"Amsterdam"

The basement lounge at the Los Angeles Theatre, 615 S. Broadway, has been many things in many movies. Here at the beginning of David O. Russell's "Amsterdam" (20th Century Studios, 2022) it's a mortuary in New York City. Christian Bale is a doctor who's been summoned to look at the body of a general he served under during World War I. 

 

 

The death is suspicious. Bale and his war buddy John David Washington roll the body out to take it away for a quick autopsy. The general's daughter, Taylor Swift, thinks he may have been poisoned.

 

 

Heading out for the autopsy. The film also stars Margot Robbie, Zoe Saldana, Anya Taylor-Joy, Andrea Riseborough, Michael Shannon, Mike Myers, Rami Malek, Chris Rock, Taylor Swift and Robert DeNiro. The cinematography was by Emmanuel Lubezki.  

 

Much of the film is a flashback recounting the war adventures of Christian and John David as wounded soldiers, their meetup with Margot as the nurse who helps them recuperate, and their idyllic time in Amsterdam. But the story eventually crystallizes around a plot of wealthy industrialists, the Committee of 5, who wish to subvert the democratic process and put someone in charge less like Roosevelt and more like Mussolini.   

 

 

Near the end of the film we spend lots of time at the Palace Theatre, 630 S. Broadway. It's a veterans reunion and retired general DeNiro has been recruited to give a speech. Big flags cover the sidewall murals.

 

 

It's a sting operation to get the Committee of 5 out of the shadows and learn their identities. They think they've bribed DeNiro to give a speech that will rouse the veterans to support their authoritarian cause. Here 4 of the Committee are waiting for a pre-speech meeting with DeNiro. 

This was shot up against the offstage left wall at the Palace. In the upper left note the slope of the 2nd balcony exit stair that cuts through the stagehouse on its way to the alley. Before this there's a lovely scene offstage right with the 1911 vintage dimmerboard as the backdrop. 

 

 

Looking into the house as DeNiro starts his speech. That's Christian Bale over on the left.

 

It's not going well. Rami Malek and his wife Anya Taylor-Joy realize that it's not the speech they expected to hear. Rami is a member of the Committee, it turns out. And we also learn that he has been poisoning his sister. Yes, his sister is played by Margot Robbie. 

 

Drastic action is called for. It's an assassin up on the flyfloor at the Palace. Yes, it's the same guy who pushed Taylor Swift under a truck at the beginning of the film. 

 

A great view from upstage as water splashes into the air following a shot by the assassin. This image appears in a trailer but didn't make it into the finished film. The charmed couple John David Washington and Margot Robbie tackle the assassin and pitch him off the flyfloor and onto the stage. The plot is foiled and the Committee of 5 vanishes to await another day.

See the pages about the Los Angeles Theatre and the Palace Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for many, many photos as well as a history of the two buildings.

On IMDb: "Amsterdam"