"Being John Malkovich"

"Was ever woman in this humor woo'd? Was ever woman in this humor won?" John Malkovich is rehearsing a speech from Act I, Scene 2 of "Richard III" onstage at the Belasco Theatre, 1050 S. Hill St., in "Being John Malkovich" (USA Films, 1999). The film, set in New York, was directed by Spike Jonze and written by Charlie Kaufman.

Another shot onstage at the Belscco. At the time of the filming the theatre still had seats on both the main floor and in the balcony. Soon the main floor would be leveled. Note the sidewall arches cut open as windows, a modification done by the church that had been in the building. That bit of light at the top of the balcony is a doorway leading into the dance studio / ballroom.

Catherine Keener appears at the back of the main floor. Note the strange end standards on the seats designed to look like church pews. Keener, along with her work buddy John Cusak, have formed a sideline business charging for access to a portal leading into the brain of Malkovich. You can be there for 15 minutes before getting plopped out beside the New Jersey Turnpike. Keener is having an affair with Malkovich but she only really likes it when Cameron Diaz, playing Cusak's wife, is inside Malkovich.

The film also features Mary Kay Place as the office manager at floor 7 1/2 and Orson Bean as the boss who has a plan to live forever. Octavia Spencer gets a bit part as a woman in the elevator wielding a crowbar. 

See the pages about the Belasco Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a full tour. It's a 1926 vintage house built for legit drama, now a music club and events space.

Keener lives in the apartments above the Million Dollar Theatre at 3rd & Broadway. Malkovich realizes people are messing with his head and follows her to try to figure out what's going on.

Keener comes out of the building to hail a cab to go to her after-hours job at the Mertin-Flemmer Building, 610 11th Ave. in New York. The portal to Malkovich's brain is on floor 7 1/2. He follows her and finds a long line of people waiting to go inside him. He insists on trying it himself, with surrealistic results.

See the Los Angeles Theatres pages about the Million Dollar Theatre for a history of Sid Grauman's first L.A. movie palace along with hundreds of photos.

Cusak, a puppeteer before he had to take a day job as a filing clerk on floor 7 1/2, figures out how to stay inside Malkovich's brain permanently. And take control. He makes Malkovich give up acting and take up puppets. Here, up on a truss, he's controlling a life-size puppet dancing in a scene with real ballet dancers. As theatre explorer Mike Hume notes, if you look at the plasterwork we see, we're obviously back at the Belasco Theatre on Hill St. See Mike's page about the Belasco on his Historic Theatre Photography site.

A quick shot of the enthusiastic response of the audience. Except they're an ocean away from Mr. Malkovich. Globe-trotting theatre explorer Mike Hume says this is a UK theatre, the Bristol Hippodrome and the footage was taken during Princess Margaret's visit there in 1949. See the page about the Hippodrome on Mike's Historic Theatre Photography site. And, compare especially, he says, to a view to the rear of the auditorium. 

On IMDb: "Being John Malkovich"