"Witch Hunt"

We get a shot of the September 18, 1951 "A Streetcar Named Desire" premiere at the Warner Beverly Hills in the faux 50s Warner-Pathé newsreel that opens Paul Schrader's "Witch Hunt" (Pacific Western/HBO, 1994).  A clip of the premiere footage can be seen on YouTube from British Pathé.

Once a grand first run theatre, the Warner was demolished in 1988 for a parking lot. See the Los Angeles Theatres page on the Warner Beverly Hills, called "The Pride of Beverly Hills." Well, it called itself that on the side of the building.  

The witches that a Joseph McCarthy-like senator is hunting in the film are not Communists but actual witches -- practitioners of magic. The film stars Dennis Hopper, Penelope Ann Miller, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Eric Bogosian, Julian Sands, Valerie Mahaffey and John Epperson. The cinematography was by Jean-Yves Escoffier. 

Epperson, better known as a drag queen called Lypsinka, runs a brothel in the Ennis House for an upscale clientele. He takes ordinary looking girls and using magic customizes them to cater to the desires of his clients. John Vogel comments on IMDb about the storyline:

"Detective Philip Lovecraft [Dennis Hopper] lives in Los Angeles in the 1950s when an ambitious senator {Eric Bogosian] is holding hearings, on magic. Magic is the new influence in Tinsel Town. Lovecraft is unique in that he is the only one who refuses to use magic in his work. 

 

"Shortly after he is hired, he finds his client, Kim Hudson [Penelope Ann Miller], accused of the murder of her husband, a film executive. Philip uses the talents of a local witch, Kropotkin [Sheryl Lee Ralph], to explain what is happening only to see her accused of the murder and sentenced to be burnt at the stake. Reminiscent of 'Roger Rabbit,' without the toons."

 

We get a nice scene at the El Monte Drive-In when Dennis follows the movie star played by Penelope. Thanks to Rio Dylan Hernandez for spotting the theatre in the film and getting this shot of the screen tower. 

 

 

 

A look toward the screen. 

 

 

Dennis finds Penelope's pink convertible and hops in. Also see the wider version that's on IMDb. 

 

She's watching one of her films, the 1955 Allied Artists release "The Big Combo" with Cornel Wilde and Richard Conte. They've cut Penelope into the film to replace Jean Wallace. 

 

 

They're soon joined by Marie, a friend of of Penelope's played by Jill Pierce.

 

All is well until the characters on the screen start shooting at them. Here one of the shots has hit the windshield. 

 

 

They run. The friend takes off with the car. The car and the girl are later fished out of the water. 

 

 

 

Later Dennis goes to see the crusading senator, played by Eric Bogosian. His his anti-magic rally will be held at the Pilgrimage Theatre, a 1931 venue now known as the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre.

 

Eric walking up the aisle. 

 

A look toward the back of the house. 

 

 

A night view of the "No More Magic In Hollywood" rally.

The film also makes nice use of the exterior of the Stahl House, the Millard House in Pasadena and Union Station. 

The full film can be seen in a low-res version on You Tube from Lost Jukebox. There's also a post of it on the site from New Movie Archives.

On IMDb: "Witch Hunt"

"Terror on Tour"

Much of "Terror on Tour" (Intercontinental Releasing Corp., 1980) was filmed inside the Warner Beverly Hills, 9404 Wilshire Blvd. This rock adventure with a band called "The Clowns" turns into a murder mystery when someone copying the band's clown makeup and dress starts killing lovely young ladies at various locations around the theatre. 

As far as the tour of the title, they talk about going on one but all the action occurs at the Warner. Featured are Rick Styles, Chip Greenman, Rich Pemberton and the band The Names. The film was directed by Don Edmonds. The cinematography was by James Roberson. 

 

 A murky VHS view of the house left lobby stairs. 

 

 

The dimmerboard and rigging offstage left. 

 

Another view at the board. That's the theatre manager on the left, unable to pay his bills. 

 

 

 

Another shot on stairs in the lobby. 

 

A groupie coming into the balcony. Moments later we see that she's topless. 

