"Dusty and Sweets McGee"

We get a walk by the Egyptian during their engagement of "Darker Than Amber" in Floyd Mutrux's film "Dusty and Sweets McGee" (Warner Bros., 1971). Note the peek at the lush foliage in the forecourt. 

 

It's a story of aimless people with drug problems that features Clifton Tip Fredell, Kit Ryder, Billy Gray, Nancy Wheeler and Beverly Eckert. The cinematography was by William A. Fraker. In addition to Hollywood, they shot all over the Valley, in Venice, and maybe other beach towns. 

 

A drug dealer called City Life, played by Billy Gray, is on the right, discussing car stereos with "Patton" on the marquee in the background at the Del Mar Theatre, 5036 W. Pico Blvd. 

See the Los Angeles Theatres page about the Del Mar, a theatre that opened in 1939 and is now an art gallery.  

Thanks to Marc Edward Heuck for spotting the theatre in the film and sharing a shot from the scene with the LAHTF Facebook group. He was trying to identify the location. Bruce Kimmel gets the nod for being the first to identify it as the Del Mar. In a comment to a post of the shot on the Los Angeles Theatres Facebook page he noted:  

"I've got it. Theatre is the Del Mar. Everything matches up, including the bit of the building to the left. And across the street if you Google street view, you can see the bottom of the circular thing in blue. Also, the movie shot from late October through end of November - and Patton was playing at the Del Mar the week of October 29th. The Del Mar has no signage above the marquee at that point. If you could pan to the right, you'd see the big Del Mar sign. To the right it was Davis Radio and Stereo, formerly Al Davis' Radio Drive-In." 

"Want to know how I found it? It was one of those happy coincidences - first of all, the theatre looked familiar to me. But I searched 'Patton' and October of 1970, which was when the movie started filming. So, it highlighted all the Independent theatres that were playing it. I started with the outlying areas first and the first thing I saw was some theatre located on Del Mar Street or Blvd. And a little bell went off in my head and I scrolled up and bingo - 'Patton' was playing there the first week of filming. 

 

"Then I went to the Los Angeles Theatres page and saw the photos and it matched up perfectly. Then I did Google to see what was across the street and found that place. Then I searched that address and found Al Davis' ads and then the ad for Davis Radio and Stereo in 1970. Most amusing of all is that I worked at the Del Mar in 1964 and that's why it looked familiar to me. I lived ten minutes from there near Pico and La Cienega."

 

Thanks to Larry Karaszewski for looking up an October 23, 1970 L.A. Times listing that revealed "The Out-Of-Touners" was the second feature playing with "Patton." Ken McIntyre then came up with this October 19 listing for the Del Mar and other theatres in the neighborhood:

 

Rio Dylan Hernandez was also active on the hunt. She comments: 

 

"I noticed the car stereo mechanic's jumpsuit says Davis and there was a famous car radio drive up installation place right across the street from the Del Mar built in 1938 so it has that Deco look but there for a long time - Al Davis Radio Drive-In, 5037 W. Pico Blvd. Looks like you can see the blade sign poking up from the theatre.

 

Rio grabbed this shot from earlier in the scene and did some background research: 

 

"Al Davis was a car radio installation guy, who made a company out of it, and in the same type of business as Mad Man Muntz he was a success. Sounds like it was a famous place. He was the first to import Japanese car stereos, etc. Kind of a fascinating history and sounds like this was also an in-the-know movie biz spot.  He had a good enough business or location that Rock Hudson was a customer in 1963. The business went bankrupt in 1986."

 

 

Thanks to Rio Dylan Hernandez for locating this postcard in the Boston Public Library's Tichnor Brothers Postcard Collection. 

 

Thanks to Mark R. Simpson for this Google image. He comments: "The collision shop is now LA Masters Collision Center and you can see the rounded portion of the building painted red behind the wall."

On IMDb: "Dusty and Sweets McGee"

| alphabetical list by film title | list by theatre name or geographic area |

| Los Angeles Theatres | L.A. Theatres on Facebook |  

"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"

| alphabetical list by film title | list by theatre name or geographic area |

| Los Angeles Theatres | L.A. Theatres on Facebook |  

"Chopping Mall"

The Beverly Center gets some new robots to patrol the place and detain intruders in "Chopping Mall" (Concorde Pictures, 1986). In the mall, called the Park Plaza for the film, things go awry one dark night when the mall is hit by repeated lightning strikes that affect some of the rooftop electronics equipment and scramble the robots brains. They become killing machines that go after the staff and a group of young store employees staying late in one of the stores to party. 

