LOS ANGELES - Humphrey Bogart lights Lauren Bacall's cigarette over martinis at a swank Sunset Boulevard nightclub. Veronica Lake trades hard-boiled quips with Alan Ladd in a Hollywood bungalow. Lana Turner's hair blows in the breeze as she races a cream-colored coupe along a deserted Malibu road.

In our collective imaginations, the sultry allure and nighttime glamour of the 1940s and '50s will always live on in Los Angeles. The filmmakers of L.A. Confidential, the acclaimed crime drama set in 1950s Los Angeles starring Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce and Kim Basinger, re-create the world of film noir - where deals, dames and dope are dealt in bars, nightclubs and seedy motels.

Not a lot remains of Old Hollywood. If you look for hangouts where Bacall went clubbing with Bogie, you'll find that the Mocambo, the El Morocco, Ciro's and Coconut Grove have disappeared. In fact, half the best '30s and '40s locations that were available when Chinatown was filmed 20 years ago are gone.

But the following, all featured in L.A. Confidential, are still standing, each with a colorful history.

Crossroads of the World, 6671 Sunset Blvd.; 213-463-5611.

Not far from Hollywood High School, where Lana Turner and others cracked the books, is this commercial complex that is like a mini studio back lot. Where else but in Hollywood would you find an office building in the shape of an ocean liner, topped by a 30-foot tower on which sits a revolving globe of the planet? Built in 1936, it is a prominent backdrop in Confidential. The building features shiplike round port windows and a ship railing running along the roof. On both sides is a strip of bungalows, each with different architecture from England, France and Spain.

Frolic Room, 6245 Hollywood Blvd.; 213-462-5890.

Adjacent to the Pantages Theater, and a stone's throw from the fabled intersection of Hollywood and Vine, this watering hole has the kind of history that's too colorful to have been made up. It's a long, narrow bar that has been virtually untouched since the '40s. The interior is featured in Confidential in a scene where Spacey has a change of heart at the bar. The ceiling light fixtures are 1950s-style flying saucers with mushroom caps and glowing extraterrestrial-type pastel shades. It was even a gay bar at one time, where Rock Hudson allegedly hung out. ``And one of the great neon signs in L.A.,'' says Confidential production location manager John Panzarella.

Boardner's, 1652 Cherokee Ave., 213-462-9621.

This is a moody, dimly lighted bar and restaurant where time has stood still since 1942, when Steve Boardner bought it. Robert Mitchum drank here with Boardner's son, Joe. Robert Redford and Johnny Depp downed highballs when Up Close & Personal and Ed Wood shot locations here. The place has one of the few remaining red vinyl-covered banquette booths for which Los Angeles was famous. Old regulars drink here during the day, and the young Hollywood of Drew Barrymore hangs out at night. The side bar is a fading work of Hollywood art with a two-story ceiling, a 10-foot painting of Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca, an oversize mahogany bar and suspended ceiling fans. In Confidential, look for it in the scene where the police chief lectures Crowe.

Los Angeles City Hall, First and Spring streets; 213-485-2121.

Perhaps the most famous city hall in the world, and immediately familiar from the countless TV series and movies that have used it as a backdrop (Mildred Pierce, Superman, Liar Liar). So did Confidential. Built in 1928, it was the city's tallest building until the late '50s. It showcases a very California melange of Renaissance tower atop Greek temple supported by a classical base. The interior features a ``spectacular rotunda with a gorgeous Byzantine, Romanesque concoction,'' Panzarella says.

Lovell House, 4616 Dundee.

This private residence is almost a co-star in Confidential because it so vividly captures the city's sleek glamour and cutting-edge cultural quality. The film's fictional porn producer, Pierce Patchett, is the suave owner. Built in 1929, the famous Lovell House still looks new with its gleaming white concrete slabs. It was designed by architect Richard Neutra and is one of the foremost examples of early international modern architecture.

Vista Theater, 4473 Sunset Dr.; 213-660-6639.

Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck are on the screen in Roman Holiday when Basinger and Crowe go out on their first date to the movies in Confidential. The scene was shot at the Vista, one of the city's oldest theaters, built in 1923 as a film and vaudeville house. Its fanciful Egyptian revival-style interior was popular in movie houses in the '20s and remains virtually intact.

Queen Mary Ballroom, Port of Long Beach, 562-435-3511.

The Queen Mary's maiden voyage was 1936, and its high-gloss mahogany interior and modern deco sophistication make it one of the most popular locations for film shoots. Confidential filmed its nightclub scene in the Queen's Salon on the Promenade deck. Last year alone, Cable Guy, Batman & Robin and Escape From L.A. all shot scenes aboard the ocean liner, retired in 1971 and docked south of the city in Long Beach Harbor.

By Clifford Rothman, Special for USA TODAY

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