"Is That Black Enough For You?!?"

Black cinema of the 1970s is discussed in Elvis Mitchell's documentary "Is That Black Enough For You?!?" (Netflix, 2022). In this shot we're looking toward the Arcade Theatre, 534 S. Broadway. 

 

In addition to film clips and archival footage Elvis features interviews shot in various theatres. Here we're in the Los Angeles Theatre, 612 S. Broadway. 

Samuel Jackson doing an interview in the Cinerama Dome, 6360 Sunset Blvd. Thanks to Chris Utley for noting the film's use of the Dome.  

See the pages about the Arcade Theatre, the Los Angeles, and the Cinerama Dome on the Los Angeles Theatres site. 

 

Whoopi talking to Elvis in an unidentified theatre.   

On IMdb: "Is That Black Enough For You?!?" 

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"Armored Car Robbery"

This shot from footage looking south toward the Los Angeles Theatre, 615 S. Broadway, is one of several downtown views we get behind the credits of "Armored Car Robbery" (RKO, 1950).   

Richard Fleischer directed this tale of a heist gone awry that includes some nice L.A. location work. It features Charles McGraw, Adele Jergens, William Talman, Douglas Fowley and Steve Brodie. The cinematography was by Guy Roe.   

See the pages about the Los Angeles Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. The house opened in 1931 and has been featured in many movies, TV shows and commercials. 

On IMDb: "Armored Car Robbery"  

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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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"Strange Days"

It's a dystopian nightmare in New York City in 1999 with guns and tanks on the streets in Kathryn Bigelow's "Strange Days" (20th Century Fox, 1995). Ralph Fiennes cruises the streets on December 30, two days before the expected Y2K meltdown. But the Christmas decorations look suspiciously like the ones on Hollywood Boulevard during that era. Indeed, the theatre he passes is the Ritz/Pussycat at 6656 Hollywood Blvd. 

 

Ralph is playing a cop turned street hustler who peddles "clips," videos that feel real if you are "wired" by putting on a special headset. Customers, of course, want sex clips but also thrills they can't get in their own boring lives: robbing a liquor store, getting in fights, etc. Many of the clips are generated by people wearing the headsets and having a recorder nearby that records not only what they're seeing but also their feelings.  

 

Ralph and friend Juliette Lewis stumble upon what looks like a police department death squad after an acquaintance is executed. There's a clip to prove it and two cops are after it. The film also features Angela Bassett, Tom Sizemore, Vincent D'Onofrio, Brigitte Bako and Josef Sommer. The cinematography was by Matthew F. Leonetti. Thanks to Sean Ault for noting the various theatres that appear in the film. 

 

Ralph drives around a lot with different footage cut together to make the streets look different. But this is a second view of the same theatre. And we get it in a brief shot a third time as well.

See the page about the Pussycat / Ritz Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. It had opened in 1940 as a newsreel house. By the time of this film shoot it was in use as a church. 

 

It's new Year's Eve and we're supposedly in Times Square. We are on Broadway but it's the one in Los Angeles. The Palace Theatre, 630 S. Broadway, is down there in the distance in the center of the shot. 

 

 

 

The Palace is in the background as Ralph Fiennes, on the left, and Angela Bassett, on the right, run from a death squad cop who has spotted them. 

 

 The military on alert in front of the Los Angeles Theatre, 615 S. Broadway. 

 

 

 

Another shot at the Los Angeles. 

 

See the pages about the Los Angeles Theatre on the L.A. Theatres site for a history of the 1931 vintage movie palace along with hundreds of photos. 

 

A troublemaker at the festivities. And a bit of the Palace signage on the left. 

 

 

Angela Bassett is in the foreground, trying to flee from one of the death squad cops. She has the clip showing a murder and gives it to the police commissioner. The overexposed signage in the background says "... Times Square," trying to help with the New York Vibe.

 

Angela still running, with the Palace in the background. Evidently she was looking in the wrong direction. Note that the shot has been flipped.  

 

 

 

One of the cops has her on the ground. She's fighting. 

 

More wrestling in front of the Palace. 

 

 

 

She triumphs. But only for a moment and then additional police subdue her. She's rescued by the arrival of Josef Sommer, playing the police commissioner. He's finally looked at the clip and now understands what has been going on.  

