"My Best Girl"

We're on Broadway with Mary Pickford on the back of a truck in "My Best Girl" (United Artists, 1927).  She's going north and has pretended to drop her purse in the hope that Buddy Rogers will spot it and come running. He does.

On the right it's the construction fence for the United Artists Theatre, 933 S. Broadway. When it opened  on December 31, 1927 this film was the initial attraction. This Broadway footage begins 13 minutes into the film. Sam Taylor directed. The cinematography was by David Kesson and Charles Rosher.  

 

A shot in the 800 block that, in the film, comes before the previous one. The "Columbia" sign on the right, at 8th and Broadway, is for Columbia Outfitters. The Eastern Columbia Building would rise on that corner in 1930. On the far right it's the Majestic Theatre at 845 S. Broadway. It would be demolished in 1933. 

 

 

Still on the 800 block with the Majestic receding into the distance. On the right, above Mary's head, it's Tally's Broadway at 833 S. Broadway. The awnings on the far right are at the May Co. department store. On the left it's the construction fence at the Platt Music Co. building, just north of the Orpheum. 

 

Up to the 700 block with some of the Loew's State building on the right. Buddy is finally on board. 

 

 

The scene ends with the couple just north of 7th St. Reader, she married him. 

See the pages about the United Artists, the Majestic Theatre, Tally's Broadway, the Orpheum and Loew's State on the Los Angeles Theatres site. 

On IMDb: "My Best Girl"    The full film is on YouTube from Classic Hollywood Movies -- and there's also another post of it from The Cinema Cellar. 

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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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"Godzilla"

Most of Roland Emmerich's "Godzilla" (TriStar Pictures, 1998) is set in New York but a substantial chunk was shot in downtown Los Angeles on Main, Broadway, 6th, 7th and 8th streets. This shot, from about 48 minutes into the film, looks down Broadway toward 7th St. On the right it's the State Theatre. We'll see a lot of it. See the pages about the State Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. 

 

The film features Mathew Broderick, Jean Reno, Maria Pitillo, Hank Azaria, Kevin Dunn, Michael Lerner, Harry Shearer, Arabella Field, Vicki Lewis and Doug Savant. The cinematography was by Ueli Steiger.  

 

Another look-out-the-back-window shot from early in the film. Thanks to Kevin Binger for noting the L.A. locations in a Facebook post for the group Film Locations - Then and Now. 

 

 

 

Much, much later Matthew, Jean and several others escape from the beast in a taxi and try to get out of town. But we seem to be going around and around the same few blocks. Here we're on 7th looking west with the State on the left. They were running Disney's "Hercules."   

 

 

 The cab that our team is in heads west across Broadway. 

 

 

A view out the windshield. Godzilla approaches on the right from the 600 block. 

 

 

 Big trouble. 

 

 

 Driving over his toes. 

 

At last, on a different block. On the left it's the side of the Tower Theatre as the cab turns off Broadway to go east on 8th St. 

 

 

  

The beast rounds the corner a moment later.  See the pages about the Tower Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. It opened in 1927, a design by S. Charles Lee that's been turned into an Apple store. 

 

 

Guess what? Another look at the State Theatre in this view south.  

 

 

 

A corner view of the State. On the right in this shot we're looking west on 7th.  

 

 

Finally a view farther down Broadway. We're looking north from 8th St. On the right it's the Globe Theatre, in a three-story building at 744 S. Broadway. But the building the Globe is in is actually much taller. For the film they whacked it off at the cornice above the 3rd floor to make room for Godzilla to swing his tail around. 

 

 

A view of the Globe's truncated building a moment later. See the pages about the Globe Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. It opened in 1913 as the Morosco, a two-balcony legit house. It's now a nightclub.  

 

 

We move farther north on Broadway for this shot in the 600 block. On the left note the bottom of one of the vertical signs of the Palace Theatre, 630 S. Broadway. For the theatre on the right they've added some signage on top of the readerboard so we don't recognize it as the Los Angeles, an unlikely name for a theatre in New York. See the Los Angeles Theatres site's pages about the Palace Theatre and the Los Angeles. 

 

 

 

Circling back to 8th St. for yet another shot of the Tower Theatre.  Here the cab is coming out of the alley behind the theatre to head west on 8th. 

 

 

A last look at the Tower to end the film's tour of downtown Los Angeles theatres.  

On IMDb: "Godzilla" 

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"Don Jon"

"Do you like movies?" Scarlett Johansson asks Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the romcom "Don Jon" (Relativity Media, 2013). It's set in New Jersey but the location they used for a date was the Valley Plaza Theatres in North Hollywood. He likes seducing many different girls but also has a love of porno. 

 

The film, directed by Gordon-Levitt, also features Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Brie Larson and Glenne Headly. The cinematography was by Thomas Kloss. Thanks to Jared Cowan for identifying the theatre. He included the film in "This Dilapidated Valley Shopping Center Is the Backdrop for Decades of Huge Movies and TV Shows," his fine 2020 article for Los Angeles Magazine. 

 

 

Heading into the lobby. Most people buy tickets at the boxoffice. These two are going to go look at the posters and then decide what to see.   

