"L.A.X."

A "Closed For Restoration" shot of the Vista Theatre from Fabrice Ziolkowski's "L.A.X." (1980), dubbed "A hypnotic city symphony of bygone LA." Los Angeles Filmforum and the Philosophical Research Society in Los Feliz are hosting a July 17 screening of the 90 minute film as part of the PRS "Yesterday LA2026" series. Tickets are on Eventbrite.

See the pages about the Vista Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. As noted on the marquee it was to reopen August 1. It originally opened in 1923 as Bard's Hollywood Theatre.  

There's a listing for the film on the Fabrice Ziolkowski website. The description:

"Avant-garde documentary / 16mm black-and-white / 90 min. — written and directed by Fabrice Ziolkowski. An experimental film essay on Los Angeles as a landscape of movement, exile, infrastructure and disappearance. Screened in museum and festival contexts, including the Reina Sofía in Madrid and the Art Institute of Chicago, and discussed by film historian David E. James in 'The Most Typical Avant-Garde.'"  

Also see the site's "L.A.X." stills page. 

 

Thanks to Chris Nichols, a senior editor at Los Angeles Magazine, for spotting a 7th House Instagram post about the July 17 event and grabbing the shot of the Vista. The latest book by Chris, with Adriene Biondo, is the Angel City Press release "Bowlarama: The Architecture of Mid-Century Bowling." 

 

A look west across Main St. toward the Linda Lea Theatre, 251 S. Main. It began life in 1925 as the Arrow and was decades later rebuilt as the ImaginAsian, later renamed the Downtown Independent and then called The Kult.  

 

The film's view of the back of the Rialto Theatre, 812 S. Broadway. The signage pointing to the "Newsreel Theatre 8th & BDWY" is directing us to the Tower Theatre. It was called the Newsreel from 1950 until 1965.  

 

The April 1979 release "Boulevard Nights" playing with "The Swarm." See the pages about the Orpheum Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site.  It's at 842 S. Broadway. 

 

There's five minutes of footage from the film on Vimeo featuring a long shot of the north side of 5th St. We get a quick look up Hill St. toward the oval Pussycat Theatre signage and then go by the Philharmonic Auditorium. See the pages about the Pussycat/Town Theatre and the Philharmonic Auditorium on the Los Angeles Theatres site. 

There were notes about "L.A.X." on Eventbrite with the listing for the July 17, 2026 screening at the Philosophical Research Society:  

 "A rare screening of a landmark of Los Angeles avant garde cinema, a hypnotically drifting afternoon-to-evening cruise through a bygone LA... and a profound influence on subsequent works ranging from Pat O'Neill's brilliant 'Water and Power' to Thom Andersen's beloved 'Los Angeles Plays Itself.' Returning to Los Angeles screens for the first time in a decade, this seldom-seen work stands today as both an exquisite portrait of Los Angeles in 1980 and an inadvertent future artifact: a patient, immersive record of a city that has continued to erase, reinvent, and transform itself in the years since.

"A true city film and a singular avant-garde entry in the city symphony tradition—from Walter Ruttmann's 'Berlin: Symphony of a Great City' and Dziga Vertov's 'Man with a Movie Camera' to Chantal Akerman's 'News from Home' and Wim Wenders' 'Tokyo-Ga' —L.A.X. follows Los Angeles by car and on foot through long, hypnotic tracking shots and patient observations of its streets, landmarks, and overlooked corners. Created by French-American filmmaker Fabrice Ziolkowski, whose perspective seems suspended between Europe's deeper sense of historical continuity and America's restless appetite for reinvention, 'L.A.X.' brings to Los Angeles an outsider's eye akin to that of cinematic visitors like Agnès Varda, Jacques Demy, Wim Wenders, and John Boorman, rendering even its most familiar landscapes strange, improbable, and newly visible.

"Progressing from sweeping aerial vistas bathed in Southern California's stark, sun-bleached daylight to the seamier nocturnal realities of street-level Hollywood, L.A.X. traces a gradual descent from sunlit mythology into the noir realities and hidden histories that lie beneath. Accompanied by a richly layered soundtrack of ambient sounds, historical and literary texts, and songs ranging from Canned Heat to Robert Johnson, the film reveals a metropolis haunted as much by what is absent as by what remains—its displaced communities, vanished landscapes, and forgotten histories lingering just beyond the edges of the frame.

"The years have transformed what was once a portrait of the contemporary city into a kind of time-traveling road movie and urban séance, conjuring the vanished landscapes and past-lived realities of Los Angeles and inviting viewers to spend an evening drifting through them.

"FABRICE ZIOLKOWSKI is a French-American writer, screenwriter, filmmaker, translator and photographer. His work has moved across film, television, animation, documentary, translation, criticism and photography, often returning to figures and places at the edge of official narratives: workers, musicians, exiles, prisoners, vanished communities and myth-haunted landscapes. He wrote the screenplay for the Oscar-nominated animated feature 'The Secret of Kells' and is currently developing several literary projects, including 'The 12 Labors of Nathan Kowak,' a darkly comic American novel-in-stories."

On IMDb: "L.A.X."

