"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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"Predator 2"

On Olympic at Olive as we head toward Broadway in "Predator 2" (20th Century Fox, 1990). In the center that's the back of the United Artists Theatre. The Eastern Columbia Building, in the 800 block, is over on the left. 

 

"He’s in town with a few days to kill." Trey Callaway says he wrote that tagline for the film. It features Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Kevin Peter Hall, Rubén Blades and Bill Paxton. Stephen Hopkins directed. The cinematography was by Peter Levy. 

 

 

We cut to this Broadway shot of the alien up on a non-existent gargoyle. Thanks to Dave Hunter for getting the screenshot. He comments: 

"Obviously a special effects shot, but that’s the United Artists' vertical to the left and the Orpheum on the right. There are many scenes shot outdoors east of Broadway, but no theatres I could espy. A little later the title creature has a good alien roar atop the Eastern Columbia Building."

See the pages about the United Artists, 933 S. Broadway, and the Orpheum Theatre, 842 S. Broadway, on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of these showplaces and many, many photos.

On IMDb: "Predator 2"

"Abandoned"

We get a view north on Broadway in "Abandoned" (Universal-International, 1949). Newspaper reporter Dennis O'Keefe is meeting Gale Storm, who is trying to uncover what happened to her murdered sister. Along the way they investigate a baby broker racket and more. The film also features Raymond Burr, Jeff Chandler, Marjorie Rambeau, Jeanette Nolan and Meg Randall. Joseph M. Newman directed. The cinematography was by William H. Daniels. 

Thanks to Don Goldberg for spotting the theatre in the movie and getting the screenshot. We're supposedly in the coffee shop of the "Fenwick Hotel." Beyond the window on the left it's the marquee of the United Artists Theatre, 933 S. Broadway. The vertical for the Eastern Columbia store can be seen up in the 800 block with a fuzzy view of the Orpheum's marquee across the street. We're looking north from just south of Olympic, where Broadway Place once headed diagonally off to the east from Broadway. 

 

 

A moment later in the coffee shop with a streetcar coming along. This scene is about ten and a half minutes into the film.  

 

Back at the coffee shop for another conference seventeen and a half minutes in. We get a murky view of the "ARTISTS" on the bottom of the UA vertical sign on the left through the Venetian blinds. 

 

A moment later with the UA as well as the Eastern Columbia building visible.  

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 Standard Theater on Broadway. Also see the pages about the Orpheum. 

 

There was no hotel at the location where the background footage was shot, only a two story building called the Triangle Building. In this c.1935 photo from the Los Angeles Public Library collection we're looking south on Broadway with Broadway place curving off to the left. The taller building beyond is the Los Angeles Railway Co. building, now the Hoxton Hotel. Beyond that, on the southeast corner of Broadway and 11th, is the Case Hotel Building, now the Proper Hotel. Across the street it's the Herald Examiner building. See Nathan Masters' piece about the now unused Broadway Place on the KCET website.

 

A little more than 28 minutes into the film Dennis and Gale take a walk north on Grand Ave. On the left just the other side of 5th we see the stage end of the Biltmore Theatre. They're heading to a Turkish Baths place and trying to get information from a guy there by posing as a couple that wants to adopt a baby.

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

On IMDb: "Abandoned"   The full film can be seen on YouTube.

"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" 

"Babylon"

A title at the beginning of Damien Chazelle's "Babylon" (Paramount, 2022) says "Bel-Air, 1926" and all we see is undeveloped scrub-covered hills. But we're headed to a party at the castle-like mansion of the Kinoscope Pictures head Don Wallach, played by Jeff Garlin.

 

This Hollywood epic is set primarily in the 1926 to 1930 period as the silent era ended and the studios began transitioning to sound features. Stars include Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, Jean Smart, Diego Calva, Olivia Wilde, Samara Weaving and Tobey Maguire. The cinematography was by Linus Sandgren.

 

 

That's party-crasher Margot going wild in the ballroom of the house at the top of the hill. We're actually in the inner lobby of the United Artists Theatre, 933 S. Broadway. The exterior shots used a 20s vintage house in Lancaster built by Hancock Park developer Richard Peter Shea. 

