"Cobra"

Sylvester Stallone and his partner Reni Santoni are wandering Main St. looking for leads in a murder case in "Cobra" (Cannon, 1986). They've been told to do whatever they have to in search of the killer. Thanks to Sean Ault for noting the film's Main St. action. 

For this shot they've added some neon to make the block look more interesting than it was. On the far right it's the doorway to the Howell Hotel, 549 S. Main. The  yellow-ocher wall with the red-framed display case is the Art Theatre in the same building at 551 S. Main. We're looking south toward 6th St. That "Deardens" neon on the far left is on a building on the southeast corner of 7th and Main. 

George P. Cosmatos directed this story about an L.A. policeman who has his own violent ways of dealing with criminal types. No actual cobras are involved -- that's his nickname. The film also features Brigitte Neilsen, Andrew Robinson, Brian Thompson, John Herzfeld, Lee Garlington and Val Avery. The cinematography was by Ric Waite. Bill Kenney was the production designer. The film shot in some interesting industrial areas and we see quite a bit of Venice.

Sylvester and Reni coming out of the Howell Hotel, upstairs from the Art Theatre. They also hit a few Main St. bars and a tattoo parlor.  

 

Asking questions in front of the Art Theatre's south display cases. 

 

More questions in front of what had been the Art's boxoffice. They had demolished the tile-fronted original and put a new one to the right, in one of the entrance doorways. 

 

 

 

A detail from the top of the 1.33 version of the shot reveals the outline of the former box office and the light fixture location that had been inside.  

 

 

Another detail from the shot, here looking at the pattern of the tile to the left of the vanished boxoffice.

The look of the boxoffice in 1939. It's a detail from a photo in the Eric Lynxwiler collection. 

 

See the page about the Art Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. The building was demolished several years after this film was shot.  

There's a lot of action in Long Beach. Here as Sylvester and Brigitte turn off Ocean Blvd. in an attempt to lose some killers we get a shot of the closed Imperial and West Coast Theatres, 319 and 333 E. Ocean Blvd.  

 

As the chase in Long Beach continues we get a fuzzy view of the Jergins Trust Building beyond the newspaper rack. It housed the State Theatre, 104 E. Ocean Blvd.

See the pages about the Imperial Theatre, the West Coast and the State Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for information about these three now-vanished Long Beach film palaces.

On IMDb: "Cobra"

"Messiah of Evil"

 

Joy Bang makes the mistake of going to a show at the Fox Venice in "Messiah of Evil" (International Cine Film Corporation, 1973). Thanks to Greg Flewin for this screenshot that he shared in a post about the film on the private Facebook group Venice, Ocean Park and Santa Monica.

 

The title on the marquee of the 1950 Jimmy Cagney film should have warned her that bad things might happen. It's a tale about a mysterious cult in a strange California seaside town. The film, also known as "Dead People," was directed by Willard Huyck and also stars Michael Greer and Marianna Hill.  

 

A look at the boxoffice. The closed sign went up right after Joy bought her ticket. And then the outside lights were turned off.  Screenshot: Greg Flewin

 

 

At the snackbar. There's no staff present so she reaches over and grabs a popcorn. Screenshot: Greg Flewin. Thanks to Cinema Treasures contributor Cleveland Phil for spotting the theatre in the film.

 

See the Los Angeles Theatres page on the Fox Venice Theatre for more about the building, now used for retail. It's at 620 Lincoln Blvd in Venice. 

 

 

Joy comes into the auditorium. Thanks to the site Films in Films for this screenshot and the two below. That site offered no clues about where the scene was shot. It turns out that we're at the Encore Theatre, 5308 Melrose Ave.

 

 

We get a look at the fully-draped auditorium. As the show begins, the walking dead start coming in and sitting at the rear of the house. It doesn't go well for Joy. 

 

 

Up against the screen at the end of the scene. 

Visit the page on the Los Angeles Theatres site about the Encore Theatre. It began as the Melvan, named for the location at Melrose Ave. and Van Ness. Later as a Laemmle operation it was rebranded as the Continental.

On IMDb: "Messiah of Evil"  The six minute long theatre scene featuring Joy Bang is on YouTube, in a somewhat squeezed version. 

"Just Rambling Along"

 Stan Laurel stars in "Just Rambling Along," a 1918 Hal Roach/Pathé one reeler filmed on and around the pier in Ocean Park. Here near the beginning we get a view looking north toward the stagehouse of the third location of the Rosemary Theatre. The film is on You Tube.

After the Rosemary moved to a new location at the head of the pier around 1919 this theatre was renamed the Rialto. See our page on this third Rosemary Theatre location on the Los Angeles Theatres site for more photos.