While we're at the Beverly Center for several exterior shots, most of the mall interior scenes were shot either at Sherman Oaks Galleria or on sets. See the page about the Beverly Center Cinemas on the Los Angeles Theatres site. They opened in the mall in 1982 and closed in 2010.  

Jim Wynorski directed. The cinematography was by Tom Richmond. The cast includes Kelli Maroney, Tony O'Dell, Russell Todd, Kerri Emerson, Barbara Crampton, Nick Segal, John Terlesky, Paul Bartel, Mary Woronov and Gerrit Graham. The survival statistics aren't good.    

 

Late in the film we get a look at the boxoffice for the Pacific 4 on the top floor of the Sherman Oaks Galleria. "Krush Groove" was an October 1985 release. To the right it says "Remo." The film "Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins" was also out in October. 

 

A wider boxoffice view.  Note the "CIFICAP" reflection in the window. The theatre entrance is just off to the left with "Pacific 4 Theatres" signage above the doors. No, we don't see the theatre entrance nor go to an after-hours movie. 

 

A killer robot on patrol. Who will be next?  

 

A POV robot closeup. We're looking through the railing because by this time our leading lady is dangling there by her fingertips to escape detection by the robot. 

See the page about the Pacific 4 and later theatres in the mall on the Sherman Oaks Galleria page on the Los Angeles Theatres site.  

On IMDb: "Chopping Mall"  The full movie is on YouTube. 

| alphabetical list by film title | list by theatre name or geographic area |

| Los Angeles Theatres | L.A. Theatres on Facebook |  

"Scenes From a Mall"

Woody Allen and Bette Midler go the the Beverly Center in Paul Mazursky's "Scenes From a Mall" (Touchstone Pictures, 1991). They pick up sushi and a surfboard, fight, make up, fight again and go to see "Salaam Bombay." 

 

Thanks to Sam Pocker for noting the Beverly Center as a location in the film. While they did do some filming there, most of the mall interior shots were done at the Stamford Town Center, Stamford, CT. Some mall storefronts, and evidently the theatre we see, were sets built at Kaufman-Astoria Studios in Queens.  

 

Woody buys a yogurt and we see the marquee of the mall's theatre in the background. 

 

Bette and Woody come back to the foodcourt later to pick up the surfboard they left behind. A quick look at the marquee lets you know the theatre is NOT the one at Beverly Center -- what we see is only a 4-plex.  

 

In the theatre watching "Salaam Bombay" with the surfboard. They had fought and now make up and have sex on the floor. 

 

A nice look at the studio set marquee as a crowd exits the theatre. 

See the page about the Beverly Center Cinemas on the Los Angeles Theatres site. 

On IMDb: "Scenes From a Mall"

| alphabetical list by film title | list by theatre name or geographic area |

| Los Angeles Theatres | L.A. Theatres on Facebook |  

"The Five Heartbeats"

We spend some time in the Million Dollar Theatre in "The Five Heartbeats" (20th Century Fox, 1991). It's the story of five guys in a Motown-style 60s vocal group from Harlem. Thanks to Jon Olivan for noting the use of the theatre in the film. At the time, he was in charge of negotiating the deals and managing the shoots for Ira Yellin, then the owner of the theatre. He notes that the Million Dollar was standing in for a theatre like the Apollo. 

In this shot it's before a rehearsal for a talent show. The film features Robert Townsend, Michael Wright, Leon, Harry Lennix, Diahann Carroll, Harold Nicholas, Tressa Thomas, John Canada Terrell and many others. Robert Townsend directed. The cinematographer was Bill Dill. Jon notes that it was a low budget production. We don't get any wide shots of the theatre auditorium. What extras they could afford were moved around from shot to shot to make the narrower shots represent a full theatre.  

 

The MC onstage the evening of the show.  

 

 

The crowd favorite the Heartbeats are trying to beat.  

 

 

A look to the balcony.  

 

The Five Heartbeats onstage at the Million Dollar.  

 

See the pages about the Million Dollar Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site. It's at 3rd and Broadway and dates from 1918.  

 

A subtitle says this is the Howard Theatre in Washington D.C. It was shot at the Wadsworth Theatre, on the Veterans Administration campus in West L.A.

 

See the page about the Wadsworth Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for more about the building.  

 

It's unknown what town we were supposed to be in for this shot but the guys are at the Los Angeles Orpheum, 842 S. Broadway. See the pages on the Los Angeles Theatres site about the Orpheum Theatre.  

 

At the Fox Theatre in Detroit in 1986, so a subtitle says. Actually we're back at the Million Dollar.  

 

This is noted as being the Uptown Theatre in Philadelphia. It appears to be another scene shot at the Wadsworth.  

 

 

At an unidentified venue for the last concert sequence of the film. The subtitle says we're at the Beacon Theatre in New York in 1972. It certainly isn't the Beacon.  

