Visit the Los Angeles Theatres page on Facebook!

Hi!

For news of events related to historic theatres in the Los Angeles area and posts about what I've recently added to the various theatre websites come visit Facebook:

www.facebook.com/losangelestheatres

What has been appearing here on Blogspot has just been mirroring the Facebook page and I've decided it's just a bit much to keep two parallel platforms going. I'd much rather spend that extra time working on the web pages for the various theatres.

Those web pages are divided into 4 sites that I link to frequently on the Facebook posts:

Downtown Los Angeles Theatres -- everything in the downtown core

Hollywood Theatres -- Hollywood and nearby

Wilshire Boulevard Theatres -- including McArthur Park, Beverly Hills, Westwood and Santa Monica

More L.A. Movie Palaces -- pages about a sampling of interesting theatres elsewhere in Los Angeles County -- including separate sections for Glendale, Pasadena, Long Beach, East os Angeles and San Pedro.

So there won't be any more posts here. Come visit on Facebook. You can look at the page even if you don't have a Facebook account. If you do have an account, click on the "LIKE" button at the top of the page and you can add your comments or photos.

See you at the movies!

-- Bill Counter

A Depression View -- The Banner Theatre on Main St.

I just love this photo. There's so much stuff in front that you can hardly see the boxoffice. We're at the Banner Theatre, at 456 S. Main St. The Banner was in a building that's been demolished just down the block from the Regent.

It's 1937 and the Banner is running footage from the James Braddock / Joe Louis fight in its "First Main St. Showing." Also playing to give us our "3 big pictures" are a couple of very old items: Edward G Robinson in "Man With Two Faces" (1934) and Laurel and Hardy in "Dirty Work" (1933).

The photo is by Herman Schultheis and is from the collection of the Los Angeles Public Library. Click on the image to get a full size view on the Library's website.

And you can check out more views on the new Banner Theatre page.

Looking Down 7th St. Toward the Warner

I seem to be running into a lot of views I haven't seen before of the Warner -- all at a distance. I've added three recently to the Warner Theatre Downtown page.

Here you see a card looking west on 7th St. from Brian McCray's wonderful Hollywood Postcard set on Picasa. It's mostly about the Bullock's store at 7th & Broadway, but on the left you can see the Warner a block away at 7th and Hill. You can click on the image for a larger view.

Kenneth McIntyre's interesting (and rapidly expanding) Facebook page Photos of Los Angeles also has recently added two views looking along 7th St. -- one from the 1932 Olympics.

You can check it all out on our Warner Theatre page.

"The Drunkard" at the Theatre Mart

What, you haven't heard about the record shattering run of "The Drunkard" in Los Angeles?

Neither had I until I got a mysterious e-mail about a year ago. They knew about it. Where had I been?

"The Drunkard" was a temperance melodrama from 1844 that hadoriginally been produced by, of all people, P.T. Barnum.

In 1933 it got dusted off and opened in the Theatre Mart and ran for 36 years. The stars all came. Beer was served to temper the prohibition theme. Boris Karloff suggested adding an olio. Which they did. The program here is from 1939 and was recently on eBay.

The building is still there at N. Juanita & Clinton Streets. Amazing. See the new Theatre Mart page for more information. Yes, I'm still looking for interior photos.

The Culver Theatre / Kirk Douglas

Well, you have to like the Fox West Coast / Skouras-syle interiors that the company was celebrated/reviled for in the late 40s and early 50s to appreciate the inside of the Culver.

But you've got to agree that the outside is wonderful. Still. The interior got remodeled to become a small legit house operated by the Center Theatre Group that opened in 2004.

The view here is a 2010 shot I took. You can click on it to enlarge.

Or even better, go to the page I just added to the website on the Kirk Douglas/ Culver Theatre.

I haven't been successful in locating much in the way of interior views. Do you have any in that shoebox?

The Hippodrome Going Down

Have you checked out Kenneth McIntyre's new Facebook group Photos of Los Angeles? He's been roaming through the archives and picking out many treasures I haven't seen before.

A good example is this 1952 view of the Hippodrome on Main St. as the proscenium arch was being demolished. Click on the photo to go to the full size view on Facebook.

Or check out the new Hippodrome Theatre page I just put together for more data and photos.

The Globe in the 40s

This has to be the best vintage shot of the Globe Theatre entrance I've seen.

The Globe is at 740 Broadway with the auditorium now refurbished and being used as Club 740. In the photo we're in the 40s with the theatre being called the Newsreel.

