"Volcano"

In "Volcano" (20th Century Fox, 1997) Tommy Lee Jones, working for the Office of Emergency Management, is in MacArthur Park arguing with a DWP guy about a recent accident where people were injured. The DWP says it was no big deal, just a steam leak. Tommy's supposed to be on vacation but wants to investigate. In the background we get a view of the Westlake Theatre, then and now housing a swap meet. 

 

Another view of the theatre as Tommy walks away, determined to find some better answers.

 

See the pages about the Westlake Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. It's located at 638 S. Alvarado St., just north of Wilshire.  

 

In a shot looking to the block south of Wilshire we get a view of the Alvarado Theatre at 710 S. Alvarado St. It was later called the Park. It's the white building to the left with the two triangles on top, now unrecognizable after a gutting and remodel into retail space. See the page about the Alvarado/Park Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. 

 

Tommy consults with scientist Anne Heche who advises that what they've got is a geological event of unknown proportions. The temperature of the lake in the park is four degrees above normal. Later strange bubbling is reported at the La Brea Tar Pits. The film also features Gaby Hoffman, Don Cheadle, Jacqueline Kim, Keith David and John Corbett. Mick Jackson directed. The cinematography was by Theo Van de Sande.  

 

A look east to the LACMA campus while the situation is still almost normal. It's a shot done from the Peterson Auto Museum. 

 

That evening Tommy and his daughter, still trying to go on vacation, encounter manhole covers blowing off and steam geysers on Wilshire in front of LACMA. That's the Robert O. Anderson Building at the center of the image, renamed the Art of the Americas Building in 2007. 

 

LACMA's Leo S. Bing Theatre on fire! Lava was pouring out of the Tar Pits and balls of fire were streaking the sky. Richard DuVal notes: "The production team recreated that stretch of Wilshire on an abandoned McConnell Douglas aircraft plant in Torrance, CA."

 

 

 

Gaby Hoffman, playing Tommy's daughter has an injured leg. He tries calling for help while Cedars-Sinai nurse Jacqueline Kim comes over. 

 

 

A view of the flames from Fairfax. On the left that's the May Co., now the Academy Museum. Beyond it's the low-rise May Co. home appliances/discount store, LACMA's Ahmanson Building and LACMA's Robert O. Anderson Building.    

 

Most of LACMA is in ashes with more ash falling from the sky. We get a Heironomous Bosch exhibit advertised at LACMA's Anderson Building. The Bing Theatre? Well before it burned it was in the area behind that white truck. That's Tommy carrying his daughter. 

 

 

 

An escalation of the disaster as lava flows west on Wilshire. Tommy mobilizes crews to save the west side by containing the flow at Fairfax. It involves concrete barriers and tipped-over fire trucks. A success? Of course!   

See the page about the Bing Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. 

 On IMDb: "Volcano"

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"Salsa"

Rodney Harvey and Magali Alvarado stop at The Dog House for an ice cream in "Salsa" (Golan-Globus/Cannon, 1988). In the background it's the Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd. Note the big crowd for "Me and My Girl" starring Tim Curry. The production played from January 12 until March 5.

It's an East LA story of a car mechanic trying to win a dance competition amid romantic complications for himself as well as an entanglement between his little sister and best friend.  Also featured in the film are Draco Rosa, Miranda Garrison, Moon Orona, Angela Alvarado and Loyda Ramos. Boaz Davidson directed, Kenny Ortega did the choreography. The cinematography was by David Gurfinkel. 

 

 

At the window. Thanks to Chelsey Frost for noting this scene in a post for the Facebook group Lost Angeles. 

 

She only takes a moment to get the cones but the crowd at the theatre has all gone inside. 

See the pages about the Pantages Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres website for a history of this 1930 vintage showplace along with hundreds of photos.

 

The Dog House was on the lot that, decades earlier, had been the site of the Hitching Post/Paris Theatre, 6262 Hollywood Blvd. The restaurant shows up in a 1992 photo of the block taken by Jay More shortly before everything except the Taft Building was demolished for the W Hotel and Metro Red Line station project. It's featured in "Jay More Documenting Forgotten LA," a three+ minute video on YouTube from the Los Angeles Public Library. Thanks to Lisa Kouza Braddock for locating the video.   

 

Later many of the gang go to the movies at the Westlake Theatre, 638 S. Alvarado St. 

