Opened: February 25, 1942 by John Hampton and his wife Dorothy as the Movie. This pre-opening view appears on the Water and Power Associates Museum page Early L.A. City Views (1925+) page 3. It's also on their Early L.A. Buildings (1925+) page 4. It's from Marc Wanamaker's Bison Archives.
The initial feature was "Pony Express" with Betty Compson and Ricardo
Cortez. All projection was 16mm, using prints from John's personal
collection. For accompaniment he played 78s that he had acquired over
the years.
After the opening the plywood panel across the front where a marquee should have been said Old Time Movie. In a 1943 article the Times called it the Old Time Theater. It didn't get the Silent Movie Theatre name until later.
Since late 2020 the venue has been called Brain Dead Studios. The back patio is now a restaurant called Slammers Cafe.
Website: https://studios.wearebraindead.com | on Facebook Phone: 323-917-5053
Seating: 224 originally. The capacity is now about 150.
Thanks to Thanks to Ranjit Sandhu for locating this article for the page about Revival Cinemas on his site about Buster Keaton's "The General".
The theatre didn't reopen and John Hampton died of cancer in 1990. Dorothy sold his film collection to the Packard Humanities Institute.
Thanks to Ranjit Sandhu for locating this.
Austin was shot and killed in the lobby in 1997. The crime
involved Mr. Austin's partner (and projectionist) James Van Sickle as well as an accomplice.
The theatre was put on the market in 1998
and purchased by film enthusiast Charlie Lustman, who reopened it in
1999 with Chaplin's "Modern Times." His improvements included a new
marquee, new screen and a cafe as well as a general redecorating. Eventually 35mm projection capability was added. The
film end of the business was break-even at best and Lustman
supplemented by building a clientele for private parties and other
events. In 2006 he sold the business due to declining health.
The Cinefamily era: In 2006 the theatre was purchased by
Dan and Sammy Harkham. The Harkams, along with Hadrian Belove, were involved in the founding of the Cinefamily organization and active in its operations. They reopened the venue in 2007 as a home for revivals and independent films. See "Rehabbed Silent Movie Theatre gives ‘em something to talk about," an October 25 Times story about the reopening. The theatre closed in August 2017 in the wake of allegations of harassment and mistreatment of staff.
LAist has many stories about Cinefamily to browse. See "Cinefamily founder resigns...," Julia Wick's August 22, 2017
story about the problems resulting in Hadrian Belove's exit from the organization that he had founded in 2007. Board member
Shadie Elnashai also resigned. "Cinefamily Suspends All Activities..." was the August 27 story from Variety's Seth Kelley. There were also followup stories in the L.A. Times by Sonaiya Kelley and in the Hollywood Reporter by Arlene Washington. Jennifer Swann had a September 18, 2017 story for L.A. weekly: "A Sexual Harassment Scandal Imploded Cinefamily: Can it be Saved?"
In the November 14, 2017 L.A. Times article "Following scandal and investigation, Cinefamily to shut down permanently,"
Mark Olson discussed the conclusion of the sexual abuse saga. The
Harkams said at the time they would renovate the space and keep it an
exhibition venue. Cinefamily, although not operating a venue, still
exists as an organization and is involved in litigation. It's unknown
how it will all unwind. It has not been determined how the assets of
Cinefamily will be distributed. One report notes that Dan and Sammy
Harkham, the owners of the building, may assume the debts, which may be
less than the value of the assets.
Dan and Sammy Harkam renovated the building and reopened Christmas Day 2019 as the Fairfax Cinema.
Their initial film was to be an exclusive 35mm run of "Uncut Gems" with
Adam Sandler. The distributor, A24, pulled that booking after lots of
online backlash. Thanks to Donavan S. Moye for spotting "'Uncut Gems' pulled as Fairfax Cinema's opening movie...,"
the December 18 L.A. Times story by Mark Olsen. The opening films ended up being
"Variety" (Bette Gordon, 1983) and "The Hitch-Hiker (Ida Lupino, 1953). The theatre closed in March 2020 due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Status: In October 2020 the venue was renamed Brain Dead Studios. They're running an eclectic mix of revivals and cult favorites.
Lobby areas:
Let's visit the booth! Photo: Sandi Hemmerlein - LAHTF Facebook page - 2020
Lobby renovation views:
Looking toward house left. Photo: Cinefamily Accountability blog - July 2018
Auditorium views:
A 2017 look back at the rear of the house on the Time Out page about the Silent Movie Theatre. It's a Jakob Layman photo.
