You won’t typically find me frequenting back alleys in downtown Los Angeles. But there is one that I just can’t get enough of. My good friend Mike, from MovieShotsLA, pointed it out to me many years ago during a daylong DTLA stalking venture. While driving through the Theatre District, he pulled over near what looked to be a nondescript alcove off West 6th Street and pointed upwards. I literally gasped as my eyes locked upon the towering red marquee reading “Los Angeles Theatre” situated on the back wall of the small urban enclave. It was easily one of the most cinematic vistas I had ever seen! So I was not surprised when Mike informed me that the passageway had been featured onscreen in 2000’s Coyote Ugly, which up until that point I assumed had been shot solely in New York. Mike, of course, knew better. I snapped a ton of photos of the alley that day and have been back several times since, always stopping for a peek when I find myself nearby. Somehow though, I failed to ever blog about it. Cut to last month when I received an email from fellow stalker/Emergency! expert Richard Yokley (you may remember him from this post and this post) asking if I had ever stalked the Los Angeles Theatre alley and informing me of several of its other onscreen cameos. I decided right then and there that I had to dedicate a post to the site pronto!
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Modeled after San Francisco’s now defunct Fox Theater, the Los Angeles Theatre was originally built in 1931 for film exhibitor H.L. Gumbiner. The grand venue was designed in the French Baroque style by S. Charles Lee (who also gave us Temple Israel of Hollywood) and cost over $1 million to complete. And we’re talking 1930’s dollars! To say the site is opulent would be a gross understatement. I had the privilege of seeing it up close and personal a few years back thanks to the Los Angeles Conservancy’s Broadway Historic Theatre and Commercial District Tour. And, let me tell you, it is sensational! From the 80-foot-tall façade . . .
. . . to the gilded two-story lobby . . .
. . . to the elaborate 2,000-seat auditorium . . .
. . . to the oval ballroom – the locale is one of the most captivating in all of L.A.!
I mean, even the bathrooms are dazzling!
It is the theatre’s side alley that sets my heart aflutter, though.
The juxtaposition of the grit of the alley with the glamour of the marquee is just so strikingly cinematic!
Not to mention picturesque!
I’ve never seen anything quite like it.
The space almost looks like a manufactured set piece created on a backlot street at a Hollywood studio. But I assure you it is real.
Situated along the Los Angeles Theatre’s north side, around the corner from its main entrance, the alley is largely tucked away from view. One can easily drive right past without realizing it is there.
So why, you ask, was a large marquee installed in a relatively hidden alcove that would not seen by most patrons venturing through the venue’s front doors on Broadway? I could not even fathom a guess, but, thankfully, found an explanation on the Historic Los Angeles Theatres website.
As I learned, another movie palace, the Paramount Theatre, formerly stood directly across the street from the alley at 323 West 6th Street. (It was torn down in 1960 and the International Jewelry Center was eventually erected in its place.) The Paramount’s main entrance provided a great view of the enclave, so Gumbiner, ever the businessman, decided to install a marquee there in the hopes that it would draw the attention – and patronage – of his competitor’s clientele. Original plans for the space called for a much more elaborate façade with a porticoed doorway and columns flanking the marquee, as you can see on the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation’s Facebook page and the Historic Los Angeles Theatres website.
For whatever reason, though, only the marquee portion of it was completed – which I think makes the site even more dramatic and eye-catching.
Considering its compelling ambience, it is not surprising that the alley has popped up onscreen.
In Coyote Ugly, the locale masks as the entrance to New York’s Fiji Mermaid club.
It is there that Violet Sanford (Piper Perabo) introduces herself to Kevin O’Donnell (Adam Garcia), who she thinks is the club’s manager, at the beginning of the film. As you can see in the screen captures above and below, the marquee was changed to read “East Broadway Theatre” for the scene.
As Richard informed me in his email, Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey Jr.) and Gay Perry (Val Kilmer) retrieve a body from the Los Angeles Theatre alley – and share a rather passionate embrace there while trying to evade the police – in 2005’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
Richard also clued me into the alley’s appearance in the original Life on Mars pilot, which never aired, but can be viewed on YouTube here. Written by David E. Kelley, the unaired episode takes place in Los Angeles and centers on LAPD detective Sam Tyler (Jason O’Mara) who, after getting hit by a car in 2007, wakes up to discover he is stuck in the year 1972. Apparently ABC requested a complete re-do of the show after viewing it. Not only were several roles recast, but the setting was moved from SoCal to New York. The series was then picked up and went on to air 17 episodes before being given the ax – prematurely I might add. My mom and I watched Life on Mars religiously and were heartbroken over its cancellation. As much of a fan as I was, though, I was completely unaware that the pilot had been reshot until Richard’s email. In the episode, Sam witnesses an arrest taking place in the Los Angeles Theater alley shortly after waking up in 1972.
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Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for originally telling me about this location and to Richard Yokley for reminding me of it and informing me of its other onscreen appearances. 
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: The Los Angeles Theatre alley, from Coyote Ugly, is located in between 314 and 318 West 6th Street in downtown Los Angeles.