"Eye For An Eye"

Getting an ice cream cone on Broadway in John Schlesinger's "Eye For An Eye" (Paramount, 1996). The film stars Sally Field, Kiefer Sutherland, Ed Harris, Olivia Burnette, Joe Mantegna, Beverly D'Angelo and Philip Baker Hall. Sally's character is on a hunt for the man who raped and murdered her daughter. Thanks to Eric Schaefer for spotting the various theatres in the film and getting the screenshots. He comments: 

"Well, not a good movie but this one does look great thanks to cinematographer Amir Mokri. The Kiefer Sutherland character lives downtown so we get plenty of cool footage there."

 

At the end of the ice cream scene the camera pans up a bit and we get this view south as Kiefer gets lost in the crowd. The Roxie is at 518 S. Broadway, the Cameo, with "Happy Holida s" on the marquee, is at 528. Just beyond, unseen in this shot, is the Arcade Theatre at 534 S. Broadway. On the right in the distance it's the Los Angeles Theatre down in the 600 block.

Check out the pages about the Roxie, Cameo, Arcade, and Los Angeles theatres on the Los Angeles Theatres site for more information and photos inside and out.   

 

A fine look over at part of the east side of the 400 block of S. Main. It's the view out the window of Kiefer Sutherland's SRO room. The Regent is at 448, now reborn as a live music venue. Over on the left the Main Theatre, with the "XXX Movie" signage, was at 438, in a storefront of the Canadian Building.   

See the pages about the Main Theatre and the  Regent Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of the venues. 

 

That neon sign in the previous shot prompted a search to nail down the building it had been taken from. This shot gives us a better look at it and reveals that the Main St. view had been a process shot. The building Kiefer is on in this shot is the former El Dorado Hotel at 416 S. Spring, a block away from the Regent Theatre. Thanks for this, Eric! 

 

 

A 2024 view of the El Dorado from Google Maps. We're looking southeast. The Rosslyn roof sign can be seen in the distance, over at 5th and Main.

On IMDb: "Eye For An Eye"

"Starsky and Hutch"

We see the Galway Theatre, 514 S. Main St., several times in the pilot episode for the TV show "Starsky and Hutch" (Spelling-Goldberg, 1975). The pilot gives us quite a tour of other downtown Los Angeles locations as well.

Back again at night -- this time to meet an informant. 

Our two leads watching a bit of the show. 

The informant arrives.

Leaving the theatre. See the page on the Galway Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for more about this now-vanished grindhouse. The building it was in is still there, in use as a community services agency with offices downstairs and housing upstairs.

In the show's pilot we go by both the back and front of the Regent Theatre, 448 S. Main St., several times. Here we're looking south across Winston St. See the pages about the Regent Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of the venue along with photos inside and out. 

That space with the unpainted white signage a couple storefronts this side of the Regent would soon be the Main Theatre, 438 S. Main.

On IMDb:"Starsky and Hutch"

"The Front Page"

We get a lot of action at the Orpheum Theatre, 842 S. Broadway, in Billy Wilder's "The Front Page" (Universal, 1974). The theatre's interior doubles as a Chicago Balaban & Katz house in the 20s. Susan Sarandon is seen here playing the organ.

Walter Matthau coming down a side aisle.

Sarandon at the organ console.

A look from the rear of the house.

Matthau headed backstage.

Crossing behind the screen to stage left.

Susan Sarandon heading to the dressing rooms offstage left. See the Los Angeles Theatres pages about the Orpheum Theatre for many photos of the venerable 1926 vintage vaudeville house.

Later in the film we see a lot of Main St.  Here we're driving by the Regent Theatre, 448 S. Main St., on our chase for Austin Pendleton, who's actually hiding in a desk at the city jail.

That space with the unpainted white signage a couple storefronts north of the Regent would soon be the Main Theatre, 438 S. Main.

Another shot showing the Regent as the police do their wild search.

See the pages about the Regent Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of the venue along with photos inside and out.

On IMDb: "The Front Page"

"Uptown Saturday Night"

In "Uptown Saturday Night" (Warner Bros. / First Artists,  1974) we get Main St. Los Angeles subbing for Chicago. Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby are crossing the street with the Burbank Theatre, 548 S. Main St., behind them. At the time of the filming, the theatre was closed and awaiting demolition.

Another shot from the film. We're looking south toward 6th St. The Santa Fe building and the Pacific Electric Building that we see a bit of at 6th and Main are still around, both now loft conversions.

See the page about the Burbank Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for more photos and a history of the building, constructed in 1893.

We get this sliver of a view of the marquee of the Optic Theatre, 533 S. Main St., as Cosby and Poitier head into a bar to cause some trouble.

Another peek at the north end of the marquee. See the Los Angeles Theatres page about the Optic Theatre for a history of the building and many photos. It opened in 1911 and lasted into the 1980s.

A chase scene gives us view north on Main from 4th and a look at the Follies Theatre, 337 S. Main St. The theatre had opened in 1904 as the Belasco. Visit the Follies Theatre page for more about the theatre. Like the Burbank, it came down in 1974.

Here we're looking west toward the Regent Theatre, 448 S. Main St.

Another shot a moment later. See the pages about the Regent Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of the venue along with photos inside and out.  That space with the unpainted white signage a couple storefronts to the left of the Regent would soon be the Main Theatre, 438 S. Main.

There's an 8 minute clip from the film with lots of the Main St. shots appearing on Facebook Watch. Thanks to Sean Ault for spotting it.

On IMDb: "Uptown Saturday Night"