 

 

Another UA shot. Yes, that's a midget with a giant penis. That spurts. The venue is now known as the Theatre at Ace Hotel. 

 

 

More partying at the UA. There will also be an elephant at the party, providing cover for several gentlemen to carry out a dead guest. 

 

 

During the party Margot and Diego adjourn to an upstairs room in the mansion where all the host's drugs are kept. The scene was shot in the children's nursery in the basement of the Los Angeles Theatre, 615 S. Broadway.

 

 

 Piles of cocaine on the table. Margot hasn't yet appeared in a film but tells Diego that she's already a star.

 

 

Another shot in the nursery scene. Margot makes quite an impression at the party and is told to report to the studio's set at 8am the next day.  

 

 

Back downstairs. Shall we talk about the elephant in the room?

 

 

The United Artists lobby after the party. 

 

 

For the premiere of the faux-1926 film titled "Maid's Off" we're outside the Los Angeles Theatre. Samara Weaving plays Constance Moore, the star of the film. In real life the Los Angeles didn't open until January 1931.

 

A closer view of the Los Angeles. Margot was basically an extra on the film but she kept stealing scenes and one complaint from the star was that she thought Margot was icing her nipples. 

 

 

Margot at the check-in table trying to get in. She's not even on the guest list. Someone comes up and asks for her autograph and, seeing that, the lady at the desk lets her go in. As she goes in we see the payoff to the "fan" she's hired for the little stunt. 

 

 

In the theatre during the premiere we see Margot watching herself onscreen. Initially concerned and then reveling in the audience's reactions. The scene is reminiscent of "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" when she's watching herself on the screen at the Bruin in Westwood.

 

Margot coming out after the "Maid's Off" premiere at the Los Angeles and greeting the reporters and new fans.

 

 

We get a bit of doctored footage of the Chinese when the studio was premiering their 1926 epic "Blood and Gold." Of course, the theatre didn't open until May 1927. This footage was actually shot during the 1932 premiere of "Grand Hotel." Note the forecourt's hotel "check-in desk" in the center of the image. Kurt Wahlner notes that the verticals are turned off, evidently in an attempt to make the setting appear more like a hotel. 

 

 

Diego, by 1927 a studio executive, goes to New York because everyone's heard that there is quite a buzz around the Warner release "The Jazz Singer." This exterior of the Warner Theatre is back lot stuff.

 

 

When Diego goes inside to find a seat we're at the Orpheum Theatre, 842 S. Broadway. The audience is transfixed by Al Jolson's performance. 

 

 

A pan up to the ceiling with a look at the box at the front of the balcony housing the theatre's digital projector. 

 

 

"The Jazz Singer" is on the Orpheum's screen as the audience stands and cheers.  

 

 

A quick run through the lobby so Diego can call Hollywood to tell his bosses "Everything is going to change." 

 

 

Margot is an ongoing problem and when Diego gets a new job as production head at Kinoscope Studios, where he once was a gofer, one of his tasks is to upgrade her accent, manners and overall behavior. They go to a party at one of the houses of William Randolph Hearst and try to impress the society types in attendance. The film used a mansion in the West Adams neighborhood that was once owned by Busby Berkeley. Margot has gone upstairs to the bathroom and a worried Diego heads up after her. 

 

The room of the mansion she's in is the actually the cosmetics room of the ladies lounge in the basement of the Los Angeles Theatre.  

 

 

After a bit of yelling she promises to behave herself. Of course she doesn't. 

 

 

 

We're back at the Los Angeles again with this lovely shot as Brad Pitt, in the light colored coat, drops in

to observe a showing of his latest 1931 MGM costume drama. 

 

 

 Coming down a side aisle.  

A great shot looking in at the back of the house. 

 

 

Peeking in. It's not going well and the audience is laughing at the serious parts of a love scene. 

 

 

 

More unwanted audience reaction in the first balcony.

 

Elinor St. John, a gossip columnist in the mold of Hedda Hopper who is played by Jean Smart, writes an article saying it's over for Brad's career. Later they have a nice scene together when he visits to ask why she wrote the article. She tells him that it's not really anything he did, or didn't do in the movie. It's just over. He's had his turn. 

