Wednesday, April 3, 2019

"99 River Street"


The Carthay Circle Theatre, 6316 San Vicente Blvd., stands in for a Broadway theatre in the great noir drama "99 River Street" (United Artists, 1953). The film is set in New York and Jersey City.

Phil Karlson directed John Payne, Evelyn Keyes and Brad Dexter in a tale of a has-been boxer (Payne) who unknowingly participates in a scene that he thinks is a murder in a theatre. We get a number of nice shots of the rigging, dimmerboard and dark auditorium as we come in via the stage door. When the scene is revealed to be just an audition for Keyes, the lights come up and we get a nice look at the auditorium. He isn't amused. Payne is also involved in another murder plot involving his wife. That one was for real. In the shot above Payne and Keyes have just come in the stage door, upstage right.



Downstage right looking through the wire-guide rigging. The dimmerboard is on the left. 



Another view of the dimmerboard. 



A look into the darkened auditorium. 



A murky proscenium view. 



The big reveal. After the lights are up it's obvious it's the Carthay Circle. 



A look off right. 



Another look off right. That's the stage door beyond the rigging. 

See the pages about the Carthay Circle Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of the theatre and many photos.  The theatre had opened as a film house in 1926 but saw some legit action in the early 30s. Again in the early to mid-50s it was a legit house. That use was no longer possible after the TODD-AO remodel in 1956.

The entire film can be watched on YouTube. There seems to be no sound. The nine minute theatre sequence starts 22 minutes into the film. 

On IMDB: "99 River Street"

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