Los Angeles Theatres: Metropolitan/Paramount Theatre: the Broadway entrance

Opening: While the theatre opened in January 1923, the Broadway entrance wasn't ready and perhaps didn't get open until fall. Here we're looking up the stairs to the balcony level where you walked across a bridge over the alley to the balcony level lobby. Opposite the stairs in this Broadway entrance area was an escalator.

The Broadway location occupied 1,600 square feet, most of that stairs and escalator. The chandelier we see was moved to the auditorium of the Million Dollar Theatre in 1929. William Lee Woollett's Sphinx-like creature in the foreground has the face of (would you believe?) George Washington. It's a photo from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

A demolition permit for what had been at 549-551 S. Broadway was issued on August 1, 1922. With a building permit for this part of the project not issued until October, only three months before the theatre opened, it's no surprise that this entrance wasn't ready for the opening. It had been noted on the plans, however. The building permit application made by architect Edwin Bergstrom on October 31, 1922 for 549-551 S. Broadway stated:

"We propose to add a 6 story class A theatre aud. entrance and loft building to the present 4 story loft building."

The Broadway lot doesn't go through to the alley. The 4 story building (actually only 3 stories) noted by Bergstrom that would be retained and added to is the building on the alley facing 6th St. with addresses of 315-17-19 W. 6th. It's also his design, with the permit for that one issued September 15, 1921.

Thus the theatre entrance went through two buildings -- Bergstrom's new 6 story one on Broadway and his slightly earlier 3 story one on the alley. It ended up as an L-shaped complex wrapping around the Swelldom/Sun Drug building on the northwest corner of Broadway and 6th. See the permits and a site map at the bottom of the page.

An item on page 39 of the Southwest Builder and Contractor issue of February 9, 1923 is quoted on the Pacific Coast Architecture Database page about the theatre. The magazine noted:

"Architect William Lee Woollett...is preparing plans for an entrance at 551 S. Broadway to Grauman's Metropolitan Theatre. It will be a stairway 40 feet wide and 174 deep leading to the mezzanine of the theater; reinforced concrete...."

The Broadway entrance was still under construction in July 1923 when Sid Grauman sold an option to Paramount for his 50 percent interest in the Metropolitan, the Million Dollar and the Rialto. Adolph Zukor and Jesse Lasky had personal money in the operation of the Metropolitan from the beginning and, with this deal, they would buy out Grauman's interest as well. In "Grauman Gives Options On Theaters To Paramount," a lengthy July 14, 1923 L.A. Times article, these were the comments about the Broadway entrance:

"...The transaction will in no way alter the plans for the completion of the Broadway entrance to the Metropolitan Theater although the cost of this, estimated at $148,000, will be assumed by the new owners. The Broadway lobby, three stories in height, will be finished under my personal supervision and according to the plans which were originally made and which incorporate an escalator so operated as to carry the patrons almost to the mezzanine aisle."

The Times article also noted that Paramount planned to add several stories to the Metropolitan's building, a project that never happened. Also discussed were other ideas never brought to fruition: Sid's plans for two additional theatres to be immediately constructed in Hollywood and Grauman houses to be built in Pasadena, Long Beach and San Diego.

Closing: The Broadway entrance was in use only until mid-1927 and then converted to retail space.

This article about leasing the lobby space to Moss Glove and Hosiery Stores appeared in the July 17, 1927 issue of the Times. Moss already had a location several doors to the north at 547 S. Broadway. This was a bigger space and, as the article notes, they sub-let part of it to International Millinery Co. Moss was a chain with over 30 stores and at the time also had Broadway locations at 631 and 705 S. Broadway.

The vertical sign on the building stayed up with "Entrance 6th St." added at the bottom. When the theatre was renamed the Paramount in January 1929 they re-did the Broadway sign with new lettering.

Status: The building is still there on Broadway having outlived the theatre itself, which was demolished in 1962. The Paramount vertical stayed on the building until the early 1930s.

In the theatre's balcony level lobby looking toward Broadway. Where the drapes and the two chairs are would soon be the bridge across the alley to the Broadway entrance. In this detail from a 1923 Mott Studios photo in the California State Library collection it appears that they don't have it finished yet. The Library has ten photos of the theatre cataloged as set #001407235.

See a floorplan of the lobby areas at balcony level. We don't get the bridge on the plan, only a note at the top.

Exterior views:

c.1924 - Looking north toward 6th St. with the Grauman's vertical in the center of the image. The California Historical Society photo appears on the USC Digital Library website. On the far right we get a bit of the marquee of the Orpheum Theatre, later renamed the Palace. The Los Angeles Theatre would later go in on the left.

c.1924 - A detail from the USC photo above. Later the vertical would be redone to say "Metropolitan" and, in 1929, to say "Paramount."

1925 - Looking south toward 6th St. Pola Negri is playing in "The Charmer." It looks like the Shriners were in town. It's a photo in the USC Digital Library collection. The Los Angeles Public Library has a cropped version of the image, just showing the theatre entrance.

