"W.C. Fields and Me"

In Arthur Hiller's "W.C. Fields and Me" (Universal, 1976) we see a number of downtown theatres. Early in the film, when we're still in New York, the Los Angeles Theatre at 615 S. Broadway stands in for the New Amsterdam in scenes with Flo Ziegfeld. Later Rod Steiger, as Fields, is seen at the Orpheum for a screening of a Chaplin film. The film also starts Valerie Perrine as Fields' companion Carlotta Monti.

Visit the pages about the Los Angeles Theatre and the Orpheum Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of the two buildings and hundreds of photos.

Later in the film after Fields has moved to Los Angeles to work for Paramount we get a scene on Broadway at the the Arcade Theatre, 534 S. Broadway. In the background is the Cameo Theatre at 528 S. Broadway.

Here in another shot we get a better look at the Cameo, a theatre that opened in 1910. Head to the pages about the Cameo Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for more information and photos inside and out. See the pages about the Arcade Theatre for photos and history of that building. It opened as the Pantages in 1910. Both theatres are currently dormant with some retail use.

Thanks to Escott O. Norton of the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation for the screenshots.

On IMDb: "W.C. Fields and Me"