The Big Fix (1978) - Film Locations Part Two

This is my second entry on the filming locations for the Richard Dreyfuss detective film, The Big Fix (1978). To read part one click here. In this second post we get to see more of downtown Los Angeles as well as a few scenes filmed in Santa Monica, Venice, East Los Angeles and Beverly Hills.

As Dreyfuss continues his investigation, he follows a lead that takes him to a neighborhood just east of downtown Los Angeles in the Boyle Heights area. In the scene below, Dreyfuss parks his Volkswagen on Glenn Avenue with the intersection of South Grande Vista Avenue just behind him.

Dreyfuss parked on Glenn Ave at S. Grande Vista Ave

Looking up Glenn Ave toward S. Grande Vista Ave

In the next comparison, Dreyfuss gets out of his car and we get a view looking east down Glenn Avenue. Other than some new trees, the area looks mostly the same. Many of the apartment buildings seen in the film have murals painted on them and even thirty years later many of the murals are still there.

Dreyfuss looking down Glenn Ave near S. Grande Vista Ave.

Looking down Glenn Ave near S. Grande Vista Ave.

Dreyfuss follows a woman through East Los Angeles who runs into the El Mercado, "the market," located at 3425 East First Street, Los Angeles to try and get away. The El Mercado is a large complex made up of a few restaurants, a bakery, and a swap meet/market area.

El Mercado, 3425 E. 1st Street, Los Angeles

El Mercado as it appears today.

In the next scene Dreyfuss pays a visit to Oscar Procari, Sr. (Fritz Weaver) to see if he can dig up more information for his case. Dreyfuss parks across the street from the parking garage entrance at 524 S. Flower Street in downtown Los Angeles (near the Los Angeles Library). Dreyfuss goes into what looks like in the film to be a private athletic club.

The building Dreyfuss visits next to the parking

garage at 524 S. Flower Street, Los Angeles.

The building on Flower Street as it appears today.

At night, Dreyfuss meets up with John Lithgow at the Triforium sculpture located at Temple Street and Main Street in downtown Los Angeles. The sculpture was unveiled in 1975, just three years prior to this film.

Dreyfuss and Lithgow in front of the Triforium sculpture.

The Triforium sculpture at Temple and Main Streets

as it appears now.

The District Court building and the Los Angeles City Hall building are landmarks that can also be seen at this intersection as seen in the aerial view below.

An aerial view of the Triforium sculpture.

In a scene when Dreyfuss is driving around in his Volkswagen he goes past the Dolores Restaurant that was once located on the northeast corner of Le Doux  Road and Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. The building has been razed and replaced by a modern office building which includes a Wells Fargo bank. Does anyone have any memories of eating at this Dolores locations?

Dolores Restaurant at Le Doux Rd and Wilshire Blvd

The corner of Le Doux Rd & Wilshire Blvd now with

an office building where Dolores Restaurant once stood.

Below, Dreyfuss is back in downtown Los Angeles, this time with his kids and they are running up the stairs to the Pico Boulevard entrance of the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Dreyfuss on the stairs of the Los Angeles Convention Center

on Pico Boulevard.

Looking down Pico Blvd towards the Harbor Fwy.

The LA Convention Center stairs are on the right.

The Pico Blvd entrance to the LA Convention Center.

The Pico Blvd entrance as it appears today.

The next few scenes all take place in the beach community of Venice. Below, Dreyfuss is running towards his car which is parked across the street from a shop at 1227 Abbot Kinney Blvd.

Dreyfuss running to his car on Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice.

Looking down Abbot Kinney Blvd toward Aragon Court

1227 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice, Ca.

The building at 1227 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice

as it appears today.

A gang of men run down Alhambra Court towards

Aragon Court in Venice.

Looking down Alhambra Court towards

Aragon Court in Venice as it looks today.

In the scene below, a squad of police cars race down Wright Street near downtown Los Angeles.

1587 Wright Street, Los Angeles

1587 Wright Street, Los Angeles

Dreyfuss takes his kids with him while he trails a lady through Santa Monica and Venice.

The parking lot at the Santa Monica Pier as seen in the film.

The Santa Monica pier parking lot as it appears today.