The photo was discovered by Kenneth McIntryre who put it on his new Facebook page Photos of Los Angeles. Thanks, Kenneth!

More on the theatre is on the Globe Theatre page.

The Galway Theatre in the Movies - 1979

Don Solosan made me do it. Well, he at least suggested that I watch "The Clonus Horror" (1979) for a trip down Main Street.

I hate to tell you that the movie is not wonderful. But we did go to Main Street and get a walk by the Galway Theatre at 514 S. Main.

Our hero is trying to escape from a cult of evil scientists trying to clone politicians so they don't have any term limits.

Yup, that's the Galway in the photo here as is was in 1979. I've celebrated his great cinematic event by starting a separate page for the Galway Theatre. Check it out.

I wanted lots of room for photos of any other film roles the theatre has had that I haven't seen yet. Let's do a Galway film feastival. We could start with a double bill of "Clonus" and "Too Young To Love."

Checking Out The Belasco Again...

Have you been to an event at the Belasco since the reopening? Well, me neither. I didn't get an invite to the bash for the royal couple that was held there. I was so disappointed.

One thing I have done is check out the revamped version of their website, www.thebelasco.com. You'll find it now has quite an extensive gallery of photos taken since the theatre's multi-million dollar restoration. The one you see here is an example -- and there are 20 more that include lobby and ballroom area views.

Then check out our Belasco Theatre page for a selection of both vintage and recent photos, including some knockout work by Wendell Benedetti that appeared on the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation's Facebook page.

Michelle at the Palace - From Booth to Basement

I just updated the page for the Palace Theatre downtown on Broadway. New on the page are 8 photos taken by Michelle Gerdes on the Palace's 100th birthday, June 26.

Plus I added a lot of links to other views in Michelle's new Palace Theatre set on Flickr. She was at the Palace working all day as head usher for the three "Sunset Boulevard" screenings but managed to sneak around a bit and get some nice photos for us to oogle.

She took a few in the booth and wandered a lot in the basement. The view here is a lovely detail of some plasterwork in the now stunning ticket lobby area.

Glendale Theatres : The Sands and the Temple

I've been wallowing around in the archives looking for more photos to add to the Glendale Theatres section of the website and have about hit bottom. If there's anything in your attic, send it along.

I just put together a page on the Temple Theatre, a main floor venue in the Masonic Temple building on Brand Blvd.

The photo here is a wonderful Dick Whittington view from 1938. We're looking north on Brand Blvd. and the Temple Theatre (10 cents - any seat - any time) looks better than it ever would again. A click on the photo will take you to the full size view at the USC Archives.

There's also a new page up on the Sands Theatre, just down the block from the Temple. When Pacific Theatres was running both houses in the 80s, they were known as the Regency One and Regency Two.

The Glendale explorations get finished off with a couple of vintage views of a 1938 building, the Glendale Civic Auditorium.

The Strand Theatre and The Pike From The Water

A great view of the Long Beach Pike popped up recently on Vintage Los Angeles. Click on it to get to a full size view on Facebook.

It's after 1929, because we see the Ocean Center Building (along with the State Theatre) on the right. Look at the oil well structures on the ridge line beyond downtown!

What I was mostly interested in was the Strand Theatre in the middle.

Behind the roller coaster you can see (from left to right) the big arched roof of the roller rink (later the Majestic Ballroom), then the Strand (a bit of the facade, the roof line and the stagehouse) and then the Roman columns of the Bathhouse.

This great photo (and lots more) are featured on the Strand Theatre page.

Pasadena: The Savoy, Colorado and the Esquire Theatres

I'm continuing to fill in the Pasadena Theatres section of the website.

I figured out a bit more about the Savoy/ Fair Oaks/ Oaks Theatre that was the first home (1916) of the Pasadena Playhouse Company before they built their 1925 home on El Molino. It turns out the place was open around 1912 as Fischer's Theatre. We also had a Fischer's in downtown L.A. as well at about the same period that ran stock productions.

Out in the Uptown end of Colorado Blvd. were two much later theatre buildings that survive with other uses -- both now have pages that I assembled last week.

The Colorado opened in 1949 as an art house and was later operated by both Loew's and Laemmle. I was delighted to find some interior views to link to on Cinema Tour. See the Colorado Theatre page for more information.

The photo here is a boxoffice detail ace theatre explorer Michelle Gerdes took in 2009. Click on it to get to a larger view on Flickr -- it's part of her Theatres-California set.

