"Volcano"

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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"Miracle Mile"

 

Mare Winningham and Anthony Edwards meet cute at the La Brea Tar Pits at the beginning of Steve De Jarnatt's "Miracle Mile" (Hemdale Releasing, 1989). It's a playful start to what seems like it's going to be just a sweet little love story. 

 

 

 

We get a scene in the park in front of the Pan Pacific Auditorium during an event to support a restoration of the building.   

 

Anthony is playing in the band. 

 

Mare is there with her father, played by John Agar. 

 

Another shot from the scene. The poor Pan Pacific, at 7600 Beverly Blvd., was neglected and unloved after newer facilities took away many bookings. It had opened in 1935, closed in 1972 and was demolished after a spectacular fire in May 1989, the same month the film was released. 

See the page about the Pan Pacific Auditorium on the Los Angeles Theatres site for more photos.

 

 

We get a look at another fenced-off building when the trolley is on Wilshire, going by LACMA. That's the Ahmanson Building on the left and the new addition, the Art of the Americas Building on the right. The building with the Bing Theatre is farther to the right, out of sight. 

 

The Miracle Mile trolley takes them to Park La Brea, where Mare and her mother, played Lou Hancock, have an apartment. Her father has a separate apartment. The parents are estranged and haven't spoken to each other for years. Check out Jude Schneider's 2026 Zocalo article "What Park La Brea Says About Los Angeles."

 

Mare works as a waitress at Johnie's, on the northwest corner of Wilshire and Fairfax.  The film's tone suddenly shifts darker when Anthony answers a call in that phone booth. 

 

He goes inside to ask if anyone knows about the imminent event he heard about on the mis-dialed phone call.  On the left it's Denise Crosby, talking to Claude Earl Jones. On the right the drag queen with back to the camera is Danny De La Paz, talking to Earl Boen. 

 

O-Lan Jones plays a waitress at Johnie's and Robert DoQui is the cook. Also featured are Mykelti Williamson, Kelly Jo Minter, Kurt Fuller and Brian Thompson. Theo van de Sande was the cinematographer. The production design was by Christopher Horner. The art director was Richard Hoover. In addition to directing, Steve De Jarnatt also wrote the script.   

 

 

 

Later that day at Johnie's. The production relamped all the signage on the building. And then dipped all the hundreds of lamps with a blue tint as they were reading too yellow in test footage. 

 

 

Anthony oversleeps due to a power outage at his hotel. He's supposed to come back that night and pick up Mare. She waits and finally goes home. The revolving clock only has one side. The entire sign was made for the film and they could only afford to do one side of the clock.   

 

 

 

The sign's famous revolving hamburgers. 

 

Of course see lots lots of the May Co. building across Fairfax from Johnie's. It's now the home of the Academy Museum, with the Ted Mann Theatre in the basement and the David Geffen Theatre in a new orb behind. We also spend some time in that high-rise at 5900 Wilshire, at the time called the Mutual Benefit Life Building. 

 

On the right it's the building that had been built in 1962 for the Japanese department store chain Seibu. They soon closed and from 1984 to December 1986 it was Ohrbach's. At the time of the shoot it was empty and had to be filled with merchandise for the film. Later there's a scene inside with a stolen police car crashing through the front. The building is now the Peterson Auto Museum. 

 

Back at LACMA with Anthony running after a street sweeper in an attempt to get a lift to Mare's apartment. He wants them to get out of town while it's still possible. 

 

A shot a moment later. The Bing Center, where the Bing Theatre was located, is seen on both sides of that huge column of the Art of the Americas Building that's out at the sidewalk line. 

 

Anthony has no luck getting a ride. When he gets to Mare's apartment he finds that she had taken some sleeping pills and can't wake up enough to walk. So here we are back at LACMA using a shopping cart. 

 

Running toward Wilshire. Thanks to Steve De Jarnatt, the film's director, for this screenshot and the one below. The Bing Theatre is off to the left. 

 

A look back up the stairs. Steve notes that he did several early screenings of the film in the Bing, up the stairs and to the right in this shot.  

See the page about the Leo S. Bing Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. It opened in 1965 and was demolished in 2020. The replacement venue, called the Steve Tisch Theatre, is on the south side of Wilshire in the new building designed by Peter Zumthor. 

 

Madness on Wilshire as the sun rises. On the right it's the May Company wing that was just east of the main building containing their appliance and budget departments.  

On IMDb: "Miracle Mile"  

Check out Steve's website for Miracle Mile items and posts on other topics: www.stevedejarnatt.net

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