 

Draco Rosa and Rodney Harvey just inside the front doors.

 

Looking toward the front doors from behind the snackbar.

See the pages about the Westlake Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. The building is still around but now used as a swapmeet. 

On IMdb: "Salsa"

"Armed and Dangerous"

We get this nice look west on Hollywood Blvd. during the title sequence of Mark Lester's "Armed and Dangerous" (Columbia, 1986). The film was written by Brian Grazer, Harold Ramis and James Keach. It stars John Candy, Eugene Levy and Meg Ryan. The cinematography was by Fred Schuler. 

The vertical sign of the Paramount Theatre, 6838 Hollywood Blvd., is seen in the center of the image. The theatre got the El Capitan name back in 1991 after the Disney / Pacific Theatres restoration. Thanks to Sean Ault for spotting the theatres in the film. 

On the right under the green light there's the "..CIF.." of the vertical of the Hollywood Pacific Theatre, 6433 Hollywood Blvd. It had opened in 1928 as the Warner Hollywood. Farther right that "..age.. " in purple script is on the Pantages vertical. It was a neon overlay for "La Cage aux Folles," a show that ran from September 10, 1984 until May 26, 1985. A moment later this was off and the familiar Pantages lettering in turquoise was visible. 

See the pages on the Los Angeles Theatres site about the El Capitan, the Warner Hollywood and the Pantages for a history of these historic venues. 

 

Candy plays a cop who is setup by a couple of corrupt colleagues and fired from the force. He reinvents himself as a security guard and continues to investigate the case. Here he's driving toward the Egyptian, 6712 Hollywood Blvd. See the pages about the Egyptian Theatre for many photos and a discussion of the theatre's history.

We spend a bit of time at the Cave Theatre, 6315 Hollywood Blvd. Once upon a time the building had been Sardi's Restaurant. See the page about the Cave Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. Off to the left we get a sliver of the marquee of the Vine Theatre.

 

John Candy and his new buddy (and fellow security guard) Eugene Levy enter the Cave in matching blue suits. 

 

 

Problems ensue when the police also arrive. We get a sliver of the Pantages vertical on the right. 

 

A shot inside the Cave. The guys need to get some disguises to escape the police.

 

 

 

The next morning we get this fine postcard-quality look across Westlake Park with a view of the roof sign on the Westlake Theatre, 638 S. Alvarado St. That's Meg Ryan on the bench, Candy in drag and Levy in a black leather getup with his butt cheeks showing. 

 

 

 

A closer look at the three conspirators. Thanks to Sean Ault for getting the screenshot. See the pages about the Westlake Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. The building is still around but now used as a swapmeet. 

 

Of course we have to end with a big chase centering around a thwarted armored car robbery. After a fine tour of the Arts District we get this shot on Bunker Hill that gives us a view up Grand Ave. See the page about the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on the Los Angeles Theatres site for more about the theatre.

On the left it's the vacant lot that would later be the location of Frank Gehry's Disney Hall. In the foreground on the right it's the "temporary" parking garage that much later would be the location of The Grand, also designed by Gehry. 

On IMDb: "Armed and Dangerous"

"Act of Violence"

We see the roof sign for the Westlake Theatre in this shot from Fred Zinnemann's "Act of Violence" (MGM, 1948). Van Heflin is at a builders and contractors convention in Los Angeles and running to avoid a potentially deadly confrontation with Robert Ryan, a man who was in his unit in World War II. 

Janet Leigh plays Van Heflin's wife and Mary Astor is a call girl who tries to help him. Phyllis Thaxter plays Ryan's wife. The cinematography is by Robert Surtees.

See the Westlake Theatre pages on the Los Angeles Theatres site for more about the building. 

On IMDb: "Act of Violence"

"Drive"

 

Ryan Gosling has a view of the roof sign of the Westlake Theatre from a window in his apartment in Nicholas Winding Refn's film "Drive" (Film District, 2011). He plays a driver and car mechanic who does film work part-time and occasionally works as a getaway driver. He gets into trouble when he tries to help Oscar Isaac, the husband of his neighbor Carey Mulligan. The film also features Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Ron Perlman and Christina Hendricks.  

 

The signage is on the right in this shot in the park later in the film when he's negotiating his deal as a driver for a stickup.  

 

 

 

A closer look at the theatre's signage. 

