Sunday, April 24, 2016

"Jimmy Hollywood"


Behind a cloud of exhaust, we get a view of the Galaxy 6 as Joe Pesci and Christian Slater head down the street in Barry Levinson's "Jimmy Hollywood" (Paramount, 1994). For more information about the theatre see the Los Angeles Theatres page about the Galaxy 6 -- a short-lived General Cinema muliplex just west of the Chinese.

 
We get a nice shot looking out from behind the boxoffice of the El Capitan. Joe Pesci and Christian Slater are exploring the stars on the sidewalk.  See the El Capitan pages on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of the theatre, opened in 1926 as a legit house, now a film venue operated by Disney.
 
 

The film finishes up with lots of shots inside the then-closed Egyptian. Actor wannabe Jimmy Alto's moment of fame ends up being a shootout with the police.  Here we get a look at some of the proscenium plasterwork.



 A view toward the screen from the back of the house. This screen configuration was from the D-150 installation in 1968.



Our two protagonists alone in the empty theatre.

 

Another screen view.



Jimmy Alto (Joe Pesci) in the lobby with Victoria Abril. 



A lobby shot giving us a look at the doors leading into the auditorium. 
 
Richard Kilroy comments: "The doors leading into the auditorium were the film's art department build - those were not the authentic doors at the actual Egyptian Theatre. (I was the theater's projectionist during some of the UA owned period.) The original doors had no arch above them and were quite understated in a good way. I was thrown when watching this film, why they tried to improve upon an already lovely design in this theatre."



Christian Slater and Joe Pesci confronts one of the lobby artifacts.



Another auditorium shot.



An auditorium view giving us a look at how much side wall plasterwork was still visible even after the 1968 D-150 installation.



A look at one set of the doors leading out to the lobby from the auditorium. As Richard Kilroy noted in a comment above, these were a creation of the film's art department.



A fine view up the forecourt toward the entrance doors as they looked in 1994. On the Egyptian Theatre pages you'll find many more photos of the 1922 vintage theatre, Sid Grauman's little Hollywood project for several years before he moved over to the Chinese.

On IMDb: "Jimmy Hollywood"

2 comments:

  1. The doors leading into the auditorium were the film's art department build - those were not the authentic doors at the actual Egyptian theater. (I was the theater's projectionist during some of the UA owned period) The original doors had no arch above them and were quite understated in a good way. I was thrown when watching this film, why they tried to improve upon an already lovely design in this theater.

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    Replies
    1. Lovely! Thanks for the explanation of that little mystery. Much appreciated. I'll add your comments to the text.

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