"The Terminator"

A murky view west on 7th St. early in James Cameron's "The Terminator" (Orion Pictures, 1984). We're a half block east of Broadway. The Lankershim Hotel is on our left and the Haas Building on the right. Across Broadway is the stripped-out Bullock's Building advertising "Spaces Available." A block west at 7th & Hill we see the vertical of the former Warner Downtown Theatre saying "Diamonds."

The shot then pans to the left to look down the alley. The Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) has already materialized from the future up at Griffith Observatory, grabbed some clothes from several punks, and is headed downtown.

When we cut to a shot deeper in the alley we're not in the alley east of the Lankershim Hotel but a block west in the alley behind the State Theatre. The fire escape we see is the one coming down from the house right side of the balcony. That dumpster with the pink bag on it says "707," the address of the United Building, the office building connected to the State Theatre, 

Here in the alley, amid lots of plasma-like special effects, Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) will plop out of the future, naked, and go looking for Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton). He's been sent to help save her. The Terminator is trying to kill her.

Another shot west on 7th. The Terminator is coming in a police car he's stolen.

Many minutes later, after two other Sarah Connors have been killed both Kyle and the Terminator find the right Sarah in a bar called the Tech-noir. Julian David Segovia notes that the bar was on the site of the Super-C mini-market a couple storefronts southeast of 7th & Hill. In the film they refer to it as being on Pico.  

After a melee, Kyle rescues Sarah and steals a car to flee. We get this shot on the same block of 7th just east of Broadway seen earlier. Note the State Theatre in the center, with just a sliver of its marquee showing.

See the pages about the State Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of the 1921 vintage film and vaudeville palace.

After going through an alley, the car Kyle and Sarah are in ends up going north on Main St. The first we see of the California Theatre, 810 S. Main, is this shot with a reflection of the marquee in windows diagonally opposite the theatre as we look back to 8th St. The building with the big arches right behind the car is at the SW corner of 8th & Main. We're a bit over 39 minutes into the film at this point.

A bit later we're down in the 800 block and we get this shot, through the windshield, as we rapidly go by. 

A very quick peek at the display cases several frames later.

Up in the 700 block (again) with the marquee of the California visible in the background.  

Thanks to Randall Yoder, Jr. for spotting the theatre in the film and for taking several screenshots. See the page about the California Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for lots of data and photos. This 2,000 seat 1918 vintage house was demolished in 1990.

A bit later, after lots of driving around to get away from Arnold we strangely find ourselves a block from where we started. Kyle and Sarah are in the car on the left as we look north on Hill St. It's the Warner Theatre again over on the left. Thanks to Jonathan Raines for spotting this shot in the film.

See the pages on the Los Angeles Theatres site about the Warner Downtown for many photos of the building. The theatre, a design of B. Marcus Priteca, opened in 1920 as the Pantages.

We also get a fine tour of downtown L.A. alleys as well as great scenes on Bunker Hill near the end of the film. 

On IMDb: "The Terminator"

"Breathless"

The 1983 Orion Pictures remake of "Breathless" with Richard Gere and Valerie Kaprisky has several scenes shot inside the California Theatre. We get a glimpse of the back of the auditorium, spend some time making love on a pile of curtains backstage while "Gun Crazy"(1949) is playing and get this glimpse of the exterior.

Thanks to Chas Demster for the screenshot. It appears on his post about "Breathless" on his Filming Locations of Chicago and Los Angeles blog where he also has photos of many of the film's other locations.

The theatre, at 810 S. Main St., opened in 1918 with 2,000 seats. Sadly, it was demolished in 1990 after a lengthy preservation battle. See the page about the California Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of the building and many photos.

On IMDb: "Breathless"

"The Omega Man"

We get some lovely aerial shots of abandoned downtown Los Angeles in Boris Sagal's "The Omega Man" (Warner Bros., 1971). Here we're looking at the north side of the California Theatre, 810 S. Main St., during the opening credits. At the time it was a Spanish language film house, thus the lettering we see: Teatro California.

The theatre opened in 1918 with 2,000 seats. Sadly, it was demolished in 1989 after a lengthy preservation battle. See the California Theatre page on the los Angeles Theatres site for a history of the building and many photos.

Another shot of the traffic-free downtown gets us a view looking west with the stagehouse of the Globe Theatre, 744 S. Broadway, at the center. The "Newsreel" portion of the "Newsreel Theatre" sign had been painted out. See the Globe Theatre pages on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of the theatre, opened in 1913 as a legit playhouse. 

 A commuter's dream: deserted streets of downtown Los Angeles. Here we see Charlton Heston cruising west on 8th St. past the Tower Theatre, 8th and Broadway, in a traffic-free Los Angeles.  He seems to be the only guy around but, as the ads said: "Pray for the last man alive. Because he's not alone."

A great look down on the Tower in "The Omega Man" -- before the top of the clock tower was removed.  Here' we're looking west on 8th with the red vertical of the Olympic Theatre down there in the shadows. Behind the Tower, it's the Hamburger / May Co. department store building. Across the street on the northwest corner it's the Merritt Bldg., here with a Home Savings office still on the first floor.

See the many pages about the Tower Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for information on this little jewel box of a theatre S. Charles Lee designed in 1927.

Charlton Heston pulling up in front of the Olympic, 313 W. 8th St. It's all self service. The staff is gone so he has to go up to the booth to thread it up himself.  

On the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page Ken McIntyre has this shot paired with a 2012 view.

As Heston gets out of his car at the Olympic we get another shot featuring the Tower Theatre as we look east on 8th. Thanks to the blog "Dear Old Hollywood" for this one. It comes from their 2009 article "The Omega Man - Film Locations."  The site Omega Planet also has shots of many filming locations. 

It's movie time! In the booth striking the arc in a Magnarc. Well, a more experienced projectionist would do it with the door closed. And we're probably not in the booth at the Olympic -- we'd have a bit more of an angle there.

In the auditorium watching "Woodstock." Not the first time -- he knows all the lines. It's unknown where this was shot -- the sidewall decor doesn't look like the Olympic's.

Heading out after the show at the Olympic. If you'd like to learn more about the theatre see the pages about the Olympic Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for many photos inside and out. The building is now used for retail.

On IMDb: "The Omega Man"