"Blade"

Wesley Snipes is a vampire hunter in downtown Los Angeles in "Blade" (New Line Cinema, 1998). Yes, that's his weapon of choice. We get this shot of the Tower Theatre, 8th and Broadway, in the opening credits. Wesley's sort of a mutant who can withstand sunlight, a "daywalker." But he's unhappy that he's been infected and does what he can to kill any vampires he encounters. 

 The film also features Kris Kristofferson, N'Bushe Wright, Stephen Dorff, Donal Logue, Udo Kier, Tracy Lords, Arli Jover, Tim Guinee and Sanaa Lathan. Stephen Norrington directed. The cinematography was by Theo van de Sande. 

 

Sunlight hitting Broadway. We're looking north from the Merritt Building at 8th and Broadway. That's the Globe down there at 744 S. Broadway. At the time of the shoot it was retail in the lobby. The nightclub in the auditorium used the alley as the entrance.  

 

Night in the city and the vampires are out. We're looking at the Palace Theatre, 630 S. Broadway. We've flipped this image horizontally. In the film this bit of footage appears backwards. 

 

Wesley is out with N'Bushe Wright, an epidemiologist who has been infected by a vampire bite. That's the Tower Theatre in the background. On the far right a bit of the Hamburger/May Co. building on the southwest corner of 8th and Broadway. 

 

 

Wesley driving south on Broadway with the red neon of the Clifton's vertical behind him.  

 

 

Another look at the Globe Theatre in the 700 block. It's another piece of footage that appears flipped in the film.  

 

 

 

This guy is out for a bite. We're again at 8th and Broadway. There's a sliver of the Tower's marquee on the far left and the dark Rialto Theatre in the center of the image. It's at 812 S. Broadway, now used for retail. 

 

 

A look west across Broadway toward the Olympic Theatre, 313 W. 8th St. On the right it's the Merritt Building, redone for the film to look like a nightclub. 

 

Another view of the Olympic. Thanks to the Worldwide Guide to Film Locations for noting the use of the 8th and Broadway corner in the film. They shared a shot from the scene on the Film Locations - Then and Now Facebook group and noted that Stephen Dorff's vampire club on the corner was called "The Pearl." 

 

 

Wesley and N'Bushe take another walk on 8th St. by the Tower Theatre. On the marquee: "3 For A Buck." 

 

 

A moment later at 8th and Broadway.   

In the daylight once again. We're looking west on 7th with the State Theatre's building across Broadway on the left. Note the Chinatown decor with the pole and phone booth. The film is pretending that we have a big Chinese-style park just out of the frame to the right. Wesley accosts vampire Stephen Dorff there, who had put on sunblock to enable him to try a bit of time in the sunlight.  

 

 

Wesley wants to shoot Stephen but he's holding a child as hostage. The then throws her out of the park, into the street. And gets away. Wesley is distracted and runs to save the kid from an oncoming bus.  

See the Los Angeles Theatres pages about the Globe Theatre, the Olympic Theatre, the Palace Theatre, the Rialto Theatre, the State Theatre and the Tower Theatre. You'll find lots of photos, a history of each venue, and shots from other films in which that theatre has appeared. 

On IMDb: "Blade" 

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"Godzilla"

Most of Roland Emmerich's "Godzilla" (TriStar Pictures, 1998) is set in New York but a substantial chunk was shot in downtown Los Angeles on Main, Broadway, 6th, 7th and 8th streets. This shot, from about 48 minutes into the film, looks down Broadway toward 7th St. On the right it's the State Theatre. We'll see a lot of it. See the pages about the State Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. 

 

The film features Mathew Broderick, Jean Reno, Maria Pitillo, Hank Azaria, Kevin Dunn, Michael Lerner, Harry Shearer, Arabella Field, Vicki Lewis and Doug Savant. The cinematography was by Ueli Steiger.  

 

Another look-out-the-back-window shot from early in the film. Thanks to Kevin Binger for noting the L.A. locations in a Facebook post for the group Film Locations - Then and Now. 