On IMDb: "Just Rambling Along" 

"The First Nudie Musical"

A shot of Schechter Studios near the beginning of "The First Nudie Musical," (Paramount, 1976). We're actually at Producers Studio, 5300 Melrose Ave. It's now looking quite a bit more gentrified and is called Raleigh Studios.

The film stars Stephen Nathan as a low-budget producer, Cindy Williams as his secretary, Bruce Kimmel as director of the film-within-the film, and Leslie Ackerman as an ingenue fresh of the bus from Indiana. And Ron Howard has a bit part. The book, music and lyrics are by Mr. Kimmel. Direction was by Mark Haggard and Mr. Kimmel.

Another shot of the studio. As soon as producer Harry Schechter gets the idea for his new film they'll be having auditions. They decide on a nudie musical called "Come, Come Now." See the Raleigh Studios site for a fine history of the lot.

 
Leslie Ackerman gets cast as the ingenue and bursts into song for a stroll down Hollywood Blvd. It's a great number. Here we're under the marquee of the Hollywood Theatre, just east of Highland Ave. The song, "The Lights and the Smiles," is actually sung by Annette O'Toole.

A shot of the joyous Ms. Ackerman continuing east with the Hollywood behind her. 

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We get a number of signage views during the number. See the page about the the Hollywood Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for many photos of the 1918 vintage building.

A shot of the Vine lettering on the S. Charles Lee designed theatre just west of Vine St. See the Vine Theatre page for more about the building.

A view of the Pantages neon. We'll be back for the premiere of "Come, Come Now." Well, at least for a couple exterior shots. See the many pages about the Pantages Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of this 1930 deco gem along with hundreds of photos.

The sign interlude also includes a shot of one of the Chinese dragons. See the Chinese Theatre pages for many photos of all areas of the building.

At the Pix, 6126 Hollywood Blvd., for a look at the great signage it had. It's been a theatre of many names. See the page about the Music Box / Fonda Theatre for lots of details.

Ms. Ackerman, singing her way down the boulevard, now heads back west from the Pix. 

Another view with the Pix in the background. They're running "The Reincarnation of Peter Proud."

The number winds up with this shot looking west toward the Hollywood Pacific. It got renamed that in 1968 when the successor company to Warner Bros. sold it to Pacific Theatres. See the pages about the Warner Hollywood on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of the building.

Soon we get around to actually filming "Come, Come Now" with scenes that include musical numbers such as "Orgasm," "Dancing Dildos," "I'll Kick You With Boots," and "Let 'em Eat Cake...But Let Me Eat You."

Back at the Pantages for the premiere of the film. Well, they're having a premiere all right, but not for our film. 

Another premiere night Pantages shot. But we don't go inside. The interior shots of the premiere were done at the Fox Venice, 620 Lincoln Blvd. 

In the lobby at the Fox Venice with an announcer talking about "Come, Come Now." 

Another lobby shot with worried producer Stephen Nathan pacing.

 

In the auditorium with Cindy Williams and Nathan. We have several more shots like this of various cast members and people in the audience but don't see any of the auditorium decor. See the page about the Fox Venice for more about the theatre.

 

 

Bruce talks about a preview at the Academy Theatre in Pasadena --

"What a theater this was, even back in the 1970s. It was a major preview house for the studios, since they could run work prints with interlock sound. One of the greatest nights of my life was on August 8th, 1975 when we all trudged out there for the sneak preview of 'The First Nudie Musical,' work print in hand with interlock mag sound. They were showing 'Tommy' and 'Once Is Not Enough.' 

"We screened at eight-thirty, the usual preview time. The theater was full, all 1,700 seats and the reaction to our little movie was unbelievable in terms of the laughs it got, even with the shitty work print, no opticals, and raw, unmixed sound. I'll never forget it. And the next night, we were in San Diego previewing at some huge downtown theater that was showing, of all things, 'Dolemite.'"


The featurette "From Dollars to Donuts" --

In Hollywood the film played at the Fox Theatre where it was doing fine business. This shot appears in "From Dollars to Donuts," included on the DVD of the film. In the featurette Bruce Kimmel talks about the sad relationship they had with Paramount regarding the distribution. Amid concerns about tarnishing the reputation of Cindy Williams, Paramount pulled the film. "Laverne and Shirley," at the time a new hit series, was a product of Paramount's TV division.

"The First Nudie Musical" later went out with a different distributor and enjoyed record runs in a number of theatres. The featurette has terrific stories about the production from Ms. Williams, various cast members and both directors. Will Ron Howard show up to talk about his role? Watch it and find out. 

On IMDb: "The First Nudie Musical"