 

Her nudity doesn't interest the killer. Note the deco tapestry on the wall. 

 

The janitor in the ladies room. Yes, those are bloody things in the trash can. 

 

Another ladies room shot. 

 

 

 

Looking to the stage from the back of the main floor. 

 

Another look at stairs to the balcony. 

 

Outside one of the exits. The hooker has been hired by the cops as a decoy to trap the killer. 

 

Looking up an aisle to the lobby. 

 

Backstage. We do spend some time in the basement. Note the stairs behind the red railing. 

 

Looking offstage left. 

 

The killer coming up the stage left stairs from the basement. 

 

 

A view looking upstage right.

Once a grand first run theatre, the Warner was demolished in 1988 for a parking lot. See the Los Angeles Theatres page on the Warner Beverly Hills, once called "The Pride of Beverly Hills." Well, it called itself that -- on the side of the building.   

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

"Blood Theatre"

Rick Sloane's low budget horror film "Blood Theatre" (Active Home Video, 1984) begins with a scene at a theatre boxoffice that was shot at the Fairfax Theatre, 7907 Beverly Blvd. 

 

It's a tale of murderous problems encountered by a new company trying to reopen an old theatre with a tragic past. The film, also known as "Movie House Massacre," is presented in Blood-O-Rama. The cast includes Mary Woronov, Jenny Cunningham, Jonathan Blakely, Andrew Cofrin and Joanna Fox.   

 

The cashier is looking worried. Her end will come soon. See the page about the Fairfax on the Los Angeles Theatres site for more about this 1930 vintage deco-style house.  

 

 

 

When the saga continues years later, the Warner Beverly Hills, 9404 Wilshire Blvd., was used for the interior of the doomed theatre. The reopening doesn't go well. Don't miss the scene with a girl trapped in a popcorn machine. Here we get a look out to Wilshire Blvd. 

 

A closer look at some of the display cases. Rick Sloane mentioned the film in commenting on a post about the Warner that was on the Mid Century Modern Facebook page. He notes that it can be viewed free on the site Tubi and adds: 

"I shot all the interiors for my first feature film at that theater in the mid 80's. I was shocked to see the building torn down a couple years later. It's really low budget, but it was the final time the Warner Beverly was photographed in all its glory, before it was demolished."

 

In the lobby. Employees aren't happy after being transferred from a suburban 4-plex.

 

 

Pots start falling on people. 

 

 

Decorative work under the stairs. 

 

 

A railing detail. 

 

 

Another stair view. 

 

 

Since spooky things are happening, why not unscrew some fuses at the lobby lighting panel? 

 

 

The view from the balcony level. 

 

 

In the auditorium, looking out to the lobby. 

 

 

Another view to the house right stairs.

 

 

 A better look at the decorative treatment at the doors. 

 

 

A side exit. 

 

 

Across the front of the stage. 

 

 

A fine view to house left. 

 

 

A look to the rear of the main floor. 

 

 

A soffit detail. 

 

 

 

Our only backstage shot.  

 

 

A camera at the front of the balcony that moves by itself. 

 

 

One of the employees checking it out. 

A look to the main floor. Note the speaker stack for concerts. 

 

 

The house left end of the balcony crossaisle. 

 

 

The back of the balcony house left. 

 

 

A closer look at the door to the booth. 

 

 

Part of the management team up in the booth. 

 

 

The house left end of the booth. 

 

 

Another shot behind the Ashcraft Super Cinex lamps. No views of the projectors. 

Jonathan Blakely plays the ancient theatre manager responsible for much of the mayhem. The booth is dangerous. It'll be one electrocution and a decapitation via a porthole fire shutter.  

 

The Warner, once a grand first run theatre, had become a concert venue by the time of the filming. It was demolished in 1988 for a parking lot. See the Los Angeles Theatres page on the Warner Beverly Hills, once called "The Pride of Beverly Hills." Well, it called itself that -- on the side of the building. 

 

On IMDb: "Blood Theatre"  The full film can be seen free on Tubi. It's also available as a Blu-ray double feature with Rick's film "The Visitants" from Vinegar Syndrome.