Los Angeles Theatres: Orpheum Theatre: vintage exterior views

Orpheum Theatre: vintage exterior views

1925 - Looking north with the Orpheum under construction. The Majestic Theatre is on the left with a snatch of the Tally's Broadway sign visible beyond. The photo is in the USC Digital Library collection.

1926 - A pre-opening view with "The New Orpheum" on the marquee end panel and nothing yet on the front. On the right the Majestic Theatre is down beyond Hamburger's Department Store. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Ethereal Reality for finding the photo on eBay and including it on his Noirish post #21355.

1926 - A look north at "America's Finest Theatre" before its opening. Thanks again to Mr. Ethereal Reality for the find, part of his Noirish Los Angeles post #21355.

February 15, 1926 - A rainy night with the searchlights out for the opening. Thanks to Bill Gabel for the photo, a post on the Facebook page Photos of Los Angeles.

1926 - The newly completed Orpheum. Note the position of the theatre's original vertical sign. It's a Keystone Photo Service image in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

1926 - The Los Angeles Orpheum got a full page (as did the other Keith-Albee-Orpheum circuit houses) in the opening night program for the new Memphis Orpheum in 1928. But it's an earlier photo. Historic Memphis has the full program on their website. The program notes that the L.A. Orpheum was running two performances daily with reserved seats.

1926 - A photo of the new theatre with somewhat strange perspective and a bit of retouching. Note that they've removed the rear of the double-sided Orpheum roof sign. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

1926 - Looking north toward the Orpheum. It's a California Historical Society photo from the USC Digital Library. The street angling off to the right is Broadway Place, which has been abandoned.

1926 - A street level view north. The UA would soon rise beyond the Western Costume Co. building on the left, opening in December 1927. It's a Mott Studios photo in the California State Library collection, their catalog #001558803. This could actually be from early 1927. On the big version on the Library's site you can make out a tiny bit of the marquee for the Garrick Theatre, demolished in March 1927 for construction of the Tower Theatre.

1926 - A detail from the California State Library photo above.

c.1927 - A look at the Orpheum's facade from the north. Note the arrival of the Platt Music Co. Building (1927, Walker & Eisen) just north of the theatre. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

c.1927 - The Orpheum with Sophie Tucker as the headliner. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

c.1928 - A view north that was located by Bill Gabel for a post on Photos of Los Angeles.

c.1928 - Looking north from the Chamber of Commerce Building. We get the backstage walls over on the left of the Belasco Theattre (1926) and the Mayan Theatre (1927). The tile roof in the foreground is on the Herald Examiner Building. On the right it's the Case Hotel and the Los Angeles Railway Building. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

1928 - An April 26 parade view from the Chamber of Commerce Building. It's a California Historical Society photo in the USC Digital Library collection. USC also has another similar view of the same parade. The parade was to celebrate the dedication of City Hall.

c.1929 - Looking north from the Western Pacific Building. It's a California Historical Society photo in the USC Digital Library collection.

c.1929 - Note the Texaco signage added on the UA tower. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

1929 or 1930 - A view north from the Los Angeles Public Library collection. Steel is going up for the Eastern Columbia Building (which opened in September 1930) and work has begun on the 9th & Broadway Building that will soon hide the south wall we see of the Orpheum Building. It would open in 1931.

1930 - North on Broadway. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

c.1930 - Looking in toward the ticket lobby with the theatre running an Olson & Johnson revue onstage called "Merry Monkey Business." The marquee hasn't yet had its flashy RKO deco re-do. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

1930 - A Christmas season view from the California Historical Society in the USC Digital Library collection. The Orpheum, on the right, is running "Ex-Flame," a "Towering Emotional Drama" that was a November release. The Majestic marquee and vertical can be seen across the street. The legit house is running films - Will Rogers in "So This is London," a June release.

1930 - A detail from the photo above giving us a first look at the RKO redo of the marquee.

1931 - The February premiere of "Cimarron" with Richard Dix and Irene Dunne. It's a Dick Whittington Studio photo in the USC Digital Library collection.

1931 - A closer look at the marquee from the photo above. Check out all the floodlights they added on top of the marquee.

1931 - The roof sign as seen from the roof of the May Co. It's still double sided but the "vaudeville" lettering has been removed. This is a detail from a much larger photo from the Dick Whittington Studio, one of a set of six taken at a rooftop Easter party. It's in the USC Digital Library collection. Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for spotting the photo.

