"Target Earth"

We're in an abandoned city, supposedly Chicago, after an alien invasion in "Target Earth" (Allied Artists, 1954). Kathleen Crowley, waking after what she intended to be a fatal dose of sleeping pills, walks down Upper 5th toward Grand Ave. 

On the left it's the Engstrum Apartments, out of sight just beyond is the Edison Building, now rebranded as One Bunker Hill. Straight ahead on the left is the Biltmore Hotel parking garage. On the right it's the Biltmore Hotel and the stage end of the Biltmore Theatre.   

The theatre opened in 1924 and was demolished in 1964. The site was a parking lot for two decades before a residential tower was built. See the Biltmore Theatre page on the Los Angeles Theatres site for photos and data.

Kathleen's character and a handful of others missed the call to evacuate and have to face the alien robots. Also featured are Richard Denning, Virginia Grey, Richard Reeves, Whit Bissel and Robert Roark. Sherman A. Rose directed. The cinematography was by Guy Roe. It's based on the short story "Deadly City" by Paul W. Fairman.  

Thanks to David Kimbrough for commenting about the use of Bunker Hill locations in a Facebook post he did for the Images and Memories of Los Angeles group that includes many shots from the film. He notes that a poorly colorized version of the film is on Internet Archive. 

It's not a good movie by any stretch of the imagination but we do get some nice downtown shots including views of the Library, the Mayflower Hotel (now the Hilton Checkers) and the Grand Ave. side of the Edison Building. David notes that some of the less obvious locations include Bob's Cafe at 708 W. 3rd, Stanley's Barber Shop at 704 W. 6th, Boulevard Stationers at 5406 Wilshire and the intersection of Virgil and Beverly.

On IMDb: "Target Earth"    

 

A poster for the film that was located by David Kimbrough.

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"Wilson"

Woodrow Wilson, played by Alexander Knox, is at a political rally during his campaign for Governor of New Jersey in Henry King's film "Wilson" (20th Century Fox, 1944). The theatre they used was the Biltmore at 5th and Grand. Thanks to theatre historian Kurt Wahlner for identifying the theatre in the film and capturing this grand panorama that opens our visit to the theatre. Click on it for a better view.

The film stars Geraldine Fitzgerald, Thomas Mitchell, Ruth Nelson, Mary Anderson, Ruth Ford, Madeleine Forbes, Charles Coburn, Vincent Price, Eddie Foy Jr. and Cedric Hardwicke. The cinematography was by Leon Shamroy and an uncredited Ernest Palmer. 

 

Thanks to Kurt for all the screenshots appearing on this page. He comments: 

 

"The picture never fails to trot out a brass band, and this is no exception - placing the band in the stage boxes house right, with the pit filled with supporters. The scene is fairly lengthy. There is a sweep of the orchestra floor, lots of footage of Wilson speaking from the stage, Thomas Mitchell heckling him from the balcony. I did enjoy it - even though TONS of stuff was glossed over and there were more than a few outright falsehoods, but on the whole, I can see that being hectored with Wilson’s message had audiences going, 'We’re workin’ on it, we’re working on it!' in the closing year of WWII.

"But Wilson’s story IS inspirational and terribly sad, because, at the end, it makes you wonder what a man’s life is for - what does it amount to? Reading about Wilson recalls the 'nattering nabobs' and the film, I think, captured that, without sending everyone out on a total buzz-kill. I was wondering how far they would go with his story - he leaves the White House; end. Not a bad place to end it, but it skips the fact that, as a bed-ridden paralytic, he wanted to run for a third term in 1920. He got clobbered, got progressively worse and died in 1924. Not a good ending!

"I very much doubt that WILSON will ever be fixed up by our chums at Fox. I very much doubt that another Technicolor thing with a similar time frame, 'Life With Father,' will ever improve from its current video edition - and it was a whopping hit. But it was sort of cringe-worthy when I finally saw it a couple years ago."

 

 

Enthusiasm among the delegates at the back of the main floor.  

