Los Angeles Theatres: Cinerama Dome: interior views

6360 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90028 | map |

The lobby:

A 1963 lobby photo from the collection of longtime Pacific Theatres projection supervisor John Sittig. It appears on the From Script To DVD Cinerama Dome page.

Opening night 1963. The gentleman facing us is Stanley Kramer, the director of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World." Thanks to Kevin Charbeneau for sharing the photo from his collection. It was included in a post of 61 Cinerama Dome items on the Facebook page Lost Angeles.

Another 1963 lobby view from John Sittig's collection. This one appears in the Cinerama Photo Gallery on the site in 70mm. Also see John's fine 2018 article "Pacific's Cinerama Dome...Where Movie-going is an Event," also on In70mm.com. Thanks, John!

The snackbar and the view toward the house right side of the lobby. Photo: Google Maps - 2012

Looking toward the center of the lobby from the house left ramp to the auditorium. The stairs go to the upper crossaisle. Photo: Google Maps - 2012

The lobby from the house right ramp. Photo: Google Maps - 2012

The house right ramp from the lobby up into the auditorium. Photo: Don Solosan - LAHTF - 2009. The Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation is active in preserving the historic theatres of the Los Angeles area and regularly sponsors events and tours. www.lahtf.org | LAHTF on Facebook

The auditorium:

A 1963 photo from house right. Thanks to John Nevik for sharing this one on a post about the Dome on the Friends of 70mm private Facebook group.

A 1963 look down from the center. It's a photo from the Pacific Theatres collection that's on display at the theatre.

An early view of the Cinerama Dome interior from an R.L. Grosh ad in the Boxoffice issue of January 6, 1964.

A look back toward the booth in 1963. It's a photo that's on display at the theatre. Thanks to Mike Hume for snapping a shot of the two from the display that appear here.

A fun view down toward the booth from the catwalk. It's a 1963 photo from the John Sittig collection appearing on theatre's new website www.cinerama.com

A 1988 Chris Gulker shot taken during a screening of the 70mm revival of "This is Cinerama." It's in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

A shot of the theatre still with its original color draperies -- before the change to dark blue. It's one by Lori/Stutefish that was once on Flickr but has vanished from that platform.

A crowd at the Dome before a show. While this view appeared with an In70mm.com article about a 2002 3-strip screening of "This is Cinerama," the color of the draperies let's us know that it's an earlier photo.

The theatre stripped out for the renovation at the time the ArcLight complex was being built behind it. The c.2000 photo from John Sittig's collection appears in the Cinerama Photo Gallery on the site in 70mm. The theatre reopened in 2002. Thanks for all your photos, John!

Hiroshi Sugimoto's Theater Series resulted from a question he asked: "Suppose you shoot a whole movie in a single frame? And the answer: You get a shining screen. Immediately I sprang into action, experimenting toward realizing this vision." We don't know what film he saw at the Dome in 2003 but this was the result. A number of Mr. Sugimoto's photos of theatre auditoria appear on a Portfolio: Movie Theatres page from C4 Contemporary Art. Also see the Hiroshi Sugimoto page on Artsy.

A look toward the front curtain. Photo: Don Solosan - LAHTF - 2009

The view from the rear of the house. Photo: Google Maps - 2012

A back of the house photo once on the website of Vista Entertainment Solutions, the company that one time provided the software for ArcLight.

Looking back at the booth setup. Photo: Google Maps - 2012

The center and house left booth ports. Photo: Google Maps - 2012

A panoramic shot taken from the house right side of the wrap-around projection booth by Edward M. Pio Roda graces Stuart Elliot's 2013 N.Y. Times article "TCM Moves to Lure Film Buffs Out of Their Living Rooms." The article discusses TCM's efforts to extend the brand with film festivals, memorabilia and guided tours.

On the Dome's screen is the 70mm presentation of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," as part of the 2013 TCM Festival in Hollywood. The image size seen here is substantially smaller than the 32' x 86' picture the theatre had when it opened.

Another view of the April 28, 2013 screening of "Mad World." The photo, from TCM, appears with the 2021 Cinema Scholars post "The Past and Future of Hollywood's Cinerama Dome" by Hugh Feinberg. Thanks to Ben McVay for spotting the story. See the projection page for a shot of three-strip Cinerama on the screen.

Los Angeles Theatres

Cinerama Dome: interior views

No comments:

Post a Comment