1931 - Looking south on Broadway at the Tower, Rialto and Orpheum. At the Tower it was the April release "Bachelor Apartment" along with Helen Twelvetrees in "Millie," out in February. The Rialto was playing Chaplin's "City Lights," a moveover from the Los Angeles. The photo is in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

1931 - A detail from the previous shot. Down at the Orpheum it was the May release "White Shoulders" with Mary Astor, Jack Holt and Ricardo Cortez. Thanks to Christina Rice, head of the LAPL Photo Collection, for providing this.

1932 - The Orpheum for the run of "Frankenstein." It's a photo from the Dick Whittington Studio in the USC Digital Library collection.

1932 - A closer look at the marquee from the photo above.

1932 - An entrance detail during the "3rd Horrifying Week" of "Frankenstein." It's a Dick Whittington Studio photo from the USC Digital Library. Note that the use of changeable neon letters on the marquee.

Also in the USC "Frankenstein" set is a "Shake Hands With The Monster" ticket lobby display and also a closer view of that. Thanks to theatre researcher Michelle Gerdes for finding the "Frankenstein" photos in the USC collection. See an article and several ads from the "Frankenstein" run on the fun LA Spook Show set of DLZ127 on Flickr.

1932 - A detail from the photo above showing the curved soffit of the marquee. Note that, unlike with the current marquee, we can see all the way into the arched ceiling of the ticket lobby beyond.

mid-1930s - A photo by Harry Quillen from the Los Angeles Public Library collection. RKO closed the Orpheum at the end of 1932. Metropolitan Theatres reopened it in September 1933. Note the blank area above the "Orpheum" lettering on the end panel of the marquee where it used to say "RKO." Major Bowes was doing one of his "Amateur Hour" shows but it's hard to tell much else about the program the week of the photo.

1935 - Looking north from 8th St. during a busy shopping day at the May Co. The Orpheum is down there in the gloom on the left. It's a photo in the USC Digital Library collection.

1937 - A look out a window of the United Artists Building. It's a photo in the USC Digital Library collection.

1937 - A fine view of the marquee from the Dick Whittington Studio taken during the run of "Secret Valley" and "Fugitive in the Sky." Note that the RKO logo is gone above the Orpheum lettering. The photo is in the USC Digital Library collection.

c.1937 - A Herman Schultheis photo that's in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

1939 - "Spring Madness" with Maureen O'Sullivan and Lew Ayres was the feature, along with a big stage show. Note the "6 Acts" above the center of the marquee where it previously had said "RKO." Thanks to Eric Lynxwiler for sharing this January shot as part of his terrific "Los Angeles Theatres" album on Flickr. It also appears in the "Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation Group Pool" on Flickr that's curated by Michelle Gerdes.

1939 - The end panel is advertising "In Person Maxie Rosenbloom Cafe Revue." Bruce Kimmel notes that Maxie's show opened May 10. The "Intime Cafe Revue" featured Cully Richards, Count Joe Plotsky, Tommy Reilly, Sammy Lewis and Patty Moore. Al Lyon conducted the orchestra. And on the big screen you got a double feature: "Burn 'Mm Up O'Connor" and "I'm From Missouri." Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the postcard for the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.

c.1939 - A nice view looking north from 9th by the Dick Whittington Studio. "Stage in person: The Gilmore Circus." It's a photo in the USC Digital Library collection. The USC collection also includes another view taken at the same time from a bit farther south.

1943 - A fine view looking north the week of January 27 to February 2 with the Orpheum's new marquee on display down the block on the right. On the left, note the hole north of the Eastern Columbia Building where the Majestic Theatre was until 1933. Thanks to Sean Ault for finding the photo, one taken by San Francisco-based Waldemar Sievers. It can be seen on the site FineArtAmerica where they will sell you a print of it or put the image on a coffee mug. On the marquee: "Ritz Bros." Thanks to Mark Brandl for dating the photo by locating a January 30 ad. On the screen that week: "Mug Town." Waldemar also took a shot of the United Artists the same rainy day.

1944 - Snow on February 20 and Cab Calloway playing the Orpheum. Thanks to Martin Turnbull for locating the photo for a post on his Hollywood's Garden of Allah Novels Facebook page. The signage for the United Artists can be seen on the right. Martin Pal notes that the poster on the streetlamp with the "4th" was for 4th War Loan Bond Drive that ran in January and February that year.

1945 - In front of the Orpheum with a mess in the streets on Victory Over Japan Day. We're looking north toward the Rialto and the Tower, at this time called the Music Hall. It's an L.A. Times photo from in the UCLA L.A. Times Photographic Archives.

