"The State of Things"

We're in the parking lot behind the Cinerama Dome in Wim Wenders film "The State of Things" (Gray City, 1983). It's about a film company running out of money when shooting in Portugal. The director comes to L.A. in search of his missing producer. Patrick Bauchau, Allen Garfield, Samuel Fuller, Roger Corman, Isabelle Weingarten and J. Paul Getty III are among those featured. Henri Alekan was the cinematographer with Fred Murphy doing the L.A. portion. The film was released in Germany in 1982 with the title "Der Stand der Dinge."

 

 

 

A marquee change seen during a drive-by of the Nuart Theatre, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd.

 

 

Patrick Bauchau drives by the Warner Hollywood, 6433 Hollywood Blvd. At the time it was known as the Hollywood Pacific.

 Thanks to Eric Schaefer for spotting the theatres in the film and getting the screenshots. See the pages about the Cinerama Dome, the Nuart Theatre and the Warner Hollywood on the Los Angeles Theatres site for many photos and a history of each theatre.

On IMDb: "The State of Things"

"The Long Goodbye"

We get an ambulance ride by the Nuart Theatre, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd., an hour and 39 minutes into Robert Altman's "The Long Goodbye" (United Artists, 1973). Elliott Gould stars as Philip Marlowe. Also featured are Nina van Palandt, Henry Gibson, Sterling Hayden and Mark Rydell. Leigh Brackett wrote the screenplay based on Raymond Chandler's novel. The film's cinematography was by Vilmos Zsigmond.

 

 

Then several blocks later we get the reflection of the Royal Theatre's marquee on the other side of the street at 11523 Santa Monica Blvd.

Thanks to Tommy Bernard for spotting the theatres in the movie and getting the screenshots. See the pages on the Nuart and the Royal on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of these two vintage Sawtelle neighborhood movie houses. 

On IMDb: "The Long Goodbye" 

"Foul Play"

In "Foul Play" (Paramount, 1978), Goldie Hawn picks up a guy having car trouble on her way into San Francisco. They make a date to see a film together at the Nuart on Union St. When we see her waiting at the theatre we're at the Nuart all right but it's at 11272 Santa Monica Blvd. The crime comedy, directed by Colin Higgins, also stars Chevy Chase, Burgess Meredith, Brian Dennehy, Dudley Moore, Billy Barty and Rachel Roberts.

Goldie looking at the clock. Her date, Bruce Soloman, is late. He'll stumble in later, wounded. 

A peek into the lobby past theatre manager Chuck McCann.

Goldie back in the lobby to tell the snackbar guy her date has just died. He tells her she'll have to see the manager. McCann is in his office indulging in some Me Too behavior with another snack bar staffer.

They go back in to the auditorium to look but the body has vanished. She's escorted out. 

The manager tells her she's made a fool of him and she'd better leave. 

Goldie heading home. Check out the Nuart Theatre page on the Los Angeles Theatres site for more views of the theatre.

The film is set in San Francisco and much of it was shot there. We get to see many terrific locations including a wonderful finale at the 1932 vintage War Memorial Opera House. Well, the auditorium shots were done at the War Memorial. Here Dudley Moore is in the pit. We get many similar shots later of him reacting to the chaos that will erupt onstage.

A look across the War Memorial with the Pope in the center box. It's all about an assassination attempt by a bishop who's really an anarchist. We also get some lobby shots done at San Francisco's City Hall and various corridor views that could have been shot anywhere. See the page about the War Memorial Opera House on the San Francisco Theatres site for information about the 1932 vintage building.

New York City Opera is doing Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Mikado." It's a process shot with the War Memorial's proscenium on the right. The rest of the image is the Shrine Auditorium, 665 W. Jefferson Blvd. Note the counterweight system offstage left. At the War Memorial it would be on the other side. Also off left is a spiral staircase. Nope, the Shrine doesn't have one -- they show up largely in earlier theatres. It was brought in for the filming. We can't have backstage shots in a movie without a spiral staircase, can we?  

Here we're looking down on the stage left wingspace at the Shrine with the theatre's Hub dimmerboard on the right, later removed. On the left it's the theatre's Peter Clark counterweight system. Thanks to Mike Hume for the screenshot. See the page about the Shrine on his Historic Theatre Photography site for a terrific selection of photos as well as a history of the building.

Much of our chase action takes place up in the flies. Some shots done at the Shrine, some on a soundstage. This one? Probably done on a soundstage.

Another shot offstage left at the Shrine with a bit of the spiral staircase in view, in an unlikely location for a real installation. A bit of the counterweight system T-wall is seen in the upper right.

Chevy Chase running along the back wall of the stage at the Shrine. 

Part of the chase on a catwalk above the stage. We get a view of the counterweight system in the distance. It was most likely done on a soundstage but perhaps it was at the Shrine.

End of the line for our albino assassin. Definitely not a Shrine shot. The ceiling structure we see in the upper right looks like a soundstage roof.

Chase over, Goldie comes down the spiral staircase. That's the Shrine's dimmerboard in the background.

A curtain call process shot. The auditorium is definitely the War Memorial but the action onstage was filmed at the Shrine Auditorium.

Also see the main page about the Shrine Auditorium on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a list of many other films where the building appears. The site also features many vintage photos of the 1926 vintage building.

On IMDb: "Foul Play"