Movie palace forecourts and brass stars set into the sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard.
What Hollywood looks like
opened with the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings on May 18, 1927. Its forecourt has held handprints and footprints in wet concrete since Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford left the first pair on April 30, 1927.
In Iron Man 3, Happy Hogan confronts one of Aldrich Killian's henchmen in front of the theatre, then an explosion goes off in the forecourt. The reshoot ran under the cover name Caged, with permits covering one Monday night into Tuesday morning.
Next door, the is part of the complex now called Ovation Hollywood. A renovation completed by 2022 stripped the courtyard of its Babylon-style elephant statues, leaving a plain open air space under the same tall arched entrance. It has hosted the Academy Awards since 2002.
Nearly a mile east, near , the Pantages Theatre is a 1930 movie palace with a black and gold zigzag moderne lobby. The lobby plays the fictional Ritz Gotham Hotel in Batman Forever, and the Bodyguard used the theatre's stage for its own Academy Awards scenes.
The stands nearby on Vine Street, a circular tower finished in 1956 and often called the first circular office building in the world. Brass stars have been set into the sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and this stretch of Vine Street since 1960, more than 2,800 of them running past the theaters and the tower alike.
Shot in Hollywood
Iron Man 3 shot at the Chinese Theatre under a fake title, and Batman Forever turned the Pantages Theatre's lobby into a fictional hotel. Both buildings are still working movie theaters today.
Iron Man 3, 2013
The Chinese Theatre forecourt
Played Grauman's Chinese Theatre
Happy Hogan confronts one of Aldrich Killian's henchmen in front of the theatre, then an explosion goes off in the forecourt behind him. The reshoot ran under the production's cover name, Caged, with permits covering one Monday night into Tuesday morning.
Batman Forever, 1995
Played the Ritz Gotham Hotel, Gotham City
The Hollywood Pantages Theatre's black and gold zigzag moderne lobby plays the fictional Ritz Gotham Hotel, where Edward Nygma throws his party. The Bodyguard used the same theatre's stage for its own Academy Awards scenes.
What Hollywood can double for
Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia
The Fox Theatre in Atlanta is a 1929 building with a Moorish exotic revival facade of minarets and domes, the same King Tut era exotic revival theatre style as Grauman's Egyptian and Chinese theatres here. The Fox seats more than four thousand and its interior courtyard ceiling is painted as a starry desert night sky, so an interior shot needs careful framing to keep the ceiling out of frame. Try searching exotic revival theatre facade now.
Kings Theatre in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York
The Kings Theatre on Flatbush Avenue is a 1929 movie palace restored in 2015 with its original lobby and a new marquee out front, the same kind of ornate movie palace interior as the Pantages here. The Kings Theatre's lobby is French Baroque rather than zigzag moderne, so a shot on the ceiling or the gilded plasterwork gives the switch away and a tighter frame on the marquee works better. Try searching restored movie palace lobby now.
Palm Springs modeled its own Walk of Stars along Palm Canyon Drive directly on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with brass stars set into the same kind of sidewalk terrazzo. Palm Springs is flat desert with midcentury storefronts rather than 1920s movie palaces, so a close shot on the stars themselves holds the match better than a wide street shot. Try searching brass star sidewalk now.
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