Los Angeles Theatres: Iris Theatre [1914

6417 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90028 | map |

Opened: This location of the Iris Theatre opened in late 1914 or early 1915. The business had moved from 6524 Hollywood Blvd., a location on the south side of the street opposite Hudson Ave. That theatre, the first in Hollywood, had opened in 1910 or 1911 as the Idyl Hour. By 1914 it had been renamed the Iris.

Seating: 450

Architect / Contractor: Emil Fossler. He was listed as a contractor in the 1914 city directory with his office only two buildings away, right on the corner at 6401 Hollywood Blvd. Joe Vogel did some research:

"The March 28, 1914 issue of Southwest Contractor notes a 450-seat theater to be built on Hollywood Boulevard between Cahuenga and Wilcox (the 6400 block) for Miss De Longpre. As the Iris is first listed in the 1915 directory and is the only theater in the 6400 block of Hollywood Boulevard, I think it must have been this project.

"The item says that plans had been prepared by E. Fossler, who also had the contract to build the house. Other issues of the journal indicate that Fossler was primarily a builder and contractor, not an architect, but it’s possible that in 1914 builders were still allowed to design projects, or his firm, which was quite busy, might have had an architect or engineer on its staff."

This new Iris occupied the eastern 2/3 of the new single-story building located just east of where the Warner Hollywood would be constructed in 1928. This location of the Iris reportedly had the first electric sign in Hollywood.

In the 1915, 1916 and 1917 city directories it's listed with the 6417 Hollywood Blvd. address. The theatre's name had been chosen (at the earlier location) as an homage to the nearby house and gardens of painter Paul De Longpre, early Hollywood tourist attractions. This 6417 location put the theatre in a space south of the house that had originally been part of the gardens.

Closing: January 1918.

A January 16, 1918 ad for the Iris in the L.A. Evening Express that noted the move to the new location. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the ad for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.

The new Iris at 6508 Hollywood Blvd. opened January 17. It's the building that would be renamed the Fox Theatre in 1968.

The 6417 address is still shown as "Moving Pictures" in this detail from the 1919 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. Note that the map shows the theatre's building as a single story. Thanks to Silent Film Detective John Bengtson for tracking it down. The lots to the left would later be the site of the Warner Theatre. The east storefront at 6415 was a sweet shop operated by John Cacarrellas. He's listed under confectioners in the 1917 city directory.

Status: The theatre space at 6417 was converted to retail use and around 1921 was rebuilt as a two-story building. The De Longpre house behind this building survived until the time of the Warner's construction in 1927. This block of storefronts just east of the Warner wasn't demolished until 1995. Other tenants included KFWB after they had moved out of the Warner Theatre building.

The Iris in the movies:

At the Iris? Unknown. We get an interesting nickelodeon interior in the nine minute Harold Lloyd short "Luke's Movie Muddle" (Rolin Films, 1916). The exteriors were shot at the Hollywood Theatre. The interiors might have been done at the Iris. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post about the film for more shots of the interior they used.

In Lois Weber's "Idle Wives" (Universal, 1916) we also see the outside of the Hollywood. Going inside, it's a much more opulent interior than the theatre we get in Lloyd's film. It's unknown if they used the Iris, the Hollywood or, most likely, a studio set. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for some views of the interior they used.

We're definitely at the Iris in the Ben Turpin comedy "A Studio Stampede," later known as "Out of Control" (Vogue Films, March 1917). We see a lot of the entrance but don't go inside. Here Ben is string to steal a photo of his favorite movie star. Thanks to John Bengtson for spotting the theatre and getting the screenshots.

We get this wider view of the entrance in "Out of Control" after Ben decks the cashier. John calls our attention to part of the "IRIS" we see in the tile on the lower right. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for more about the film, and more views of of the Iris. There's also a shot looking across the Hollywood and Cahuenga intersection and views of the sweet shop adjacent to the Theatorium Theatre on Sunset.

Later street views:

c.1920 - That's Hollywood Blvd. slicing across horizontally and Cahuenga heading off to the upper right in this view that was located by John Bengtson. It's a detail from an image on the site Historic Hollywood Photographs, their catalog #AER-1920-1.

c.1920 - A closer look with the building the Iris had been in marked in chartreuse. At this point it was still a single story. That's the De Longpre house in the upper center, facing east.

c.1921 - Construction underway on a second floor floor for the building. Thanks to John Bengtson for locating the photo in the Historic Hollywood Photographs collection, their catalog #AER-1922-4. The six-story Security Trust and Savings Bank Building on the right started construction in 1920 and opened in June 1922.

1922 - Looking west with the former Iris Theatre building now two stories. The lots with all the trees just beyond would later become the site of the Warner. Thanks to John Bengtson for locating this lovely shot. It appears courtesy of Marc Wanamaker's Bison Archives.

1922 - A detail taken from Marc Wanamaker's photo. The signage on the new second floor of the former Iris building, the third one in from he corner, reads "Louvre Art Gallery." The Hillview Apartments, aka Hudson Hollywood Apartments, that's seen on the far left dates from 1917.

1920s - On the far left is a bit of the roof of the remodeled Iris building. In the center is the Levinson Building with Levy's Cafe at 6413 Hollywood Blvd. That's the De Longpre mansion in the upper right. The image is a detail from a photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Noir Noir for including the photo in Noirish post # 52602.

1928 - In the center of this image is the remodeled version of the building that housed the Iris between 1915 and 1918. The newly opened Warner is on the left. It's a detail from a Mott Studios photo from the Mott-Merge collection of the California State Library, included in their 11 photo set #001386583.

c.1930 - A shot of the building from the McAvoy/Bruce Torrence Historic Hollywood Photographs collection, their #HB-094. It makes an appearance in the site's "Hollywood Blvd. 1899-1940" gallery of 214 photos. Thanks to Martin Turnbull for locating it in the collection and sharing it on his Hollywood's Garden of Allah Novels Facebook page.

1935 - A view west on Hollywood Blvd. with a look down on the roof of the building the Iris had been in, just this side of the Warner. The photo was a post from Fedj Sylvanus on Vintage Los Angeles. He credits the photo to a post of Cathay Degrande. Thanks, Fedj!

c.1939 - A look west from Cahuenga Blvd. toward the Warner. This is one of over 800 images in the great book "The Story of Hollywood: An Illustrated History" by Gregory Paul Williams, available on Amazon. This photo is on page 352. There's a preview of the book to browse on Google Books.

1950s - A view looking east with the KFWB building on the left. Thanks to Martin Turnbull for locating this view for a post on his Hollywood's Garden of Allah Novels page on Facebook.

1966 - The building again with KFWB as a tenant. The Warner was running "An American Dream" with Stuart Whitman, Janet Leigh and Eleanor Parker. Thanks to Sean Ault for finding the photo. Noirish Los Angeles contributor Noir Noir notes that in 1962 Aldo's Coffee Shop (the former location of Levy's Cafe) was the spot where Sonny and Cher first laid eyes on each other.

1972 - The building after the 20s facade got covered. Thanks to the wonderful Bruce Torrence Historic Hollywood Photographs collection for the photo, their item #RTV-012-3. That's a bit of the Warner building on the left.

1984 - At the left is the rear of the building the Iris Theatre was once in -- before it got that 2nd floor. We're looking west -- that's the side of the Warner Hollywood straight ahead. It's a shot from the 1984 film "Night of the Comet." See the Historic L.A. Theatres In Movies post for more from the film.

2010 - The site of the Iris. The big hulk at the left is the Warner Hollywood. Photo: Bill Counter

More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page on this second Iris location. They use 6265 Hollywood Blvd. (near the current Pantages location) as the address for the business before the c.1915 move. Their page has lots of confusion about locations.

Thanks to silent film detective John Bengtson for his research on the building. Check out his latest explorations via the Silent Locations blog "Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd film locations (and more)."

John's books are available through Amazon or your local bookseller: "Silent Echoes: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Buster Keaton" | "Silent Traces: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Charlie Chaplin" | "Silent Visions: Discovering Early Hollywood and New York Through the Films of Harold Lloyd"

Here on this site: See the page on the first Iris Theatre, opened in 1910 or 11 as the Idle Hour. And check out the one that came after this one at 6417 Hollywood Blvd. The replacement opened in 1918 at 6508 Hollywood Blvd. and would be renamed the Fox Theatre in 1968.

Los Angeles Theatres

Iris Theatre [1914 - 1918]

2 comments: