This is an attempt at a survey of 16mm venues that were running silent films and other vintage Hollywood product during the 1940 to 1975 period. Many of these locations were very short-lived. The list is organized according to their year of opening.
Several of these locations are still in business. See our Classic Film Screenings page for a list of some additional venues and organizations currently offering vintage films.
Windsor House [1940-1941]
14016 Ventura Blvd. Sherman Oaks 91423 | map |
Opened: For a year in 1940 and 1941 silent movies on 16mm were a regular Monday night thing at this restaurant. It was owned at the time by Bud Abbott, of Abbott and Costello fame. The location is on the south side of the street between Woodman Ave. and Beverly Glen Blvd. The c.2023 image from Westmac, the broker handling the property, appears on a PDF about the property that was located by Ranjit Sandhu.
Ranjit notes that the programming was done by playwright Herb Sterne, presumably using prints from his personal collection. It was fairly regular thing between May 1940 and May 1941. Sometimes the titles for the week were noted in ads but it seems that the screenings relied more on mentions in columns of movie news.
A May 27, 1940 item in the Valley edition of the Hollywood Citizen-News for a "Nickelodeon Night" program that included "Fatty and Mabel Adrift," "His Prehistoric Past," "Her Indian Hero" and "Shadows of Doubt." Thanks to Ranjit Sandhu for locating this item as well as the others on the page for this venue.
A mention of a program in the Monday, June 24 Citizen-news.
An item in the July 1 Citizen-News.
An ad in the Saturday July 6, 1940 Citizen-News.
News tidbits in the July 22, 1940 Citizen-News. That night at the Windsor House it would be David Belasco's "Tiger Rose" along with Charlie Chaplin in "East Street."
A news item and an ad Ranjit located in the December 16, 1940 Citizen-News on the day of Windsor House screenings of "Romola" with William Powell and Ronald Colman.
Closing as a film venue: May 1941 appears to have been the end. On May 5 they ran "White Tiger" with Priscilla Dean and Wallace Beery along with "The Grinning Gringo," starring Douglas Fairbanks.
More information: See Ranjit's Revival Cinemas page on his site about Buster Keaton's "The General" for a more complete list of titles that were run at this venue.
The Movie Parade / Nickelodeon / Comoedia / Highland Playhouse [1940-1949]
1737 N. Highland Ave. Hollywood 90028 | map |
Opened: This 16mm revival venue was in an upstairs hall in a building that had been around since at least 1907. The location was the west side of the street in the
block north of Hollywood Blvd.
A
c.1950 view of the block. The Movie Parade had been on the 2nd floor of
the north (darker) half of the building on the left, the portion with
the Gruen watch sign for a bar called Highland House. The smaller
vertical sign down lower said "cocktails." It's a photo by Weegee
appearing on the
International Center of Photography website. Thanks to Dave Cutter for locating this for a post on the
Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group.
As the Movie Parade, it closed in 1942. It was later revived as a legit/film space called the Coemedia, running perhaps until the end of 1947. Then there was some sort of afterlife as Jack Walklin’s Highland Playhouse.
Status: The building was demolished long ago. The site is now occupied by the Ovation mall.
More information: See the page covering this Highland Ave. location of
The Movie Parade for more dates, ads and articles.
The Movie Parade [1941]
1455 Gordon St. Hollywood 90028 | map |
Opened: The building dates from 1931 and at one point was known as the Academy Review Theatre. In 1941 it got the name The Movie Parade when Eddie Kohn ran a summer series of silent films on 35mm under the auspices of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences. The 2019 image is from Google Maps. The space continues to be used as a screening room, now part of the Sunset Gower Studios.
Silent Movie Theatre [1942 - present ]
611 N. Fairfax Ave. Los Angeles 90036 | map |
Opened: February 1942 by John Hampton and his wife Dorothy as the Movie. This pre-opening view from Marc Wanamaker's Bison Archives. appears on the W&PA Museum page Early L.A. City Views (1925+) page 3. It's also on their Early L.A. Buildings (1925+) page 4.
After the opening the plywood panel across the front where a marquee should have been said Old Time Movie. In a 1943 article the Times called it the Old Time Theater. It didn't get the Silent Movie Theatre name until later.
Status: It's still in business, now running as a revival house called Brain Dead Studios.
More information: See the page about the Silent Movie Theatre.
Old Movie / Old Time Movie Theatre [1945]
484 S. San Vicente Blvd. Los Angeles 90048 | map |
Opened: January 15, 1945 as Old Movies with "Tillie's Punctured Romance" and a Charley Chase comedy. The building is on the east side of the street five blocks north of Wilshire. A 1941 tenant of the building had been the Aeoneon Institute of Higher Thought.
At the time of the opening the
Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax was dark with it's co-owner, John Hampton in jail for refusing to serve in the Army.
A March 1945 ad for Erich von Stroheim's 1923 film "Merry-Go-Round."
Beginning in May 1945 it was advertised as Old Time Movie Theatre. This May 8 Citizen-News fictitious name statement located by Ranjit reveals that the business operator was Harold A. Kuschner.
"Phantom of the Opera" with Boris Karloff. It's a May 1945 ad located by Ken McIntyre.
An item located by Ranjit Sandhu in the June 5, 1945 Citizen-News.
Colleen Moore in "Little Orphan Annie." It's a June 22, 1945 Citizen-News ad.
A July 1945 Citizen-News ad for Ben Turpin and "Wife's Relatives."
Closing: It was running at least into October 1945.
The last ad Ranjit Sandhu located was in the October 22, 1945 Hollywood Citizen-News for a screening of Rudolph Valentino in "His Wonderful Chance." See Ranjit's Revival Cinemas page for a more complete list of titles exhibited at this location and links to ads via Newspapers.com.
Status: The building survives. As of 2024 it was the office of Dugally Oberfeld, a residential developer.
Looking north on San Vicente. The building that was occupied by the theatre is toward the right, behind the orange traffic sign. Image: Google Maps - 2022
Old Time Movie [1946]
5440 Hollywood Blvd. Hollywood 90027 |
map |
Opening: March 29, 1946 with Clara Bow in "Dancing Mothers" and Lon Chaney in "Nomads of the North." This was in a building on the south side of the street just east of Western Ave.
We're looking west toward Western in this c.1935 view from the
Los Angeles Public Library collection. A decade after this shot the theatre operation opened in a space in a row of single-story storefronts beyond that telephone pole on the left. Across Western on the left it's S. Charles Lee's 1928 Central Casting building. The
Apollo/Star Theatre was down a bit farther at 5546 Hollywood Blvd. That's the Rector Hotel in the foreground on the right. Also see a
pre-1928 shot.
A March 29, 1946 Hollywood Citizen-News ad located by Ranjit Sandhu. It's unknown who was operating this venture or, other than borrowing the name, if it had any connection with Harold Kuschner's 1945 operation at 484 S. San Vicente.
A July 11, 1946 Citizen-News ad for something with Norma Shearer along with Irene Rich and Monte Blue in "Lucretia Lombard," "Smoky Comes Through," an Our Gang comedy, a serial and another comedy short.
A July 27, 1946 Citizen-News ad for "Miss Bluebeard" and other offerings.
An August 8, 1946 ad for "My Lady of Whims," "The Cat and the Canary," and other shorts.
Closing: It appears that August 1946 was the end of it. Thanks to Ranjit Sandhu for the research on this short-lived location. August 8 was the last ad he found.
Status: The building it was in has been demolished. There's a new building and a Metro entrance on the site.
More information: See the 1946 listings on Ranjit's
Revival Cinemas page for a list of titles, dates, and links to ads.
Old Time Movies / Old Movies Club [1946-1947]
Yucca St. at Wilcox Ave. Hollywood 90028 |
map - approximate |
Opening: November 26, 1946 was the first ad located by Ranjit Sandhu in the Hollywood Citizen-News. The location was a block north of Hollywood Blvd. and three blocks west of Vine. The
Warner Hollywood was a block to the south.
Initially not even giving an address. It's the ad from the November 26, 1946 Citizen-News.
A December 20, 1946 Citizen-News ad for "As You Like It" plus a Bob Hope comedy.
A December 30, 1946 ad for "Only Angels Have Wings" and "Lady Windermere's Fan."
Not a good sign. This was the January 3, 1947 ad.
Closing: January 1947. Thanks to Ranjit for the research. He notes that there was not any reopening.
Status: Well, the building it was in may still be around but we don't have an exact location.
More information: Scroll down to the 1946 listings on Ranjit's
Revival Cinemas page for more titles, dates, and links to ads.