1946 - Thanks to Billy Vera for this marquee view. It was a post on the Facebook page Vintage Los Angeles. "The Undercover Woman" was an April release with Stephanie Bachelor and Robert Livingston.

1946 - Hydrant problems in May. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the photo for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page. It looks like "Truth or Consequences" on the marquee.

1946 - A shot of a spook show at the Orpheum from DLZ127's fine LA Spook Show collection on Flickr. The feature film that week was "So Dark The Night." Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Beaudry for including the photo and a link to the set on his Noirish post #25113.

1947 - The Orpheum is running "The Long Night," a noirish May release with Henry Fonda and Barbara Bel Geddes along with "Banjo," a story about a nine year old Georgia girl and her dog. Down the block it's a rare night view of the Tower's vertical in the days when it was called the Music Hall. It's a photo posted by Gary Alinder on the blog MacroChef as part of the set Faces & Places: More of My Father’s Color Photos of Southern California in the 1940s. The photo, on 35mm Kodachrome, is by Ed Alinder.

1949 - A great look up Broadway from the Metro Library and Archive in their Downtown Los Angeles album on Flickr. In addition to the Orpheum, note also the United Artists and the Tower Theatre (as the Newsreel).

1949 - The Orpheum at this late date still hadn't got the memo that vaudeville was dead. In 1949 it tried for a big comeback. It's a photo from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

1949 - A marquee detail with the signage celebrating the return of vaudeville "In the Orpheum Tradition." What were the acts? Well, we'll have to check the newspaper ads for that. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

1951 - The theatre running the Howard Hughes production of "His Kind of Woman," an August release with Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell. Thanks to Sean Ault for spotting this shot on eBay.

1951 - A telephoto look north showing the signage for the United Artists, the Orpheum, Rialto, Newsreel (aka the Tower) and the Globe. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this one for a post for the private Facebook group Photos of Los Angeles. It's a photo taken for the L.A. Examiner that's in the USC Digital Library collection. Scott Collette included it with nine other downtown 1951 Examiner shots in a post on his Forgotten Los Angeles Facebook page. Scott's set is also on Instagram.

1952 - The theatre all decked out for "The Greatest Show on Earth," a May release. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding the photo.

1952 - Another "Greatest Show" view. Thanks to San Francisco projectionist Jim Cassedy for locating this one in an issue of Boxoffice. And thanks to Gary Meyer for posting it on the Bay Area Historic Theatres Facebook page.

1952 - "Atomic Blast," a free early morning show during the run of "Greatest Show on Earth." Up the street we get the top of the Rialto marquee and the Tower vertical in its Newsreel days. The photo appeared on the cover of the Theatre Historical Society's magazine Marquee for the 4th Quarter 2013. Thanks to Woody Wise for posting it on his All Movie Projectors Facebook page.

1952 - A Life magazine shot with the theatre busily plugging Lees Carpets and running "Carmen" via a TV hookup from the met. The regular program? A bit more lowbrow: "The Savage" and "The Blazing Forest." Thanks to Greg Parulis for finding this one.

1950s - A look north on Broadway toward the Orpheum and the Rialto and Tower (with the Newsreel vertical) beyond. The photo appears here as a contribution of Sean Ault. Richard Wojcik also has posted it on the Facebook page Vintage Los Angeles.

1954 - Jane Russell in 3-D in Lloyd Bacon's RKO production "The French Line." Thanks to Lawrence Kaufman for locating this trade magazine photo for his extensive Facebook post about the film and its censorship problems. The banner warned "Jane Russell will knock both of your eyes out in 3-D." The film opened February 24 at the Orpheum and Hawaii, advertised as "for adults only." The Orpheum had "Paris Playboy" as a second feature. At the Hawaii you got a 3-D Popeye cartoon. See the February 25 Times review where Philip Scheuer noted "Three-dimensional photography took a new lease on life... " and that Jane "let loose with everything she has..."

1956 - A photo from the Richard Wojcik collection with the Orpheum running "The Man Who Knew Too Much." It was a post on the Facebook page Vintage Los Angeles. Thanks, Richard!

late 1950s - A view that Benny Ballejo found for the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page. The feature film was "The Last __________." The photo has also been seen on the Who Remembers in East L.A. Facebook page. Fred Beth also has it posted on a Jack Benny Fans page.

1961 - The theatre running "Young Savages" with Burt Lancaster. It's a photo from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

1963 - The Judy Garland film "A Child is Waiting," a January release. paired with "Dead to the World." Thanks to Bud Care for the photo on Flickr.