Looking at the Santa Monica pier from the parking lot.

A view of the Santa Monica pier as it appears now.

In the next scene, Dreyfuss and his boys follow a woman down the steps alongside the Santa Monica pier. The restaurant in front of them selling hot dogs is now the Carousel Cafe located at 1601 Ocean Front Walk.

Dreyfuss and boys heading towards 1601 Ocean Front Walk.

1601 Ocean Front Walk, Santa Monica, Ca

Dreyfuss and his boys continue down Ocean Front Walk from Santa Monica and take it all the way down to next door Venice, ending at the Israel Levin Senior Adult Center at 201 Ocean Front Walk, Venice, Ca. The Israel Levin Senior Adult Center is still there on Ocean Front Walk, but the building has had a dramatic makeover. The windows have been covered, the front entrance has changed, and the whole building is now covered in a giant mural.

Israel Levin Senior Adult Center as seen in the film.

201 Ocean Front Walk, Venice, Ca

The Senior Center as it appears today.

The next comparisons are just a couple blocks down Ocean Front Walk from the Senior Center in Venice. What was the Land's End Restaurant in the film is now the Candle Cafe & Grill located at 325 Ocean Front Walk.

Dreyfuss standing at 401 Ocean Front Walk, Venice.

Looking at 401 Ocean Front Walk as it appears today.

Dreyfuss and boys at the Land's End Restaurant.

The Land's End Restaurant is now the

Candle Cafe & Grill.

The end of the film all takes place back in downtown Los Angeles near the Convention Center. This area has been completely redeveloped since the time of the film. Many of the buildings have been razed to make room for an expansion of the Convention Center and other new buildings. Dreyfuss is driving down the 110 Freeway and he spots the man he is looking for on the rooftop of a building near the Convention Center building.

Dreyfuss drives on the freeway near the LA Convention Center.

An aerial view of the freeway and Convention Center.

Dreyfuss finds his suspect on the rooftop. The tall building in the background is the Bob Hope Patriotic Hall located at 1816 S. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles.

Bob Hope Patriotic Hall can bee seen in background.

Aerial view of the Bob Hope Patriotic Hall at

1816 S. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles

To read part one of The Big Fix (1978) film locations click here.

Your thoughts?

The Big Fix (1978) - Film Locations Part One

Imagine all those detective films from the 1940s with Humphrey Bogart, but instead its the 1970s and Bogart is a dope smoking, counter-culture has-been nostalgic for the radical days of protests and fighting for 1960s liberal causes. That's kind of how the film The Big Fix feels. Instead of Bogart and his Sam Spade/Philip Marlowe characters we have Richard Dreyfuss playing private eye Moses Wine. Where Bogart had a tough guy presence - I mean you wouldn't be surprised to see him throw a punch at a guy that had it coming, the Moses Wine character is not a tough guy, but a Berkeley schooled academic rebel more familiar with protesting or arranging sit-ins.

In the film, Moses is a divorced father of two, just barely getting by financially, when his old college friend Lila (Susan Anspach) hooks him up with a job. Lila wants Moses to work for Milles Hawthorne, a candidate running for governor of California, to investigate who has been trying to sabotage his campaign. Although Moses doesn't agree with Hawthorne's policies, it seems like all the other 1960s radicals have sold-out, so why shouldn't he? Besides, he needs the money. Moses takes on the task but the deeper he gets in his investigation, the stranger and more dangerous things become.

Although there are some holes in the plot, The Big Fix is still an interesting story with an excellent performance by Richard Dreyfuss. The supporting cast is great too, particularly F. Murray Abraham playing an Abbie Hoffman like character. Seeing John Lithgow in a full beard in what was one of his first film roles was also interesting too.

The Big Fix was filmed all over Los Angeles, from downtown LA to the beachside boardwalk in Venice. This post is part one of two which features many of those filming locations. You will have to check back next week for part two.

Hawthorne Campaign Headquarters

Corner of Wilshire Blvd and Shatto Place

Looking at the corner of Wilshire and Shatto Place.

The Hawthorne campaign headquarters are located at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Shatto Place (see comparisons above and below). The building has since been demolished and the site is now a vacant lot. The whole area has changed quite a bit since 1978, with old buildings torn down and replaced by new developments.

