Pantages Theatre
6233 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90028
6233 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90028
60 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 149 comments
October 16, 1954 Getty Images photo of the “A Star Is Born” premiere.
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-gathering-outside-a-cinema-during-a-star-is-born-news-photo/1254846861?irgwc=1&esource=AFF_GI_IR_TinEye_77643&asid=TinEye&cid=GI&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=TinEye&utm_content=77643
Vintage Los Angeles Facebook post with photo of the Pantages vertical sign coming down for restoration.
https://www.facebook.com/VintageLosAngeles/photos/a.578880922168631/2899046776818689/?type=3&theater
The outside of the theater was used for the latest QT movie.
Multiple photos of the Pantages sign on VJ Day in below link.
http://www.vintag.es/2013/10/old-photos-of-vj-day-on-streets-of.html
December 1963 photo added, photo credit Richard Wojick Collection. Pantages blade sign altered to read “Cleopatra”.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is having its world premiere here in less than an hour.
The May 9, 1960, issue of Boxoffice featured an article about the remodeling of the Pantages which had been completed the previous year.
I only ever attended the Pantages after this remodeling took place, and have not been back since the restoration done some years ago by Nederlander, so I remember the house looking pretty much like it does in the photos with this article. Even with the proscenium hidden behind the gold curtains and the 55x27 foot screen the auditorium was very impressive.
1965 photo added courtesy of the Vintage Los Angeles Facebook page.
Hello From NYC-
i recently got the Blu-ray disc of The Great Race which has always been my favorite of the large scale action comedies released in the 60s. if I am not mistaken TGR played at this theater in a traditional roadshow engagement which lased I think between 5 and 6 months.
did anyone happen to see it during said run?
The auditorium was much as it is today. The stage remained covered and the upper balcony was closed off. Then there was that horrible tile and dropped ceiling of the ticket lobby. That remained until Disney restored the theatre for Lion King. The “improvements” were all done so they could be reversed later on, though I doubt that’s what they had in mind.
Hello From NYC-
i read above that the theater closed up as a movie house in Jan. of ‘77. to which a question- the last reserved seat engagement was “Tora Tora Tora” which opened the fall of '70. so i was wondering what was the decor of the theater’s interior at that point as opposed to today?
i thank brucec for his reply. but i am intrigued by your
comment-“Radio City was stuck with product like The Happiest
Millionaire and was locked out of getting better product”. one
question. how was Radio City “stuck” with the film? films
ran just so long at the Music Hall to begin with so how could
one film not being a box office hit effect the Music Hall's
over all financial well being? also how did booking THM for the
Thanksgiving 1967 period prevent the Music Hall from booking
“better product” when THM’s run ended? hear from you soon.
The Happiest Millionaire was not a box office success for Walt Disney. I remember reading in the New York Times that Radio City was stuck with product like the “Happiest Millionaire” and locked out of getting better product. This was the start of the decline of Radio City stage and film combo which would last for another 10 years.The Pantages run of the Happiest Millionaire may have been a contract to run so many weeks.brucec
i thank Michael C. for the info.one of course should never assume
things but i always assumed that THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE’s roadshow
run at the Pantages was a disappointment. i based this assumption
on the fact the film didn’t open in NYC till like 5 months later
with no intermission, 25mins. cut out and on a non-roadshow basis.
but an almost 7 month roadshow run at the Pantages seems decent
enough so i wonder why Disney chose to release it in NYC the way
they did.
ChrisD…The roadshow run of The Happiest Millionaire at the Pantages played 31 weeks.
Hollywood’s biggest movie star from the Golden Age of Hollywood,Elizabeth Taylor passed away today.She became a star at MGM Hollyood’s greatest studio in “National Velvet” in 1944. She stteneded the Pantagees throughout her long career.“Cleopatra” premiered at the Pantages in 1963.She met Richard Burton during the making of “Cleopatra” and her celebrity reached heights no other actress has reached since. She was in the Top Ten at the Box Office from 1958-1968. She was nominated for Oscars four years in a row 1957’s “Raintree County”,1958’s “Cat On A Hot Tin Roof”,1959’s “Suddenly Last Summer” and 1960’s “Butterfied 8”. She won two Oscar’s for 1960’s “Butterfield” and 1966’s “Whos Afraid of Virginia Wolf”.I thought she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.She also was a huge supporter on the fight against aids when nobody else would touch it after her friend Rock Hudson died. She was the biggest movie star in the world since 1960 and one of the last to come out of the studio system.We will never see anyone like her again.brucec
hollywood tonight, the new michael jackson video, was shot in this theater.
again thanks to my fellow posters for replying to my questions.
i have a new one. Disney’s “The Happiest Millionaire” opened in
New York City at Radio City Music Hall in Nov. of 1967. it had
a running time of 2hrs. 25mins. with no intermission and a
souvenir program was sold in the lobby. now the film had its
premiere engagement several months earlier at the Pantages in July of 1967. not only that but it was a roadshow run and it had a
running time of 2hrs. 52mins. with an imtermission. how long did
this roadshow engagement at the Pantages last?
Thanks, William, and thanks to Ken Roe for the great new Introduction for this theater!
“Spartacus” opened on Oct. 20, 1960 (West Coast Prem. Oct. 19)
“Cleopatra” opened on June 20, 1963 (West Coast Prem. Jun. 19)
William, if you can please specify the years when Cleoapatra and Spartacus were shown, then we may include that information in the Introduction.
The top six 70MM Roadshow engagements at the Pantages Theatre:
“Cleopatra” @ 72 weeks
“Spartacus” @ 61 weeks
“Tora! Tora! Tora! @ 35 weeks
"Patton” (non-D-150 run) @ 23 weeks m/over to Pacific’s Beverly
“Sweet Charity” @ 20 weeks
“The Great Race” @ 19 weeks
during the many years it was a premiere first run movie theater
how many reserved seat or to use the trade term roadshow films
did the Pantages show. is there a way of finding out?
A televsion program that aired on NBC Chicago-12/18/10 called “LX.TV 1st Look”, included a segment about the Pantages. Celebrating their 80th Anniversary and currently running a stage version of “West Side Story”.
Also mentioned was the Pantage’s history of hosting 11 Academy Awards presentations.
Plenty of nice footage showcasing the Pantage’s interior and some backstage dressing shots.
Thank you for the clarification, William; I also posted it at the WARRENS Theatre page, and it probably shouldn’t be here even though there is a familial tie. Perhaps the moderator should delete it. And thanks again.