Los Angeles Theatres

Navigating Your Tour of Historic Los Angeles Theatres

On a Mobile Device: If you're missing the right column navigation bar or links at the top you can go to the bottom of any page and click on "View Web Version." Still can't find what you're looking for? Send me an email at counterb@gmail.com. See you at the movies! -- Bill Counter

Downtown L.A. Historic Theatres

The survey page gives a rundown on the 20 major surviving theatre buildings in the Downtown Theatre District. There are links to pages about each of them for more detail. You might also want to consult alphabetical rundowns on pages for Hill St. and farther west, the Broadway Theatres, Spring St. Theatres and Main St. and farther east. Those pages give you more detail, including discussions about all the theatres that have vanished. In addition, there's a downtown alphabetical theatre list with alternate names and a theatre list by address.

Historic Hollywood Theatres

Hollywood wasn't just about the movies. Starting in the mid 20s it was also a center for legitimate theatre and musical revues at four newly built playhouses. You'll find an alphabetical list of the theatres in the district on the Hollywood Theatres overview page that includes a bit of data on each and links to pages for more details. Down below this list there's also an alternate name directory. Also of possible interest is a separate page with a list of theatres by street address.

Westside Theatres

The Westside started booming with retail and housing in the mid 20s and the theatres followed. Many theatres along Wilshire Blvd., in Beverly Hills, and in other neighborhoods became prime venues for everything from small foreign films to major roadshows. It's a huge territory. The Westside Theatres overview page gives you both a list by neighborhood as well as a survey arranged alphabetically. Also see the list of Westside Theatres: by street address and the Westside Theatres: alphabetical list page which includes alternate names.

Westwood and Brentwood

Westwood Village was the third significant theatre district to evolve in Los Angeles, after Downtown and Hollywood. With the construction of the UCLA campus beginning in the late 20s there was a chance to develop a unique shopping and entertainment district for faculty and students. By the 1970's the area had evolved so that Westwood had the largest concentration of first run screens of any neighborhood in Los Angeles. The Westwood and Brentwood Theatres overview page will give you a tour of the area.

Theatres Along the Coast

Santa Monica had a vibrant theatrical life even in the days when it was a small town isolated from the rest of Los Angeles. And that's just the beginning. The Along the Coast section will give you links to discussion of theatres in Ocean Park, Venice, Hermosa Beach, San Pedro, Long Beach and other communities.

[more] L.A. Movie Palaces

This section fills in all the other areas of Los Angeles County. Hundreds of terrific theatres were being built by the studios and independents all over the L.A. area in the 20s and into the 30s. You'll find coverage of theatres north and east of Downtown as well as in Glendale, Burbank, Pasadena, the San Gabriel Valley, Pomona, Whittier, Long Beach and many other far flung locations. Some of those listings have been upgraded and appear on this site, many other links will take you to pages on an older site hosted on Google. The index page has links to all these theatres organized by area.

Searching by theatre name

If you don't find it in the right hand column, head for the Main Alphabetical List, which also includes the various alternate names each venue has used. This list includes those pages recently updated for this site (in bold face) as well as the write ups on an older website. For a narrower focus you'll also find separate lists for Westside and Downtown. As well, there are lists by name on the 10 survey pages for more limited areas like Pasadena, North of Downtown, Long Beach, etc. that are listed on the [more] Los Angeles Movie Palaces page.

Searching by address

If you know an address or street head to either the Main Theatre List by Address, the San Fernando Valley List by Address, the San Gabriel Valley, Pomona and Whittier List by Address or the Long Beach List. If what you're looking for isn't there, you should find a link to take you to a more localized list by address for Downtown, Westside, Hollywood, etc. Also see the survey pages for more limited areas that are listed on the [more] Los Angeles Movie Palaces page.