 

"So Hard So Fast" in 3-D is the movie more to his taste. Yet she's making all the decisions and loves romcoms as well as the two actors in "Special Someone," played by Channing Tatum and Anne Hathaway.

 

He goes along with it and they head into auditorium #3.

 

During the movie she's enthralled but he tells us in voiceover what he thinks of the unrealistic plots and sappy characters of the genre. 

 

For the sake of the romance he pretends to have enjoyed it. Nice to see the seat counts for three of the complex's auditoria. 

 

 

The big moment in the middle of the lobby. He leans in for the first kiss.  

 

 

Of course we get the 360 degree pan around to observe. She turns out to be wonderful but he still needs to creep out of bed and watch porno. Julianne Moore is the one who eventually straightens him out.

 

For more about this six screen complex see the page about the Valley Plaza Theatres on the Los Angeles Theatres site. It opened in 1976 and closed for good in 2020. The building is in NoHo at 6355 Bellingham Ave., just south of Victory Blvd.  

 

 

Later in the film Joseph is out at a joint getting some New Jersey style pizza with his buddies. The location is the 7th St. side of the State Theatre, 7th and Broadway. We see a Metro bus go by. 

On IMDb: "Don Jon"

"Why Do Fools Fall In Love"

It's 1956 and singer Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers are touring with an Alan Freed Rock and Roll show in "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" (Warner Bros., 1998). Frankie, played by Larenz Tate, dies young of a drug overdose. In this Rashomon-like tale, three women each claim to be his widow, tell different stories about Frankie and, of course, each want his estate. 

Little Richard is in a courtroom narrating a flashback as we pan across the room and get this image. That's a bit of the courtroom paneling on the left. One look at the terrazzo tells you we're at the Los Angeles Theatre, 615 S. Broadway. There's signage saying it's the Paramount Theatre. Freed did do lots of shows at the Brooklyn Paramount, as seen in "American Hot Wax" where the Wiltern was used as a stand-in. But here Richard's narration says that we're on the road somewhere.

Halle Berry plays Zola Taylor, a singer with the Platters. Later Frankie meets and marries Vivica A. Fox as Elizabeth, who may already be married. Lela Rochon plays the third wife, schoolteacher Emira Eagle. Also featured are Paul Mazursky as the manager/music publisher and Pamela Reed as the Judge. Ben Vereen is also in the mix. Gregory Nava directed. The cinematography was by Edward Lachman.

 

"Biggest Show of Stars For '56."

 

The crowd alongside the boxoffice.

 

The rush into the lobby. Note that lovely carpet the theatre had at the time. 

 

The inner lobby and snackbar. 

 

Onstage it's the Platters with Halle Berry playing the lead singer. 

 

 

 

The Platters coming off. Offstage right in front of the dimmerboard Larenz, playing Frankie, tells Halle how great she was and gives her a kiss. He gets slapped. But then she watches his performance. 

 

Frankie and the Teenagers wowing the crowd. 

 

 

 

A view from the 2nd balcony at the end of a number by the Teenagers. 

 

 

A later scene in the lobby of the Los Angeles Theatre. By this time Halle and Larenz's characters have become a couple. The theatre is being used as the lobby of the Chelsea Hotel. They're about to get on a bus for another tour.

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. 

 

Another town, another show. Larenz, as Frankie, has been on and off drugs. We're in Philadelphia and Paul Mazursky has given him another chance. But he hasn't shown up yet for this show.  

 

 

 

Getting his fix under the fire escapes. 

 

A shot into the auditorium reveals that we're onstage at the State Theatre, 7th and Broadway. 

 

Paul fretting backstage about Frankie's whereabouts. Behind the rigging it's Vivica A. Fox as Elizabeth, with Frankie at the time. 

 

He shows up and goes on but then collapses.

See the pages about the State Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for information about the history along with many photos.  

 

Vivicas's character becomes a hooker to support Frankie and his drug habit. For this New York shot they used the 500 block of Broadway. Check out the pages about the Arcade, Cameo and Roxie theatres on the Los Angeles Theatres site for more information and photos inside and out.  

 

 

Years later, swearing he's clean, Larenz's character gets told by Paul Mazursky "You're a junkie. That's why you're not playing the Orpheum tonight." Standing in for a mythical New York Orpheum it's the one in Los Angeles at 842 S. Broadway.

 

 

 

Larenz turns up to see the show. The Platters have dumped Halle Berry's character, Zola, but she now has a solo career.

 

The obligatory Orpheum ceiling shot. 

 

 

An enthusiastic audience for Halle's character.

 

 

 

A look into the house while Halle is onstage. 

 

The view from the top as Little Richard and his piano come onstage on a wagon. Larenz, as Frankie, comes out despondent and looks for a fix. Within a week he's dead of an overdose. Thanks to Dean Lent for a nudge about the theatres appearing in the film -- he was on the camera crew for the shoot at the Orpheum.

See the pages about the Orpheum Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of this 1926 vintage vaudeville house.  

On IMDb: "Why Do Fools Fall in Love"