"Savage Streets"

Tough girl Linda Blair and her friends begin "Savage Streets" (Motion Picture Marketing, 1984) with a walk by the Pussycat Theatre, 6656 Hollywood Blvd. Later Linda will be out for revenge after her sister gets raped and a friend is killed. 

The cast features Linnea Quigley, Lisa Freeman, Marcia Karr, Debra Blee, Robert Dryer, John Vernon, Johnny Venokur, Sal Landi and Scott Mayer. Danny Steinmann and Tom DeSimone directed. The cinematography was by Stephen L. Posey.    

 

A look into the Pussycat lobby.  

 

Walking by the Vogue at 6675 Hollywood Blvd., across the street from the Pussycat. They were playing "Heart Like a Wheel" with Bonnie Bedelia and Beau Bridges. The film had opened November 4, 1983 at Laemmle's Music Hall for an exclusive run. The Vogue got it in January 1984 when it went wide. 

 

The guys following them were the local drug dealers and all-around obnoxious guys.  We're looking east with the Vogue on the left and the Pussycat on the right. In the front seat on the left it's Robert Dryer, playing the leader. Later we learn that he's also a killer. Poor Lisa Freeman gets thrown off a bridge.  

 

Dryer and friends walking by the Las Palmas Theatre, on Las Palmas Ave. a half block south of Hollywood Blvd. The girls were across the street looking at magazines at the newsstand.  

 

A later shot of the guys crossing Hollywood Blvd. just east of Hudson. On the left it's the Holly Theatre, 6523 Hollywood Blvd. Across the street it's the Fox Theatre at 6508.  

 

A last look at the Pussycat Theatre as Linda drives east. 

Head to the pages about the New-View/Pussycat, the Vogue, the Holly, the Fox and the Las Palmas on the Los Angeles Theatres site for many photos and a discussion of each theatre's history.    

 On IMDb: "Savage Streets"

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"Red Nights"

The X Theatre at 5959 Hollywood Blvd. is in the background of this shot from "Red Nights" (Trans World Entertainment, 1988). It's another young-man-goes-to-Hollywood story. He thinks he's going to become an actor but sinks into the violent shadows. Izhak Hanooka directed. The cast includes Christopher Louis Parker, Brian Matthews, Tom Badall and Patty Bauer. The cinematography was by Jacob Eleasari. It was a direct-to-VHS release. 

Thanks to Rio Dylan Hernandez for spotting all the theatre coverage in the film and getting the screenshots. She comments: 

"Sometimes when I can’t sleep I’ll peruse grindhouse exploitation movies on Amazon and came across a doozy last night that is truly an LA treasure trove. It seems like there is a movie theater in every other shot as it’s about an idealistic young dreamer, aspiring actor - broken by DIRTY L.A. - and it truly captures the city as I remember it - especially the Hollywood Blvd. area where most of it was shot. I did the best I could do with the screenshots but this should give you a flavor and really some rare treasures here I think!"

 

 At the Warner/Hollywood Pacific, 6433 Hollywood Blvd. 

 

 

 

The Fox was playing "Robocop," It's at 6508 Hollywood Blvd.  

 

 

The Vogue Theatre, at 6675 Hollywood Blvd., playing "The Lost Boys," a July 1987 release. Michael Coate notes that this engagement was in 70mm.

 

 

The Pussycat, formerly the New-View, was at 6656 Hollywood Blvd., just west of Cherokee.

 

 

Another look at the Pussycat.  

 

 

 

A look at the Egyptian, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., during the run of "Masters of the Universe." 

 

 

The Chinese with Clint Eastwood in "Heartbreak Ridge." Kurt Wahlner notes that the film played the big house for one week from December 5 to 11, 1986. 

 

 

A shot done later, during the run of "The Living Daylights." It played the Chinese from July 31 to August 27, 1987. 

 

 

 

A view of the west side of the Chinese.  

 

 

 

Looking north on Las Palmas toward Hollywood Blvd. That's the Las Palmas Theatre on the right.  

 

 

A chase shot with the cars heading into the alley just north of the Las Palmas.  

