Opening: This four screen complex opened in the early 80's in the lower level of the Mariott Hotel, a building now called the L.A. Hotel. Photo: Bill Counter - 2007
Architect: Thomas Berkes. Thanks to Cinema Treasures contributor Joe Vogel for the data. He reports that the firm designed many movie theatres beginning in the 1970s.
Seating: 800
Closing: The Grande closed in late 2009, timed to the arrival of the Regal at L.A. Live a few blocks away.
Status: The theatres are still there, for a time used as classroom space by AUP, the American University Preparatory School. Later the Academy of Media Arts was in the building, using the theatres as well as other spaces. As of 2025 the theatres are vacant.
The big plan for the L.A. Hotel was to convert the present building into apartments and build a new hotel tower adjacent. From 2021 to 2024 hundreds of homeless people were housed in the hotel as part of mayor Karen Bass' Project Roomkey.
Looking down the stairs to the theatre's entrance below what was then the Marriott. Photo: Bill Counter - 2007
A lobby view. Thanks to Adam Martin for his 2003 photo appearing on the the Cinema Tour page about the Grande.
One of the four auditoria. Photo: Adam Martin - Cinema Tour - 2003
A rear view of one of the theatres. Photo: Adam Martin - Cinema Tour - 2003. Thanks, Adam!
More exterior views:
A view of the sign. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for his 2009 photo, a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.
Another look into the hole. Photo: Ken McIntyre - 2009. Thanks, Ken!
Work getting done on the former theatre's entrance in 2018. Photo: Bill Counter
A view north on Figueroa toward the hotel. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018
The sign that had been the theatre's marquee. Photo: Bill Counter - 2025
A look into the hole. Photo: Bill Counter - 2025
The Laemmle Grande in the Movies:
We find ourselves on Figueroa St. near the beginning of "Lethal Weapon 2" (Warner Bros., 1989) as Mel Gibson and Danny Glover are in a high speed pursuit. On the left it's the marquee of the Grande.
Richard Donner directed the film, which also features Joe Pesci, Patsy Kensit, Joss Ackland, Derrick O'Connor, Darlene Love and Traci Wolfe. Stephen Goldblatt did the cinematography. The plot revolves around evil South African diplomats and their thugs along with piles of Krugerrands.
More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the theatre, which they index as the Grande 4-Plex. For more photos see the Cinema Tour page which features sixteen views by Adam Martin.
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