The Coronet Theatre [1947-present]
366 N. La Cienega Blvd. Los Angeles 90048 | map |
Opening: 1947. The c.1958 photo by Danny Rouzer is from the Tim
Lanza
Collection. Paul Ballard's Hollywood Film
Society found a home at the Coronet in the late 1940s. In 1950 Raymond Rohauer took over
the operation with his "Society of Cinema Arts" and "Coronet Louvre"
programming with daily screenings of silents, foreign films and experimental works.
More information: It's now a venue for concerts and comedy shows. See our page about the
Coronet Theatre.
Flicker: Old Time Movies [1949]
10909 Burbank Blvd. North Hollywood 91601 |
map |
Opened: April 1949. Thanks to Ranjit Sandhu for the research. He located an ad running in 1948 when the building was for sale describing it as an "unfinished" 15' x 30' building on a 25' x 100' lot. The site is on the north side of the street two blocks east of Vineland Ave.
In an April 8, 1949 Citizen-News ad they were offering Clara Bow in "Primrose Path" along with a commemorative biopic of F.D.R. On April 15 they advertised "Orchids and Ermine" with Colleen Moore along with Mary Pickford in "The New York Hat," a Will Rogers short, and a serial.
Closing: May 1949. Ranjit speculates that they didn't do well because of the strange location. The last ad he was able to locate was on May 13 offering "Burlesque on Carmen" and "The Nickel Hopper."
Status: Presumably the structure that was used for the theatre got replaced. There's now a smog test business on the site that occupies the full width of the lot.
More information: Scroll down to the 1949 listings on Ranjit's
Revival Cinemas page for more titles, dates, and links to ads.
Flicker Silent Movie Theatre [1949-1950]
6726 Hollywood Blvd. Hollywood 90028 |
map |
Opened: 1949. The location was on the south side of the street
between McCadden Place and Highland Ave., just west of the
Christie/Drake/Hollywood Inn Hotel. The Flicker Theatre entrance can be seen on the right in this detail from a Marc Wanamaker collection photo appearing on the
Hollywood Historic Photos site. That's McCadden Pl. on the left.
The theatre was in the east storefront of the original hotel building, constructed in 1917 as the Glidden. The expansion building on the left was constructed in 1922. The hotel had been renamed the Drake in 1945. At the time this photo was taken in November 1949 the theatre was running "Topsy and Eva," starring the Duncan Sisters. The film's first-run engagement began June 16, 1927 at the
Egyptian, a block to the east. It had been Sid Grauman's last presentation there.
Seating capacity: Unknown. Presumably very small.
It was noted by Marc Chevalier in comments to a post about the venue on the
Los Angeles Theatres Facebook page that for several earlier club/restaurant tenants the Flicker's storefront seen in the photo had just been the entrance down to a larger space in the basement of the newer 1922 Christie building to the east.
Marc says that just beyond the sidewalk line there was a stairway "which led down,
then turned east, and went further down… into the cavernous basement
directly beneath the (still existing) Christie Building. In
the late 1920s, that basement was a chop suey restaurant named the 'Oriental Cafe' …but in 1932, it became the 'Club New Yorker,' a
fashionable cabaret which specialized in male and female impersonation
acts. Very popular with the movie biz crowd, it lasted only a couple of few years. In 2012, I was able to sneak into that basement when the Christie
Building was being renovated. Sadly, the basement had become a hollow
shell, stripped of every detail."
A
1933 photo shows the stairway down to the
basement of the Christie's 1922 expansion building from what was later
the Flicker storefront. The basement space was later repurposed as Ciro's. Its opening was noted in "
Ciro's Opens to Good Success," an item in the February 17, 1934 issue of Filmograph. It's on Internet Archive. Next it was
"Streets of Paris." In the 1947 phone book they were using a 6726
address.