Thanks to Jonathan Raines for spotting the Westlake signage in the film and for providing the screenshots. See the Westlake Theatre pages on the Los Angeles Theatres site for more about the building. 

On IMDb: "Drive" 

"Straight Time"

Dustin Hoffman, Gary Busey and an unidentified passenger drive by the Westlake Theatre on Alvarado St. in "Straight Time" (First Artists/Warner Bros., 1978). The film, directed by Ulu Groabard, also stars Teresa Russell, Kathy Bates, Harry Dean Stanton and M. Emmet Walsh. It's a tale of a career burglar assaulting his parole officer and returning to a life of crime.

Another look a few frames later. Thanks to Sean Ault for identifying the theatre in the film and providing the screenshots. See the Westlake Theatre pages on the Los Angeles Theatres site for more about the building. 

On IMDb: "Straight Time"

"The Hidden"

We have a wild ride through MacArthur Park early in “The Hidden” (New Line Cinema, 1987). A formerly mild-mannered person has gone on a rampage and is evading the police. His body has, of course, been taken over by an alien creature who will soon migrate to yet another body. Here we're looking east toward the Westlake Theatre on Alvarado St. See the Westlake Theatre pages on the Los Angeles Theatres site for more about the building.

The film stars Kyle MacLachlan as, supposedly, an FBI agent from San Francisco who is on the hunt for the creature and Michael Nouri as a LAPD detective bewildered by the whole adventure. Jack Sholder directed.

During another part of the chase we're going up Argyle Ave. from Hollywood Blvd. and get a look at the side of the stagehouse of the Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd.

Another look at the Pantages as the alien-controlled man drives west on Hollywood Blvd. See the pages about the Pantages Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres page for hundreds of photos of all areas of the building.

The Las Palmas Theatre, 1642 N. Las Palmas Ave., appears as the Harem Room where a stripper played by Claudia Christian is appearing. Yes, she gets taken over by the creature as well. Thanks to Don Solosan for the tip about the appearance of the Las Palmas in the film.

A Harem Room interior view, shot elsewhere.    

Looking north on Las Palmas toward Hollywood Blvd. with the Las Palmas Theatre / Harem Room on the right.

Another shot north on Las Palmas Ave. See the page about the Las Palmas Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of the building, once a prominent legit venue.

Prior to some downtown rooftop adventures with the stripper/alien on the run we head south on Broadway with a look at the wildly flashing marquee of the Palace Theatre, 630 S. Broadway. See the pages about the Palace Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of the building. It opened as the Orpheum in 1911. We also get a quick flash of the Rialto Theatre, 812 S. Broadway.

Here we're looking north from Olympic Blvd. with the dark United Artists Theatre on the left.  See the Los Angeles Theatres pages on the United Artists Theatre for a history of the 1927 vintage movie palace along with hundreds of photos.

The film's finale gives us the opportunity to have many views of the Park Plaza Hotel, the former Elks lodge building on the western edge of MacArthur Park. It's now called The MacArthur.

On IMDb: “The Hidden”

"A Patch of Blue"

There was a lot of filming in MacArthur Park and on the streets of the Westlake neighborhood in Guy Green's "A Patch of Blue" (MGM, 1965). Sidney Poitier stars as a young guy who befriends an isolated and unschooled blind girl played by Elizabeth Hartman. Here we get a shot of the Lake Theatre, 2118 W. 7th St., as Hartman is figuring out what a parking meter is.

The girl's abusive mother is played by Shelley Winters. The drunken grandfather is played by Wallace Ford. Earlier we got a brief distance view of the Westlake Theatre, 638 S. Alvarado St., as Hartman and the grandfather were walking to the park.

See the Los Angeles Theatres page on the Lake Theatre for more information and a few photos. The theatre space is now used for retail. The pages on the Westlake Theatre, the big house in the neighborhood, have dozens of photos of that 1926 vintage movie palace. The theatre has been eternally awaiting redevelopment.

A look at the Alvarado, later known as the Park Theatre, 710 S. Alvarado. They're running "The Americanization of Emily." Hartman is getting some instructions on how to cross an intersection.  The theatre building is still there, but now a down-market retail establishment. See the Los Angeles Theatres page on the Alvarado Theatre for several vintage photos.

Another shot of the Lake appearing later in the film. We're looking west along 7th St. Thanks to Cinema Treasures contributor John Bosley for spotting the theatres in the film.

On IMDb: "A Patch of Blue"