Opening: December 15, 1917 as the Kinema with Cecil B. DeMille's "The Woman God Forgot" with Geraldine Farrar. DeMille himself served as master of ceremonies. It's a 1920 photo from the collection of Fred McSpadden, longtime California and Arizona theatre manager.
On the back Fred wrote: "Note STEAM URNS each side of front - At night steam flowed - with colored lights shooting thru steam." He noted he was on the house staff here as "doorman and asst. mgr." Also on the back: "Photo by J.C. Milligan, 422 1/2 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, California PLEASE CREDIT." And so we have.
Fred was quoted in the Arizona Daily Star of May 3, 1959 talking about the Kinema: "I had best time of my life there…any afternoon of the week you could expect Charlie Chaplin, Lon Chaney, Mary Pickford or some other famous star to show up for a matinee. They would just walk in and sit down." Thanks to Bill Buehler of the Memories Project at the Tucson Fox for sharing the photo.
The theatre was designed specifically for films -- the stage was only 7' deep. Too bad that Grand Ave. never developed into a theatre district. The building was on the east side of the street between 6th and 7th. The site is just south of where Wilshire now is but that didn't get cut through until 1931. Down in the 700 block was the Grand Theatre. And a block beyond that is Trinity Auditorium.
Architect: Architect William J. Dodd and engineer William Richards of the firm Dodd and Richards designed one of the earliest deluxe film houses downtown.
Seating: 2,500 was the original advertised capacity, most likely inflated. A later number was 1,856.
Organ: By the early 20s the house had a 5 manual 26 rank Robert Morton, built in Van Nuys.
A drawing of the new theatre appearing with the article "Work Begins on Two New Theaters" in the May 13, 1917 issue of the L.A. Times. The other theatre was the California on Main St. Regarding the Kinema they noted that "The structure will have a frontage on Grand Avenue of seventy six feet and will be 167 feet deep. It will be of reinforced concrete and will be handsomely faced with artificial stone. Its cost will be over $100,000."
Also noted was that it was being built for Shirley C. Ward and Associates by the contractor Winter & Nicholson and would be leased "for a long term of years" to Emil Kehrlein, "a leading amusement man of San Francisco." Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding the article for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.
On October 21, 1917 the L.A. Times reported "Gallery Stands a Severe Test" as 6,000 bags of concrete (1,500,000 pounds total) were placed on the balcony as a load test. Thanks to John Crosse for finding the L.A. Times item. It appears in a 2012 Southern California Architectural History post of his writings that covers an amazing variety of theatrical topics (in addition to the Kinema opening) and includes discussion of personages as varied as Rudolph Schindler, Edward Weston and Frank Lloyd Wright.
"Los Angeles Exhibitors' Plans Point To Auspicious Season" was a November 11, 1917 L.A. Times article by Paul Hubert Conlon that was located by Jim Lewis. Conlon noted:
"We are about to have with us two of the most beautiful film theaters in the United States very soon. One is the palatial Kinema Theater, in the heart of the new shopping district, Seventh street and Grand avenue. The other theater is now under construction at Third and Broadway and will be managed by the well-known Coast vaudeville magnate, Sid Grauman...
"Kinema Theater. Being the newest acquisition to local theaterdom, and having erected a structure which marks a distinctive step forward in theater architecture and construction, the grand opening of the new Kinema Theater at Seventh street and Grand avenue is being looked forward to with great anticipation. The Kinema is the third theater of that name to be opened on this Coast by the Kehrlein Kinema Circuit, its other photo-drama temples being located at Oakland and Fresno. Too much stress cannot be laid upon the faith of the Kehrlein interests in the future career of the film industry, as exemplified in their building a theater here unsurpassed by few anywhere in the point of architectural beauty and interior appointment. Its seating capacity is 2500 people.
"A Merrie Mammoth Yuletide Bill." It's a December 1919 ad for Tally's Kinema running "A Twilight Baby" that was located by Ken McIntyre.
In 1920 Tally sold his interest in the theatre to the Gore Bros. and Sol Lesser but kept the Tally's Broadway operation. In the 1918, 1921 and 1922 directories it's just called the Kinema. By 1922 the holdings of Gore and Lesser had formed the nucleus of West Coast Theatres. In 1928 that firm got taken over by William Fox and became Fox West Coast.
Ben making his way down Broadway in 1920. On the far left it's a bit of the Mason Theatre, 127 S. Broadway. In the distance it's the crenelated tower of the Times building and the City's Hall of Records. It's another image from the September 4 Motion Picture News located by The Flickers. Also see a later shot they located of the image on the facade at the Victory/Mission Theatre, 838 S. Broadway, for a second-run engagement.
