Regent Theatre

A third Regent theater, besides LA and Westwood, was advertised in the LA Times on 1/22/50. Address was 4012 S. Vermont. It may be listed under a different name.

In the film “Uptown Saturday Night” a few of the theatres located along Main Street can be seen. The theatre marquees making a cameo in the film are the Burbank, Follies, Optic and the Regent.

A while ago I was discussing the Susan Hayward film “I’ll Cry Tomorrow”, as related to scenes shot on Main Street. I actually found a copy in my living room today when I was throwing out some junk. Nothing was filmed on Skid Row. One scene was shot at the Hard Rock bar (the original, not the Peter Morton place) over on Hill Street. Doors fans may recall this bar from the Morrison Hotel album.

Yeah, but then I’d have to relive my early adulthood. Anything from the 80’s sends shivers up my spine.

Ken mc, I watched a couple more movies last night with some good theater shots. They are both from a box set called Forgotten Noir Series 1. The first movie is called Loan Shark with George Raft and has a great shootout at the end inside a theater. I would love to know what theater it is or was. I’ll post some screenshots on my blog this weekend. Maybe someone will recognize it. The second movie is called Arson Inc. and has some exterior shots during a car chase that show looking down 8th west from Broadway. You can see the Olympic and also the RKO pretty good. Even though they are supposed to be downtown, they cut to the cars driving by the El Rey also. There is another shot with a theater on a corner with a massive marquee that might be the Pantages/Warner but its too blurry to tell.

Here’s another photo of Main and 4th from 1943:
http://tinyurl.com/yws7ae

I was looking for it last night. The building next to the Farmers & Merchants Bank that is labeled Isaiah Hellman building on the sanborn maps is still standing and the entrance at the far south is 411 S. Main. So I guess 417 would have been 3 places south but I can’t tell from the photos. I don’t even know a name for the theater. It just says moving pictures or movies.

Great photo ken mc….that is the hotel that the undercover FBI agent posing as a Main street hoodlum lives in as he tries to get the confidence of the other hoods on the street in that movie called The Street With No Name. I think they actually filmed it inside the real place. There’s a few scenes where the camera doesn’t cut as he walks under that Leather Jackets sign and up the stairs to his daily squalor. His contact lives across the street above what I think was the Rosslyn and they communicate through lighting matches and pulling their window shades up and down.

There is a free concert tonight (Thursday May 10) at the Regent during the downtown artwalk if anyone wants to see how this theater looks inside for themselves. Here’s the link:

http://persee.net/

Before becoming the Regent Theatre (a name it has had since at least 1941), this was known as the National Theatre. I vaguely remember reading somewhere that in the early years, this was one of William Fox’s theatres.

vokoban: These overlay maps you’re making are excellent. The theatre at 458 S. Main was the Banner. I notice that the 1950 Sanborn doesn’t show the premises at 438 S. Main as being occupied by the Main Theatre. That was apparently still retail space then.

Here’s a post I put up about the Regent and the Rosslyn across the street:

View link

KenMC:

That first photo from the 1920’s shows the Regent. It’s right next to the “Canadian Office Building”, which is still there in 2007 photo you posted. The labeled San Fernando Building in the background also confirms it.