Los Angeles Theatres: Laemmle / UA

6309 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles 90028 | map |

More unbuilt projects: Majestic - 600 block of Broadway 1904 - see data on the page for the one that DID get built in the 900 block | New Hollywood Theatre c.1917 | Morosco - 7th St. - 1920 | Music Box - Cahuenga Blvd. 1923 | Pasadena projects: Pantages - Warner - Mission 1920s | Roosevelt - Hawthorne 1926 | Wyatt Park Square Theatre 1929 | Beverly Theatre - Beverly at La Brea - 1934 | Trocadero - 8800 block of Sunset 1936 | Bee Bee - Santa Monica Blvd. 1939 | Artesia Theatre 1948 | Life Theatre - Vermont at Imperial 1948 | New Opera House - Lafayette Park 1948 |

Architects: Clifford A. Balch and the firm of Walker and Eisen.

The $250,000 "modernistic type" project was announced in the April 12, 1931 issue of the L.A. Times. Thanks to Lisa Kouza Braddock for locating the story. The Times got Mr. Balch's initials reversed. It's C.A. Balch.

Carl Laemmle was proposing to replace the building he owned on the northwest corner of Hollywood and Vine with this new building designed to support additional stories in the future. After a look at the date, the names of the architects, and what we can see of the facade design, it's obvious that it was a theatre intended for the United Artists Theatre Circuit.

The circuit embarked on a big building program in 1931 and 1932, usually selecting locations near Fox West Coast theatres. In this case, they were less than a block from the Pantages, operated by Fox. UATC was having a feud with Fox, claiming they weren't getting decent bookings and terms for United Artists films. Over a dozen theatres were planned, with most getting open by mid-1932. See the page about the Four Star for information about the building program.

Opening: There wasn't one. The existing building on the corner wasn't replaced and continued to house a number of tenants for decades. Since Laemmle owned the building, it frequently advertised Universal releases.

The Laemmle Building at 6301-6311 is seen in this detail from page 1023 of volume 10 of the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map that's in the Library of Congress collection. On the LOC site it's image 26 out of 94. The map had been updated as recently as late 1949. The Admiral Theatre is seen at 6321, a 1940 rebuild of an existing building. It got a remodel and was renamed the Vine in 1968. The Sardi's building is at 6313-6317.

Status: The corner building was demolished around 2008. It's now a parking lot. Sometimes it gets temporary construction as a holiday attraction or exhibit promoting a film or TV show.

Views of the corner:

c.1931 - Looking east toward Vine St. with the Laemmle building down there on the corner. Henry's Restaurant, the second building in from the left, would be remodeled in 1940 to become the Admiral Theatre, later rebranded as the Vine. The building in the center with the "Chinese Garden" vertical would be come the location for Sardi's Restaurant in January 1933. It's a detail from a photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. On the right it's Vine St. and the Equitable Building, here seen with its added second tower.

late 1932 or January 1933 - A view west from Vine St. Thanks to Glen Norman for locating the photo from the California Historical Society that appears on the USC Digital Library website. The CoCo Cafe was about to open on the corner. The image also appears with "When Hollywood Boulevard Became Santa Claus Lane," a 2012 article by Nathan Masters for the KCET website. On the right note the poster for Boris Karloff in "The Mummy," coming soon to the RKO Hillstreet. The film opened there on January 20, 1933.

1936 - A look west on Hollywood Blvd. The Laemmle building has posters up for their current films. It's a photo in the Los Angeles Public Library's McAvoy/Torrence Historic Hollywood Photographs Collection, #HB-169.

1936 - The Laemmle Building with a fire next door at Sardi's. This was in the L.A. Times issue of October 2. The restaurant is over on the left. "Sardi's Cafe Rushes Plans for Rebuilding" was a small article in the November 3 issue. The restaurant reopened and ran until 1945.

1946 - It's Melody Lane on the corner. That chain was owned by Pig 'n Whistle. The Admiral marquee is glowing brightly in the middle of the image. The uncredited photo is in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. This also appears as part of the lovely Noirish Los Angeles post #2330 by GS Jansen featuring several other Hollywood Blvd. Christmas shots by the same photographer.

1947 - A Frasher Foto Card looking west on Hollywood Blvd. across Vine with Melody Lane on the corner and the Admiral Theatre down the block. It appears on Calisphere from the Pomona Public Library collection. The photo also is part of Ethereal Reality's Noirish Los Angeles post #5198, a fun photo survey of the use of banners across L.A.'s streets.

1956 - The corner building had morphed into a Hody's location. It's an image from the Herald Examiner collection at the Los Angeles Public Library.

c.1960 - Thanks to Sean Ault for locating this photo when it was for sale online.

1961 - The Sardi's spot was briefly an Arthur Murray studio. Thanks to John Nelson for locating this 1961 shot for a post on the private Facebook group Southern California Nostalgia. Note the Cinerama neon down the street on the towers of the Warner.

1965 - A view west on Hollywood Blvd. with Rector's Admiral visible on the far left, running "That Man From Rio" and "The Naked Edge." Thanks to Alison Martino for sharing the photo on Flickr where she also has a nice collection of additional historic L.A. photos. The photo also appears on Ryan Khatam's Neat Stuff Blog in a 2009 post called "Vintage Los Angeles."

c.1965 - A wider view with the same Kahlua billboard on Hody's. Thanks to John Davis for locating this one for a post on the Southern California Nostalgia private Facebook group.

2017 - A September view from Google Maps with a haunted house occupying the corner.

More information: You'll find more views of this corner of Hollywood and Vine on our pages about the two buildings just west of the Laemmle Building: Sardi's / Cave Theatre at 6315 Hollywood Blvd. and the Vine Theatre at 6321 Hollywood Blvd.

Also nearby: Hitching Post / Paris Theatre | Pantages Theatre | Hollywood Playhouse / Palace / Avalon | Hartford / Doolittle / Montalban Theatre |