"He Walked by Night"

We're on top of the Hill St. Tunnel looking south near the beginning of "He Walked by Night" (Eagle-Lion Films, 1948). That's the stagehouse of the Mason Theatre and one of its smoke vents over on the left through the trees. The theatre's entrance is actually at 127 S. Broadway -- it had a very long lobby.

See the page about the Mason Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of this 1903 vintage theatre. It was demolished in 1956 for a state office building that has now also been demolished.

The film, directed by Alfred Werker and an uncredited Anthony Mann, stars Richard Basehart as a quirky killer the LAPD is trying to catch. The ending features a terrific chase through L.A.'s storm drains. On the hunt are Scott Brady, Roy Roberts and Jack Webb. The cinematography was by the King of Noir, the great John Alton.

"Clark Gable - Gone With the Wind." A shot with lots of action on the wildly flashing marquee of the Broadway Theatre, 428 S. Broadway.  The vertical for The Broadway, a department store at 4th and Broadway, is on the far left. In the fuzzy distance next to that it's the vertical for the Million Dollar Theatre down at 3rd and Broadway.  

 

A moment later. See the pages on the Los Angeles Theatres site about the poor Broadway Theatre. It opened in 1925 as a conversion from retail space. It's now been converted back.

On IMDb: "He Walked by Night"