In "Volcano" (20th Century Fox, 1997) Tommy Lee Jones, working for the Office of Emergency Management, is in MacArthur Park arguing with a DWP guy about a recent accident where people were injured. The DWP says it was no big deal, just a steam leak. Tommy's supposed to be on vacation but wants to investigate. In the background we get a view of the Westlake Theatre, then and now housing a swap meet.
Another view of the theatre as Tommy walks away, determined to find some better answers.
See the pages about the Westlake Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. It's located at 638 S. Alvarado St., just north of Wilshire.
In a shot looking to the block south of Wilshire we get a view of the Alvarado Theatre at 710 S. Alvarado St. It was later called the Park. It's the white building to the left with the two triangles on top, now unrecognizable after a gutting and remodel into retail space. See the page about the Alvarado/Park Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site.
Tommy consults with scientist Anne Heche who advises that what they've got is a geological event of unknown proportions. The temperature of the lake in the park is four degrees above normal. Later strange bubbling is reported at the La Brea Tar Pits. The film also features Gaby Hoffman, Don Cheadle, Jacqueline Kim, Keith David and John Corbett. Mick Jackson directed. The cinematography was by Theo Van de Sande.
A look east to the LACMA campus while the situation is still almost normal. It's a shot done from the Peterson Auto Museum.
That evening Tommy and his daughter, still trying to go on vacation, encounter manhole covers blowing off and steam geysers on Wilshire in front of LACMA. That's the Robert O. Anderson Building at the center of the image, renamed the Art of the Americas Building in 2007.
LACMA's Leo S. Bing Theatre on fire! Lava was pouring out of the Tar Pits and balls of fire were streaking the sky. Richard DuVal notes: "The production team recreated that stretch of Wilshire on an abandoned McConnell Douglas aircraft plant in Torrance, CA."
Gaby Hoffman, playing Tommy's daughter has an injured leg. He tries calling for help while Cedars-Sinai nurse Jacqueline Kim comes over.
A view of the flames from Fairfax. On the left that's the May Co., now the Academy Museum. Beyond it's the low-rise May Co. home appliances/discount store, LACMA's Ahmanson Building and LACMA's Robert O. Anderson Building.
Most of LACMA is in ashes with more ash falling from the sky. We get a Heironomous Bosch exhibit advertised at LACMA's Anderson Building. The Bing Theatre? Well before it burned it was in the area behind that white truck. That's Tommy carrying his daughter.
An escalation of the disaster as lava flows west on Wilshire. Tommy mobilizes crews to save the west side by containing the flow at Fairfax. It involves concrete barriers and tipped-over fire trucks. A success? Of course!
See the page about the Bing Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site.
On IMDb: "Volcano"
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