1927 - Exotic destinations: Grauman's Chinese | Mayan Theatre |

1948 - 1951 - Skouras-ized older theatres: California - Huntington Park | El Portal | Fox Westwood Village | Mesa Theatre |

AMC Century 14 / AMC Century City 15

10250 Santa Monica Blvd., Century City (Los Angeles), CA 90067 | map |

The mall opened in 1964. Chris Nichols comments in "Celebrating 60 Years of the Century City Shopping Center," his 2024 story for L.A. Magazine:

"New York developer William Zeckendorf teamed up with Alcoa aluminum to purchase the old 20th Century Fox backlot and transform it into a new ‘city within a city.’ They called on L.A.'s biggest architectural firm Welton Becket and Associates for a master plan. Becket had designed downtown’s Music Center, the Pan Pacific Auditorium, and the Capitol Records building in Hollywood.

"Construction began in 1961 on the first towers and the Becket firm soon moved their offices there. A new Broadway department store anchored the 15-acre mall which also had Silverwoods, a men's clothing store and a Mayfair Market, all with the novelty of underground parking. It opened on October 8th with a charity fundraiser for Children’s Hospital."

The original theatre: AMC Century 14

Opened: October 9, 1987. It was on the north end of the mall at the corner of Santa Monica Blvd. and Century Park West. Michael Coate comments about the earlier soft opening:

"The weekend before, they ran a 20th Century Fox retrospective which included numerous classics ('The Sound Of Music,' 'Patton,' 'The Hustler,' 'How Green Was My Valley,' etc. etc.). Memorable highlights for me included a 'Star Wars' 70mm triple feature and 'Alien'/'Aliens' 70mm double feature."

The Times ad for the October 2-3-4 soft opening lineup appears on the page about the theatre on the site From Script To DVD. Click on the image of that ad for an expanded version.

A 1986 rendering with the mall viewed from above Santa Monica Blvd. That barn in the middle is the food court, aka The Marketplace. We get a bit of the theatre building on the far right. It's an image appearing on a page of the site Mall Hall of Fame.

An October 9 L.A. Times ad. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating it.

The theatre had two snackbars plus an espresso stand. At least two houses were 70mm equipped. Russ Jones notes that several of the larger auditoria had THX certification. Several had Torus screens, curved both vertically and horizontally. They were held in place by negative air pressure behind the screens. Michael Coate comments:

"The AMC Century 14 was among the handful of theaters that was equipped with Cinema Digital Sound (CDS), the 1990-1991 precursor to the contemporary digital sound formats."

Seating: 3,800. Jeff Arellano notes that the four largest houses sat about 450 each and the other nine each sat about 200.

A 1988 plan of the center from the site Mall Hall of Fame. The Marketplace had replaced a restaurant called Century House. What's seen here in the center as The Broadway is now Bloomingdale's. The Bullock's location was later a Macy's and is now a Nordstrom store.

Cinema Treasures contributor Fieldight notes:

"Btw this was the EASIEST theatre to sneak into in its day. The exit was at the bottom of a long flight of stairs and you just walked back up those stairs when people were exiting and made a bee line to the bathroom."

Closing: December 13, 2005. The new theatre opened the next day.

Status: The space was gutted and rebuilt for retail use. The Container Store is one tenant.

The boxoffice. It's a photo taken in 2000 by Andrew Shawaf that appears on the Getty Images site. Thanks to Mr. Wolf98 for locating it for a post on Cinema Treasures.

A look toward the bar. It's a shot from Getty Images taken by Ken Hively for the L.A. Times that appeared in a 2024 post about AMC's "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" drink by Jacqueline Burt Cote on the Parade site. It was also used for a 2020 post about Covid precautions in theatres on Business Insider. A cropped version had appeared with a 2015 L.A. Times story about antitrust concerns.