1966 - A shot taken by filmmaker and cinematographer Gary Graver. Over several decades, he photographed many vintage theatres in Los Angeles and his hometown of Portland. More of his theatre photos can be seen in two compilations on YouTube: "Second Run - Part 1" and "Second Run - Part 2." Thanks to Sean Graver for use of the photo. "Cast a Giant Shadow" was a March release.

1966 - Running "Ambush Bay." It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo. Bruce Kimmel comments: "'Ambush Bay' opened on September 30. The second feature is 'Duel at Diablo.'"

1967 - A lovely look north on Broadway. In addition to the Indy 500 telecast what's playing at the Orpheum? The best guess (so far) is Dean Martin in "Murderer's Row," a December 1966 release, along with Lee Marvin in "Cat Ballou" from 1965. Both presumably with Spanish subtitles. Up the street we see a bit of the Rialto and the Tower, back to its original name in 1965 after a spell being known as the Newsreel. Thanks to Sean Ault for finding the photo.

c.1972 - Thanks to Willard Wong for this shot posted on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.

1974 - A look across from Hill St. Thanks to Sean Ault for spotting the photo on eBay.

1974 - Coming next: John Wayne to the rescue in "Brannigan." Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the photo for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.

1975 - Looking south toward the theatre during its run of "Towering Inferno." Thanks to John Stewart for his photo, one of 25 appearing in his Los Angeles Theaters set on Flickr. John is the long-time projectionist at the Austin Paramount.

1975 - A marquee detail from John Stewart on Flickr. Thanks to Mike Hume for advising of John's photos.

1977 - "Estoy tan enojado como el infierno, y ya no lo aguanto más." Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding this shot for a post on Photos of Los Angeles.

1978 - Playing the October release "Comes a Horseman" along with Burt Reynolds in "The End." Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the photo for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.

1980 - De Niro playing at the Orpheum. Thanks to the now-defunct American Classic Images collection for the great photo.

1982 - "E.T." in Spanish at the theatre. Thanks to American Classic Images for the photo.

1982 - A marquee view taken during the run of "E.T." It's a photo in the American Classic Images collection.

1982 - The night version. Again, thanks to American Classic Images for the photo from their collection.

1980s? - Garment action upstairs. Note on the vertical that there were once light bulbs inside the neon outline of the letters. It's a photo in the Herald Examiner collection at the Los Angeles Public Library.

1983 - "Octopussy" was a June 10 release. Thanks to the All Movie Theatres Facebook page for sharing the photo. "Staying Alive" was up next. Some scenes for that one were shot at the Orpheum. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for some shots. We get to see "Staying Alive" on the Orpheum marquee in a shot from "Repo Man."

1983 - Superman is back. Thanks to American Classic Images for the photo. "Superman III" was a June 17 release.

c.1984 - A busy day on Broadway. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the photo.

1990s? - A crowd gathering for an L.A. Conservancy "Last Remaining Seats" screening. It's a Gary Leonard photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection

1995 - A fine marquee view appearing on on Grace Market Research's Broadway Theater Tour page.

1996 - Time to "Rumble in the Bronx." Thanks to Dave Glass for sharing this photo he took as a post on Flickr.

2000 - A view upward by Marissa Roth from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

2000 - A fine marquee view on the Orpheum page of a USC Downtown Los Angeles Walking Tour. It's part of the tour's chapter on the Historic Core where you can click on any of the buildings on their map for information. 2000 was the last year of operation for the Orpheum as a film house.

The ticket lobby:

1926 - A view looking south. Check out the original boxoffice location. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo. That boxoffice was later revamped and brought forward as an island boxoffice.

c.1931 - A look south during the run of the Olsen & Johnsen revue "Merry Monkey Business." The photo is from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

c.1931 - A peek into the ticket lobby from the street during "Merry Monkey Business." It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

1950s? - A view of the snackbar in the location of the original boxoffice. It's a photo from the collection of the L.A. Conservancy that once appeared on a now-vanished Broadway photo gallery on their website. It can also be seen on the Orpheum Theatre website's Gallery page.

1987 - Getting ready for an L.A. Conservancy "Last Remaining Seats" screening. It's a photo included in a 2023 post on the Conservancy Facebook page that was celebrating the organization's 45th anniversary.

Around the back:

1926 - An interesting view of the back of the Orpheum building from the intersection of Main and Spring. It's a photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. There's also a higher resolution version in the collection of the USC Digital Library.

The California State Library has closer view of the Orpheum Auto Park building in the foreground. An earlier view of the building as the California Public Market is in a 1922 Architectural Digest survey volume on Google Books.

Los Angeles Theatres

Orpheum Theatre: vintage exterior views

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