L.A. Confidential at the Los Angeles Theatre

It only took me about three months to finally get this post done, which is actually pretty good for me these days as I often feel like I’m at least a year behind. No kidding! As part of the LA Conservancy’s Last Remaining Seats series, “L.A. Confidential” (1997) played on the big screen at the Los Angeles Theatre in downtown L.A.



From the L.A. Theatre website:

The Los Angeles Theatre was the last and most extravagant of the ornate movie palaces built on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles between 1911 and 1931. Designed by architect S. Charles Lee with a French Baroque-inspired décor, its majestic six-story main lobby and 2,200-seat auditorium of carved plaster ornamentation, mirrors, and cove-lit murals recall the glamorous days of 1930s Hollywood.



The terrazzo floor outside on the street displays a level of craftsmanship one does not typically see anymore:



The inside is jaw-dropping! Opulent and yes, a tad-bit gaudy, it still packs a wallop nearly one hundred years after it first opened for the premiere of Charlie Chaplin’s “City Lights” on January 30, 1931.
 


I am obsessed with the fountain area shown below. It took me quite some time to get a decent shot sans cellphone gawkers standing in my way. I don’t mind other people taking photos; just those taking numerous selfies, obliterating this beautiful area with their ego-driven faces snapping shot after shot after shot, hoping to get the perfect image for their social media, proving that they were here.



Before the film started, James Ellroy, author of the book L.A. Confidential, gave a reading from his new book, Red Sheet. Not a fan of LA, he said he only came to the city for three reasons: 1. Where he goes when he is getting a divorce 2. When he has to dry out 3. To make money. His reading of his latest novel was just as I would expect it to be from him: slightly anger, very vulgar, and somewhat hard to follow.



That killer smile of his as he signed my copy of Red Scare. I have been struggling to read through it, as his staccato/machine gun writing style takes a bit to get used to. L.A. Confidential was one of the few times where I would say I prefer the film to the novel. Ellroy has wonderful stories to tell; I’m just not a huge fann of his writing style.



Heading back to the theatre itself, I snapped (what else?!?) a light fixture or two:



The impressive stage curtain:



The detail on the ceiling. Wow. Just wow.



Ellroy spoke for a bit before the film started. He didn’t elaborate, but it was easy to read between the lines that other than the money he was paid for the film rights to his novel,  he was not a fan of the adaptation.



I was pretty excited to see it up on the big screen again, especially in this grand movie palace. The print was muddy and throughout there were focus issues. Despite that, the film was still impressive. Stellar cast, stellar set design, and killer dialogue.



See more Los Angeles Theatre photos at my main website.