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"Blade"

Wesley Snipes is a vampire hunter in downtown Los Angeles in "Blade" (New Line Cinema, 1998). Yes, that's his weapon of choice. We get this shot of the Tower Theatre, 8th and Broadway, in the opening credits. Wesley's sort of a mutant who can withstand sunlight, a "daywalker." But he's unhappy that he's been infected and does what he can to kill any vampires he encounters. 

 The film also features Kris Kristofferson, N'Bushe Wright, Stephen Dorff, Donal Logue, Udo Kier, Tracy Lords, Arli Jover, Tim Guinee and Sanaa Lathan. Stephen Norrington directed. The cinematography was by Theo van de Sande. 

 

Sunlight hitting Broadway. We're looking north from the Merritt Building at 8th and Broadway. That's the Globe down there at 744 S. Broadway. At the time of the shoot it was retail in the lobby. The nightclub in the auditorium used the alley as the entrance.  

 

Night in the city and the vampires are out. We're looking at the Palace Theatre, 630 S. Broadway. We've flipped this image horizontally. In the film this bit of footage appears backwards. 

 

Wesley is out with N'Bushe Wright, an epidemiologist who has been infected by a vampire bite. That's the Tower Theatre in the background. On the far right a bit of the Hamburger/May Co. building on the southwest corner of 8th and Broadway. 

 

 

Wesley driving south on Broadway with the red neon of the Clifton's vertical behind him.  

 

 

Another look at the Globe Theatre in the 700 block. It's another piece of footage that appears flipped in the film.  

 

 

 

This guy is out for a bite. We're again at 8th and Broadway. There's a sliver of the Tower's marquee on the far left and the dark Rialto Theatre in the center of the image. It's at 812 S. Broadway, now used for retail. 

 

 

A look west across Broadway toward the Olympic Theatre, 313 W. 8th St. On the right it's the Merritt Building, redone for the film to look like a nightclub. 

 

Another view of the Olympic. Thanks to the Worldwide Guide to Film Locations for noting the use of the 8th and Broadway corner in the film. They shared a shot from the scene on the Film Locations - Then and Now Facebook group and noted that Stephen Dorff's vampire club on the corner was called "The Pearl." 

 

 

Wesley and N'Bushe take another walk on 8th St. by the Tower Theatre. On the marquee: "3 For A Buck." 

 

 

A moment later at 8th and Broadway.   

In the daylight once again. We're looking west on 7th with the State Theatre's building across Broadway on the left. Note the Chinatown decor with the pole and phone booth. The film is pretending that we have a big Chinese-style park just out of the frame to the right. Wesley accosts vampire Stephen Dorff there, who had put on sunblock to enable him to try a bit of time in the sunlight.  

 

 

Wesley wants to shoot Stephen but he's holding a child as hostage. The then throws her out of the park, into the street. And gets away. Wesley is distracted and runs to save the kid from an oncoming bus.  

See the Los Angeles Theatres pages about the Globe Theatre, the Olympic Theatre, the Palace Theatre, the Rialto Theatre, the State Theatre and the Tower Theatre. You'll find lots of photos, a history of each venue, and shots from other films in which that theatre has appeared. 

On IMDb: "Blade" 

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"The Choirboys"

A fine view north on Broadway from "The Choirboys" (Universal, 1977), Robert Aldrich's drama about after-hours police debauchery. On the left we get the unlit vertical of the United Artists, 933 S. Broadway. On the right it's the Rialto at 812 S. Broadway, the Tower at 802, the Globe at 744. The shot was taken on the roof of the Los Angeles Railway Co. Building at 11th and Broadway. It's now the Proper Hotel.

Thanks to Tommy Bernard for spotting all the theatres in the film and getting these screenshots. 

 

The film is based on the novel by Joseph Wambaugh and stars Charles Durning, Lou Gossett Jr., Perry King, Clyde Kusatsu, Tim McIntire, Randy Quaid and James Woods. The cinematography was by Joseph Biroc.  

 

Heading north toward 8th with the May Co., Rialto and Tower in view. 

 

 

 

Looking back as the car passes the Rialto. 

 

Crossing 8th St. with a view of the Tower's marquee.

 

 

 

A view north toward the State Theatre at 7th & Broadway. 

 

Another Broadway trip. This time heading south near the Los Angeles Theatre, 615 S. Broadway. 

 

Out on the westside. We're looking north toward the Cinema Theatre, 1122 N. Western Ave. It was a 1939 design by S. Charles Lee.

See the pages about the United Artists, the State Theatre, the Los Angeles Theatre, the Globe Theatre, the Tower Theatre, the Rialto Theatre and the Cinema Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for historic information about the buildings and many photos. 

On IMDb: "The Choirboys"

"Irreconcilable Differences"

Ryan O'Neal and Shelley Long write a movie together in "Irreconcilable Differences" (Warner Bros., 1984). As we see in this shot of the Palace Theatre, 630 S. Broadway, their film is titled "An American Romance." 

A very young Drew Barrymore plays their kid, who's in court asking to be emancipated from them and their endless fighting. Charles Shyer directed with cinematography by William A. Fraker. The film was written by Nancy Meyers and Shyer.  

