"The Other Side of the Wind"

We're on a bus going through Van Nuys in the unfinished Orson Welles film "The Other Side of the Wind" (Netflix, 2018) when we get a look at the Sepulveda Drive-In, 6161 Sepulveda Blvd. The bus had left Paramount Studios and was headed to the 70th birthday party at the home of a film director played by John Huston. Aboard are some actors and execs that were involved in the day's shoot as well as dummies that were evidently used as passengers for a scene we don't get to see. 

Featured in the film are Oja Kodar, Peter Bogdanovich, Susan Strasberg, Norman Foster, Lilli Palmer, Edmond O'Brien, Robert Random, Mercedes McCambridge, Norman Foster, Cameron Mitchell and Paul Stewart. The cinematography was by Gary Graver.

When Orson Welles died in 1985 he left about 100 hours of footage for the film as well as sketches, a partial workprint, and some edited scenes. He had shot the footage between 1970 and 1976 and worked on editing it into the 1980s. After years of legal wrangling by various parties, Netflix acquired the film's elements in 2017 and assembled it for a 2018 release. 

 

The marquee a moment later. "I Drink Your Blood" and "I Eat Your Skin" were 1971 releases.

See the page about the Sepulveda Drive-In on the Los Angeles Theatres site for information about the venue and more photos.  

 

An unknown theatre seen in several shots early in the film where footage was being screened from the film-within-the-film, also titled "The Other Side of the Wind." As we see here, it's in 1.85. The rest of the film uses a 1.37 aspect ratio, some footage in black and white, some in color.

 

Late in the film we head to the "Magnolia Gardens Drive-In" for a private screening of the film-within-the-film after the power fails at John Huston's house. It's unknown where these scenes were shot. 

 

 

It's a very long night. Oja Kadar, the star of the film they've screened, stays until the end. 

 

 

 

Sunrise at the drive-in. 

 

A last look at the screen. With a train running by.

Several sources, including the Wikipedia article about the film, assert that the drive-in scenes were shot in Reseda at the Reseda Drive-In. But that doesn't seem to be a match in terms of fencing, playground equipment, and that train we see running behind the screen tower. 

See the Cinema Treasures page about the Reseda. It's a location Bogdanovich did use for his film "Targets." In that film we also get a quick drive-by view of the Sepulveda Drive-In.

On IMDb: "The Other Side of the Wind"