It's a promotional postcard of a never-built project, the New Hollywood Theatre. This version of the card is from the collection of Brian Michael McCray, appearing as a post on the Facebook page Vintage Los Angeles.
It turns out that this was by a different architect than the Beverly (or the Warner). It's been noted by Michael Moran that the project, to be located on Hollywood Blvd. between Cosmo St. and Cahuenga Blvd., was initially proposed c.1917 or 1918. The drawing from A.B. Rosenthal appears (in a small size) on page 72 in the October 1920 issue of Architect and Engineer with an article entitled "The Planning of Theatres and Auditoriums." The caption indicated that the Gore Brothers were to be the operators.
In a listing for the card in the Werner Von Boltenstern Postcard Collection at Loyola Marymount University on the Online Archive of California site it was noted:
"...The
New Hollywood Theater was designed around 1920 by architect A. B.
Rosenthal as a theater for both motion pictures and live performances.
It was to be located on Hollywood Blvd., east of Cahuenga Ave. The
design featured luxurious interiors in walnut, mahogany, and marble, and
state of the art lighting equipment for unusual stage effects.
"The
overall style is based on Indian, Persian and Islamic influences,
including gilded domes. The projected cost of the building was $375,000,
and the complete cost of the building and all its furnishings,
including an organ and lighting equipment, was estimated at around
$1,000,000. Contracts for the excavation work and foundations were
awarded in 1920, but the building appears never to have been completed."
Let's make that definitely never completed. That link above still gets you to a listing on the OAC site but with the text all crossed out and a note that the item has been removed.
The card also appeared as a post on the private Facebook geroup Photos of Los Angeles in 2013 and as part of Ethereal Reality's Noirish Los Angeles post #8380. He found a copy of the card on eBay. The card popped up again on Photos of Los Angeles in 2015.
An article about this project and several others that appeared in the October 1992 issue of the Tom B'hend / Preston Kaufmann publication Greater L.A. Metro Newsreel:
The issue of Newsreel with the story is in the Ronald W. Mahan collection. Thanks to Ron for scanning the article.
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