The northwest corner of the mall with AMC signage on the building that had been the first theatre in the complex. After the new theatre at the back of the mall opened this building was gutted and rebuilt for retail tenants. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024

Along Century Park West. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024

The site of the original theatre's entrance location on level 1. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024

Looking north toward Santa Monica Blvd. on level two, an area that had been part of the theatre. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024

Looking south toward the new theatre. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024

The replacement theatre: AMC Century City 15

Opened: December 14, 2005. We're on the mall's Level 2 looking south. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024

Website: amctheatres.com/movie-theatres/los-angeles/amc-century-city-15

Seating: 2,548. It's a three-level complex at the back of the mall. Theatres 1 to 8, including houses branded as Imax and AMC Prime, are on level 1. Level 2 has the main entrance, ticketing and a lounge with a bar. Escalators on that level go down to the lower theatres or up to level 3 for theatres 9 to 15, including the Dolby Vision auditorium, #14. #15 is the largest theatre in the complex, seating 300 using conventional theatre seats.

Architects: STK Architects. See their website: www.stkinc.com

It's been all-digital since 2010.

Looking east in the lobby. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024

The boxoffice area. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024

The level 2 lounge and bar. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024

Looking out from the back of the lounge toward the escalators. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024

A view west toward the escalators. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024

The "top of the escalator" view into the upstairs lobby. The blue glow to the left is #14, the Dolby Vision house. To the right of the soda machines is theatre #15, the largest in the complex. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024

The entrance to #14, the Dolby Vision auditorium. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024

#14 seats 169 in recliners and has a 52' wide screen. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024

The rear of #14. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024

Theatre #15, seating 300. It's a 44' wide screen with movable masking top and bottom. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024

The rear of theatre #15. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024

The upstairs lobby as seen from near the restrooms. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024

The escalator view. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024

More exterior views of the replacement theatre:

The back end of the building. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010

West along Constellation Blvd. in 2024. Photo: Bill Counter

A look north toward the back of the building. Photo: Bill Counter - 2024

More information: See the Cinema Treasures pages about the AMC Century 14 and the replacement AMC Century City 15. Cinema Tour has a page about the Century 14 with nineteen 2005 photos from Jeff Arellano.

See Alison Martino's "Memories of the Old Century City Mall" on Alison's Time Machine. Alison located an early 4 minute Century City promotional film from Periscope Films.

See 28 photos of the mall taken in 1991 by Chris Shaw that were shared by Robert Shaw in a post for the South Bay/Los Angeles Days of Old Facebook group.

The beginning of the project c.1961. Thanks to the Adsausage Archives Facebook page for sharing the shot.

A 1966 photo from the Herald Examiner Collection at the Los Angeles Public Library. "Shops at Century City draw customers from nearby high income areas. One of the two Gateway buildings is in the background. (Welton Becket of Welton Becket and Associates is the master planner for the Century City development)."

A 1976 Julius Shulman photo in the collection of the Getty Research Institute. It's one that Chris Nichols includes in "Celebrating 60 Years of the Century City Shopping Center," his October 2024 story for L.A. Magazine.

Nearby once upon a time: Century Plaza Theatres | Shubert Theatre |

United Artists Torrance

2735 Pacific Coast Highway Torrance, CA 90505 | map |

Opening: October 9, 1963. It was a single screen theatre that was 70mm equipped. The initial film was "Toys In the Attic." Opening night patrons got that plus a sneak preview.

The location was on the northwest corner of Crenshaw and the PCH in the Airport Plaza Shopping Center. This UA house was near the SRO Rolling Hills Theatre that was at 2535 Pacific Coast Highway, on the other side of Crenshaw.

Seating: 600, all on one level.

Architect: Drew Eberson. In 1965 he would do the Stanley-Warner Topanga.

The October 8, 1963 issue of the Daily Breeze devoted most of two pages to the new theatre. Ken McIntyre located their coverage for a post on the Ken's Movie Page Facebook group. These were the items:

Thanks to Ken McIntyre for sharing the Daily Breeze coverage.

An opening day ad. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating this. Visit his site: Movie-Theatre.org

Closed: 1989. "The Untouchables" was the last film to play the theatre.

Status: Parts of it have been demolished, the rest remodeled.

