It looks like the BBC got it wrong when they recreated the picture frame billboard shot. I guess they took the information
"at the corner of Fairfax and Wilshire Boulevard, directly across from The May Company", and picked the wrong corner. The picture below shows an auto accident in 1952 (the year that 'Macao' was released). The camera is pointing roughly southeast, and looking across Wilshire from outside May Co. The building on the left still stands - it's now the 'Architecture and Design Museum > Los Angeles' at 6032 Wilshire Boulevard.
USC Digital Library
On the right is the Geller Theatre at 6040 Wilshire Boulevard, which would explain the "...LLER" sign at the top of the building on the far right of
e_r's picture. The "JEAN PARKER/ROBT. LOWERY" banner is covering it in the picture below. The "SCREEN RADIO" sign below matches the style of the "DRAMA SCHOOL" sign in
e_r's picture, and the "LUBRICATION" sign from the gas station can be seen in both pictures. That doesn't mean that the structure I originally arrowed is the picture frame billboard, but I did get the correct corner
.
Detail of picture above.
The following extract is from 'Miracle Mile in Los Angeles: History and Architecture' by Ruth Wallach. I think that "theatre workshop" is a reasonable synonym for "drama school".
An article on worthpoint.com claims that
"Such renowned actors as Natalie Wood, Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, David Janssen, Robert Ryan, Alan Ladd, Ross Hunter and Robert Lansing, studied at this workshop." It also has a picture of a pair of tickets from the workshop.
books.google.com