Los Angeles can be gritty or grand, depending on the neighborhood. The Century City district belongs squarely in the swanky column: It hosts L.A.'s richest zip code and counts well-heeled Beverly Hills as its next-door neighbor.

Built on land that was once a back lot of 20th Century Fox, the parcel was sold off for development when the studio ran into financial trouble in the 1960s. The rest, as they say, is movie history.