John Lithgow looks at Dreyfuss and Anspach out of

the campaign headquarters window facing Shatto Place.

The vacant lot where the headquarters once stood

as seen from Shatto Place near Wilshire Blvd.

Lithgow looking across Shatto Place from inside the 

headquarters. A Wells Fargo can be seen across the street.

The Wells Fargo building on Shatto Place is still 

there but its no longer a Wells Fargo.

Looking south down Shatto Place towards Wilshire Blvd.

Looking south down Shatto Place towards Wilshire Blvd.

The strip mall in the background is now gone and a new condo

development stands in its place.

Dreyfuss, with kids, gets in car parked on Shatto Place.

Wilshire Blvd in background.

Looking from Shatto Place across Wilshire Blvd.

Early in the film Dreyfuss and Anspach pay a visit to the University of California Los Angeles. In the scene below Dreyfuss and Anspach are first seen walking down the outside hallway of Royce Hall and then entering the UCLA Humanities Building.

Dreyfuss and Anspach walking down Royce Hall at UCLA.

Anspach and Dreyfuss enter the UCLA Humanities Building.

In another scene Anspach and Dreyfuss visit the Hall of Justice building located in downtown Los Angeles at 210 West Temple Street. Ever since the 1994 Northridge earthquake this 1925 building has been sitting vacant. This landmark is where Robert Mitchum served time after being charged with marijuana possession and was also the location where the autopsies of Marilyn Monroe and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy took place. To see how the interior of the Hall looks today visit the website of Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. The exterior photo of the Hall of Justice building is one I took. 

Anspach and Dreyfuss walk inside the Hall of Justice.

An exterior look at the Hall of Justice building.

While on the hunt for his suspect, Dreyfuss goes to the Rainbow Club Casino. According to an old advertisement I found the address was listed as 13915 South Vermont Street, Gardena California. The building as seen in the screenshot also has an address number of 13915. There is no casino located at this  address anymore. Now its a tract with small homes.

Rainbow Club Casino, 13915 S. Vermont Ave, Gardena, Ca

13915 S. Vermont Ave, Gardena, Ca as it appears today.

In the next scene Dreyfuss visits an electronics shop located at 905 S. Vermont Avenue where he expects to find more about his suspect.

Dreyfuss exits car parked at 905 S. Vermont Ave.

9th Street is the cross street in the background.

Looking down Vermont Ave from 9th Street.

Dreyfuss outside the electronics shop at 905 S. Vermont Ave.

The view looking from the electronics shop today.

Dreyfuss outside the electronics shop on Vermont Ave.

There still is an electronics shop at 905 S. Vermont Ave!

Anspach's character lives in the Harper House apartment building located at 1336 Harper Avenue in West Hollywood. In the scene below Dreyfuss is seen walking up to the Harper House apartment.

Looking from the entrance of the Harper House as seen in the film.

The view in front of the Harper House. 1336 Harper Ave.

Dreyfuss walks up the stairs of the Harper House.

The Harper House building as it appears today.

The last few comparisons involve a car chase scene that takes place in downtown Los Angeles.

Flower Street at 2nd Street as seen in the film.

Flower Street at 2nd Street as it appears today.

Dreyfuss in VW bug on 7th Street near Hope Street.

Looking down 7th Street towards Hope Street.

Looking down 6th Street from Flower Street.

Looking down 6th Street at Flower Street today.

Looking down 7th Street from Hope Street.

Looking down 7th Street from Hope Street today.

Looking down Wilshire Blvd from S. Figueroa Street.

Looking down Wilshire Blvd from S. Figueroa Street today.

Entering the tunnel at 2nd Street and Hill Street.

Looking towards the tunnel at 2nd Street and Hill Street.

The ramp to 1st Street from S. Figueroa Street.

Looking at the ramp to 1st Street from Figueroa St

I don't believe The Big Fix (1978) is available on DVD but it is currently available as a Watch Instantly title on Netflix and has been released on VHS.

To read part two of the filming locations for The Big Fix (1978) click here.

Your thoughts?

Except for the Hall of Justice image, all Street View images (c) 2011 Google.