"The Wonderland Massacre & the Secret History of Hollywood"

The turquoise vertical of the Paradise Theatre is seen on the left in this shot from 1970s footage in Episode 2 of "The Wonderland Massacre & the Secret History of Hollywood" (MGM+, 2024). Thanks to Donavan S. Moye for spotting the various theatres and getting the screenshots seen here. The four-part series, based on a podcast by Michael Connelly, features Ian S. Peterson, Trevon Rubbins and Daryl Terry. Alison Ellwood directed. 

 

The theatre was at 9110 S. Sepulveda Blvd. in Westchester, seven blocks south of Manchester. It closed in 1978. The building was gutted and repurposed as office space. See the Paradise Theatre page on the Los Angeles Theatres site for more information and photos.  

 

 

 

A fine c.1977 look at the Pussycat Theatre at 6656 Hollywood Blvd., just west of Cherokee. It's across the street from the Vogue.

 A closer look at the boxoffice. 

 

 

Larry Edmunds bookstore was originally adjacent to the theatre.

 

See the page on the Pussycat/Ritz Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for more information. It opened as a newsreel house called the News-View in 1940 and was rebranded as the New-View when it went to features.  

 

Looking down from the Hollywood Center Building at Hollywood and Cherokee. David Lean's "A Passage To India" was a December 1984 release. The banner under the marquee was advertising the film's five Golden Globe nominations.

See the Los Angeles Theatres page about the Vogue Theatre for more information. It's located at 6675 Hollywood Blvd., between Cherokee and Las Palmas. The building was a 1935 design by S. Charles Lee. 

 

 

Connolly in his car headed east toward Highland Ave. The banner up on the Ovation Mall on the left was advertising the December 2023 release "Wonka." On the right the El Capitan marquee's copy was "Thank You Veterans." The pages about the El Capitan on the Los Angeles Theatres site offer a discussion about the history of this 1926 vintage legit house along with hundreds of photos. 

Thanks to Donavan for the screenshots. He adds: "And there's a couple of seconds of THIS memorable footage in the opening title sequence of each episode..."

For those who weren't there, it's Brad Pitt's Karmann Ghia on Hollywood Blvd. just east of McCadden place in July 2018. See the Theatres in Movies post about this part of the shoot shoot for Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood." 

See the "Wonderland Murders" page about the podcast on the Michael Connelly website. There's also a page about the MGM series.

On IMDb: "The Wonderland Massacre & the Secret History of Hollywood"