles on the far eastern edge of the San Gabriel Valley’s exclusive La Cañada Flintridge community at 5500 Godbey Dr., the tony facility was built directly into the hillside and, with its low-slung roofline, almost seems like an organic part of the natural landscape. Completed in 1962, LCFCC was commissioned by Bill Godbey of the Angeles Crest Development Company, who enlisted architects Lawrence Hughes and Jack Simison to design the site’s golf course and clubhouse, respectively.
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Image Credit: La Cañada Flintridge Country Club While Simison was responsible for countless homes in the area, as well as several municipal buildings, including the Crescenta Valley Water Company, he has been described as “one of the most under-appreciated architects in Los Angeles.” His design of La Cañada Flintridge Country Club is a testament to his talent, though.
According to LCFCC’s official website, almost two million cubic yards of dirt had to be removed from the site during the construction process, which amounted to an “unprecedented engineering accomplishment at the time” and allowed the clubhouse to be built with its lower levels cascading down the slope on which it stands. The structure’s unique positioning also allowed Simison to take full advantage of the striking views of the surrounding area from virtually every angle.
Erected of wood, stucco and handsome Palos Verde stone and featuring a dramatic accordion roof, the building, which was showcased in a 1964 issue of Architectural Digest, is a masterstroke of retro detailing.
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Image Credit: La Cañada Flintridge Country Club The Colavita & Bertholf design firm was tasked with outfitting the interiors and, incredibly, the rooms still look much the same today as they did when the club originally opened six decades ago. Awash with rock walls, wood paneling, beamed ceilings, recessed lighting and bright furnishings upholstered in primary colors, LCFCC is a veritable midcentury monument.
The sprawling facility currently boasts six tennis courts, a Southern California Golf Association top-10 rated 18-hole championship golf course, a competition-size pool (heated year-round) and countless meeting rooms. Accessible only to members and their guests, the club offers a plethora of classes, events and seasonal activities. It is also open to the public as a wedding and special events venue and, of course, is available to the film industry for retro-inspired shoots.
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Image Credit: La Cañada Flintridge Country Club “Minx’s” second episode, “Au Revoir, Le Double Dong,” makes spectacular use of the venue, showcasing many of its interior and exterior spaces in all of their midcentury glory. Early in the episode, Joyce grabs lunch with her sister, Shelly (Lennon Parham), in the facility’s fine dining restaurant, Top o’ the Club, where she not only gets manhandled by the organization’s “fossil” of a president, Conrad Ross (Stephen Tobolowsky), but comes up with the idea of approarching various members in the hopes of garnering advertisers for her burgeoning magazine.
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Image Credit: La Cañada Flintridge Country Club Joyce finally harpoons the giant whale she has been hoping for by securing an advertising promise from Ross while in the club’s dream of a lobby.
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Image Credit: La Cañada Flintridge Country Club And, at the end of the episode, Joyce and her Minx co-workers attend Winmark’s Summer Soirée, which takes place on LCFCC’s gorgeous Member’s Patio. The episode also utilizes the pool area, golf course and tennis courts, with the facility providing a stellar backdrop for the abounding storyline. Though production designer Jefferson Sage (of “Coming 2 America” and “Freaks and Geeks” fame) did make some changes for the shoot, dressing the interiors and exteriors with period-appropriate accouterments, in truth, the site is perfect for any retro-set series as is.
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Image Credit: CBS Television La Cañada Flintridge Country Club has a handful of other big and small screen credits to its name. Steve Sanders (Ian Ziering) and his father, Rush (Jed Allan), play a round of golf against Barry Lawson (special guest star Barry Bonds) and Bob Larson (Stack Pierce) there in the season four episode of “Beverly Hills, 90210” titled “Cuffs and Links.”
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Image Credit: HBO The property masquerades as Beverly Park Country Club, where Larry David and his friends are members, in several episodes of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” including season seven’s “The Black Swan” (pictured above).
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Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures And Wes (Rocky Carroll) makes an unfortunate call to Carl (Jim Carrey) while hitting the links at the site in the 2008 romantic comedy “Yes Man.”