 

A look off left at the "Beacon."  

On IMDb: "The Five Heartbeats" 

| alphabetical list by film title | list by theatre name or geographic area |

| Los Angeles Theatres | L.A. Theatres on Facebook |   

"The Pyramid"

 In "The Pyramid" (Ellman Film Enterprises, 1976) Michael Ashe plays a television news reporter who grows disillusioned with the horrific scenes he captures and decides to explore and document a more positive human experience.  He makes some 16mm movies that he thinks will interest a local theatre owner. While most of the film was shot in Dallas, here he's in the parking lot of the Encore Theatre at 5308 Melrose Ave. 

Heading into the Encore to talk to the theatre owner. Thanks to Eric Schaefer for spotting the theatre in the film and getting the screenshot. The film also features Tomi Barrett, Dave Beidleman, Charlie Brown and Carol Cassella. Gary Kent directed. The cinematography was by Bill Weaver. 

 

In the theatre with the owner, played by Mike Wycoff. He doesn't think any of the little films will attract customers and says he wants something with broads and music. So our aspiring filmmaker shows him a scene of dancing at a religious gathering. Not what he had in mind. 

We're not at the Encore for the interior views. Thanks to Eric for the screenshot. He notes: "I read an interview with the director and he could not recall the actual place when asked. He did say it may have been a porno theater where they shot it. And most likely in Dallas."

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: "The Pyramid"  The full film is on YouTube. 

| alphabetical list by film title | list by theatre name or geographic area |

| Los Angeles Theatres | L.A. Theatres on Facebook |  

"Make Me a Star"

We get a quick look at Grauman's Chinese in a montage when grocery store clerk Stu Erwin leaves his sleepy town and heads to Hollywood in "Make Me a Star" (Paramount, 1932). He's going to succeed in pictures because he's graduated from a mail order course in acting. After seeing some photos, the head of the school wrote "You have a face."   

The footage they used in the montage was from the April 1931 premiere of "The Dirigible." See the pages about Grauman's Chinese on the Los Angeles Theatres site. 

The film also features Joan Blondell, Zasu Pitts, Ben Turpin, Charles Sellon, Florence Roberts, George Templeton, Ruth Donnelly, Sam Hardy... and many uncredited cameos. William Beaudine directed. The cinematography was by Allen G. Siegler. 

 

Stu finally got a part in what he thinks is a serious picture but Mammoth Pictures is secretly making it a comedy. Near the end of the film they hold a sneak preview. We're at Jensen's Melrose, 4315 Melrose Ave. There's no way to tell that from this shot but details in the lobby are the tipoff. 

 

A quick pan to show other ticket buyers approaching.  

 

 

Charlie Ruggles and Jack Oakie in the lobby. They're trying to remember what Stu's adopted name is. "Oh, yes -- Whoop Ryder."  

 

 Charlie and Jack heading in. Note the rather distinctive style of the arches in the lobby. 

 

Fredric March in the lobby.  

 

They don't tell Stu about the preview for fear that he'll be appalled. But he shows up. With hat. 

 

 

Heading down the aisle.  

 

We see a bit of ornament on the house left wall.  

 

 

Interesting decor on the back wall visible as Stu finds a seat.  

 

A bit of the proscenium revealed as a "preview" notice appears. 

 

Stu looks down on comedies, especially those with the "cross-eyed man." But it turns out he's in one that also features Ben Turpin. He hates it but the audience has a great time. 

 

Leaving part way through.  

 

 A bit of entrance terracotta work is seen as he heads back to his boarding house. 

 

 

His plan is to give up and go back home, thinking he's a failure. Joan Blondell gives him a talk and convinces him that although it's not what he was aiming for, he has a great career ahead as a comedy star.  

See the page about Jensen's Melrose on the Los Angeles Theatres site. It opened in 1923 and is now the Ukranian Culture Center. 

Other than a 50s shot toward the booth where we see nothing of interest, these views are the only images of the interior of the Melrose to surface so far that show it when it was a theatre. Thanks to Quentin Tarantino's New Beverly Cinema: the Melrose was spotted during a screening of the film at their 2026 William Beaudine festival. 

On IMDb: "Make Me a Star"   

The film is available via the Warner Archives collection. It's paired with "Merton of the Movies," a 1947 less interesting remake with Red Skelton, Virginia O'Brien and Gloria Grahame. That film used the title of the source material, a 1922 play by Marc Connelly and George S. Kaufmann.  There was also a 1924 film version with Glenn Hunter and Viola Dana.  

| alphabetical list by film title | list by theatre name or geographic area |

| Los Angeles Theatres | L.A. Theatres on Facebook |