And please visit the Esquire Theatre page for information (and a few photos) on a much later theatre. Laemmle Theatres did this one out of a former restaurant in 1964.

More Pasadena goodies are coming soon!

The Follies Theatre in Living Color!

Did you catch this one that Kenneth McIntyre added last week on that hotspot Vintage Los Angeles?

You can click on the image to get to the full size version on Facebook. We're looking north on Main St. in 1973 or 1974 -- perhaps looking at a car going the wrong direction on a one way street.

I added it to my page on the Follies Theatre and it makes everything else on the page look drab. Except for a hand tinted postcard of the building's facade in its days as the Belasco, everything else is black and white.

Of course, the 1901 version of the building looked totally different. It got a moderne re-do -- perhaps by S. Charles Lee. At least there are some totally charming interior photos that I link to that are from the S. Charles Lee Archive.

So it's great to see a color view. It almost makes me want to watch the movie. "Uptown Saturday Night," that is.

Views of the Palace Theatre in Long Beach

The Palace in Long Beach opened in 1916 under the management of William Fahey, who would have his hand in many other theatres in Long Beach, including his most well known, the State.

The photo here is from the Los Angeles Public Library. It's Fahey (on the left) out in front of his lovely new theatre with a sign vendor. A click on the photo will get you to a larger view on the Library's website.

The Palace went through lots of changes of ownership and finally closed in the 80s. There are more views, including some of its art deco makeover, in the page on the Palace Theatre that I just put together.

Another Mystery Theatre

Well, we didn't get anywhere solving the last mystery theatre puzzle but I have high hopes for this one.

The photo is from the Los Angeles Public Library again. "Toast of New York" was released in 1937. I'm assuming the "Owl Show" that the theatre is advertising was a late night event.

The Library's caption tells us it's view by Herman Schultheis of a theatre in Hollywood but leaves it up to us to guess what theatre it is. You can click on it for the Library's full size view -- but it isn't very large.

Do you recognize the marquee? How about the terrazzo pattern? For this we we may have to call on the city's chief terrazzo connoisseur, Michelle Gerdes, for a final determination.

Let me know if you have any ideas.

A Plan for the Biltmore

Well, we're not planning to rebuild the Biltmore Theatre. All I've come across is a nice floor plan for the Biltmore Hotel in a brochure published when the theatre was still part of the complex.

It's part of a post back in May by Ethereal Reality on the always interesting Noirish Los Angeles.

Head to the Biltmore Theatre page for views of this long vanished theatre that was once a major stop on national legit tours.

A Glorious Look Down Broadway

This is a curious photo that seems striking for several reasons. The quality of the image looks more like the 1890s than anything else. But it's November, 1931. We've got Loew's State on the right as we look south on Broadway.

Here we are at the bottom of the depression and it's celebration time with the street lavishly decorated for Fiesta Week. It's a view from the USC Archives -- click on it to go to their full size view.

I'd come across it via a post by "Gaylord Wilshire" on the delirious discussion thread Noirish Los Angeles.

It's now on the Loew's State Theatre page, along with many other views of the theatre -- including some of my interior shots from 2007.

A Couple More Glimpses of the Regent

I'd liked the mural that was on the top of the facade of the Regent Theatre on Main St. in 2008 but hadn't known until recently that it was the work of Ed Fuentes, of [ view ] from a loft blog and photo fame.

Prompted by a recent glimpse of the Regent in a shot from the 1974 film "Uptown Saturday Night," I recently added several new items to the page on the Regent Theatre.

Here you see one by Mr. Fuentes himself of the Regent from up high across the street. Yup, that's the mural were looking at. It was sad to see it go. You can click on the image to go to the full size view on Flickr.

Also new on the page is desolate (probably 90s) view posted by Kenneth McIntyre on Vintage Los Angeles.

Take the Train to the Tower!

This shot instantly became my favorite Pasadena photo.
And I've been looking at hundreds this week.

We're looking east on Colorado Blvd. between Raymond and Arroyo Parkway. Yes, that's where the tracks were -- now underground at this point. A few blocks farther south, the right of way is still used (on the surface) for light rail.

Check out the Tower Theatre behind the locomotive. It's 1938 or so and we can go see Wallace Beery in "Slave Ship" -- I'm sure it's one of his all time greats.

This amazing photo is from the Los Angeles Public Library collection. A click on it will get you to a full size view on the Library's website.

In addition to the Tower, you'll find many other new listings on the Pasadena Theatres page. I've been working.