The cover for the program for the week of October 30, 1920. It's from the collection of Fred McSpadden, who worked at the theatre. Here he's listed as the theatre's press representative. On the screen was "Nomads of the North." The inside pages are down at the bottom of the page.
The reopening after the 1921 remodeling. Proctor Projectors, a brand that didn't last long, were in the booth. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this page of congratulatory ads that appeared in the L.A. Times on August 10. It's part of a thread about the theatre on the private Facebook group Photos of Los Angeles.
Another theatre was planned for the block by prominent landowner and developer J.B. Lankershim. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this November 1922 story. The project didn't happen.
A 1923 L.A. Times ad for Charlie Chaplin's "The Pilgrim," a February release. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Ethereal Reality for including the ad in his Noirish post #5739.
Vitaphone at the Criterion: The first Vitaphone installation in town was at the Egyptian, for the tail end of the run of "Don Juan" in 1926. They started with the silent version, then had a second premiere and introduced the Vitaphone version. They later ran Vitaphone shorts with other films. The Tower Theatre had the gear installed, and Vitaphone shorts on its initial bill, when they opened October 12, 1927.
A November 10, 1927 article in the L.A. Times announced "permanent" Vitaphone installations for three houses in the West Coast Theatres circuit. The Criterion's first sound bill opened December 1, 1927. The feature, "Old San Francisco," had a Vitaphone track. Edwin Schallert, reviewing the program in the December 2 L.A. Times noted that he missed having an orchestra for the feature but was enthusiastic about some of the Vitaphone shorts that rounded out the program.
The opening day ad in the Times for "The Jazz Singer" on December 28, 1927. Edwin Schallert reviewed the presentation in the December 30 Times and commented: "Here is a show! To miss it would be like failing to catch a glimpse of Lindbergh...It is probably one of the greatest events in the world of entertainment in years."
A separate Times story on the 30th headed "Jolson Leaves for New York" reported:
"Tarrying only long enough to attend the opening of his first film play, Al Jolson left yesterday on the start of his return journey to New York. The star crossed the continent solely to be the guest of Warner Brothers at Wednesday night's premiere showing of 'The Jazz Singer' at the Criterion Theater, and is returning east to resume his stage engagements, pausing for a brief rest at Palm Springs..."
To synchronize the sound and picture for Vitaphone you'd have the "Sync" frame in the projector's aperture and put the needle on the "start dot" near the center of the 16" 33 1/3 rpm disc. In a post about early Western Electric sound equipment on the private Facebook group 35mm Projector Technical Lou DiCrescenzo commented:
An ad on the side of an unidentified building for "The Jazz Singer" at the Criterion and "Sunrise" at the Carthay Circle. The photo is from the Tom B'hend and Preston Kaufmann Collection, part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Margaret Herrick Library Digital Collection.
A Vitaphone matchbook. Thanks to Cochise Miller for sharing this as well as another Vitaphone matchbook in a post on the Vitaphone Project Facebook page.
Becoming a Fox House: In March of 1928, the Criterion was "taken over" by Fox according to an item in the March 28, 1928 issue of Variety, available on Internet Archive. They said Fox was going to call it "The Movietone House" and have "Sunrise" and the "Four Sons" as their first two features. The article also mentioned that the sort of Fox presentations that had been playing the Carthay Circle ("at $1.50 top") would now go into the Criterion. They termed the format a "de luxe grind policy." In actuality, the theatre was still a West Coast Theatres operation. What was happening was that William Fox was buying stock and gradually taking control of the circuit, in 1929 getting rebranded as Fox West Coast Theatres. The Criterion was soon being advertised as the Fox Criterion.
"Fox Movietone Follies of 1929" opened at the Criterion on May 24, 1929. It's unknown whether the Los Angeles premiere at the Criterion was presented in the 70mm Fox Grandeur process. Parts of the film (or perhaps the whole film) got a run in 70 in New York at the Gaiety Theatre. Also on the program in New York was a 70mm Fox Movietone newsreel.
This October 9, 1929 Times story about the theatre's booking of "The Great Gabbo" notes the reuse of a curtain from the stage set in the movie to decorate the facade. See a shot of that stage set as it appears in the film. Thanks to Mark Forer for the image.
MGM's "Billy the Kid" ran at the Fox Criterion in MGM's 70mm Realife
process, using something like a 2 to 1 aspect ratio. It got a review on
page 23 of the November 3, 1930 L.A. Times where Edwin Schallert
commented on the larger screen size. In a Times article the previous day
King Vidor discussed shooting in Realife and noted that it would be
exhibited in that format in just ten theatres. The film may also have
been run in 70 at the Aldine Theatre in Pittsburgh, the Fox in Atlanta
and the Paramount in Detroit. "The Great Meadow" was the next Realife
film but it was evidently exhibited only in 35mm. These two films were
shot in both 35mm and 70mm versions. The 35mm prints made from the 70mm
negative supposedly had a 1.75 to 1 aspect ratio. See the Film & Theatre Tech page for more about the flurry of widescreen activity in 1929 and 1930.