The renovated building with the Burke Williams day spa, Panera, and Gaetano's restaurant. Image: Google Maps - 2022

More information: See the Cinema Treasures and Cinema Tour pages about the theatre.

Mann 6 Culver Plaza / Culver Plaza Theatres

9919 Washington Blvd. Culver City, CA 90232 | map |

More Culver City pages: Culver City Theatre 1915-1923 | Meralta Theatre 1924-1943, 1945-1983 | City Hall Theatre / Culver City Theatre 1943-1947 | Culver / Kirk Douglas Theatre 1947 - present | Pacific 12 / Arclight / Amazon's Culver Theatre 2003 - present |

Opened: February 14, 1991 as the Mann 6 Theatres Culver Plaza. Thanks to Bob Meza for this 2001 photo, one he shared on the Cinema Tour page about the theatre. The building was on the north side of the street between Dunn Dr. and Hughes Ave. It was just a block west and on the other side of the street from the Culver Theatre, now called the Kirk Douglas.

A February 15, 1991 ad. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating it. Visit his site: Movie-Theatre.org

At least one of the larger houses was equipped for 70mm but evidently there were never any 70mm bookings. Russ Jones notes that two of the larger theatres were THX certified.

Seating: 1,470 seats in six auditoria. 1 - 147 seats, 2 - 176 seats, 3 - 173 seats, 4 - 396 seats, 5 - 380 seats, 6 - 199 seats. Thanks to Bill Gabel for the breakdown. Russ Jones notes that all of the theatres were upstairs, on top of the retail and restaurant spaces along the front and east end of the building.

Architect: Unknown

After Mann dropped the location in May 2007 it was run as an independent called the Culver Plaza Theatres. Michael Snider comments: "It became a second run house, and considering the large senior population in the area it fulfilled a real need as such."

Closed: December 2011

Status: It was demolished beginning in August 2012. There's now a new condo and retail building on the site.

Interior views:

The lobby mural. Thanks to Mark Cambbell for this September 2008 photo as well as others appearing here that he shared on the Cinema Tour page about the theatre.

A snack bar view. Photo: Mark Campbell - Cinema Tour - 2008

One of the auditoria. Photo: Mark Campbell - Cinema Tour - 2007

One of the other screens. Photo: Mark Campbell - Cinema Tour - 2007

Yet another auditorium shot. Photo: Mark Campbell - Cinema Tour - 2008

More exterior views:

2003 - Thanks to Mark Smith for sharing this photo from his collection.

2006 - Another shot from the collection of Mark Smith.

c.2007 - The east end of the building at the corner of Washington and Duquesne. Photo: Mark Smith

2007 - Looking east. Photo: Mark Campbell - Cinema Tour

2009 - Photo: Mark Smith

2010 - Photo: Mark Smith

2011 - A gloomy June view east on Washington. On the right that's the Culver/Kirk Douglas Theatre on the other side of Duquesne Ave. Image: Google Maps

2011 - The back of the building. At the right we're looking south on Dunn Dr. toward the theatre entrance on the corner. Photo: Google Maps

2011 - A December 18 post-closing view taken by T N Jones that appears on Flickr.

2011 - A marquee detail. Thanks to T N Jones for sharing it on Flickr.

2012 - An entrance shot in August after demolition was underway. Thanks to Mark Smith for sharing his photo.

2012 - The corner later in August. Image: Google Maps

2012 - The vista south on Dunn Dr. in August. Image: Google Maps

2012 - A closer look at the back of the building in August. Image: Google Maps

2012 - A September view north. On the right it's Hughes/Duquesne Ave. The entrance to what had been basement parking is mid-block, just in front of that car. Image: Google Maps

2012 - The east end of the building in September. Image: Google Maps

2022 - Looking east across Dunn Dr. at the corner that had been the theatre entrance. Image: Google Maps

More information: See the pages about the theatre on Cinema Treasures, Cinema Tour and the 70mm in Los Angeles section of the site From Script To DVD.