Los Angeles Theatres: Marquis / Academy Award Theatre / Writers Guild Theatre

9038 Melrose Ave. West Hollywood, CA 90048 | map |

Opened: It opened November 11, 1925 as the Marquis Theatre with the film "The Beautiful Cheat." At the time, this part of town was known as Sherman. The location was just east of Doheny Dr.

In this 20s photo the bottom line of the marquee is unreadable except "Watch For..." Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this lovely shot on the site Worthpoint and sharing it on the private Facebook group Photos of Los Angeles.

The Marquis was initially operated by Hansen Theatres, Inc. The principals were Mark Hansen and film star Alice Calhoun. Joseph G. Curl was also part of the firm. Mark and Alice were involved in operating other theatres including three houses in Oxnard, the La Mirada Theatre on Vine St. (later called the Filmarte), the Larchmont Theatre, the Lyric Theatre in Huntington Park, the Strand Theatre in San Pedro and the Marcal Theatre on Hollywood Blvd. After 1963 the Marcal was known as the World.

Allen Rivkin, in a 1978 article reproduced here on the page, asserts that Fanchon & Marco were involved in the construction and, at some point, operated the theatre.

Due to a lack of parking, the theatre only had a conditional use permit from the county, one that would expire in 50 years. The parking wasn't taken care of and the county declined to renew, resulting in the theatre's closing in 1978.

Architect: Frank Rasche

Seating: 950

They thought they were going to get open in October. This item appeared in the September 16, 1925 issue of Variety.

Alice Calhoun was called "the Miss Midas of the Movies" by Grace Kingsley in "Alice's Career - Safe and Sane," her article in the October 25, 1925 issue of the L.A. Times. The full article is at the bottom of the page. One of the comments:

"I think that Miss Calhoun is the only girl picture star who owns a theater. In fact, she owns a half interest in the Hanson Theaters Corporation, which possesses something like ten theaters, including the thriving Larchmont Theater, the Marquise Theater in Sherman, and the Mark Strand Theater in San Pedro. In five weeks her share of the earnings of the theaters was $7000..."

The new opening date was announced in this item in the November 8 issue of the L.A. Times.

The Variety issue of November 18, 1925 ran this little story.

Alice Calhoun got a blurb for her new film "Hill Folks" at the bottom of Grace Kingsley's "Flashes" column in the November 23, 1925 issue of the L.A. Times. The film, directed by Fred Allen, got a 1926 release under the title "Savage Passions."

The December 5, 1925 issue of The Billboard had this item on page 41 in their "New Theatres" column:

"The Marquis Theater, at Santa Monica boulevard, Melrose avenue and Doheny drive, West Hollywood, Calif., opened recently. The theater is one of a chain operated by Hansen Theaters, Inc. Jesse J. Goldberg was master of ceremonies at the opening, which was attended by many notables of the screen world."

Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this June 1926 ad for the Marquis.

A September 30, 1927 ad from the Hollywood Daily Citizen. Thanks to mystery writer J.H. Graham for including it in "6021-6025 Hollywood Boulevard: The Marcal Theatre." That house was another one operated by Hansen Theatres.

An October 1927 ad from the Hollywood Citizen. Thanks to J.H. Graham for locating it.

The Arcadia publishing book "Theatres in Los Angeles" notes that in 1929 it got an installation of the Colorart Synchrontone sound system.

Beginning in 1935 the theatre was operated by Fox West Coast. It gets a mention in "Took 26 Since Decree, Says Gov't" an article in the September 23, 1939 issue of Boxoffice alleging new acquisitions, despite a 1930 agreement with the Feds.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences arranged to buy the building from FWC in December 1945. They soon took down the deco marquee and renamed it the Academy Award Theatre. It was their offices, the site of screenings, and the venue for the 1948 Academy Awards ceremony, held in March 1949. The story was that the Academy was feeling a financial pinch that year due to lack of support from the studios and didn't want to splurge on renting a big theatre.

The Academy sold the building to the Writers Guild in 1975 and they took occupancy in July. It became known as the Writers Guild Theatre. The Academy opened their new Beverly Hills headquarters in December 1975. See the page about the Goldwyn Theatre in that building.

Allen Rivkin discussed the problems with the location, the Guild's desire to add a banquet room, and the eventual sale, in an October 1978 article in the Writers Guild of America West News. Thanks to Hilary Swett, archivist for the Writers Guild Foundation, for making this available:

Thanks, Hilary!

In 1978 the Writers Guild leased the Doheny Plaza Theatre in Beverly Hills, now known as the Writers Guild Theatre.

