6838 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90028 | map |
The El Capitan pages: overview | street views 1925 to 1954 | street views 1955 to present | ticket lobby | lobbies and lounges | auditorium | backstage |
Phone: 818-845-3110 Website: elcapitantheatre.com | about the theatre | rentals and tech info
Filming Inquiries: Talk to Rebecca Reynoso at Cap Equity Locations, 323-375-4192. Check out their El Capitan page for over two hundred photos of the building. Or call the theatre's rental staff at 323-572-5062 or email them at locations@disneyspecialevents.com.
Architects:
Morgan, Walls & Clements did the exterior, the ticket lobby, and the department store portion of the building. Stiles O. Clements was the firm's lead designer. G. Albert
Lansburgh did the theatre. Much of the interior decorative work was by John B. Smeraldi, who was the decorator for the
Biltmore Theatre and Biltmore Hotel. The El Capitan was featured in a ten page article in the February 1927 issue of Architect and Engineer.
Lansburgh, based in San Francisco, had earlier done the Orpheum
(now the Palace) in 1911 and the RKO Hillstreet in 1922. 1926 was a busy year for his office as in addition to the El Capitan the firm also designed the present Orpheum downtown and the Shrine Auditorium. Morgan, Walls & Clements did many other local theatre projects including the Belasco (1926), the Mayan (1927) and the Leimert (1932). They would again team up with Lansburgh on the Wiltern Theatre.
A main floor plan. Note the trappable area of the stage. The theatre entrance from Hollywood Blvd. is in the upper right. The rest of the street frontage was department store space.
A balcony plan. Backstage we're at fly floor level in the lower left with a paint bridge across the back wall leading to the "Art Room" off left. Note the two organ chambers. Since it opened as a legit house it had no need of an organ. It didn't get one until the Disney installation decades later.
A section through the building. In the lower center note the
wood-paneled basement lounge. On the far right above "Longitudinal
Section" note the contour of the ticket lobby ceiling.
An example of the exterior work by Morgan, Walls & Clements is this
doorway into the office building lobby. What was once department store space
for Barker Bros. is now offices and a Ghirardelli Cafe/Disney
Store on the main floor. Thanks to Cap Equity Locations for the 2010 photo. This area is detailed on drawing #4180 in the Huntington Library collection.
Seating: 1,550 originally. It was listed as 1,520 after the 1942
remodel and 1,498 at the time of the 1964 refurbishment. The capacity
after the Disney/Pacific
Theatres restoration ended up at 998, plus ADA wheelchair areas on the
main floor. The main floor seats 471, the balcony seats 527. The rear of
the main floor has
lost a few rows due to the new projection booth and walling off the back
corners of the seating area for the addition of ADA compliant restrooms.
Thanks to Mike Hume for finding this for the El Capitan page on his Historic Theatre Photography site. Also in PDF format via Mike's page is "El Capitan Draws Throng," a Times article appearing May 5 that reported on the grand opening.
Other 1926 productions included " The Green Hat" starring Ruth Chatterton, opening August 8; "Castles in the Air," opening November 2 and "Lady Frederick," starring Pauline Frederick, opening December 19. Early 1927 productions included "The Firebrand," opening April 3. It was a play by Edwin Justus Mayer about the 16th century sculptor and libertine Benvenuto Cellini. The production starred William Farnum, Ethel Clayton and Ian Keith.
Booking and managing the playhouse was more than Toberman or his original lessee, Edward D. Smith, bargained for. The theatre went dark in mid-1927.
Henry Duffy (1891-1961) took over the operation and reopened the theatre on July 14, 1927 with "Laff That Off," a production that starred his wife Dale Winter. It ran until the end of August. Duffy ran a string of west coast legit playhouses but this was his first venture in Los Angeles. His circuit, at its height, included nine theatres. Find A Grave has a page on Duffy, who was also a well known actor. His obituary is reproduced by Noirish Los Angeles contributor Godzilla in the Noirish post #22917.
A 1939 ad for "The Mikado - in Swing" directed by Alexander Leftwich. It played for seven weeks beginning July 30 and was then back for a return run. The Palos Verdes Peninsula News gave it rave writeup in their October 13 issue. The concept had originated as a 1938 Chicago WPA Federal Theatre Project show
called "Swing Mikado" directed by Harry Minturn that went on to New York. Mike Todd later did
his
own version on Broadway in 1939 called "Hot Mikado." The Library of Congress has a poster for this production's June 28 - July 1 tryout at the Savoy Theatre in San Diego where it was presented by the "Los Angeles Federal Theatre Division - W.P.A."
The "All New" Folies was back in 1940 with a new version of the show, "Folies Bergere of 1941." Thanks to Scott Pitzer for locating this October Examiner ad for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook group. The show had opened October 21. After closing at the El Capitan, Fischer then
booked a tab version of the show into the Paramount downtown for a week
beginning December 3, where it played with the film "Dancing on a
Dime."
"It's Terrific!" The 1941 west coast premiere engagement of "Citizen Kane" was the only known film booking for the theatre up to this point. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the ad for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group. The premiere at the El Capitan was May 8 with a three-shows-a-day engagement beginning the next day at the El Capitan as well as at the RKO Hillstreet. It was reserved seats for the evening shows. Bruce Kimmel notes that the film played the El Capitan until June 25. It then reopened for an exclusive run at the Hawaii Theatre beginning October 16.
"Springtime for Henry" with Edward Everett Horton and Marjorie Lord was the last stage booking prior to the El Capitan's "moderne" remodel. It ran from December 4, 1941 until January 10, 1942. This image of the program cover appeared on the now-defunct site TheaterPrint. After an impressive career as a playhouse with over 120 productions staged since 1926, the El Capitan became a first-run film venue.
The new life as a film house: After a major renovation the theatre reopened as the Paramount on March 18, 1942 under the direction of Fanchon and Marco. The architects for the 1942 remodel were William L. and Hal Pereira. The auditorium's plasterwork was covered with wavy corrugated panels. There was rattan furniture, fake palm trees, ivy, and a coconut milk bar in the balcony lobby. Sketches for the project appeared in the January 3, 1942 issue of boxoffice in an article titled "Just Off the Boards." See a PDF of the article courtesy of Mike Hume.
An item that appeared in the March 15, 1942 L.A. Times as the remodel neared completion. Thanks to Mike Hume for locating it. The project rated a full page article in the April 25, 1942 issue of Boxoffice titled "Completed..." The author noted:
A March 1942 ad for the Paramount's initial film. Thanks to Comfortably Cool for locating this for a post on Cinema Treasures.
This trade magazine ad taken out by Arch Oboler, the "Bwana Devil" producer, featured a shot of the Hollywood Paramount. Thanks to Greenbrier Picture Shows for featuring this and many other items about the film on a post about 3-D. Also see their articles "3-D Grabs Hold" and "3-D Concludes (For Now)." The ad also appears on Bob Furmanek's 3-D Film Archive page about Oboler's film "The Bubble."
In 1955 the theatre got a rare installation of the specially designed Century horizontal VistaVision projectors for the runs of "The Seven Little Foys" (opening June 23, 1955) and "To Catch a Thief" (an eight week run beginning August 3, 1955). This image of a VistaVision machine is from a short about the process appearing with the DVD for "Funny Face."
Michael Coate, in his Digital Bits article "...Remembering Hitchcock's 'To Catch a Thief'," notes that the Paramount was one
of six theatres nationally to get a horizontal print. Other theatres getting the 8 perf prints were the New York Paramount, the Omaha Orpheum, the Capitol in Washington D.C., the Saenger in New Orleans and the Imperial in Toronto.
Scroll down on the Warner Beverly Hills page for more about the process. The Warner got two of the first six prototype Century machines for "White Christmas" in October 1954. The downtown Paramount (the former Metropolitan) evidently also got the horizontal machines for the run of "White Christmas." There are also some links for information about the process on the Film and Theatre Technology Resources page.
An April 1967 "Dr. Zhivago" ticket from the collection of former Paramount projectionist Joe Seeling.
The February 20, 1974 ad for "Panorama Blue." Thanks to Michael Coate for posting it on the Friends of 70mm private Facebook group.
Other names, other operators: A number of other circuits ran the house
after F&M left and before Pacific Theatres acquired it. The Fanchon & Marco lease on the Paramount as well as their Southside Theatres circuit were sold off in late 1958 to Edwin F. Zabel
and veteran producer and exhibitor Robert R. Lippert Sr. with the operational transfer occurring on
January 9, 1959. "Zabel-Lippert Takeover L.A. 10 Starting January 9" was the December 17 Variety story. Marco Wolff had been running the F&M operations but he retired in 1957 to do, of all things, Christian Science work. His brother Roy was running the company at the time of the sale.
Zabel had previously worked 30 years for
National Theatres, the holding company that operated Fox West Coast. For
various tax reasons the deal for the F&M assets was engineered via Scott Radio Laboratories, an Illinois company. Zabel and Lippert were the firm's controlling
stockholders and were soon running the company, which was rebranded as
ElectroVision Corp., aka EVC. Variety noted that the F&M lease on the Paramount that the new operators acquired ran until 1978. | full article |
A February 26, 1959 L.A. Times story titled "New Officers Elected By Scott Radio" noted that shareholders had elected Zabel president and Lippert as secretary. The company had been around since 1927 and the Times mentioned their new venture:
"...10 theaters with other property in the Southern California area formerly controlled by the Fanchon & Marco chain were recently acquired for $2.5 million... The acquired theater circuit includes the Paramount Hollywood, one of the film capital's premiere houses whose policy is the exclusive first-run showing of fine films. Other theaters are: Imperial and Ritz, Inglewood; Bay, Pacific Palisades, and Balboa, Baldwin, Manchester, Rio, Southside and AAA located in Los Angeles..."
"Scott Radio Changes Name," an April 9, 1959 L.A. Times story, discussed the change to ElectroVision, something that more accurately reflected their business interests. Also mentioned were their theatre operations:
"Presently Electrovision operates motion picture theatres in the metropolitan Los Angeles area as well as the Fanchon & Marco Agency which books and produces variety entertainment at fairs, conventions, supper clubs, musical comedies, extravaganzas and other observances. Negotiations are underway for the purchase of additional theaters..."
The Times had a little item in their June 24 issue titled "Lippert Heads
ElectroVision" noting that he had become chairman of the board. "ElectroVision in Aquisition," a July 8, 1959 Times article, discussed the company's purchase of theatres operated by Robert Lippert. At the time his circuit numbered 14 drive-ins and 15 indoor theatres. At the bottom of the piece it was mentioned that EVC had earlier picked up the F&M holdings. | full article |
A 1959 Times ad located by Ken McIntyre showing the Paramount as being operated by EVC, the ElectroVision Corp.
Fred
Stein's Statewide Theatres took over the Electrovision houses in 1961. It was mentioned in passing in a September 11, 1961 Boxoffice article about new theatre construction. They kept the
Paramount name and did a major refurbishment in 1964. The January 18,
1965 issue of Boxoffice had a big story titled "Dramatic Effects in Remodeled Theatre" with photos and a discussion about what
they did to upgrade the circuit's then flagship house. | article page 1 | page 2 | page 3 |
In April 1968 the theatre got a Loew's vertical sign and in the ads starting April 11 it became Loew's or Loews in Hollywood rather than the Paramount. This sign was the first vertical for the theatre. Well, except for the very curious original ones. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this.
General Cinema bought most of the southern California Loew's houses in 1972 and beginning July 12 this one was then advertised as the Cinema on Hollywood Boulevard, the Hollywood Cinema or, in true General Cinema fashion, just Cinema. Century Cinema Circuit took over in December 1973, initially continuing to call it the Hollywood Cinema. Soon they returned the Paramount name to the theatre, and re-did the vertical sign to say Paramount.
Century was a firm started in 1973 by Fred Stein (formerly of Statewide) and his son Robert. Fred and his wife Miriam had 2/3 of the stock while Robert and his wife Carol had 1/3. They were in bankruptcy in fall 1976. Seattle-based
Sterling Recreation Organization bought some of Century's assets and assumed the debt that the Steins owed General Cinema. SRO took over in late 1976 or early 1977 and gave the theatre another refurbishing and
continued to use the Paramount name.
The Toberman estate
owned the building until 1984 when they sold it to Tom Harnsberger and
Nick Olaets, who embarked on a renovation of the retail and office
areas. Pacific Theatres took over operation of the theatre in 1985 when
SRO pulled out of the L.A. market.
Closing as the Paramount: The last day of operation was September 17, 1989 with "The Package" as the last film to play. Thanks to Mike Hume for the research.
"Watch For Our New Look" was the copy in Pacific's ads beginning September 18.
The Pomona-based firm Restoration Studio did all sorts of reconstruction work during the 1989-1991 restoration. Here Juan Sequeira is creating molds for reconstruction of missing exterior cast-stone details. The photo appeared on the firm's Facebook page.
Sequeira and his staff working on restoring the decorative details on the ticket lobby ceiling. The photo initially appeared on the Restoration Studio Facebook page.
A bit of painting after the re-creation of the proscenium boxes. They had been chopped off during the 1942 renovations. The 1991 photo by Gary Krueger appeared in the souvenir program for the 1991 reopening. A copy of the program is in the Ronald W. Mahan Collection. Thanks to Ron for sharing this image.
Disney and Pacific Theatres did a lush restoration job guided by Joe Musil, seen here discussing drapes and tassels. Ten days before the reopening, Matt Spero shot a fine twenty one minute tour of the theatre featuring Musil, who died in 2010. It's on YouTube: Part One and Part Two. Thanks, Matt!