 

 

 

The film becomes a big hit and we get a montage trying to show it playing in theatres everywhere. But all the views we get are within a couple blocks of the Palace. Here it's at the Rialto, 812 S. Broadway.  This shot is a treat in the film as we see the neon's animation pattern. Now it's nicely restored but there's no movement. 

 

 

 

And then playing at the Orpheum, all the way down the block at 842 S. Broadway. 

 

 

And how about a booking at the Globe, 744 S. Broadway?

See the pages about the Palace, Rialto, Orpheum and Globe theatres on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of these Broadway movie palaces.

We then pay a visit to the La Reina Theatre, 14626 Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks. 

 

Shelley has been talking to the manager about attendance and heads across the street to meet Ryan. 

 

 

Totaling up the film's grosses in the spirit of Christmas. 

See the page about the La Reina Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. It was an S. Charles Lee design that opened in 1938.

On IMDb: "Irreconcilable Differences"

"The Offer"

Downtown views during the shoot:

 

"Live Burlesk On Stage." Vintage cars are ready for action in front of the Orpheum Theatre, 842 S. Broadway. The September 22, 2021 shoot was for "The Offer," a ten part epic for the Paramount+ streaming service. Part of the block was getting dressed to emulate New York's 42nd St. in the early 1970s. Photo: Bill Counter

 

The series is based on the experiences of producer Albert S. Ruddy leading to the filming of "The Godfather" (1972). It stars Miles Teller as Ruddy. Matthew Goode plays Robert Evans. Dan Fogler plays Francis Ford Coppola. Patrick Gallo is Mario Puzo.

 

The Orpheum, other than its marquee copy, wasn't a major player in the action. The buildings getting all the attention were the Brown-Israel Outfitting Building (820 S. Broadway, here with new pizza signage), the Wurlitzer Building (818 S. Broadway, getting several adult businesses) and the Rialto Theatre (812 S. Broadway, now an Urban Outfitters). The Singer Building and the Tower Theatre/Apple store beyond weren't involved. Photo: Bill Counter

 

 

A closer look at the Wurlitzer Building, on the left, and the Brown-Israel Building as the crew installs signage and deploys trash, bus benches, etc. Photo: Bill Counter

 

 

The Wurlitzer Building storefronts get transformed. Photo: Bill Counter

 

 

Not an Urban Outfitters this evening. It had become a theatre again. Photo: Bill Counter

"Live Nudes" going up on the north end of the marquee. Photo: Bill Counter

 

New signage for the Rialto. Photo: Bill Counter

 

 

Copy going up on the south end of the marquee. Photo: Bill Counter

 

The Orpheum gets lit up later in the evening. Photo: Bill Counter

 

Testing Con Ed steam effects. Tubing in the gutter led to a boiler in the parking lot around the corner between the Brown-Israel Building and the Broadway Bar. Photo: Bill Counter

 

Some added neon at the Rialto. Photo: Bill Counter

 

More signage lit at the Wurlitzer Building. And, of course, a Checker cab. Photo: Bill Counter

 

An added piece of neon art at the Hot! Hot! Hot! establishment. Photo: Bill Counter

 

They ordered winter weather. The truck in the foreground from Long Beach Ice Co. had a chipper that turned blocks of ice into snow. The rear truck, from Crystal Ice, was filled with huge blocks. Photo: Bill Counter

 

Adding snow to the wall next to the Broadway Bar. Photo: Bill Counter

 

A snowstorm at the Brown-Israel Building. Photo: Bill Counter

 

Rehearsing a few extras. Photo: Bill Counter

 

Shoveling snow at the Rialto after the marquee soffit lighting was turned on. One of the ice men is at the far left with the hose from the truck over his shoulder. Earlier a guy had been along spraying a dirt solution on the snow in the gutter for a more realistic look. Photo: Bill Counter

 

 

A different look for the lighting. The open soffit worked well for ease of access to mount instruments up out of sight. Photo: Bill Counter 

The camera crew has arrived. The Globe Theatre marquee can be seen down in the 700 block. In the center is a tanker to wet down the street. To the right are the ice chipper and the truck with the blocks of ice. Photo: Bill Counter

 

A look north with cars at the Orpheum awaiting action. Photo: Bill Counter

Visit the pages about the Orpheum Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of the 1926 vintage vaudeville house along with hundreds of photos. See the pages on the Rialto Theatre for many photos of that building, dating from 1917. The site also has pages on the Tower Theatre and the Globe. 

 

 

 

In a mid-December shoot the Los Angeles Theatre, 615 S. Broadway, was used as the location for the premiere of "The Godfather." Thanks to Chris Nichols for sharing this photo on a Facebook post. 

 

 

Posters still in the display cases after the shoot. Photo: Bill Counter - December 16

See the pages about the Los Angeles Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of the building and hundreds of photos. 

 

In the completed series:

In Episode 1 we get a look at the El Rey Theatre dressed up as if it's 1970. It's at 5515 Wilshire Blvd. and now used as a music venue. Thanks to Donavan S. Moye for the screenshot.

On IMDb: "The Offer"