Noirish Los Angeles contributor Tovangar2 comments on the Writers Guild era in Noirish post #41951. The conditional use permit problems that forced the move and sale of the property also got a mention on page 112 in the 2005 book "Crossroads of the Stars" by Dennis Sarniske and Stanley J. Sarniske.

Status: The property was sold by the Writers Guild in 1978 and the theatre was demolished. It's now the site of an office building and parking.

Interior views:

The Academy Awards ceremony in 1949. It's a photo taken for Life.

The booth and the press viewing the Academy Award proceedings in March 1949. Photo: Life

More exterior views:

1936 - A look at the crowd for a show at the Marquis. The photo appears on page 86 of the Arcadia Publishing book "Theatres in Los Angeles" by Suzanne Tarbell Cooper, Amy Ronnebeck Hall and Marc Wanamaker. The rare photos in the book are from Mr. Wanamaker's Bison Archives. There's a preview to browse on Google Books.

The photo also appears on the page for the private Facebook group Photos of Los Angeles (plus a re-post). It can also be seen in the AMPAS Tom B'hend and Preston Kaufmann Collection where they note it was taken taken by Charles Rhodes.

1945 - This photo from the collection of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences appeared on a now-vanished page on their Oscars.org site titled "Academy Story - 1940-1949." The photo itself is still on the site. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor BifRayRock for locating it. It's on his Noirish post #37331 which also discusses several other theatres named Academy.

1945 - A photo that appears on page 111 of Marc Wanamaker's fine Arcadia Publishing book "Hollywood 1940-2008." The page with the photo is on the Google Books preview. Note the same double bill as the photo from the AMPAS website. Henry Hathaway's "The House on 92nd St." with William Eythe and Lloyd Nolan was a September 1945 release. "This Love of Ours" was out in November 1945.

1949 - A Life magazine look at the facade. The crowd was waiting for the stars to arrive for the 1948 Academy Awards, held in March 1949. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Sopas EJ for finding this shot and the two other 1949 Life photos below. They were once featured on his Noirish post #6301 but have now gone missing.

1949 - Another Oscar night view. It's a photo appearing with Marina Chetner's 2012 blog post "Oscars Over the Decades."

1951 - A look at the theatre that Noirish Los Angeles contributor Ethereal Reality found on eBay. It's on his Noirish post #21494. Here we can see the bit of neon across the entrance identifying it as the "Academy Award Theater."

1951 - Thanks to the superb McAvoy/Bruce Torrence Historic Hollywood Photographs collection for this photo of the premiere of William Castle's "Hollywood Story" at the theatre. The film, starring Richard Conte, Julie Adams and Richard Egan, was a June release. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Tovangar2 for spotting this one in the collection.

c.1963 - A photo by Dennis Hopper taken at Santa Monica Blvd., Doheny Dr. and Melrose Ave. He called it "Double Standard." On the left that's Santa Monica Blvd. heading east. Melrose and the Marquis Theatre are over on the right.

The photo has been everywhere. The Getty has it on their Pacific Standard Time blog. It also appeared with a 2010 L.A. Times article for a Hopper exhibition at MOCA's Geffen Contemporary.

Mark Rozzo discusses the image in his 2022 New Yorker article "The Dennis Hopper Photograph that Caught Los Angeles." Rozzo notes that the photo has been traditionally dated as 1961, a year just tossed out by Hopper. But the "Smart Women" billboard campaign dates to around 1963 and the Corvair's interior reveals it to be a 1964 model. Thanks to Alison Martino for spotting the article.

1972 - A great view of the Marquis as the Academy Award Theatre that was taken for Life by Bill Eppinger (1938 - 2013). Price Waterhouse was delivering the ballots to the theatre. The ceremony itself was at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion that year.

Thanks to Ken McIntyre for spotting the shot in the Life collection -- he shared it as a post for the private Facebook group Photos of Los Angeles. The photo can be seen on the Time website as part of the Life story "Behind the Scenes at the 1972 Oscars."

More information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Marquis. Joe Vogel has all the data.

See the page about the much earlier Writers Club Theatre on Las Palmas just south of Sunset and the page on the current Writers Guild Theatre in Beverly Hills, a venue that had opened in 1970 as the Doheny Plaza Theatre.

Martin Pal has some great views of the intersection of Melrose, Doheny and Santa Monica on his Noirish Los Angeles post #21575. And he has a faux-postcard version of the 1951 photo of the Marquis Theatre (and other Academy Award locations) on his Noirish Los Angeles post #33915.

Curbed L.A. had a 2016 story "How the Oscars spent 73 years looking for a home."

"Alice's Career - Safe and Sane" L.A. Times - October 25, 1925: