"Hollywood Shuffle"

The Baldwin Theatre was used for the "Sneakin' In Movies" skit in Robert Townsend's film "Hollywood Shuffle" (Samuel Goldwyn Co., 1987).  Jimmy Woodard is there with Robert doing a Siskel and Ebert style review of new films so that you know what is worth actually paying for. 

 

Thanks to Victor Lerma for the intel about the shoot at the Baldwin. He comments: "Just listened to Robert Townsend on the Questlove podcast tell a story about mopping the theater in exchange for filming inside." The film was made on a budget of $100,000, including $40,000 of credit card spending.  

 

They don't like films with titles they can't pronounce like "Amadeus Meets Salieri" because stumbling over a title won't impress your girlfriend. Richard Cummings, Jr. plays the usher who comes along asking to see their tickets.  

The theatre was at 3741 S. La Brea Ave. in the Baldwin Hills area. The building's still there, more or less. It's been rebuilt into office and retail space. See the Baldwin Theatre page on the Los Angeles Theatres site for many photos. 

"Hollywood Shuffle" also features Craigus R. Johnson, Helen Martin, Scarletta DuPois, Marc Figueroa, Sarah Kaite Coughlan, Brad Sanders, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Damon Wayans and Nick Stewart. The cinematography was by Peter Deming.

 

 

Robert goes out on Pico to see a friend who has a barbershop just west of La Brea. As he parks we see the signage for the Del Mar Theatre over on the right.  He's looking for some career advice. He wants to be an actor instead of working all his life at Winky Dinky Dog. 

The Del Mar is at 5036 W. Pico. It's had several uses since its movie days were over including as a post-production sound studio. Since 2023 it's been an art gallery. See the Los Angeles Theatres page about the Del Mar Theatre for more about the building.  

 

 

 

We get some scenes using the Ebony Showcase Theatre. Here Robert has come in the back door looking a bit lost and some actors up on the flyfloor tell him where his shoot is. 

 

 

 

A dressing room shot at the Ebony. 

 

Robert fantasizes a lot about upcoming career accomplishments, including this awards scene that was presumably also shot at the Ebony Showcase. At the end of the film we see him in a commercial for the Post Office.

The Ebony was at 4720 W. Washington Blvd. It opened around 1923 as the Rimpau and was later known as the Metro before Nick and Edna Stewart took it over as a home for plays featuring Black actors. It's been replaced by a newer theatre owned by the City of Los Angeles. See the Ebony Showcase page on the Los Angeles Theatres site for more information.

On IMDb: "Hollywood Shuffle"

An article by Rebecca Usoro discusses the making of the film on a page from the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

"Wilson"

Woodrow Wilson, played by Alexander Knox, is at a political rally during his campaign for Governor of New Jersey in Henry King's film "Wilson" (20th Century Fox, 1944). The theatre they used was the Biltmore at 5th and Grand. Thanks to theatre historian Kurt Wahlner for identifying the theatre in the film and capturing this grand panorama that opens our visit to the theatre. Click on it for a better view.

The film stars Geraldine Fitzgerald, Thomas Mitchell, Ruth Nelson, Mary Anderson, Ruth Ford, Madeleine Forbes, Charles Coburn, Vincent Price, Eddie Foy Jr. and Cedric Hardwicke. The cinematography was by Leon Shamroy and an uncredited Ernest Palmer. 

 

Thanks to Kurt for all the screenshots appearing on this page. He comments: 

 

"The picture never fails to trot out a brass band, and this is no exception - placing the band in the stage boxes house right, with the pit filled with supporters. The scene is fairly lengthy. There is a sweep of the orchestra floor, lots of footage of Wilson speaking from the stage, Thomas Mitchell heckling him from the balcony. I did enjoy it - even though TONS of stuff was glossed over and there were more than a few outright falsehoods, but on the whole, I can see that being hectored with Wilson’s message had audiences going, 'We’re workin’ on it, we’re working on it!' in the closing year of WWII.