The screen end of the Silent Movie Theatre's auditorium. It's a 2017 Jakob Layman photo on the site Time Out.
The auditorium during renovations. New seats had been installed. Photo: Bill Counter - July 2019
A photo of the renovated auditorium taken by Sam Frost for the Fairfax Cinema. It appeared with "Former Cinefamily Theater to Open as Fairfax Cinema (First Look)," a December 2019 Hollywood Reporter article by Degen Pener.
More exterior views:
Looking south on Fairfax from Melrose before the theatre's 1942 opening. The photo appears on the Water and Power Associates Museum page Early L.A. City Views (1925+) page 3. It's also on their Early L.A. Buildings (1925+) page 4. The photo is from Marc Wanamaker's Bison Archives.
The theatre in 1942. The photo once appeared as a now-vanished post by Philip Mershon on the Vintage Los Angeles Facebook page. It also makes an appearance on an Atlas Obscura page.
A 1980 look at the Silent Movie Theatre. It's a Herald Examiner photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
The theatre's reopening in 1999 with "Modern Times." It's a photo that appeared on the now dead website Dead History project.
The theatre in 2000. It's a photo from the site Seeing Stars. See their Silent Movie Theatre page for some history of the venue.
The theatre in 2010. It had been operated by Cinefamily since 2007. Thanks to Don Solosan of the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation for his photo.
The LAHTF is actively involved in the study and preservation of the vintage theatres in the L.A. area. The group frequently supports events and offers tours of the buildings. www.lahtf.org | group Facebook page | official FB page
A 2010 marquee detail by Don Solosan from the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation. Thanks, Don!
The Silent Movie Theatre was one of a number of revival venues discussed in Mark Olsen's 2017 L.A. Times article "A film festival every night: The new ecology of the old-movie scene in L.A." It's a photo by Lawrence K. Ho for the Times.
Construction fence up for the renovations. It's a photo from "Exclusive: Peek Inside Silent Movie Theater Renovations," a July 2018 post on the Cinefamily Accountability blog.
The facade cleaned up and painted. The signage had been removed. Photo: Bill Counter - July 2019
More signage going up. Tako Tyko was the contractor. Photo: Bill Counter - September 10, 2019
A closer look at the new neon. Photo: Bill Counter - September 10, 2019
New neon on the north end of the facade. Photo: Sandi Hemmerlein - LAHTF Facebook page - 2020
An entrance detail. Photo: Sandi Hemmerlein - LAHTF Facebook page - 2020. Thanks, Sandi! Keep up with her latest explorations on the site Avoiding Regret. You can also find her on the Avoiding Regret Facebook page.
Shut down due to the virus. It's a Kate Warren photo appearing with "Hollywood Beacons in the Night," an April 23, 2020 New York Times story by Brooks Barnes featuring a dozen shots of closed historic theatres in L.A. Barnes offers a nice capsule summary of what the decades have wrought for each of the theatres he surveyed. Thanks to Donavan S. Moye for spotting the story.
The Silent Movie Theatre in the Movies:
Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney walk by the theatre in Carl Reiner's "The Comic" (Columbia, 1969). They're old silent film performers and the theatre is running some of their films.
Rooney inquiring at the boxoffice about start times. Not until next week, he's told. A Chaplin festival has been held over. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post about "The Comic" for shots of the Carthay Circle and Montalban Theatre from the film.
More Information: See our page about various other 16mm Revival Houses that had opened between 1940 and 1975. Also see Ranjit Sandhu's page about Revival Cinemas on his site about Buster Keaton's "The General".
Cinema Treasures has a page on the Silent Movie Theatre. Cinema Tour has a page with a 2002 night view. Seeing Stars has a page about the theatre's history.
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I hope that it will open again.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame the Silent Movie Theater has closed. A microcosm of quirky culture and great art in LA, this place served a unique purpose to millions of people here. I had gone for years... I'm not sure what exactly happened between people that produced the allegations, but now this space and cultural access point has been taken away from everyone. How is that worth whatever personal problems a handful of people have? Someone else within the organization should have taken over and everyone involved should have put their issues aside to ensure that happening.
ReplyDeleteWell, Julia, the guys who own the building were also involved with the organization. And it is scheduled for a much-delayed reopening. And I'm told that the programming will be much like what Cinefamily was doing.
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