Los Angeles Theatres: Warner Hollywood: vintage auditorium views

A 1928 pre-opening auditorium view by Mott Studios that's in the California State Library collection. It's one of eleven photos in their set #001386583. Note the glimpse of the counterweight system T-wall offstage left. This stage backs into a corner so the stage wall we're seeing isn't perpendicular to the proscenium. Also see a version of the same photo with some vertical cropping that's in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

A drawing of the auditorium from the April 14, 1928 issue of Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World where they profiled the new theatre in an article titled "Warners Joins Film Capitol's Theatre Family." It's on Internet Archive. The Los Angeles Public Library also has a version of the drawing in their collection.

An elegant peek in from the house left side aisle. The photo appeared with a seven page article on "Warner Bros. New Theatre" in the December 1928 issue of Architect and Engineer, available on Internet Archive. A version of the photo is also in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. The article's author comments:

"The auditorium proper is a vast Spanish interior court, apparently opening to the sky and surrounded by a magnificent colonnade through which pictorial vistas may be seen, thus enhancing the atmospheric beauty of the theater. The murals, in fact the decoration of the entire theatre, were done by Albert Herter, whose great murals in Paris and talented portrait paintings have brought him international prominence...

"No expense has been spared in the lighting installation. This is an entirely indirect illumination in four colors. One of the remarkable features is the constantly changing cloud effects in the sky-like ceiling. Every phase of the ever-changing light effects of the twenty four hour day is possible with the installation adopted, not only on the stage but in the auditorium proper..."

The house left wall near the proscenium. It's a Mott Studios photo in the California State Library set #001386583.

A plan of the theatre's main floor that appears in "American Theatres Of Today" by R.W. Sexton and B. F. Betts. Hollywood Blvd. is at the bottom of the plan. That second entrance over on Wilcox also had a boxoffice. Also see a floorplan from the December 1928 issue of Architect and Engineer -- it's on the page about the stage.

The two volumes of "American Theatres of Today" were published in 1927 and 1930 by the Architectural Book Publishing Co., New York. It was reprinted in one volume in 1977 and 1985 by the Vestal Press, New York. Theatre Historical Society also did a reprint in 2009. It's also available on Amazon.

A view you can't get these days is this nice one looking across the stage into the house. The apron and footlights are long gone due to the two Cinerama renovations. The balcony was walled off to form two additional theatres in 1978. Quite reversible, of course. The photo is from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

A Keystone Studios photo with the orchestra pit lift at "overture" level. The Warner Hollywood was one of the few Los Angeles theatres with an orchestra pit lift. The pit's been covered over but the screw-jack mechanism is still there. Other pit lift equipped theatres in L.A. were the Metropolitan (with initially the lift for the musicians onstage), the United Artists, the Hollywood Pantages and the Earl Carroll Theatre.

It's another photo from the collection of the Los Angeles Public Library. The photo also appears with an article, available on Internet Archive, about the Warner Hollywood in the July 14, 1928 issue of Motion Picture News titled "Spanish Atmospheric Style Featured in Design of New Warner Theatre in Hollywood."

A Mott Studios vista of the rear of the sky dome in the California State Library set #001386583.

A detail of the arches along the side of the main floor. It's a 1928 photo from Keystone Studio in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

A 1928 look at the rear of the main floor by Mott Studios in the California State Library collection set #001386583.

A 1928 view across the footlights. Thanks to Kurt Wahlner for spotting this one when a vintage print of it was offered for sale on eBay. Visit GraumansChinese.org, the site Kurt curates about a little theatre down the street from the Warner. The orchestra pit lift is still mostly intact. The organ console, over on the right, was once on a separate lift. The Los Angeles Public Library has a gloomier version of the photo in their Herald Examiner collection.

The organ grille area house left. It's a Mott Studios photo in the California State Library collection set #001386583.

A luscious look at the proscenium from the left side of the balcony. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

A 1928 Mott Studios view of balcony seating from the California State Library collection set #001386583.

A sidewall colonnade detail from The April 14, 1928 Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World article "Warners Joins Film Capitol's Theatre Family."