 

Getting a look at the side boxes as the camera pans toward the stage. 

 

 

Alexander Knox onstage as Wilson. 

 

 

A look at the action on house left side of the main floor.  

A better look at the band in the house right boxes. 

 

 

 

A collage of the pan from the band up to the 2nd balcony, encompassing the last shot and the next two.  Kurt comments: "Some of the film has decidedly odd uses of colored gels to heighten mood."

 

Panning up the house right wall. 

 

 

The crowd in the 2nd balcony. 

 

 

William Eythe as "Princeton Man" George Felton leading cheers in the 1st balcony  

 

 

A 1st balcony view to the stage. 

 

 

Thomas Mitchell as Joseph Patrick Tumulty. 

Another view of Mitchell. He's asking if Wilson, in his mission to root out corruption, will go after party bosses such as the ones sitting in the house left boxes. 

 

 

Alexander Knox, as Wilson, addresses the party bosses in the boxes.  

 

 

Directing his remarks to Mitchell in the balcony. 

 

Thurston Hall, as Senator Edward Jones, addresses the crowd. 

 

 

Time to strike up the band. 

 

They're not worried. It's all just talk. James Rennie as boss Jim Beeker, Thurston Hall as Senator Edward Jones, unknown, and J.M. Kerrigan as Ed Sullivan

 

The theatre, adjacent to the Biltmore Hotel, opened in 1924. See the Biltmore Theatre page on the Los Angeles Theatres site for photos and data. 

 

 

For the scenes at the 1912 Democratic convention we're at the Shrine Auditorium's Expo Hall. Kurt comments: "The scenes at the conventions are hair-raising in their logistical scope." The Hall is a flat-floored space with a wrap-around balcony that's on the north side of the Shrine Auditorium. Here we're looking in from the 32nd St. entrance. The Auditorium portion of the complex is behind the far wall.

 

 

A look toward the east wall. 

 

 

 

Another view toward the dais and the south wall of the hall. 

 

 

An unidentified politician. There are many speeches.

 

 

 

Paul Everton as Judge John W. Westcott placing Wilson's name in nomination.  

 

 

Cy Kendall as New York Delegation leader Charles F. Murphy pledging to champion Clark.

 

 

 

An unknown actress as Lady Liberty. 

 

Lady Liberty's profile shot. 

 

George Macready as Wilson's Convention Manager William McCombs telling Wilson he thinks the nomination has been lost. The reply is that he'll be hanging in there until the end and his delegates shouldn't be released. 

 

Edwin Maxwell as William Jennings Bryan announcing Nebraska's delegates will back Wilson. 

 

 

Another cue for the band: Wilson will be the 1912 Democratic Party nominee!

"Wilson" returns to the Expo Hall for the 1916 Democratic convention but it's just a brief moment of coverage compared to the circus we see for 1912.

See the main page about the Shrine Auditorium on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a list of many other films where the building appears. There's also a separate page for the Expo Hall. 

Thanks to Kurt Wahlner for the screenshots as well as the work identifying the actors in various shots. Visit his terrific site about the Chinese Theatre: GraumansChinese.org

On IMDb: "Wilson"

 

Alexander Knox onstage at the Biltmore in "Wilson." It's a promotional still that appears on IMDb.

"Abandoned"

We get a view north on Broadway in "Abandoned" (Universal-International, 1949). Newspaper reporter Dennis O'Keefe is meeting Gale Storm, who is trying to uncover what happened to her murdered sister. Along the way they investigate a baby broker racket and more. The film also features Raymond Burr, Jeff Chandler, Marjorie Rambeau, Jeanette Nolan and Meg Randall. Joseph M. Newman directed. The cinematography was by William H. Daniels. 