1926 - A view south on Broadway from 5th St. Note the redone vertical saying "Metropolitan" down near the end of the block. That's Walker's Department Store on the corner. It was later Milliron's and Ohrbach's. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo. Also see a less cropped version of the photo in the collection.

c.1926 - A lovely postcard view south toward the theatre. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor BifRayRock for finding it to include in his Noirish post #44287. He credits it to the blog of mystery author J.H. Graham.

c.1927 - A look north on Broadway toward the Metropolitan's signage from the California Historical Society / Chamber of Commerce collection. The photo is on the USC Digital Library website. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Hoss C. for including the photo in his Noirish post #21522.

c.1927 - A detail from the USC photo above. On the far right there's a sliver of the north vertical for the Palace Theatre saying "Broadway" at the top.

1927 - Our only view of the boxoffice and display cases. The photo appears in Annual #23, "Grauman's Metropolitan Theatre" (1996), a publication of the Theatre Historical Society. It's available in both printed format and as a pdf. "Blonde or Brunette" was a January release. On the great stage: "New Year Follies" with Ben Black's band.

1927 - Looking north from 6th. On the Metropolitan's marquee: "Moss Opens Here September 1st." It would become a store for Moss Glove and Hosiery Co. That nice "Woman's Corner" signage at the top of the image was the bottom of the vertical on the corner of the Swelldom building. Thanks to Sean Ault for spotting the photo when it was for sale online.

Across the street, just above the front of the second streetcar, we get "THEA..," the top letters of the tiny new vertical of the Arcade Theatre, just renamed in April. Earlier it had two much larger verticals saying "Dalton's" and "Broadway." Originally they said "Pantages" and "Vaudeville."

1928 - Looking north on Broadway in June with the Metropolitan vertical on the left. Note that you can see a bit of the Cameo and Arcade signage across the street. It's a photo from the California Historical Society on the USC Digital Library website.

1928 - A detail from the USC photo above reveals that the bottom of the vertical got an added piece saying "Entrance 6th St."

1928 - A closer look at the bottom of the vertical as well as the new Moss signage on the marquee formerly used by the Metropolitan.

1928 - Looking south from 5th in a photo from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

c.1928 - A view south toward 6th St. with the Metropolitan's signage on the right. In the next block on the left we see the that the Orpheum has been renamed the Palace. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

1929 - A December photo looking south on Broadway with a rare chance to see theatre's vertical lit. The lettering had been redone to read "Paramount." Thanks to Carol Momson for finding the photo for a post on the SoCal Historic Architecture Facebook page. And thanks to both Steven Otto and Stephen Russo for spotting the post.

c.1930 - An edge view of the Paramount vertical. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Godzilla for finding the photo and including it in his Noirish post #24429. The site's discussion about the theatre continues on Noirish post #24443.

There's the Moss hosiery and millinery store on the ground floor and the Realart Beauty Salon on level two. Realart had occupied "the entire 2nd floor" even when the theatre had its entrance through the building. That building on the right (now missing its upper two floors) once housed the Shell Theatre in its south storefront.

c.1930 - A rare view of the Broadway vertical lit. Well, the bottom half anyway. It's footage that briefly pops up as the first shot in "A Blueprint For Murder" (20th Century Fox, 1953). It was old even then. This shot fades to one of an ambulance rushing a sick young girl to the hospital. She had been poisoned. The film isn't set in L.A. We're supposed to be in New York. Well, they had a Paramount theatre too. But the rest of the signage could only be Los Angeles.

On the left we have Swelldom, a store on the northwest corner of 6th and Broadway. And down at 5th is the vertical for Walker's department store. On the far right is signage for Silverwood's on the northeast corner of 6th and Broadway. Andrew Stone directed the cast which included Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters, Gary Merrill and Catherine McLeod.

1932 - Our last look at the Paramount sign. It came down sometime before 1938. Here we have the Los Angeles Theatre in the foreground playing "Frankenstein," a November 1931 release that originally opened at the Orpheum. There's a bit of the Palace Theatre on the right hand side of the image. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

1938 - The Paramount sign has been removed. What we're seeing protruding from the building, down just beyond Swelldom, are the fire escape landings. The Los Angeles is running "Blondie." It's a photo from the Metro Transportation Library and Archive on Flickr.

1942 - A view north on Broadway with a glimpse of a new sign saying "Marinello" in the same position as the old Paramount sign. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo from their Blackstock Negative Collection. The Los Angeles has "All Through The Night," a January release with Humphrey Bogart. The occasion for the photo was evidently a big sale at Bullock's, 7th & Broadway.

1946 - Way down in the next block the Marinello sign is visible. The Palace was running "The Best Years of Our Lives." It's a Frasher Foto card on the website of the Online Archive of California.

1956 - The building just beyond the Swelldom building on the corner is the one that used to be the theatre's entrance. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for spotting the photo for a post on the private Facebook group Photos of Los Angeles.

1979 - A view north from the Los Angeles Public Library collection. The second building in is the former theatre entrance. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Flying Wedge for spotting the photo in the collection and including it in Noirish post #44126.

