"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"

"Undercover Girl"

We get this fine footage looking north on Broadway to start the title sequence for "Undercover Girl" (Universal-International, 1950). On the left it's the United Artists Theatre, 933 S. Broadway. 

 

"The Inside Story of America's Daring Police Women!" Alexis Smith is in the New York Police Academy when she gets the word that her father was killed on the job and that he may have taken a bribe to pay her school bills. She goes undercover in L.A. to help solve the case. The film also features Scott Brady, Richard Egan, Gladys George, Gerald Mohr, Edmon Ryan and Royal Dano. Joseph Pevney directed. The cinematography was by Carl E. Guthrie.  

 

The streetcar comes toward us and veers off onto Broadway Place.

See the pages about the United Artists Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for many photos of all areas of the building. It's now known as the Theatre at Ace Hotel.  

 

The titles continue with a shot of Main St. On the left it's the Regent Theatre, 448 S. Main St. They were running "Dance Hall" (1941) with Carole Landis and Cesar Romero, "Bowery Blitzkreig" (1941) with Leo Gorcey and "Raiders of the West" (February 1942) starring Bill 'Cowboy Rambler' Boyd.  Sorry to say that we don't get any interesting street views after the titles.

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: "Undercover Girl" 

"Special Delivery"

Bo Svenson drives by the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on his way into downtown to rob a bank in "Special Delivery" (American International, 1976). We also see the Bonaventure Hotel under construction. Paul Wendkos directed this story about a bank robber who puts the loot into a mailbox and, unknown to him, has several witnesses. 

See the page about the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on the Los Angeles Theatres site for more about this theatre. 

Cybill Shepard and Michael C. Gwynne were the ones who saw what he did with the loot. The film also features Mel Scott, Phillip R. Allen, Alex Colon, Vic Tayback and Jeff Goldblum. The cinematography was by Harry Stradling, Jr. 

 

 

 

The Farmers and Merchants Bank Building at 4th and Main is standing in for the bank that gets robbed. On the way we get a look at the Regent Theatre, 448 S. Main St. Thanks to Eric Schaefer for spotting the theatre in the film and getting this screenshot.

 

At the bank. Bo is getting out of the black car while his colleagues are getting out of the truck in the foreground. 

 

 

A guard holds back the spectators after the robbery.  

 

 

 

The police start arriving. In the center that's the Canadian Building at Winston and Main. 

 

 

Instead of fleeing the building, the robbers go to the roof and make their way onto adjacent buildings. We're looking south toward the Rosslyn Hotel buildings at 5th and Main. 

 

 

More police and another look at the Regent. 

The escape via a swingstage doesn't go as planned with one of the team dead and two others caught by the police. Bo runs. He's headed toward Main in this shot in a lot that had been the site of the Gayety Theatre, 523 S. Main. 

 

Dodging bullets in the parking lot. Ruth's Shrimp Shack was at 511 S. Main. 

 

A run through another parking lot fronting on Main St. This one had been the site of the Optic Theatre, 533 S. Main. 

 

Coming out onto Main St. with a look north toward 5th St. The Regent Theatre is up in the next block, behind that white van. After all this great downtown action, the film shifts to backlot stuff for the scenes with the mailbox where he deposits the loot and also meets his new partner, Cybill Shepard. In addition to the Main St. locations the film also goes to the Arts District and Chinatown.

 

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: "Special Delivery" '

Thanks to Sean Ault for a nudge about checking out the various Main St. locations. He notes that the full film can be seen on YouTube. The Blu-Ray can be rented from Vidiots.

"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"

"Cadillac Records"

In "Cadillac Records" (Sony Pictures, 2008) we get about 10 seconds of film near the beginning labeled "Chicago" but it's actually Main St. with the Regent marquee plainly visible down the block. The building on the left is the Canadian Building. It's a bit of the footage originally shot for "Devil in a Blue Dress." Many of the urban portions of "Cadillac Records" were shot in New Jersey.

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: "Cadillac Records"

"The Street With No Name"

Our story in "The Street With No Name" (20th Century Fox, 1948) begins with a bank robbery in  the town they're calling Center City where we're cautioned that gangsterism is increasing. In the background is an unidentified theatre with "Li" at the top of its vertical. They decided to conceal the rest behind a "Now Playing" banner.

The film, directed by William Keighley, stars Mark Stevens and Richard Widmark in a tale of an FBI informant trying to infiltrate a mob of gangsters. The cinematographer for the film was Joseph McDonald.

Stevens, seen here in the center, is the FBI agent on the case looking for a place to live on sleazy Dock St. so that he'll blend in and maybe get acquainted with members of the gang. Walking down the street he passes the Optic Theatre, 533 S. Main St. Note the Optic signage above the display case.

Jack Tillmany notes that in the postercase behind the woman in the shot above the movie they're advertising is "Manila Calling," another 20th Century Fox film, from 1942, starring Lloyd Nolan, who himself plays a leading role in this one.

It's easy to think we're on the 400 block of S. Main St. as we cut to this shot of that block as soon as we pass the Optic. The Gilbert Hotel at 417 is just south of the Muse Theatre, one we see later in the film.

Stevens crosses Main St. at Winston giving us a look south at the Regent Theatre, 448. S. Main. He's going to stay at the Royal Hotel, 416 S. Main.

Stevens heads to the Dock Street Gym, actually a building at 323 S. Main St. once a theatre known at different times as the New Star, Bijou and Regal. It was built in 1894 as a German social hall. By the time of the filming its theatre days were long gone and it had become a gym.

A bit of the Regal's proscenium and balcony.

Another view to house left. 

The rear of what had been the auditorium. Don't worry about the woman who just came in the back door. Maybe she was a subplot that didn't make the final cut.

Another view to the rear, this time giving us a look at the house right stairs to the balcony. 

A fine look across the street from the gym's front door.

A view toward the stage end of the building with Richard Widmark on the stairs. He owns the place and also heads the gang the Mark Stevens will crack. Later we get a tour of the gym's basement where Widmark keeps his arsenal.

Stevens gets in with the gang. One night they drop him off at his hotel giving us another view south to the Regent. 

 As he gets out of the car we get a view across the street at the Muse Theatre, 417 S. Main St.

A better view of the Muse's clamshell entrance is seen as the car pulls away.

 

Crossing again. The building at the corner is the Canadian Bldg., still standing at the corner of Winston and Main.

A fine view along the east side of the 500 block. 

See the pages about the Optic Theatre, the Regent Theatre, the Muse Theatre, and the Regal Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of these Main St. houses. Of the four, the Regent is the only survivor.

On IMDb: "The Street With No Name"

"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"