A pan the length of the lobby ceiling of the Los Angeles Theatre, 615 S. Broadway, at the beginning of Paul Mazursky's "Alex in Wonderland" (MGM, 1970). The film stars Donald Sutherland as a director unable to decide on his next film project, Ellen Burstyn as his wife, Jeanne Moreau as herself and (wait for it) Federico Fellini. We also spend some time on the MGM lot with Mazursky playing a studio boss.
A view of the landing at the top of the lobby stairs.
The inner lobby snack bar.
A closer look at the candy for sale in 1970.
Sutherland and Burstyn coming out of the auditorium after a preview of the director's first film.
Talking with his mother near the lobby stairs at the Los Angeles.
Sutherland runs into Jeanne Moreau at Larry Edmonds Bookshop on Hollywood Blvd. A bit of the marquee of the Vogue Theatre, 6675 Hollywood Blvd., is in the background.
The two go for a stroll down Hollywood Blvd. Of course, it turns into a musical interlude when she starts singing. Here they're in front of the boxoffice of the New-View/Pussycat/Ritz Theatre, 6656 Hollywood Blvd., just east of the Larry Edmonds location at the time.
We never see Sutherland actually filming his new movie but we do get an elaborate dream/nightmare sequence staged on Hollywood Blvd. with Doris Day on the soundtrack singing "Hooray For Hollywood." Here as we look west toward Highland there's a bit of the Hollywood Theatre vertical sign on the left. Sutherland and Moreau are in the carriage.
A look at the New-View during the dream sequence. We get everything from Vietnamese peasants and U.S. Soldiers to tap dancers on top of a car and Sutherland mourning his dead children. Much of the imagery was prompted by Sutherland and Burstyn earlier seeing a truckload of soldiers on the highway who were off to Vietnam.
Sutherland in front of the Vogue and not having a good time.
Tap dancers in front of Musso and Frank.
Vietnam atrocities imagined in front of the Vogue.
More havoc at the Vogue.
A wider view east with the Vogue on the left and the New-View hidden in smoke on the right.
A shot from the crane at the end of the dream sequence.
Photos taken during the filming:
Jeanne Moreau during the filming of the Hollywood Blvd. dream sequence on May 24, 1970. The Vogue Theatre is on the left with "Let It Be." The New-View (somewhat obscured by smoke) is over on the right -- just this side of that four story building at Hollywood and Cherokee. Thanks to Bobby Cole for finding the photo for a post on the Vintage Los Angeles Facebook page.
Bob Hayes comments: "I was there this day, this moment. We went to see 'Let it Be.' When we went into the movie Hollywood Blvd. was normal. When we exited the theater this is what we saw."
An L.A. Times photo by Don Cormier of lovely Hollywood Blvd. during the filming. Here we get a better look at the New-View, over on the right. The photo appeared on the front page of the May 25, 1970 edition. Their caption:
"'WAR' FILMED ON HOLLYWOOD BLVD. - This view of 100 'soldiers' and civilian 'victims' sprawled amid bursting bombs startled residents along Hollywood Blvd. between Las Palmas and Cherokee Aves. early Sunday. Scene was in dream-war sequence shot by MGM. Real-life spectators watch from the sidewalk. The producer said it was the first time police allowed closing of Hollywood Blvd. for filming."
Donald Sutherland during the filming with a nice look at the New-View in the background. Thanks to Mary Mallory for finding the photo on eBay. She's included it in "Larry Edmunds Bookshop Provides Film Education for More Than 75 Years," her article about the bookstore on the site The Daily Mirror. Thanks to Jonathan Raines for spotting the article.
A shot with Jeanne Moreau and Donald Sutherland in the middle of Hollywood Blvd. as we look west toward the Egyptian Theatre. It appears on page 39 in the Arcadia Publishing book "Location Filming in Los Angeles" by Karie Bible, Marc Wanamaker and Harry Medved. There's a preview on Google Books.
See the pages on the Los Angeles Theatres site about the Egyptian Theatre, the Ritz/New-View Theatre, the Vogue Theatre, the El Capitan, the Hollywood Theatre and the Los Angeles Theatre for a history of each building and many photos.
On IMDb: "Alex in Wonderland"
There's a scene shot on Sunset Boulevard where Donald and Andre Philippe are walking down the sidewalk to The Source Restaurant at the corner of Sunset and Sweetzer engaged in dialogue about women and sex and sitting down at a table on the patio of The Source and engaging in conversation with a young woman at an adjacent table, until Tim Garon begins singing a song.
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