Diego had left his studio job after getting enmeshed in a problem revolving around a gambling debt owed by Margot to crime czar Toby Maguire. He's told to get out of town if he wants to live and ends up starting a new life in New York. In 1952 he comes to visit Los Angeles with his wife and daughter and walks by the gates of the studio where he once was an executive. 

 

 

Diego walks aimlessly in Hollywood after his wife and daughter go back to the hotel. The theatre he walks by in "Hollywood" is the Warner Grand at 478 W. 6th St. in San Pedro. 

 

 

 He takes a look at customers coming out. 

 

 

A nice shot of a Warner display case as another customer exits. "Young Man With Ideas" was a May 1952 release with Glenn Ford and Ruth Roman. 

 

 

He buys a ticket and wanders up to the balcony. That's the door to the booth behind him. It seems that he's not been to the movies lately as he's amazed by the magic of it. 

 

 

Looking down at the big screen we learn that the other feature playing is "Singin' in the Rain" with Debbie Reynolds. Earlier in the film we've seen Diego's involvement with a production of the same number decades earlier. The title song of the 1952 film by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown debuted in a Hollywood stage show titled "The Hollywood Music Box Revue" then shortly afterward was in the MGM film "The Hollywood Revue of 1929."

 

 

The audience at the back of the main floor.

 

 

A fine look toward the front of the balcony at the Warner. 

See the pages on the Los Angeles Theatres site about the Orpheum Theatre, the United Artists/Theatre at Ace, the Los Angeles, Grauman's Chinese and the Warner Grand.

 

Shooting at the Los Angeles Theatre, 615 S. Broadway:

Getting the Los Angeles ready for a shoot. Photo: Mike Hume - September 4, 2021

They had been out shooting under the name "Wild Chickens." See a February 2021 article about the film on the site CinemaBlend. Some early scenes were done in Santa Clarita. In mid-September there was shooting at a number of locations in San Pedro including a beach scene with Brad Pitt. See a post by Steve Johnson on the Facebook group "What's Going On in Riverside County" for information about the production's use of the Victoria Bridge in Riverside in May 2021.  

 

 

 

"Opening To-Night." They were trying for a white-on-black look to simulate the milk glass letters of the era. Photo: Bill Counter - September 8, 2021

 

 

A closer look at the letters. Photo: Bill Counter - September 8, 2021

 

 

 

The operation from across the street. Zukor's was moving back into the north storefront. Well, for the film anyway. Photo: Bill Counter - September 8, 2021

 

 

A closer look at the new facade for the north storefront. Photo: Bill Counter - September 8, 2021

 

 

The "Famous For Dresses" sign in place several hours later. Photo: Bill Counter - September 8, 2021

 

 

A new soffit treatment for the film. Photo: Bill Counter - September 8, 2021

 

 

Posters up for a fictitious film and stage show. Photo: Bill Counter - September 8, 2021

 

 

 

The view from across the street. The tarp on the south readerboard was hiding the copy from inquisitive eyes. Photo: Bill Counter - September 8, 2021 

 

 

The marquee copy revealed. It was to be a sneak preview night for "The Captain," a new (fictitious) MGM picture with Jack Conrad. Note the new awning and facade to hide part of the storefront this side of the theatre entrance. Photo: Bill Counter - September 9, 2021

 

 

The new south storefront. Photo: Bill Counter - September 9, 2021

 

 

 

A closer look at the south readerboard. A preview with "two showings daily"? Photo: Bill Counter - September 9, 2021

 

 

Displays south of the boxoffice. "Goose-Land" with Alice Day, "Whispering Canyon" with Jane Novak and "Pleasures of the Rich" with Helene Chadwick all date from 1926. The Los Angeles Theatre opened in 1931. Photo: Bill Counter - September 9, 2021

 

 

 

"Ice-Cooled Air." Photo: Bill Counter - September 9, 2021

 

 

The project as seen from across the street. Photo: Bill Counter - September 9, 2021

 

 