The structure that Flicker went into was initially called the Glidden Building, constructed in 1917 for owner W.B. Glidden. In addition to retail spaces on the street level it housed the 66 room Glidden Hotel. The project got a mention in the construction news column of the December 1, 1917 issue of
The Hotel World. It's on Google Books. The item was old news by the time they printed it:
The designers of the Glidden Building were Eilet P. Parcher and Edward A. Strong, with offices across the street at 6723 Hollywood Blvd. They were mentioned in the October 12, 1917 issue of
Southwest Builder and Contractor in an item about the project's tile work. It's on Google Books. Haldane Christie bought the Glidden Hotel in 1919 for $200,000 and announced plans for his "skyscraper" expansion, noted in the December 6, 1919 issue of
Holly Leaves. The sale also made the December 27, 1919 issue of
The Hotel World. The Glidden Hotel was renamed the Christie Hotel and is seen as such on plate 40 of the
1921 Baist Real Estate Map. It's on the David Rumsey Map Collection website.
Although the Glidden Building storefront just west of the new Christie Hotel expansion had earlier been the
location of a set of stairs down that connected to the newer building's basement, it's assumed that those stairs had been filled in and the
area turned into rentable retail space before Flicker arrived on the
scene.
It's unknown if the Flicker operation in 1949 and 1950 had anything to
do with the same person who had operated an earlier North Hollywood
venue called the Flicker. Thanks to Ranjit Sandhu for the research on
this location. He comments that they weren't advertising in the papers
initially so the opening date of this Hollywood Blvd. location is unknown. It was noted in the September
5, 1949 issue of the L.A. Mirror that they were running the 1925 Rudolph
Valentino film "The Eagle."
The storefront used as the Flicker is indicated in red and shown with a 6728 address in this detail from page 1048 of volume 10 of the
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map that's in the Library of Congress collection. On the LOC site it's image 46. The map had been updated as recently as late 1949. Note the curvy new facade of the Egyptian, over on the right at 6712.
This map gives no indication that the east storefront of the former Glidden Building still had stairs down to the newer Christie basement next door. Indicated in green at the rear of that space is what we do get: a connecting door that
then existed between the two buildings on both the first and second floors. The first floor door is still there, now
with a new little box as the entrance to it, protruding into the vacant
lot to the west.
Closing: October 1950.
"Flicker Closes" was the announcement in this October 9, 1950 ad appearing in the "Independent Theaters - Your Daily Guide to the Best in Entertainment" section of the Hollywood Citizen-News. Thanks to Kurt Wahlner for locating it. It's not known whether the proprietor, whoever he was, ever relocated to another location.
Status: The Glidden Building that the Flicker was in was demolished sometime before 1958. The site is a vacant lot west of the 1922 vintage Christie Hotel expansion building, both properties now owned by the Scientology gang. The surviving Christie building was constructed in 1922. It was a design by Arthur R. Kelly for Haldane H. Christie, former
Michigan auto parts manufacturer turned L.A. real estate developer. It was later called the Drake Hotel and then the Hollywood Inn.
The stairs from just beyond the sidewalk line down to the basement of
the 1922 building were revealed again after the site of the 1917
building became a parking lot. They survive, now with a wrought iron fence around them. See two 2012 Marc Chevalier photos:
looking in from the street and
down from the first landing. In the second shot the bricked-in opening leading into the Christie basement is on the left.
The buildings in 1928. We're looking east in a shot taken by George D. Haight that's in the
Los Angeles Public Library collection. That's the roof of the Egyptian half way up on the right edge of the image.
A pre-1932 look at the storefront just west of the newer Christie building when it was the entrance to the Oriental Cafe "with dancing." Thanks to Marc Chevalier for locating the image. He notes that the cafe was in the basement of the 1922 hotel expansion building to the east.
The storefront west of the main Christie Hotel building in 1932 when it was used as the entrance to Jean Malin's Club New Yorker. Thanks to Marc Chevalier for locating the photo from the Wanamaker collection via the
Hollywood Historic Photos site. He notes that the stairs down to the club space under the Christie began just beyond the gate we see. Also see
a September 1932 ad Marc located for the club. It was using a 6728 address.
A 1933 photo Marc Chevalier located via Getty Images that shows stairs down just inside the entrance.
The basement of the Christie in the Club New Yorker days. It's a photo located by Marc Chevalier that appears with an
Art Deco Society of Los Angeles Facebook post:
"Once upon a time (well, 1932), the luxurious Hotel Christie building at 6724 Hollywood Boulevard transformed its deep, enormous basement from a chop suey restaurant into a lavishly decorated Art Deco cabaret. Renamed the 'Club New Yorker,' it was the first of the then-called 'pansy nightclubs' — specializing in 'female and male impersonation acts' — to achieve enormous popularity in Los Angeles, especially with Hollywood stars.