Thanks to Don Goldberg for spotting the theatre in the movie and getting the screenshot. We're supposedly in the coffee shop of the "Fenwick Hotel." Beyond the window on the left it's the marquee of the United Artists Theatre, 933 S. Broadway. The vertical for the Eastern Columbia store can be seen up in the 800 block with a fuzzy view of the Orpheum's marquee across the street. We're looking north from just south of Olympic, where Broadway Place once headed diagonally off to the east from Broadway. 

 

 

A moment later in the coffee shop with a streetcar coming along. This scene is about ten and a half minutes into the film.  

 

Back at the coffee shop for another conference seventeen and a half minutes in. We get a murky view of the "ARTISTS" on the bottom of the UA vertical sign on the left through the Venetian blinds. 

 

A moment later with the UA as well as the Eastern Columbia building visible.  

See the pages about the United Artists Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for many photos of all areas of the building. It's now known as the Standard Theater on Broadway. Also see the pages about the Orpheum. 

 

There was no hotel at the location where the background footage was shot, only a two story building called the Triangle Building. In this c.1935 photo from the Los Angeles Public Library collection we're looking south on Broadway with Broadway place curving off to the left. The taller building beyond is the Los Angeles Railway Co. building, now the Hoxton Hotel. Beyond that, on the southeast corner of Broadway and 11th, is the Case Hotel Building, now the Proper Hotel. Across the street it's the Herald Examiner building. See Nathan Masters' piece about the now unused Broadway Place on the KCET website.

 

A little more than 28 minutes into the film Dennis and Gale take a walk north on Grand Ave. On the left just the other side of 5th we see the stage end of the Biltmore Theatre. They're heading to a Turkish Baths place and trying to get information from a guy there by posing as a couple that wants to adopt a baby.

The theatre, adjacent to the Biltmore Hotel, opened in 1924. See the Biltmore Theatre page on the Los Angeles Theatres site for some photos and data.

On IMDb: "Abandoned"   The full film can be seen on YouTube.

"Duck Soup"

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy appear in the two-reel short "Duck Soup" (Hal Roach/Pathé, 1927) as the first time they were paired together as comedy leads. Fred Guiol directed. The film starts in MacArthur Park where the boys are trying to elude forest rangers who are determined to conscript them to fight forest fires. A chase ensues, we go to Culver City and then it's time for downtown.

 

Here we're heading south on Grand Ave. toward 7th St. The light-colored three story building to the left of Stan's head is the Criterion Theatre, 642 S. Grand Ave. The building with the arches on the right side of the image is now called the Milano Lofts.

The theatre had opened as the Kinema in 1917. For a history and a number of photos see the Criterion Theatre page on the Los Angeles Theatres site.

Thanks to John Bengtson for all the research and screenshots appearing here. You can read all about his discoveries on his 2020 Silent Locations post "How Laurel and Hardy Filmed Duck Soup." Also see John's 2023 update that's celebrating a Flicker Alley Blu-ray release "Laurel and Hardy: Year One." Dave Lord Heath has also done a post about "Duck Soup."

Still looking south on Grand but this shot was done farther up on Bunker Hill. We're approaching 5th St. with the now-vanished Biltmore Garage on the left and the Biltmore Theatre hiding just beyond, on the southeast corner of Grand and 5th. Across the street to the right we see the grounds of the Central Library.

Another shot a bit closer to 5th. John notes that the Biltmore Garage was also seen in the 1934 Carole Lombard film "The Gay Bride." That wall we see of the theatre is the back wall of the stagehouse. The entrance was around the corner on 5th.

A view looking back up Grand toward 5th. On the right is the back end of the Biltmore, with a poster up for "Ben-Hur," a film that played a roadshow engagement at the theatre.

The theatre, adjacent to the Biltmore Hotel, opened in 1924. See the Biltmore Theatre page on the Los Angeles Theatres site for some photos and data.

By the time we're a bit over five minutes into the film it's done with downtown and off to Beverly Hills. The film ends with Stan and Oliie fighting a fire near the Hal Roach Studios after they are dragooned by the rangers.

On IMDb: "Duck Soup"   A 21+ minute version of the film is on YouTube from TwinHat.