"Fast and Furious"

The recently opened Bard's Hollywood Theatre, soon to be renamed the Vista, is seen in "Fast and Furious" (Educational Film Exchanges, 1924). It's a two-reel "Mermaid Comedy" featuring Lige Conley, Otto Fries, Ruth Hiatt and John Rand. Norman Taurog directed. The cinematography was by Barney McGill.

Thanks to John Bengtson, the famed Silent Film Detective, for sending this data along. The film is one of three featured in his Silent Locations "Silent Location Encore Performances" post that discusses repeat use of various filming sites such as the Inglewood Train Station. It's seen in this film and also was used in Buster Keaton's "One Week" (1920). The other locations he covers are Alameda and Marchessault in "When Dawn Came" (1920) and Castle San Souci in "Chicken a la King" (1919).  

And special thanks to Zebra 3 for spotting the Vista. He watched "Fast and Furious" after seeing John's post and shared the news with John as well as putting it on IMDb.   

 

 

 

Lige runs toward the intersection of Sunset and Hillhurst and hops on the spare tire of a car about to leave, hoping to catch up with the men who have robbed the store where he works. Earlier he was demonstrating the store's flour and inadvertently made pancakes out of cement. Before the robbery we also get some dancing eggs and a rat spitting hard cider. 

 

Note the tire store at the right, located at 4459 Sunset Blvd. The building survives, now in use as a coffee bar after spells as an adult bookstore and restaurant. 

The car pulls away. 

 

 

A detail from the previous shot. Bard's was running an Adolphe Menjou feature and a Sennett Comedy. On the end panel it just says "Bard's." 

 

 

Investigating the "Non Skid" sign he sat on. 

 

See the pages about the Vista Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. A section at the bottom of the main page about the theatre has shots from the many films that have used it as a location.  

 

 

We cut to a shot of Lige on the run again in a residential neighborhood followed by some fine motorcycle and train scenes. The full 21 minute film is on YouTube, posted by Joseph Blough. The short scene at the theatre begins 13:37 into the film. 

On IMDb: "Fast and Furious"