"The interior’s decor and murals were designed by Jack Schulze, Fox Studios' art director. Sadly, all of its Deco elements were completely stripped away many years ago… leaving the room a hollow, dirt-floored shell for decades."
A 40s card with the storefront west of the newer portion of the hotel in use as the Christie Grill. It's in the
California State Library collection.
More information: See Ranjit Sandhu's
Revival Cinemas page for a list of titles, dates, and links to ads.
Nickelodeon Old Time Movie Theatre [1954]
11938 Ventura Blvd. Studio City 91604 |
map |
Opened: July 12, 1954 with the Duncan Sisters in "Topsy and Eva" along with shorts featuring Colleen Moore, Lionel Barrymore, Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford.
The location was on the south side of the street between Carpenter Ave. and Laurel Canyon Blvd. That's just east of the current Trader Joe's. A June 21 listing in the L.A. Times Independent Theatre Guide, listing it just as Nickelodeon, had said "Opening Soon."
A July 11, 1954 article from the Valley Times. Thanks to Ranjit Sandhu for locating this for his
Revival Cinemas page.
The Times listings for San Fernando Valley theatres in the July 12 Independent Theatre Guide.
Closing date: It had a very short run. All of a month. Thanks to Kurt Wahlner for locating the last directory ad in the Times -- August 11, 1954:
"The Lost World" and "Tumbleweed" were the final films.
Status: The building that the Nickelodeon was in still survives.
The former Nickelodeon is seen as the Laurel Tavern in this view west toward Laurel Canyon Blvd. Image: Google Maps - 2023
The Riviera/Capri/New Beverly [1958-present]
7165 Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles 90036 | map |
Opened: The building had been a legit house since the 50s but only started running movies in 1958 when Robert Lippert remodeled it into 300 and 200 seat twins. Raymond Rohauer took over the twin theatre operation in 1959. They were 35mm houses but presumably he also did some 16mm revival screenings there as well. He had earlier been doing a variety of eclectic programming at
the Coronet Theatre. The photo is from a 1959 article in Boxoffice.
Cinematheque 16 [c.1962-1973]
8816 1/2 Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood 90069 |
map |
Opening: In the early 60s this 16mm house was running "nudie-cutie" but then moved into experimental fare under Robert Lippert's ownership. Later they ran silent films and revivals of films from the 30s and 40s. In 1974 it went to porno and after that became a legit venue. The June 1966 photo by Ed Ruscha is from the Getty Research Institute collection. It's on their "
12 Sunsets" site.
Old Town Music Hall [1969-present]
140 Richmond St. El Segundo (Los Angeles) 90245 | map |
Opened: In the 1920s, at times known as the State and the El Segundo Theatre. It became a silent movie venue in 1969 after a remodel and installation of a pipe organ. Initially it was 16mm, later going to digital. Thanks to Claudia Mullins for the 2018 photo.
Bijou Theatre [1971-1977]
7059 Hollywood Blvd. Hollywood 90028 | map |
Opening: It started in 1969 as a porno venue and became a revival house in 1971. There was a relapse in 1973 but it was back to running revivals again from 1975 until 1977. The Bijou is on the left in this detail from a c.1971 photo in the Kurt Wahlner collection. At the time, they were running "Psycho" and
"The Birds."
Other revival theatres: A number of regular 35mm houses occasionally flirted with revival programming in the 40s and 50s. See our pages about the Cinema Theatre on Western near Santa Monica Blvd., the Sunset Theatre on Western near Sunset, the Tele-View Revival/Hitching Post across from the Pantages, and the Admiral/Vine Theatre on Hollywood Blvd. just west of Vine.
In addition to the 16mm venues covered here see Ranjit Sandhu's Revival Cinemas page for a discussion of other locations where silent films were screened in the 40s and 50s including Wilbur Jerger's 1949 "Great Films Festival" at the Westwood Community Club, screenings for the Beverly Hills Great Films Society, at Mission Village Fiesta Hall, Beverly Hills High School, Horace Mann School and others.
| back to top | Hollywood | Westside theatres | San Fernando Valley | Westwood and Brentwood | Along the Coast | Westside theatres: alphabetical list | Westside theatres: by street address | Downtown theatres | [more] Los Angeles movie palaces | Los Angeles theatres - the main alphabetical list | theatre history resources | film and theatre tech resources | contact info | welcome and site navigation guide |
