"Never Weaken"

We get a view of the stagehouse of the Mason Theatre, 127 S. Broadway, in this publicity still for the Harold Lloyd two-reeler "Never Weaken" (Pathe, 1921). We're looking south on Hill St. The top of the Mason over on Broadway is at the left -- look for the three smoke vents on the stagehouse.

This location on top of the Hill St. tunnel was a favorite filming location as it was easy to build a set there to give the appearance of being up on a tall building downtown. See John Bengtson's Silent Locations post "LA's Early Hills, Tunnels Preserved in Noir-Silent Comedies."

While some shots were from 1st and Hill here the action has moved to7th and Hill looking east at the back of the Loew's State building -- then under construction at 7th and Broadway. This is one of many views of Lloyd and the alley side of Loew's State in "Never Weaken." He has some dazzling scenes up on what appears to be an unfinished building.

A view in the other direction of the newly completed Pantages Theatre at 7th & Hill. In 1929 it would become the Warner Downtown. That's the Los Angeles Athletic Club beyond it on 7th.

See the Los Angeles Theatres pages on the Mason Theatre, the State Theatre and the Warner Downtown for more data and many photos of the buildings.

On IMDb: "Never Weaken"