"Portrait of Jennie"

Joseph Cotten and Ethel Barrymore go to a concert at a New York theatre in William Dieterle's "Portrait of Jennie" (Selznick, 1948). Cotten is obsessed with a young girl played by Jennifer Jones who appears to him at random intervals and each time she's a few years older. He says "Everything reminds me of Jennie" and leans forward to stare intently at the stage.

I leaned forward as well but not because of Jennie. In this shot everything reminded me of footage I'd seen before. Yes, that conductor reminded me of Charles Boyer. Why, it is Charles Boyer. And the audience is the same one that was there for the footage at the end of the 1935 RKO film "Break of Hearts." Yes, they borrowed the footage shot for that film at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre, 4400 Wilshire Blvd.

We do get shots of Cotton, Barrymore, and a small chunk of an audience up in a balcony. Probably these were shot on some risers at the studio.

See the page about the Wilshire Ebell Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of the building and many photos.

On IMDb: "Portrait of Jennie"

"Portrait of Jennie" playing the Picwood Theatre, 10872 W. Pico Blvd. The photo is one that appears on the Cinema Tour page about the theatre. It's from Jay Emmanuel Publishing's 1949-1950 "Theatre Catalog."