 

Looks like the filmmakers actually paid for this location for a "Gala Premier." Or was it a "Premiere"? The Los Feliz, now a triplex, is located at 1822 N. Vermont Ave. 

See the pages on the Los Angeles Theatres site about the X Theatre, the Warner/Hollywood Pacific, the Fox, the Vogue, the New-View/Pussycat,  Grauman's Chinese, the Las Palmas Theatre and the Los Feliz. 

Thanks Rio!  

On IMDb: "Red Nights"

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"X: The Unheard Music"

The Pussycat Theatre, 6656 Hollywood Blvd., is seen in "X: The Unheard Music" (Skouras Pictures, 1986), W.T. Morgan's documentary about the L.A. punk band X. 

 

We go around to the alley south of the theatre. 

Brendan Mullen takes us down the stairs. From August 1977 until January 1978 the basement under the theatre and the adjacent office building at Hollywood and Cherokee had  been his infamous punk club, Masque. The club didn't last longer because it was closed by the Fire Marshal.  

 

 Looking at the walls.  

 

The film cuts to a vintage black and white still and zooms into that for the trip down the stairs.

More investigation.

 

Another look at graffitti. 

 

Surplus seats. 

See the page about the Pussycat / Ritz Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. It had opened in 1940 as a newsreel house.

On IMDb: "X: The Unheard Music" 

 

For more recent footage of the basement see "Masque," an 11 minute video made in 2012 by Mike Plante that's on Vimeo. Esotouric had located it for a Facebook post that was spotted by Terrence Butcher. 

"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"

"Vice Squad"

"On the street the real trick is staying alive." Season Hubley is a single mom working as a prostitute who reluctantly becomes a police informant in "Vice Squad" (Avco Embassy, 1982). On the right it's the Vogue Theatre, 6675 Hollywood Blvd. That's Las Palmas Ave. beyond.

The film also features Gary Swanson, Wings Hauser, Pepe Serna, Beverly Todd, Nina Blackwood and Sudana Bobatoon. Gary Sherman directed. The cinematography was by John Alcott. 

A view east across Las Palmas with Musso and Frank at the far right. The Vogue, now used as a church, was a 1935 design by S. Charles Lee.

Looking for action near the Cinema Theatre, 1122 N. Western Ave. It's a bit north of Santa Monica Blvd. The building survives but it's been churched. 

 

 

 

A bit of the Tiffany Theatre is seen in this late night view. It was at 8532 Sunset Blvd., west of La Cienega. It's been demolished. 

 

 

 

Back on Hollywood Blvd. This shot looks across toward the Pussycat Theatre, 6656 Hollywood Blvd., on the south side of the street between Cherokee and Las Palmas. It opened in 1940 as a newsreel house called the News-View. Later it was the New-View and, after its Pussycat era, was a revival house called the Ritz. 

 

 

 

Down the street across from the Fox Theatre, 6523 Hollywood Blvd. This over-exposed view made it into the trailer but not the finished film. At the time of the shoot they were running "The Fan" with Lauren Bacall and James Garner. 

 

A look west toward the Hollywood Pacific, the theatre that debuted in 1928 as the Warner Hollywood. 

 

Closer to Cahuenga for another Hollywood Pacific shot. 

 

A view east from El Centro toward the Pix, 6126 Hollywood Blvd. It opened in 1926 as a legit house called the Music Box and has also been called the Fox, Guild and Henry Fonda. It's now a music venue called the Fonda Theatre. They were running John Carpenter's "Escape From New York," a June 1981 release.

For more information about the theatres that are seen in the film see the Los Angeles Theatres pages about the Vogue, Cinema Theatre, Tiffany, New-View/Pussycat, Fox, Warner/Hollywood Pacific and the Music Box/Pix. 

On IMDb: "Vice Squad"   

Thanks to Ray Ottulich for the nudge about the Hollywood Blvd. footage in this film. He included a shot of the Vogue in his post about the film for The World of Noir Facebook group.  Elizabeth Pearce notes that the full film can be seen on a Russian website: https://ok.ru/video/1246674291455