The organ grille area house right, a photo taken during construction. The chamber on this side would get murals installed in front of it. It's from The April 14, 1928 Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World article "Warners Joins Film Capitol's Theatre Family."

The murals in the colonnade at balcony level house right. The photo was with an article about the Warner Hollywood in the July 14, 1928 issue of Motion Picture News titled "Spanish Atmospheric Style Featured in Design of New Warner Theatre in Hollywood." It's on Internet Archive.

The article notes that "The auditorium represents a Spanish garden with the open air effect suggested by the blue domed ceiling, studded with stars. The sidewalls are surmounted by an arcade of pillars with a distant landscape showing through the arches. The coloring used throughout is an intensified tone of flamingo harmonizing with a turquoise blue and gold. This is first seen in the great promenade, which sweeps in a great curve around three sides of the theatre so that both ends are never visible at once...."

The auditorium in the 40s:

An undated look to the rear of the main floor. It's a contribution from Bob Meza on the Cinema Tour page about the Warner.

A look at the seating in the balcony in 1943. The photo is in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

Another 1943 seat and carpet detail in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

Across the front of the balcony in 1943. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

A detail of the bottom of one of the sidewall murals. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo they date as 1943.

The house right balcony sidewall. The 1943 photo is in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

The screen in 1943. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

Views from the 1950s:

The Cinerama screen going in. "This Is Cinerama" opened at the theatre on April 29. The photo appeared in the September 16, 1953 issue of Exhibitor. It's on Internet Archive. Thanks to Lawrence Kaufman for locating the article and including it in a big Facebook post about Cinerama.

Note that for this first Cinerama installation at the Warner the center portion of the screen is sitting on the stage behind the proscenium with the the sides extending out into the auditorium. The speakers for channels 1 and 5 are out beyond the proscenium. The five stage speakers used were typical for the early Cinerama installations: Altec Voice of the Theatre A2x with dual 3x5 multicell horns on top. The rigging for the installation was done by Clancy. See a June 6, 1953 ad from the firm that appeared in Motion Picture Herald.

The center section of the screen installed as well as the house left side of the traveler. Photo: Exhibitor. - September 16, 1953. If you look at the magazine's page of photos you'll note that in the left column they got the captions reversed on photos 2 and 3. They had this one identified as the Music Hall in Detroit.

Showing off the new Cinerama screen in 1953. Thanks to Roland Lataille, curator of the site InCinerama.com, for locating the photo for his page about the Warner Hollywood.

A murky view back to the "Baker" booth in the center and the "Charlie" booth house left. This is another photo that appeared in the September 16, 1953 issue of Exhibitor. Note that surround speaker in one of the back wall arches. In the photo below it's been draped.

Looking back toward the center Cinerama projection booth in 1954. Thanks to the superb Bruce Torrance Historic Hollywood Photographs for the image. Browse the site for more Warner Theatre photos.

The man in front of the booth runs the show with control over sound and other functions. In this first version of the center Cinerama booth there was only room for one projector. The prologue reel for "This Is Cinerama" was run on a conventional 35mm machine in the upstairs booth. And they always had the "breakdown" reel threaded up just in case. The sound dubber was probably upstairs as well. Note the drape installed up in the balcony to reduce the seating capacity, down to 1,510 for "This Is Cinerama."

After the 1961 renovations:

A proscenium view showing the effect of the "new look." The Cinerama screen that had been in the house since 1953 was removed. Here it's a flat screen onstage within the proscenium and they're using the footlights to light the curtain. This was all removed when the Warner started showing Cinerama again in August 1962. With the re-installation of a new 28' x 76' Cinerama screen the stage was cut away and the front of it lowered.

The photo appeared with the March 1962 Motion Picture Herald article "Charm For New Times From Outmoded Styling" that discussed the renovations of 1961. It appears on the Warner Hollywood page of Roland Lataille's terrific site InCinerama. | article page 1 | article page 2 |

Los Angeles Theatres

Warner Hollywood: vintage auditorium views

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