"Ed Wood"

It's a dark and stormy night during the opening credits of Tim Burton's "Ed Wood" (Touchstone Pictures, 1994). But we brave the sheets of rain and pan down from the hills on a model of Hollywood to this view of the Warner Theatre. 

 

The film features Johnny Depp, Sarah Jessica Parker, Martin Landau, Patricia Arquette, Bill Murray, Jeffrey Jones, Vincent D'Onofrio and many more. The cinematography was by Stefan Czapsky. 

 

Ed Wood (Johnny Depp) and Bela Lugosi (Martin Landau) in front of one of the arches on the Wilscox St. side of the Warner Hollywood.

The theatre, a 1928 design of G. Albert Lansburgh, is at 6433 Hollywood Blvd. See the many pages about the Warner Hollywood on the Los Angeles Theatres site.

We go to the Stadium Theatre in Torrance for the premiere of Wood's "The Bride of the Monster," a film released in 1956.

An interior view at the Stadium. See the page about the Stadium Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. The theatre opened in 1949, later became part of the Pussycat chain, and closed in 1991. It's been demolished

The premiere of "Plan 9 From Outer Space" at the Pantages in Hollywood. The film was a 1959 release.

It's raining when Ed and Kathy O'Hara (Patricia Arquette) arrive. He's trying, unsuccessfully, to put up the top. Note that that the Skouras-style boxoffice we see here is a prop for the movie. The theatre did once have an island boxoffice but it was long gone by 1994.

When we go inside, we're at the Orpheum Theatre, 842 S. Broadway.  

A look toward the stage at the Orpheum.

The house right proscenium boxes. See the Los Angeles Theatres pages about the Orpheum Theatre for a history of this 1926 vintage vaudeville house along with several hundred photos. Like the Warner Hollywood, it's a design by G. Albert Lansburgh.

Leaving the premiere. It's still raining. This shot gives us quite a nice view of the entrance in its "modernized" period prior to the restoration. Here the ceiling of the ticket lobby and the classic display cases are all covered.  

See the pages about the Pantages Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for many photos both vintage and recent. The theatre, the last built for the Pantages circuit, opened in 1930.

On IMDb: "Ed Wood"