7425 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90046 |
map |
Opened: December 22, 1921 as the Granada. This 1923 photo of the theatre appeared
on page 161 the first volume of "American Theatres of Today" by R.W.
Sexton and B. F.
Betts. The film "The Ghost Patrol" was a January 1923 release.
Seating: 896
Architects:
Meyer & Holler designed the theatre in a fanciful Spanish style
befitting its original name, the Granada. Meyer and Holler were better known for their work on Hollywood Blvd. for Sid Grauman at the Egyptian and the Chinese. They also did the amazingly gaudy West Coast Theatre in Long Beach.
"Fresh From the Farm" and "Two Minutes To Go" were the initial films. This ad appeared on December 21, 1921, the day before the opening. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating it. Visit his site:
Movie-Theatre.org
In the late 20s it was an operation of the West Coast Theatres circuit. Joe Vogel notes it was listed as the West Coast Hollywood Theatre in the 1929 city directory. By 1932 it had become the Oriental.
A 1934 "Programette" for "The One Hollywood Independent Theatre." Thanks to Robert Weiner for sharing this. He notes that he found it in his late fathers effects.
Listings inside the program. Thanks, Robert!
A May 30, 1936 ad from the Hollywood Citizen-News. Thanks to William David French, Jr. for locating it. He went on a search of this particular double bill the theatre was running at the time of a 1936 photo that's seen lower on the page.
Closing: The theatre closed in January 1985.
Status: It's been remodeled into retail space as part of the
Guitar Center complex. The rear room they use for vintage
guitars still shows the proscenium area. The only other visible theatre
remnants are some original plaster and moldings across the ceiling near
the proscenium. The booth area can also be visited.
Interior views:
A c.1923 view from page 161 in the first volume of "American Theatres of Today" by R.W. Sexton and B. F. Betts. The two volumes of the book were published in 1927 and 1930 by the Architectural Book Publishing Co, New York. It was reprinted in one volume in 1977 by the Vestal Press, New York.
A look down the aisle in a photo from an article on floor coverings in the April 1, 1939 issue of the trade magazine Boxoffice. The caption read:
"Tasteful modernism in aisle carpet provides excellent background for ushers' flashlights in the Oriental Theatre in Los Angeles. Aisle floors are one spot in a theatre's interior which the patron always sees, whether or not house lights ever go up between performances."
A view of the Oriental's stage, now inside the Guitar Center complex, from "
The Guitar Center Turns 100" Brian Donnelly's 4 minute video shared on YouTube in 2021.
Another view to the stage. Thanks to Gary Helsinger for sharing his photo as part of a
Facebook post he did tracking the origins of the Guitar Center.
More exterior views:
1936 - The theatre running "These Three" and "Snowed Under" after a bit of a deco re-do of the display cases. It's a photo from the Ronald W. Mahan Collection that had been unidentified until William David French, Jr. deduced where it was taken. He commented on a post of the photo on the
Los Angeles Theatres Facebook page:
"It
was the distinctive wall texture to the left of the marquee that caught my attention. Then the shape of the
booth. Then the trim above the poster boxes. Surprisingly that double bill
wasn't common. I searched L.A. area movie listings and this was the only
one."
Also note that the neon trim along the bottom of the marquee matches the style seen in the 1932 photo.
1936 - A detail from the previous photo. Thanks, Ron!
1954 - A Red Car view looking east on Sunset toward the Oriental, on the far right. It's an Alan Weeks photo. Thanks to eminent L.A. transit historian Sean Ault for finding it.
1960 - Looking west on Sunset with a bit of the Oriental on the far right. Thanks to Sean Ault for sharing the photo from his collection.
1966 - The theatre was playing "A Thousand Clowns" with Jason Robards and Barbara Harris along with Sophia Loren in the January 1966 release "Judith." It's an Ed Ruscha shot in the
Getty Research Institute collection where they date it as 1965.
There are over 70,000 Ruscha items now available for browsing. A few places to start:
Sunset Boulevard, 1965-2010, undated (58,167 digitized items) |
Hollywood Boulevard, 1973-2005, undated (4,292 digitized items) |
Santa Monica Boulevard, 1974 (4,956 digitized items) |
Melrose Avenue, 1975 (3,724 digitized items) | Specifically about Sunset Blvd., see the Getty Research Institute's site "
12 Sunsets." Their October 2020
Press Release discusses the project.
1972 - A photo from the wonderful McAvoy/Bruce Torrence
Historic Hollywood Photographs collection, their index #T-040-1. Bruce Kimmel notes that this double bill of "Hammersmith is Out" with Liz and Dick plus "Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Sex"
opened on November 22 and played one week.
c.1978 - Rodney Bingenheimer in front of the Oriental Theatre. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding the shot for a post on the Facebook private group
Photos of Los Angeles.
1982 - Eddie Van Halen on the sidewalk. The theatre would later be gutted and become part of the Guitar Center. Provenance of the shot is unknown. Thanks to Sean Ault for locating it. It gathered lots of comments when it was shared by Terrence Butcher with the Images and Memories of Los Angeles Facebook group. "Conan the Barbarian" was out in May 1982. Michael Coate notes that the photo was taken between July 2 and July 8.
1983 - The facade as seen in a photo from the now-vanished American Classic Images website. "Honkytonk Man" was a December 1982 release. "Monsignor" was out in October 1982.
1983 - Thanks to American Classic Images for this lovely look at the neon.
1985 - The Oriental after its closing. Thanks to Maurice Ideses for locating the photo, a post of his on the private Facebook group
Mid Century Modern. The structure of the theatre still exists but has been remodeled as part of the Guitar Center and is now unrecognizable.
1985 - The Oriental's marquee coming down. Photo: Gary Graver
1985 - Another marquee demolition shot by Gary Graver. He was a filmmaker and cinematographer who took many photos of theatres in Los Angeles. See the
Wikipedia profile on Mr. Graver, who died in 2006. More of his photos photos can be seen on You Tube: "
Second Run - part 1" and "
Second Run - part 2." Thanks to Sean Graver for use of the photos.
1985 - A construction view. Thanks to Gary Helsinger for assembling this panoramic shot from five shots by Ed Ruscha that are in the Getty Research Institute collection. He included this as part of his 2025
Facebook post tracking the origins of the Guitar Center. Among the movie posters up on the construction fence are some for George Romero's July 1985 release "The Day of the Dead."
2008 - A Google aerial view with the Oriental portion of the Guitar center complex directly behind the red awning where the "A" marker is. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Ethereal Reality for the image. It and other Oriental Theatre items appear on his
Noirish post #8348.
2010 - The structure is still there but the theatre has been swallowed up and
made into part of a larger complex. Photo: Bill Counter
The Oriental in the Movies:
Toward
the end of Harold Lloyd's
"Girl Shy" (Harold Lloyd Co./Pathé, 1924) we get this shot of the
side of the Granada as we head west on Sunset. Harold is using all
available
means of transportation on a wild ride into the city from his small town
to
prevent a marriage between the woman he loves and a cad who happens to
be already secretly married. See the
Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for shots from the film of the 1st Culver City Theatre and the five theatres on the 800 block of Broadway.
We
get a fine look at the theatre 5:54 into nearly a nearly 11 minute
drive west on Sunset Blvd. that was shot in 1952 for process photography
work. Thanks to Rick Prelinger for posting the footage on
Internet Archive. A colorized and remastered version is on
YouTube. The Oriental was running "Singin' in the Rain" and "The Pride of St. Louis." Bruce Kimmel notes that this program had a one week run beginning June 11.
A view a moment later from the 1952 Rick Prelinger footage. Thanks to Esotouric's Secret Los Angeles for spotting the Prelinger post and putting the screenshots on the LAHTF Facebook page. Mary Mallory also shared a link to the footage on the Hollywood Heritage Facebook page.
In the great 1958 Allied Artists epic
"Unwed Mother" we get Robert Vaughn crossing the street to the Oriental for a holdup.
Looking east after the deed. We see the cashier hitting the button on the floor of the boxoffice to
summon the police. It doesn't go well. The car won't start and he gets caught.
The Oriental on TV:
Thanks to Walter Santucci for this screenshot from an episode of
Dragnet. Our correspondent Rick notes that it's from "The Grenade," the
first episode of "Dragnet 1968," the show's second season. The episode
first aired September 14, 1967.
More information: See the Oriental page on Cinema Treasures for a nice history. Also check out Ethereal Reality's Noirish Los Angeles post #8348 on the Oriental.
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