"But Wilson’s story IS inspirational and terribly sad, because, at the end, it makes you wonder what a man’s life is for - what does it amount to? Reading about Wilson recalls the 'nattering nabobs' and the film, I think, captured that, without sending everyone out on a total buzz-kill. I was wondering how far they would go with his story - he leaves the White House; end. Not a bad place to end it, but it skips the fact that, as a bed-ridden paralytic, he wanted to run for a third term in 1920. He got clobbered, got progressively worse and died in 1924. Not a good ending!

"I very much doubt that WILSON will ever be fixed up by our chums at Fox. I very much doubt that another Technicolor thing with a similar time frame, 'Life With Father,' will ever improve from its current video edition - and it was a whopping hit. But it was sort of cringe-worthy when I finally saw it a couple years ago."

 

 

Enthusiasm among the delegates at the back of the main floor.  

 

Getting a look at the side boxes as the camera pans toward the stage. 

 

 

Alexander Knox onstage as Wilson. 

 

 

A look at the action on house left side of the main floor.  

A better look at the band in the house right boxes. 

 

 

 

A collage of the pan from the band up to the 2nd balcony, encompassing the last shot and the next two.  Kurt comments: "Some of the film has decidedly odd uses of colored gels to heighten mood."

 

Panning up the house right wall. 

 

 

The crowd in the 2nd balcony. 

 

 

William Eythe as "Princeton Man" George Felton leading cheers in the 1st balcony  

 

 

A 1st balcony view to the stage. 

 

 

Thomas Mitchell as Joseph Patrick Tumulty. 

Another view of Mitchell. He's asking if Wilson, in his mission to root out corruption, will go after party bosses such as the ones sitting in the house left boxes. 

 

 

Alexander Knox, as Wilson, addresses the party bosses in the boxes.  

 

 

Directing his remarks to Mitchell in the balcony. 

 

Thurston Hall, as Senator Edward Jones, addresses the crowd. 

 

 

Time to strike up the band. 

 

They're not worried. It's all just talk. James Rennie as boss Jim Beeker, Thurston Hall as Senator Edward Jones, unknown, and J.M. Kerrigan as Ed Sullivan

 

The theatre, adjacent to the Biltmore Hotel, opened in 1924. See the Biltmore Theatre page on the Los Angeles Theatres site for photos and data. 

 

 

For the scenes at the 1912 Democratic convention we're at the Shrine Auditorium's Expo Hall. Kurt comments: "The scenes at the conventions are hair-raising in their logistical scope." The Hall is a flat-floored space with a wrap-around balcony that's on the north side of the Shrine Auditorium. Here we're looking in from the 32nd St. entrance. The Auditorium portion of the complex is behind the far wall.

 

 

A look toward the east wall. 

 

 

 

Another view toward the dais and the south wall of the hall. 

 

 

An unidentified politician. There are many speeches.

 

 

 

Paul Everton as Judge John W. Westcott placing Wilson's name in nomination.  

 

 

Cy Kendall as New York Delegation leader Charles F. Murphy pledging to champion Clark.

 

 

 

An unknown actress as Lady Liberty. 

 

Lady Liberty's profile shot. 

 

George Macready as Wilson's Convention Manager William McCombs telling Wilson he thinks the nomination has been lost. The reply is that he'll be hanging in there until the end and his delegates shouldn't be released. 

 

Edwin Maxwell as William Jennings Bryan announcing Nebraska's delegates will back Wilson. 

 

 

Another cue for the band: Wilson will be the 1912 Democratic Party nominee!

"Wilson" returns to the Expo Hall for the 1916 Democratic convention but it's just a brief moment of coverage compared to the circus we see for 1912.

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. There's also a separate page for the Expo Hall. 

Thanks to Kurt Wahlner for the screenshots as well as the work identifying the actors in various shots. Visit his terrific site about the Chinese Theatre: GraumansChinese.org

On IMDb: "Wilson"

 

Alexander Knox onstage at the Biltmore in "Wilson." It's a promotional still that appears on IMDb.

"I'm Gonna Git You Sucka"

 

Keenan Ivory Wayans goes to the Black Revolutionary Headquarters when he's looking for help taking back the neighborhood in the blaxploitation spoof "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka" (United Artists, 1988). 

 

We're looking at a storefront just east of the entrance to the Ebony Showcase Theatre, 4720 W. Washington Blvd. The building was identified by Kurt Crucial in his fine twenty minute "80s Life" piece on YouTube about the film's locations. Thanks to Sean Ault for locating it.  

 

The film also features Bernie Casey, Isaac Hayes, Jim Brown, Antonio Fargas, Dawnn Lewis, Ja'net Dubois, Damon Wayans and Clu Galagher. Keenan Ivory Wayans directed. The cinematography was by Tom Richmond. 

 

The plan of action is targeting the businesses owned by Mr. Big, the local crime lord played by John Vernon. Here one of the guys is throwing a bomb into the entrance of the Belasco Theatre, 1050 S. Hill St. The curse of the neighborhood is too many gold chains so Mr. Big's Chains 'R' Us and Jewelry Salon stores are targets.

 

 

A bomb into another storefront. Note all the chains in the window.

 

A wider view as the guys drive away. The theatre entrance is on the left, with milk glass letters saying "1050 South Hill." On the right it's the entrance to the second floor ballroom. 

 

 

The blast at the Chains 'R' Us store in the Belasco building. 

 

A moment later.  

 

 

As the guys drive away we get a look north toward the marquee of the Mayan Theatre, 1038 S. Hill.

Thanks to Sean Ault for spotting the Hill St. action in the film. See the pages about the Belasco and Mayan theatres on the Los Angeles Theatres site for historic data and many photos of each building. 

On IMDb: "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka"

"Naked Alibi"

The AAA Theatre, 8612 S. Broadway, is seen on the right in this quick shot 6:42 into "Naked Alibi" (Universal-International, 1954). A policeman has been killed and all cars are called into action to hunt for the killer. The image is from the trailer for the film. 

The police car is turning north onto Broadway. That's the Broadway Merry-Go-Round Restaurant on the southeast corner of Broadway and Manchester with an address of 8606 S. Broadway. The Arrow Furniture Exchange is next door at 8608 S. Broadway.  

The film stars Sterling Hayden, Gloria Grahame, Gene Barry, Marcia Henderson, Max Showalter and Stuart Randall. Jerry Hopper directed. The cinematography was by Russell Metty. We finish the action in Tijuana. 

 

Sorry to say that the Kino Lorber Blu-ray of the film seriously crops the frame. But we can read the titles on the marquee: Stewart Granger and Wendell Corey in "The Wild North" (1952) along with Errol Flynn in "Adventures of Captain Fabian" (1951).   

See the page about the AAA Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of this movie house.

The full film can be seen in a low-res version on Internet Archive.  

On IMDb: "Naked Alibi"

"Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody"

We get a lot of theatre time in "Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody" (Columbia, 2022). The film is bookended with a performance at the Metropolitan/Wang Theatre in Boston. And there's a visit to the Radio City Music Hall.

It's a biopic about, yes, Whitney Houston. Anthony McCarten wrote the script, Kasi Lemmons directed. The cinematography was by Barry Ackroyd. The film stars Naomi Ackie as Whitney, Stanley Tucci as Clive Davis, Tamara Tunie as Cissy Houston and Ashton Sanders as Bobby Brown.

 A lovely Shrine Auditorium flyover shot before we go to the Soul Train Music Awards.  

 

We cut to this rowdy street scene outside the Shrine before the Soul Train Awards. Except we're not at the Shrine. This was shot elsewhere. 

 

 

 

For the Soul Train scenes the lobby and auditorium shots were done at the Emerson Majestic Theatre in Boston.  

 

Later in the film we're headed to the Billboard Music Awards. Here Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown are coming in the front doors of the Los Angeles Theatre, 615 S. Broadway. 

 

Heading up the stairs.

Posing on the stairs. This particular shot from the trailer isn't in the finished film. 

 

 

 

A later shot across a piano during a rehearsal. 

 

A wider view reveals we're in the basement lounge of the Los Angeles. They're rehearsing "Star Spangled Banner" for the Super Bowl.

Looking toward the lounge entrance. That blue drape at the end hides the entrance to the men's room.

See the pages about the Shrine Auditorium and the Los Angeles Theatre on the L.A. Theatres site for a history of the two buildings along with hundreds of photos.

On IMDb: "Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody"