Opened: 1921 as the Paramount Theatre. The location was on the south side of the street just a bit west of Western Ave. In this Los Angeles Public Library photo we're looking east. The theatre is over on the right showing "The Humming Bird," a Paramount release with Gloria Swanson from 1924.
The project was announced in this April 30, 1920 article in the Hollywood Daily Citizen. Initially it was to be the Sterling Theatre, a venture of J.B. Zeller, briefly an owner of the Iris Theatre in Hollywood. He had unloaded that house to J.E. Johnson, owner of the Liberty Theatre in Long Beach. Thanks to Jim Lewis for locating the article.
A June 8, 1922 ad from the Hollywood Citizen. Thanks to Jim Lewis for locating it.
In this 1934 ad it's listed under "Hollywood" and still named the Paramount. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for the post for the private Facebook group Photos of Los Angeles.
A February 27, 1941 listing as the Loma. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating this, the earliest he could find with the theatre's new name. Visit Mike's site: Movie-Theatre.org. The theatre was still listed as the Paramount in the 1942 city directory.
The December 8, 1952 L.A. Times account of the fire. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for adding the article as a comment on a thread about the theatre on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.
Status: It's been demolished. After closing as a theatre, it became a
furniture store and then a thrift store. It burned in the 80s and there's now a strip mall on
the site.
Thanks to Matt Spero for this photo he took after the thrift store fire. Lettering at the top of the facade still said "Paramount Theatre." Thanks, Matt.
The Paramount appears in this shot from Buster Keaton's "Sherlock Jr."
(Metro Pictures, 1924). We're looking west across the intersection of
Santa Monica Blvd. and Western Ave. That's the theatre over toward the
left. The sign on the side of the building says "Paramount Theatre."
Thanks to John Bengtson, "the great detective of silent film locations," for identifying the theatre in the film. See his Silent Locations
blog for several great posts about "Sherlock Jr." He also discusses
additional locations on the Blu-Ray edition of the film. Keaton plays a
projectionist in the film. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for shots of the sets used for the theatre where Keaton works.
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