"End of Days"

"Y2K - Where Will You Be?" the banner reads. Peter Hyams' apocalyptic drama "End of Days" (Universal, 1999) with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gabriel Byrne is set in New York but we spend a lot of time in L.A. Locations. Here Gabriel Byrne is looking across a busy New York Street for a view of the Tower and Rialto Theatres. 

A glancing look at the north end panel of the Rialto marquee as Byrne strides toward the Tower. The Rialto is closed at this point with its entrance used for downmarket retail. That copy on the marquee advertising Esther Williams in "La Sirena de Millon Dolares" ("Million Dollar Mermaid," 1952) had been there since the filming of "The Mambo Kings" at the Tower in 1992. Byrne will come back to the Tower when it's dark.

The Rialto marquee has been gloriously restored. The interior, gutted long before they got there, is an Urban Outfitters. The theatre, at 812 S. Broadway, opened in 1917. See the Rialto Theatre pages on the Los Angeles Theatres site for photos and history of the venue.

When we enter the Tower we encounter some strange geography. Walking through a front door, we expect to see the Tower's lobby.

 But no. The lobby we see is that of the Belasco, several blocks away. The theatre is a 1926 vintage theatre designed for legit drama by Morgan, Walls & Clements. It's now used as a music club and space for special events. See the Belasco Theatre pages for many photos.

For the auditorium shots, we're back at the Tower again. This murky shot is at the rear of the auditorium. Both seats and chandelier were just there for the film. It's not clear but there seems to be a subway tunnel and all sorts of deeper labyrinths underneath.

Looking toward the stage from behind the standee rail at the rear of the main floor. That's Arnold heading into the auditorium.

Here we're looking toward the rear of the Tower's auditorium from the stage. The Tower, a 1927 S. Charles Lee design, still graces the corner of 8th & Broadway. It's used for occasional film shoots and concerts. See the many Tower Theatre pages on the Los Angeles Theatres site for more than a hundred photos inside and out.

The fun begins when we go to see the Pope. Fortunately he lives just a few blocks down Broadway in, of all places, the Los Angeles Theatre. The theatre is standing in for the Vatican Palace. And doing a nice job of it. Here we have the Swiss guards in the grand lobby.

A peek into the inner sanctum, actually the main lounge in the basement of the Los Angeles Theatre, 615 S. Broadway.  

The Pope in the basement lounge.

A later shot of a cardinal giving the Pope bad news on the landing in the grand lobby of the Los Angeles Theatre. The Vatican Palace sure has nice chandeliers, doesn't it?

The Los Angeles (like the Tower) is an S. Charles Lee design, this one opening in 1931. See the sixteen pages about the Los Angeles Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for over 500 photos of different areas of the building.

On IMDb: "End of Days"