A 1991 Christmas week ad for the 70mm run of "Sleeping Beauty" (1959) plus a stage show at "Pacific's El Capitan Theatre." The ad was reproduced in the January 1992 issue of the Tom B'hend / Preston Kaufmann publication Greater Metro L.A. Newsreel. They noted that the ad was designed by Joe Musil, who had also been the designer for the restoration project. The Newsreel issue is in the Ronald W. Mahan Collection. Thanks to Ron for scanning the ad.
"Sleeping Beauty" was back for another 70mm run in 2002. "Tron" had a 70mm run in 2004. The projection is now digital. The theatre has a Dolby Atmos sound system installed.
Pipe Organ: The theatre is now proudly the home of the 36 rank Wurlitzer that was originally installed in the San Francisco Fox. The instrument was rebuilt and installed by George Buck and his crew from Grand Rapids, Michigan. It's been augmented with a flute celeste rank, all-electric stop actions, an expanded specification by Gordon Kibbee, and a computer-controlled switching system and combination action. Thanks to Dennis James for the information. The organ made its debut on June 20, 1999 with the film "Tarzan." The house organist is Rob Richards.
Covid shutdown and operational changes: Pacific Theatres and Disney remained partners in the operation until Covid restrictions forced the closure of the theatre in March 2020. Pacific then exited the partnership. Ed Collins, the general manager of the theatre for 36 years, retired in 2020.
The building had been owned by
CUNA Mutual Group, an insurance company. Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, owner
of the L.A. Times as well as other businesses and properties, purchased
it in November 2008. Disney is presently the sole tenant. In addition to
the theatre, they operate the Disney store east of the theatre
entrance, a partnership with Ghirardelli. All of the office space on the
upper floors is either occupied by Disney or sub-leased to the Jimmy
Kimmel show.
General manager James Wood in the theatre between showings of "Black Widow" in July 2021. It's a photo taken for the Times by Jay L. Clendening that appeared with Josh Rottenberg's July 14 article "With movie theaters reopened, dedicated employees predict a major Hollywood comeback." Rottenberg discussed reopening issues with employees at the Alamo Drafthouse, the Laemmle Glendale, the Landmark and the Nuart. Wood commented about his time at the El Capitan:
"I’ve worked here for 20 years, and I'd dreamed of being the general manager, running this grand movie palace on Hollywood Boulevard. I became the general manager at the end of February 2020. In my wildest dreams I never thought I’d have to shut the theater down three weeks into my new job.
The other El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood: This building should not be confused what is now called the Avalon
on Vine St. That theatre, originally known as the Hollywood Playhouse, had a run as the El Capitan in the 40's and
50's when this Hollywood Blvd. venue was called the Paramount.
The Paramount/El Capitan in the Movies:
We get a fine shot of the El Capitan in "Scatterbrain"
(Republic Pictures, 1940). The film stars Judy Canova as a
girl rounded up in the mountains who is brought to Hollywood and becomes
an unlikely movie star. Also featured are Alan Mowbray, Ruth Donnelly,
Eddie Foy Jr, Wallace Ford, Billy Gilbert and Isabel Jewell. Gus Meins
directed. The cinematography was by Ernest Miller. Later in we get a shot down Vine St. Or is it another look down Hollywood Blvd.? It needs another viewing.
Lloyd Bridges goes into an office building just west of the Paramount in Richard Fleischer's counterfeiting tale "Trapped" (Eagle-Lion, 1949). Down the block is a murky view of the marquee. The film also stars Barbara Payton and John Holt. A real treat is the electrifying finale at the Los Angeles Railway's streetcar barns at 7th and Central. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for a couple shots of a nice U-turn in front of the Chinese and a quick look at the Holly Theatre, then called the Hollywood Music Hall.
We get a quick look at the Paramount marquee at the beginning of Robert Aldrich's "The Legend of Lylah Clare" (MGM, 1968). He, of course, includes this shot as a plug for his earlier film "The Dirty Dozen," released in June, 1967 and still playing when "Lylah" was shot. The main interest is Grauman's Chinese, where they come back for a big premiere. See the Historic L.A. Theatres In Movies post for shots from many of those scenes. Thanks to Kurt Wahlner for the photo. His main interest is also the Chinese as you can see by visiting his Grauman's Chinese website.
The vertical for the El Capitan as Loew's makes a brief appearance in Paul Mazursky's "Alex in Wonderland" (MGM, 1970). Here film director Donald Sutherland is up on a crane in the middle of a dream sequence involving all sorts of carnage on Hollywood Blvd. On the left there's a bit of the Hollywood Theatre vertical. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for twenty more shots from the film including views of the Vogue Theatre, New-View/Ritz and the Los Angeles Theatre.