 

 

 

Much, much later Matthew, Jean and several others escape from the beast in a taxi and try to get out of town. But we seem to be going around and around the same few blocks. Here we're on 7th looking west with the State on the left. They were running Disney's "Hercules."   

 

 

 The cab that our team is in heads west across Broadway. 

 

 

A view out the windshield. Godzilla approaches on the right from the 600 block. 

 

 

 Big trouble. 

 

 

 Driving over his toes. 

 

At last, on a different block. On the left it's the side of the Tower Theatre as the cab turns off Broadway to go east on 8th St. 

 

 

  

The beast rounds the corner a moment later.  See the pages about the Tower Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. It opened in 1927, a design by S. Charles Lee that's been turned into an Apple store. 

 

 

Guess what? Another look at the State Theatre in this view south.  

 

 

 

A corner view of the State. On the right in this shot we're looking west on 7th.  

 

 

Finally a view farther down Broadway. We're looking north from 8th St. On the right it's the Globe Theatre, in a three-story building at 744 S. Broadway. But the building the Globe is in is actually much taller. For the film they whacked it off at the cornice above the 3rd floor to make room for Godzilla to swing his tail around. 

 

 

A view of the Globe's truncated building a moment later. See the pages about the Globe Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. It opened in 1913 as the Morosco, a two-balcony legit house. It's now a nightclub.  

 

 

We move farther north on Broadway for this shot in the 600 block. On the left note the bottom of one of the vertical signs of the Palace Theatre, 630 S. Broadway. For the theatre on the right they've added some signage on top of the readerboard so we don't recognize it as the Los Angeles, an unlikely name for a theatre in New York. See the Los Angeles Theatres site's pages about the Palace Theatre and the Los Angeles. 

 

 

 

Circling back to 8th St. for yet another shot of the Tower Theatre.  Here the cab is coming out of the alley behind the theatre to head west on 8th. 

 

 

A last look at the Tower to end the film's tour of downtown Los Angeles theatres.  

On IMDb: "Godzilla" 

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"Night Patrol"

During one of the many misguided adventures of the under-qualified police officers Pat Paulson and Murray Langston in "Night Patrol" (New World Pictures, 1984) we get this quick view north toward the Globe Theatre, 744 S. Broadway. 

 

Thanks to Eric Schaefer for spotting the theatre and getting the screenshot. The film also features Billy Barty, Linda Blair, Jaye P. Morgan, Jack Riley, Lori Sutton, Pat Morita and Andrew Dice Clay. Jackie Kong tried to direct. The cinematography was by Hanania Baer and Jürg V. Walther.

See the pages about the Globe Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of this 1913 vintage legit house that later went to movies. At the time of the shoot for this film it was running Spanish language product. It closed as a film house in 1986.

On IMDb: "Night Patrol"

"Irreconcilable Differences"

Ryan O'Neal and Shelley Long write a movie together in "Irreconcilable Differences" (Warner Bros., 1984). As we see in this shot of the Palace Theatre, 630 S. Broadway, their film is titled "An American Romance." 

A very young Drew Barrymore plays their kid, who's in court asking to be emancipated from them and their endless fighting. Charles Shyer directed with cinematography by William A. Fraker. The film was written by Nancy Meyers and Shyer.  

 

 

 

The film becomes a big hit and we get a montage trying to show it playing in theatres everywhere. But all the views we get are within a couple blocks of the Palace. Here it's at the Rialto, 812 S. Broadway.  This shot is a treat in the film as we see the neon's animation pattern. Now it's nicely restored but there's no movement. 

 

 

 

And then playing at the Orpheum, all the way down the block at 842 S. Broadway. 

 

 

And how about a booking at the Globe, 744 S. Broadway?

See the pages about the Palace, Rialto, Orpheum and Globe theatres on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of these Broadway movie palaces.

We then pay a visit to the La Reina Theatre, 14626 Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks. 

 

Shelley has been talking to the manager about attendance and heads across the street to meet Ryan. 

