"The True Story of Lynn Stewart"

We see the Vista Theatre in "The True Story of Lynn Stewart" (Columbia, 1958). Betsy Palmer is at Stan's Drive-In, across from the theatre. She'll be working as an undercover police operative to gather data on local narcotics deals. The action at Stan's starts about 20 minutes in.

The film, set largely in Orange County, also features Jack Lord, Barry Atwater, Barbara Aler, Linda Cherney, Lionel Ames and Claudia Bryar. Pat Brown, Attorney General at the time, does a prologue. Lewis Seiler directed. The cinematography was by Burnett Guffey. 

 

 

At Stan's again with the Vista in the background for a scene that's 49 minutes into the film. 

See the page about the Vista Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for more about the venue, now nicely restored and going strong as a first-run house. It's located at 7773 Sunset Drive, on the north side of the street, just east of Hillhurst. Stan's was just west of Hillhurst on the south side of the street, at 4480 Sunset Blvd.

Thanks Ray Ottulich for noting the film's scenes at Stan's in a post for the World of Noir Facebook group. See a Noirsville blog post about the film. Elizabeth Pearce notes that the full film can be seen on YouTube. 

On IMDb: "The True Story of Lynn Stewart"

Stan's and the Vista also made an appearance in the 1955 film "The Crooked Web."