"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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"The Turning Point"

We get this great shot looking east from the top of the 2nd St. tunnel in William Dieterle's "The Turning Point" (Paramount, 1952)  It's one of many terrific Bunker Hill shots in the film. On the left, walking up the incline in the shadows, is Matt Conroy, playing a crooked cop who will get bumped off a moment later. His father is played by Edmond O'Brien, heading a prosecution team trying to get the mob out of town. O'Brien's character doesn't know that his father has been on the take.

 

Panning to the left we get this view. Across Hill St. we see the house right side of the auditorium of the Mason Theatre. The Mason's entrance was at 127 S. Broadway but with a long, long lobby and its location back behind an office building the auditorium was almost at Hill St. Note the ramp just beyond that billboard. The theatre was on a steep lot. You could walk up that ramp to get to the 2nd balcony.

 

Moments later we get a view of not only the cop lying dead but the mob boys, hiding in a delivery truck, also bumping off the guy who killed him. Later they'll go after his wife, a lady who knew too much. Here the police have arrived to survey the damage.

From this angle we get the Mason's auditorium again but also, toward the right, the side of the stagehouse. The painting on the side says "Frank Fouce's Mason Theatre." That's the Times building beyond at 1st and Spring.

See the Mason Theatre page on the Los Angeles Theatres site for many photos. The theatre was demolished in 1956.

 

William Holden plays an altruistic reporter who was a college buddy of O'Brien's character. Here he's leaving a rooming house where he's been looking for the wife of the guy who killed O'Brien's crooked father. In the distance we get a nice view of the 3rd St. side of the Million Dollar Theatre. 

 

 

Another view from the scene. The Belmont Apartments was at 251 S. Hill St. $6.00 a week, $22.50 a month. Holden, of course, falls for O'Brien's girlfriend, played by Alexis Smith. The film also features Ed Begley, Adele Longmire, Danny Dayton, Ray Teal, Neville Brand and Howard Freeman. The cinematography was by Lionel Lindon. It ends with a shootout at the fights at the Olympic Auditorium.

See the Million Dollar pages on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history and many, many photos. This 1918 vintage theatre, still at 3rd and Broadway, was Sid Grauman's first Los Angeles operation.

On IMDb: "The Turning Point"

"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.

"Shockproof"

We get a peek at the stagehouse of the Mason Theatre on the right beyond the old City Jail on 1st St. in this promotional still for Douglas Sirk's "Shockproof" (Columbia, 1949) with Cornel Wilde. Patricia Knight and John Baragrey co-star. The Mason's entrance was at 127 S. Broadway. But it was a long building -- the auditorium and stage were almost over on Hill St. That's the L.A. Times building on the left of the photo.

The photo appears in several collections. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Nathan Marsak (aka Beaudry) for featuring it along with two images of the jail building in his Noirish post #7413.

See the Mason Theatre page on the Los Angeles Theatres site for many photos. The theatre was demolished in 1956.

Although this shot doesn't appear in the film, we get other treats including many scenes up on Bunker Hill with views toward downtown. Wilde's office is in the Bradbury Building so we see a lot of that. Also of interest are scenes near the end in a cabin in the middle of an oil field. 

On IMDb: "Shockproof"

"He Walked by Night"

We're on top of the Hill St. Tunnel looking south near the beginning of "He Walked by Night" (Eagle-Lion Films, 1948). That's the stagehouse of the Mason Theatre and one of its smoke vents over on the left through the trees. The theatre's entrance is actually at 127 S. Broadway -- it had a very long lobby.

See the page about the Mason Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of this 1903 vintage theatre. It was demolished in 1956 for a state office building that has now also been demolished.

The film, directed by Alfred Werker and an uncredited Anthony Mann, stars Richard Basehart as a quirky killer the LAPD is trying to catch. The ending features a terrific chase through L.A.'s storm drains. On the hunt are Scott Brady, Roy Roberts and Jack Webb. The cinematography was by the King of Noir, the great John Alton.

"Clark Gable - Gone With the Wind." A shot with lots of action on the wildly flashing marquee of the Broadway Theatre, 428 S. Broadway.  The vertical for The Broadway, a department store at 4th and Broadway, is on the far left. In the fuzzy distance next to that it's the vertical for the Million Dollar Theatre down at 3rd and Broadway.  

 

A moment later. See the pages on the Los Angeles Theatres site about the poor Broadway Theatre. It opened in 1925 as a conversion from retail space. It's now been converted back.

On IMDb: "He Walked by Night"

"Never Weaken"

We get a view of the stagehouse of the Mason Theatre, 127 S. Broadway, in this publicity still for the Harold Lloyd two-reeler "Never Weaken" (Pathe, 1921). We're looking south on Hill St. The top of the Mason over on Broadway is at the left -- look for the three smoke vents on the stagehouse.

This location on top of the Hill St. tunnel was a favorite filming location as it was easy to build a set there to give the appearance of being up on a tall building downtown. See John Bengtson's Silent Locations post "LA's Early Hills, Tunnels Preserved in Noir-Silent Comedies."

While some shots were from 1st and Hill here the action has moved to7th and Hill looking east at the back of the Loew's State building -- then under construction at 7th and Broadway. This is one of many views of Lloyd and the alley side of Loew's State in "Never Weaken." He has some dazzling scenes up on what appears to be an unfinished building.

A view in the other direction of the newly completed Pantages Theatre at 7th & Hill. In 1929 it would become the Warner Downtown. That's the Los Angeles Athletic Club beyond it on 7th.

See the Los Angeles Theatres pages on the Mason Theatre, the State Theatre and the Warner Downtown for more data and many photos of the buildings.

On IMDb: "Never Weaken"