The theatre ended its days called the Grand Wilshire.
Status: Tally was advertising the property for sale in 1941. It was then demolished that year to make room for an office building that didn't happen. The site was a parking lot for decades. There's now a mechanical plant there for the One Wilshire building next door.
Interior views:
The "Red Cross Tea Room" at the Kinema. Thanks to Dallas Movie Theaters for finding the 1918 trade magazine photo for a post on Cinema Treasures.
"Electrical Effect Front Curtain in use at the Kinema, Los Angeles. Without light effects this curtain has the appearance of a rich Oriental Drapery." This fine view of the theatre's main curtain appeared with that caption in the May 1919 issue of Architect and Engineer. It was with the article "Evolution of Architectural and Other Features of Moving Picture Theatres."
The article, after a long discussion about various screens and masking, commented: "The stage of the Kinema Theatre in Los Angeles, erected last year after searching for the best of everything, has just been rearranged on entirely different lines from the original plans, although the owners of the Kinema Circuit of Theatres are among the oldest and most successful in the business. Here heavy lavender tapestry effect stage scenery masks the picture sheet."
"Reproduction of a ranch in the Canadian Rockies, Kinema, Los Angeles." The photo is from the May 1919 issue of Architect and Engineer.
"Parisian Shop - Setting made for Patricia Manners. Set up complete in the Los Angeles Kinema in seven feet depth of stage." The photo is from the May 1919 issue of Architect and Engineer. Thanks to Mike Hume for finding the article on Internet Archive. Visit his Historic Theatre Photography site to check up on his latest explorations.
"As an introduction to First National's 'Wife Against Wife' the Kinema Theatre, Los Angeles, staged 'The Dance of the Butterfly' which went a long way toward putting the audience in a receptive mood for the picture. The big fan made a striking background that the dancer used to good advantage in putting her dance over." The film was a September 1921 release. The photo appeared in the February 11, 1922 issue of Exhibitors Trade Review. Thanks to Mike Hume for finding it on Internet Archive.
The Kinema booth in 1921. Thanks to contributor Dallas Movie Theatres for finding the photo for a post on Cinema Treasures.
The auditorium c.1923 after pit and sidestage expansion as well as some re-draping. Note the 5 manual Robert Morton over on house right. Thanks to Dallas Movie Theaters for finding the photo for the Cinema Treasures page about the Criterion.
More exterior views:
c.1917 - An early shot from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
1919 - The facade with a bonnet for the run of "The Blue Bonnet." Thanks to Cinema Treasures contributor Dallas Movie Theaters for finding the photo.
c.1920 - Looking west on 7th Street from Broadway. Of course, we can't see the Kinema from here as it's way down there on Grand and off to the right. But take a look at the big arrow on the side of the Brockman Building pointing toward the Kinema. The photo from the California Historical Society is in the USC Digital Library collection.
The State Theatre would soon rise in place of the buildings on the left. Beyond the alley is the marquee of the Palace Theatre, a house only there from 1916 until 1921. In view across Hill St. is a roof sign for the Alhambra Theatre. The the sign isn't on the theatre building itself but it has an arrow pointing to the theatre on Hill between 7th and 8th. To the left of the Alhambra sign is bit of the back of the building housing the Grand Theatre on Grand Ave., at the time of the photo called the Strand.
c.1920 - A detail from the USC photo of the Kinema signage on the Brockman Building .
1921 - A rare view of the Kinema from Marc Wanamaker's Bison Archives. They're playing "Lessons in Love," a May release starring Constance Talmadge. Also on the bill was the "Royal Purple Syncopated Orchestra." The photo appears on page 37 of the Arcadia Publishing book "Theatres in Los Angeles" by Suzanne Tarbell Cooper, Amy Ronnebeck Hall and Mr. Wanamaker. There's a preview of the book you can browse on Google Books.
1921 - Usherettes in front of the Kinema. Thanks to Stacey Hartley for sharing the photo from her collection.
1921 - A detail from Ms. Hartley's photo offering a peek at the fancy frieze above the entrance doors.
1921 - Usherette Bernice Cooper at the Kinema. It's a photo by Joseph C. Milligan from Stacey Hartley's collection. Bernice was her grandmother. Kevin Walsh suggests that this may have been for D.W. Griffith's "Orphans of the Storm."
1921 - A big crowd for the "garment matinee" of the Jackie Coogan film "My Boy." The theatre's coat check room was filled with donations of clothing to be given to orphans. The photo appeared with an article about the promotion in the January 28, 1922 issue of Exhibitors Trade Review. Thanks to Mike Hume for finding the story on Internet Archive.