2007 - The building that was once the Metropolitan's entrance. Photo: Bill Counter

2007 - The ghost sign on the building's north wall. Here it's directing patrons back to the 6th St. location but the Paramount itself is long gone. Photo: Bill Counter

2010 - The northern end of the alley side of the building using addresses 315-317-317 W. 6th St. The 551-553 S. Broadway lot doesn't come back to the alley so the theatre's Broadway entrance essentially went through two buildings. In the center of the photo is where the bridge came across the alley at balcony lobby level. Photo: Bill Counter

2024 - The Broadway building for sale. Thanks to Salvatore De Matteu for sharing his photo on the DTLA Photo Group on. Facebook

The earlier building on the site:

A 1907 view looking north. That barely visible intersection at the bottom center is Broadway and 6th. The first squat building beyond would later be replaced by the Sun Drug/Swelldom Building. The two story building beyond that with signage for a real estate company on the side is on the site of the 1923 Edwin Bergstrom building that would house the Metropolitan's Broadway entrance. It's a somewhat shallow lot -- it doesn't go all the way back to the alley.

The Mackie-Fredericks Co. building beyond would later house the Shell Theatre at 547 S. Broadway. The building more-or-less survives but it got cut down to two floors. In the foreground on the left we get the roof sign for the Unique Theatre, 629 S. Broadway. The building with the interestingly shaped black roof beyond the Unique would much later become the site of the Los Angeles Theatre, 615 S. Broadway. It's a detail from a photo from the California Historical Society appearing on the USC Digital Library website.

This c.1909 postcard view is looking south from the middle of the 500 block. The building that would be demolished for the Metropolitan's entrance is seen as the greenish structure on the right. The four story building this side of it would later be the home of the Shell Theatre. The big six story reddish building in the middle is at the SW corner of 6th and Broadway. It's still there, minus its ornament. The second building on the block, the white one with the flagpoles, is the currently the site of the Los Angeles Theatre. Beyond that is the Colorado Hotel.

The Unique Theatre is down there mid block at 629, the shortest building on the block. Beyond the Unique is the three-story Hoffman Building, the six-story California Furniture Co. (later the site of a Bullocks expansion), and Bullocks on the corner at 7th St. Thanks to theatre researcher Michelle Gerdes for finding the card on eBay. It had a postmark of October 1910.

A daytime card using the same image as the one above as a source. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for sharing this one on the private Facebook group Photos of Los Angeles.

Looking south on Broadway toward 6th St. c.1910. On the far right it's the building the Shell Theatre was in, 547 S. Broadway. The reddish building beyond, here minus its cornice, is on the lot that would later be the location of the Metropolitan's entrance. On the left, the second building in is the Broadway Theatre at 554 S. Broadway, closed in May 1910. The large white building is the Walter Story Building, opened in 1909. Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for sharing this postcard from her collection.

Behind the reveler in this 1912 parade view we get a glimpse of the two story building that had earlier been on the site. Farther to the left is the site that would later become the location of the Swelldom building on the northwest corner of 6th & Broadway. In the center of the background is the Shell Theatre at 547 S. Broadway.

A superb view north across 6th St. c.1919. The building on the site that would become the Metropolitan's Broadway entrance is on the left, this side of the one with the Coca-Cola signage. Thanks to Paul Ayers for sharing this image from his collection as a Facebook post. It appeared in a 1920 publication but the image is from 1919 at the latest as we still see the older style of globe streetlights.

The demo permit:

The demolition permit for 549-551 S. Broadway dated August 1, 1922. This lot didn't go all the way back to the alley.

The 1921 building on the alley using 315-317-319 6th St. addresses:

The September 15, 1921 permit for the building on the alley. Part of it would later be repurposed as one of the two buildings the Broadway entrance went through. Architect: Edwin Bergstrom.

The 6th St. end of the building on the alley. Broadway is another half block to the right. In the upper left note a bit of the building on Broadway that was used for the front portion of the entrance. The Broadway building is 6 stories, the alley/6th St. building is only 3. Photo: Google Maps - 2019

The 1923 building on Broadway:

The October 31, 1922 permit for the new 6 story building on Broadway, referred to as an "addition" to the earlier building along the alley. Architect: Edwin Bergstrom.

Aerial views:

6th St. is along the bottom. Broadway is up the right side. On the far left is the building now on the theatre's site. The bridge across the alley (now gone) is indicated in chartreuse. The green building is the 3 story Bergstrom design from 1921. The magenta is the 6 story building on Broadway, a Bergstrom design from 1923. Map: Google - 2021

An earlier view. The lots involved are seen in this detail of the block from plate 002 of the 1921 Baist Real Estate Survey Map from the site Historic Map Works. 6th St. is again along the bottom. The theatre was under construction but far from completion.

The lot with the 315-317-319 W. 6th addresses is here occupied by an earlier structure called the Lindley Building. The corner building, later called the Swelldom Building, here has Sun Drug as a tenant. The two-story building that in 1921 occupied 549-551 Broadway is here seen with just a "< " in the center of it. The bridge across the alley didn't exist at the time the map was drawn but it's been added in chartreuse.

Los Angeles Theatres

Metropolitan/Paramount Theatre: the Broadway entrance

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