 

 

Totaling up the film's grosses in the spirit of Christmas. 

See the page about the La Reina Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. It was an S. Charles Lee design that opened in 1938.

On IMDb: "Irreconcilable Differences"

"Nasty"

The beginning of "Nasty," Janet Jackson's 1986 music video, gives us a view of the readerboard above the entrance doors at the Globe Theatre, 744 S. Broadway. Thanks to Sean Ault for spotting the theatre in the video. 

A wider view of the Globe's ticket lobby. 1986 was the last year of operation as a movie theatre.  

 

Heading into the auditorium. But we're not at the Globe for the auditorium shots and it's unknown where they were done. The proscenium box area doesn't look like the Globe's and that column on the right supporting the balcony isn't where it would be if we were at the Globe.  

 

Another auditorium shot. They're eating popcorn from tubs with the Metropolitan Theatres logo. The seats we see don't match the type in the Globe in the 1980s.

See the Los Angeles Theatres pages about the Globe Theatre for a history of the building along with many photos. It opened in 1913 as the Morosco.

On YouTube: "Nasty"

"Broadway Treasures"

Hillsman Wright of the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation explores the Million Dollar Theatre ticket lobby murals hidden for over 75 years above a dropped ceiling in a shot from Haeyong Moon's 2019 documentary "Broadway Treasures: A love letter to the historic theatres of Los Angeles."

With interviews shot over a period of nine years, the story focuses on the many individuals who have tried to resuscitate downtown L.A.'s theatre district. The film features many theatres including the Regent, the Globe and the Orpheum.

On You Tube: trailer | More about the film: www.mooncinema.com

On IMDb: "Broadway Treasures"

A poster for the film featuring a shot of the State Theatre, 7th & Broadway.

See the page about the Downtown Theatre District Overview on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a rundown of the theatrical survivors on Broadway and nearby streets.

"The Savage Eye"

We get a peek at the wildly flashing marquee of the Globe Theatre, 744 S. Broadway, in this shot from "The Savage Eye" (Trans-Lux, 1960). The film, written and directed by Ben Maddow and Sidney Myers, follows a young divorcee played by Barbara Baxley on a noirish pseudo-documentary style tour of the underbelly of Los Angeles. Gary Merrill narrates as "the Poet."

The Globe Theatre pages on the Los Angeles Theatres site will give you a detailed tour through all the areas of this 1913 vintage legit house. It opened as the Morosco.

On IMDb: "The Savage Eye"

"Peeper"

We get an interesting angle on the marquee of the Globe Theatre, 744 S. Broadway, in the Peter Hyams film "Peeper" (20th Century Fox, 1976). In the film the Globe is a burlesque theatre. On the right, a bit of the May Co. at 8th & Broadway.

There's a bit of the facade and marquee of the Tower Theatre in this shot as spoiled heiress Natalie Wood and a kidnapper head north on Broadway to go inside the Globe Theatre.

Natalie and her kidnapper getting tickets at the Globe.

We get more of the Tower's vertical in this shot as private eye Michael Caine is down the block running toward the Globe in "Peeper." He's on the trail of the abducted looking for the abducted heiress and her kidnapper.

A Globe entrance view. 

A rare view of the Globe lobby during this period  as Michael Caine dashes in from Broadway.

Caine runs up to the balcony and looks down on a show.

Looking down on the stage. Sadly, we don't get any good auditorium shots in the film. 

Back downstairs, he heads down the house right side aisle to check out the action from the orchestra pit.

In the orchestra pit (still uncovered in 1976!) with Michael Caine and a burlesque show drummer. 

A performer onstage.

A look toward the stage from the first row at Michael Caine and Natalie Wood. The other gentleman is the manager, who has been chasing Caine around the theatre telling him he needs to buy a ticket.

See our pages on the Tower Theatre for a history of the 1927 vintage film palace along with hundreds of photos. The Globe Theatre pages will give you a detailed tour through all the areas of this 1913 vintage legit house.

On IMDb: "Peeper"