"Lethal Weapon"

Mel Gibson and Danny Glover get a Pepsi and a hot dog at Wilshire and Western in Richard Donner's "Lethal Weapon" (Warner Bros., 1987). That's the 1931 vintage Wiltern Theatre across the street. The film also features Gary Busey, Mitchell Ryan, Darlene Love and Traci Wolf. The cinematography was by Stephen Goldblatt. 

 

Michael Coate comments: "It’s a crackup. 'Lost Boys' (executive produced by Donner) is on the Wiltern marquee. Definitely deliberate."

 

 

A production shot with the Wiltern in the background. That's director Richard Donner, on the left, with Danny and Mel. Donner died in 2021 at age 91. Thanks to Michael Coate for locating the photo. It's one shot for Warner Bros. by an unknown photographer.

 

See the pages about the Wiltern Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for the history of this deco landmark along with hundreds of photos of all areas of the building.  

 

 

Mel comes out of a nightclub and ends up under the marquee of the Pussycat Theatre, 6656 Hollywood Blvd., as the shooting starts near the end of the film. 

Here we get a look across the street at the Vogue Theatre, 6675 Hollywood Blvd., as Mel gets serious.  

Yes, it's a Christmas movie. In this view east on Hollywood Blvd. the Vogue is on the left and the Pussycat is over on the right.

A bit of bus action in this view west with the Vogue on the right. 

 

 

 

Another shot featuring the Pussycat. Later the theatre would be renamed the Ritz. 

See the pages about the Vogue Theatre and Pussycat/Ritz Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of these two vintage Hollywood cinemas along with many, many photos.  

Also see the site It's Filmed There for shots of additional locations used by the film.

On IMDb: "Lethal Weapon"