 

See the pages about the Palace Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. It opened in 1911 as the Orpheum.    

 

 

A distance view of the New Year's Eve celebrations. This shot actually IS New York City. Note the marquee of the National Twin in the upper left.

On IMDb: "Strange Days"

"Why Do Fools Fall In Love"

It's 1956 and singer Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers are touring with an Alan Freed Rock and Roll show in "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" (Warner Bros., 1998). Frankie, played by Larenz Tate, dies young of a drug overdose. In this Rashomon-like tale, three women each claim to be his widow, tell different stories about Frankie and, of course, each want his estate. 

Little Richard is in a courtroom narrating a flashback as we pan across the room and get this image. That's a bit of the courtroom paneling on the left. One look at the terrazzo tells you we're at the Los Angeles Theatre, 615 S. Broadway. There's signage saying it's the Paramount Theatre. Freed did do lots of shows at the Brooklyn Paramount, as seen in "American Hot Wax" where the Wiltern was used as a stand-in. But here Richard's narration says that we're on the road somewhere.

Halle Berry plays Zola Taylor, a singer with the Platters. Later Frankie meets and marries Vivica A. Fox as Elizabeth, who may already be married. Lela Rochon plays the third wife, schoolteacher Emira Eagle. Also featured are Paul Mazursky as the manager/music publisher and Pamela Reed as the Judge. Ben Vereen is also in the mix. Gregory Nava directed. The cinematography was by Edward Lachman.

 

"Biggest Show of Stars For '56."

 

The crowd alongside the boxoffice.

 

The rush into the lobby. Note that lovely carpet the theatre had at the time. 

 

The inner lobby and snackbar. 

 

Onstage it's the Platters with Halle Berry playing the lead singer. 

 

 

 

The Platters coming off. Offstage right in front of the dimmerboard Larenz, playing Frankie, tells Halle how great she was and gives her a kiss. He gets slapped. But then she watches his performance. 

 

Frankie and the Teenagers wowing the crowd. 

 

 

 

A view from the 2nd balcony at the end of a number by the Teenagers. 

 

 

A later scene in the lobby of the Los Angeles Theatre. By this time Halle and Larenz's characters have become a couple. The theatre is being used as the lobby of the Chelsea Hotel. They're about to get on a bus for another tour.

See the pages about the Los Angeles Theatre on the L.A. Theatres site for a history of the 1931 vintage movie palace along with hundreds of photos. 

 

Another town, another show. Larenz, as Frankie, has been on and off drugs. We're in Philadelphia and Paul Mazursky has given him another chance. But he hasn't shown up yet for this show.  

 

 

 

Getting his fix under the fire escapes. 

 

A shot into the auditorium reveals that we're onstage at the State Theatre, 7th and Broadway. 

 

Paul fretting backstage about Frankie's whereabouts. Behind the rigging it's Vivica A. Fox as Elizabeth, with Frankie at the time. 

 

He shows up and goes on but then collapses.

See the pages about the State Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for information about the history along with many photos.  

 

Vivicas's character becomes a hooker to support Frankie and his drug habit. For this New York shot they used the 500 block of Broadway. Check out the pages about the Arcade, Cameo and Roxie theatres on the Los Angeles Theatres site for more information and photos inside and out.  

 

 

Years later, swearing he's clean, Larenz's character gets told by Paul Mazursky "You're a junkie. That's why you're not playing the Orpheum tonight." Standing in for a mythical New York Orpheum it's the one in Los Angeles at 842 S. Broadway.

 

 

 

Larenz turns up to see the show. The Platters have dumped Halle Berry's character, Zola, but she now has a solo career.

 

The obligatory Orpheum ceiling shot. 

 

 

An enthusiastic audience for Halle's character.

 

 

 

A look into the house while Halle is onstage. 

 

The view from the top as Little Richard and his piano come onstage on a wagon. Larenz, as Frankie, comes out despondent and looks for a fix. Within a week he's dead of an overdose. Thanks to Dean Lent for a nudge about the theatres appearing in the film -- he was on the camera crew for the shoot at the Orpheum.

See the pages about the Orpheum Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of this 1926 vintage vaudeville house.  

On IMDb: "Why Do Fools Fall in Love"