A new face for the clock. Always 15 minutes until show time. Esther Moore and her film were inventions of Mr. Chazelle. Ms. Moore's first name would later be changed to Constance. Photo: Bill Counter - September 9, 2021

 

 

The north readerboard. Here they were saying "New Show Every Wednesday." But they had a banner above the boxoffice touting a different policy: "Program Changed Daily." Photo: Bill Counter - September 9, 2021

 

 

Displays north of the boxoffice. Photo: Bill Counter - September 9, 2021 

 

 

Looking north from 7th after the street was closed. Photo: Bill Counter - September 9, 2021 

 

 

Cars ready for action parked near the Palace. Photo: Bill Counter - September 9, 2021 

 

 

Looking back toward the Palace. Photo: Bill Counter - September 9, 2021

 

 

A view from the east side of the street. Photo: Bill Counter - September 9, 2021 

 

 

The entrance from a bit farther north. Photo: Bill Counter - September 9, 2021

 

 

Neon off during a copy change on the south readerboard. Photo: Bill Counter - September 9, 2021

 

 

Extras heading to the Palace, used as a break area. Photo: Bill Counter - September 9, 2021 

 

 

Red drapes, a chandelier and a mannequin added at Zukor's. Photo: Bill Counter - September 9, 2021

 

 

Cars on the west side of the street. Photo: Bill Counter - September 9, 2021 

 

 

Instructing the premiere's "reporters" on flash powder use. Photo: Bill Counter - September 9, 2021

 

 

Mounting the camera on the remotely operated crane. Photo: Bill Counter - September 9, 2021

 

 

A bit of a camera rehearsal. Photo: Bill Counter - September 9, 2021 

 

 

More rehearsal action. Photo: Bill Counter - September 9, 2021

 

 

Looking north as cars get into position. Photo: Bill Counter - September 9, 2021

 

 

The marquee letters they used weren't backlit. But they were painted with reflective paint. Here, on the right, is seen one of three Lekos they brought out and mounted on stands in the middle of the street. They were framed in to just light the three readerboard sections. Photo: Bill Counter - September 9, 2021 

 

 

Black panels off the marquee and back to the normal look of the soffit. Photo: Bill Counter - September 13, 2021

 

 

A last bit of paint touchup to restore the facade of one of the north storefronts. Photo: Bill Counter - September 13, 2021

 

 

Shooting at the Orpheum Theatre, 842 S. Broadway --

 

Well there was nothing to see on the front of the theatre but it was a lovely fashion show on 9th St. as extras made their way back to the Orpheum after a lunch break. Photo: Bill Counter - September 13, 2021

 

 

A group crossing at 9th and Broadway. Photo: Bill Counter - September 13, 2021

 

 

 

A parade of 1927 evening wear on 9th east of Broadway. Photo: Bill Counter - September 13, 2021

 

 

Heading into the alley and the Orpheum's rear exits. Photo: Bill Counter - September 13, 2021

 

 

The encampment behind the theatre. There was more across the street. And north of the United Artists / Theatre at Ace. And yet more west of the Eastern Columbia Building. Photo: Bill Counter - September 13, 2021 

 

 

Meanwhile, at the United Artists / Theatre at Ace, 933 S. Broadway:

 

 

Earlier the production had shot a big party scene in the lobby at the United Artists. At this point the lobby was being used as makeup space while filming was happening at the Orpheum. Photo: Bill Counter - September 14, 2021 

 

 

A closer look under the bridge. Photo: Bill Counter - September 14, 2021

See the pages on the Los Angeles Theatres site about the Orpheum Theatre, the United Artists/Theatre at Ace, the Los Angeles, Grauman's Chinese and the Warner Grand.

On IMDb: "Babylon" | Trailer 1 | Trailer 2 red band | 

The work of production designer Florencia Martin is discussed in "How Babylon's production designer resurrects a Hollywood long gone," a December 27, 2022 L.A. Times story by Jordan Riefe. Thanks to Donavan S. Moye for spotting it. 

Also see "What's the real life Hollywood history behind 'Babylon'? We asked the experts," a second Times story by Mr. Riefe that appeared on December 27.