We get the bottom half of the vertical of Loew's in this hazy night view as Jack Lemmon heads east on Hollywood Blvd. in John Avildson and Steve Shagan's "Save The Tiger" (Paramount, 1973). In "Save The Tiger" we spend a lot of time at the Mayan Theatre. See the Historic L.A. Theatres In Movies post about the film for shots from those scenes.
Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong drive by the Paramount in a truck made of marijuana in Lou Adler's "Up In Smoke" (Paramount, 1978). Also featured are Wally Ann Wharton, Zane Buzby, Stacy Keach, Strother Martin and Edie Adams. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for several more shots from the film as well as a promo shot done in the Chinese forecourt.
We see a lot of Hollywood Blvd. in Robert Vincent O'Neill's "Angel" (New World, 1984) including this view east with part of the Paramount vertical and the Hollywood Theatre signage. Fifteen year old Molly is a high school student by day, a hooker by night. The film stars Donna Wilkes, Cliff Gorman, Dick Shawn and Rory Calhoun. John Diehl is the killer preying on teenage hookers. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for a dozen shots from the film.
We get this nice look west toward the Paramount vertical during the title
sequence of Mark Lester's "Armed and Dangerous" (Columbia, 1986).
The film was written by Brian Grazer, Harold Ramis and James Keach and stars
John Candy, Eugene Levy and Meg Ryan. The cinematography was by Fred
Schuler. On the right there's the "..CIF.." of
the Hollywood Pacific. Farther right that "..age.. "
in purple script is on the Pantages vertical, a neon overlay for
"La Cage aux Folles." Thanks to Sean Ault for spotting the theatres in the film. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for shots of the Egyptian, the Cave Theatre, the Westlake and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
A view toward the El Capitan, one of seventeen theatres we see in Alex
Holdridge's "In Search of a Midnight Kiss" (IFC First Take, 2008).
Scoot McNairy and Sara Simmonds meet via a Craigslist ad and are
wandering the city on New Year's Eve. Also featured are Brian McGuire,
Kathleen
Luong, Robert Murphy, Twink Caplan, Bret Roberts and Stephanie Feury.
The
cinematography was by Robert Murphy. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for thirty-two more shots of the theatres seen in the film.
The exterior gets many shots as the Muppet Theatre in "The Muppets" (Disney, 2011). Initially we get this run-down and abandoned version. Thanks to Linda Hammonds for the screenshot on the SoCal Historic Architecture Facebook page. At the end there's a big scene filling Hollywood Blvd. and the marquee is lit up with "Muppet Theatre" instead of "El Capitan" atop the readerboard. The auditorium shots used a studio set. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for a shot of the Roxie terrazzo during a musical number and a view of Kermit in the Los Angeles Theatre lobby.
We get a look at the El Capitan as one of the perps leaves the Chinese forecourt after a bombing in "Iron Man 3" (Marvel/Disney, 2013). Research gone wrong has produced a product that allows a human to be weaponized. The film stars Robert Downey, Jr., Gwyneth
Paltrow, Guy Pearce, Don Cheadle, Jon Favreau, Rebecca Hall and Ben
Kingsley. Shane Black directed. The cinematography was by John Toll. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for more shots of the destruction of the Chinese.
We see lots of the outside of the El Capitan in Fred Durst's "The
Fanatic" (Quiver Distribution, 2019). John Travolta plays a fan with behavioral issues who gets
carried away when his favorite star won't give him an autograph. Also
starring are Ana Golja as a friend who tries to help and Devon Sawa as
the
star who gets into big trouble by not being a good celebrity. Conrad Hall was the cinematographer. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for several more Hollywood Blvd. shots.
More information: Visit Mike Hume's fine El Capitan page on his Historic Theatre Photography site. See the Cinema Treasures page for lots of discussion about the theatre plus over a hundred photos. Many photos of the exterior, interior and the booth taken after the Disney restoration are on Cinema Tour.
The Cinema Sightlines page on the El Capitan has a history of the renovation and many great photos by T J Edwards. Also see Garan Grey's 2009 review of the theatre on the site. Wikipedia also has lots more photos of the El Capitan.
A fine article about the Disney/Pacific Theatres renovation appears on the In70mm.com website. It's in the August 1991 International 70mm Association Newsletter. The site Film-Tech has a fine page on the El Capitan with many interesting booth views and other treats from 2005 and 2006 taken by Brad Miller.
The El Capitan pages: back to top - overview | street views 1925 to 1954 | street views 1955 to present | ticket lobby | lobbies and lounges | auditorium | backstage |
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