1922 - A busy night for "The Masquerader," a July release with Guy Bates Post. It's a photo that was used in a full page ad for the film in the October 14, 1922 issue of Exhibitors Herald. It's on Internet Archive.
1928 - The December 25 world premiere of "In Old Arizona," "Fox's First All-Talking Outdoor Picture." Thanks to Dallas Movie Theatres for posting the photo on Cinema Treasures.
c.1929 - An aerial view by Dick Whittington Studio in the USC Digital Library collection. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Ethereal Reality for finding the photo for his Noirish post #5739, where he also has other Criterion views.
c.1929 - A detail from the Dick Whittington photo. The sign on the roof says "Fox Criterion 'Dynamite' Now." The Cecil B. DeMille film was a December 1929 release. On the side wall they're advertising Lon Chaney in "Phantom of the Opera" from 1925. The sign across the top of the facade announces the theatre as the "House of Hits."
1930 - A Dick Whittington panoramic shot in the USC Digital Library collection that was taken from the top of the Richfield Building tower shortly after its completion. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor HossC for finding the photo for his Noirish post #24347, where he's got a giant size version of it. It's down below another very similar shot, also by Dick Whittington, that's in the Library of Congress collection.
1930 - A closer look at the Criterion from the USC Dick Whittington panoramic shot. The signage on the theatre's north wall advertises "King of Jazz," an April release with Paul Whiteman. "Dynamite" was still on the roof from 1929. See Scott Collette's post of images from this panorama on his Facebook page Forgotten Los Angeles. It's also on Instagram.
1931 - A terrific shot of the full signage treatment for "The Secret Six," an April release from MGM starring Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone and Johnny Mack Brown. It was billed as "the supreme thriller of 1931." Thanks to Sean Ault for spotting this image when it was for sale online. A smaller version was used in the October 3, 1931 Motion Picture Herald article.
1931 - A look at the entrance of the Criterion for "Bad Girl" that was featured in the October 3, 1931 issue of the Motion Picture Herald. The film was an August release.
1931 - "Criterion Says It With Big Letters" was a fine spread in the October 10, 1931 issue of Motion Picture Herald showing the impact of large changeable letters on the facade of "The House of Hits." Also note the changeable copy up on the roof sign.
c.1931 - Looking east from 7th and Figueroa toward the Criterion in the distance right of center. The blocks between Figueroa and Grand would soon get sliced up for an extension of Orange St. as part of Wilshire Blvd. The California Historical Society photo appeared in a 2010 post on the site Urban Diachrony where they credit it to the USC Digital Library collection. Thanks to Sebi Garcia for finding the image for a 2013 post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.
1934 - A December view east from Figueroa after Wilshire was cut through. There's a parking lot at Grand where Wilshire deadends. A bit of the Criterion facade is visible just to the right of that. The California Historical Society / USC Digital Library photo appears in a 2010 post on the site Urban Diachrony. They note that while the widening of Wilshire between MacArthur Park and Figueroa St. wasn't completed until 1934, the three block extension between Figueroa and Grand was punched through in 1931.
The Criterion was demolished in 1941.
1946 - Looking west across Grand toward the extension of Wilshire Blvd. The site of the Criterion is out of the frame to the left. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding the photo.
1946 - Another parking lot view looking a bit farther north on Grand. One Wilshire is now on the site of this parking lot. Thanks again to Ken McIntyre for locating the photo.
More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Criterion Theatre for lots of information unearthed by Joe Vogel, Jeff Bridges and a number of other contributors. See the post by Nathan Marsak about the architects, Dodd and Richards, on the blog On Bunker Hill.
The Kinema Program for the week of October 30, 1920:
The Kinema program for the week of January 8, 1921:
The Criterion in the Movies:
Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are cycling south on Grand toward 7th St. in the two-reel short "Duck Soup" (Hal Roach/Pathé, 1927). The light-colored three story building to the left of Stan's head is the Criterion. Thanks to John Bengtson for the screenshot from his Silent Locations post "How Laurel and Hardy Filmed Duck Soup." See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for more about the film and three shots showing the stage end of the Biltmore Theatre.
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I have a photo of the Criterion Theatre in 1935, I could send a high resolution photo to you if you want it. Let me know where to send it to.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see it. I'm at counterb@gmail.com. Thanks. I'm looking forward to seeing what you have!
DeleteI was hoping you might have a photo, magazine picture, advertising or details on how and why early radio broadcasting station KOG was located at the Kinema during part of 1922. This low power radio station later moved to the Los Angeles Evening Herald and went off the air for good in 1923.
ReplyDeleteAlas, I know nothing about this little chapter in the life of the Kinema. Sounds interesting, though. Do let me know if you learn anything. Cheers!
Delete