Pacific 1-2-3

6433 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles, CA 90028

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Showing 351 - 375 of 398 comments

trooperboots
trooperboots on January 14, 2005 at 12:13 am

Hi William, great info! Wonder if you have any memoribilia from when the theater showed the west coast premier of “2001: A Space Odyssey.” There were custom made glass panels with back-lit scenes from the movie which were in the showcases in the area around the box office. They were so striking. Would love to know where they are today.

Also wonder if you found any “KEYS” from the “Andromeda Strain” premier in 1971… the ticket people and ushers wore them on chains around their necks like the “single male” character in the film. Gosh, that’s when you remembered a movie opening!

trooperboots
trooperboots on January 14, 2005 at 12:07 am

pmiller… one question please. I understand the numerous items that are required to update the theater and make it safe and habitable. I did not know a parking structure was part of that upgrade. Is that required by the local government, or can the theater dispense with that kind of expense. There are SO MANY parking lots where classic buildings used to be, and now with the subway running under the boulevard, can’t we dispense with turning every other block into a lot? The Brown Derby, Al Levy’s Tavern, The Hitching Post Theater and even my grandmothers old house at Gower and Selma are all parking lots now.

William
William on January 13, 2005 at 11:14 pm

Pacific Theatres has owned the building since around 1968, when they bought the Stanley Warner’s Southern California Theatres. As pmiller posted it will cost a pretty penny to restore. Pacific Theatres has been wanting to sell the building for over 15 years now. One problem is it was the only theatre in Hollywood that was multiplex or cutup. The job was done in the first half of 1978. The other three major theatre remodels were the Chinese Theatre in the mid 50’s for CinemaScope, El Capitian in early 40’s tobe remodeled into the Paramount and the Egyptian Todd-AO in the mid 50’s & again in 1969 for D-150 install. The Hollywood Pacific’s original auditorium has been hidden for the last 27 years. If you stand on stage behind the screen you can see the cutout on the front of the stage lip that they did for Cinerama.
I was one of the last projectionists to work that theatre before Pacific Theatres closed it down. I still have a few momentos from the Warner Cinerama Theatre days from the booth. And when they converted the upper lobby original light fixtures to vandal proof fixtures.

paulm248
paulm248 on January 13, 2005 at 8:06 pm

My July ‘04 comment about the restoration costing $40 million was a semi-educated guess which includes the following considerations:

  • A major asbestos removal project
  • Major structural repairs
  • A hazardous waste removal project over and above the asbestos
  • Undoing the multiplexing of the balcony into two separate
    theaters
  • Restoring the dome ceiling
  • Replacing all electrical wiring
  • Replacing all plumbing
  • Replacing all heating and air conditioning
  • Rebuilding the stage infrastructure
  • Flying a new projection screen with baffle wall
  • Providing handicap access facilities per ADA
  • Building a multi-story parking structure
  • Reroofing the building
  • Doing a complete acoustical redesign while not destroying the
    historic appearance

All of these repairs and upgrades must conform with Los Angeles Conservancy practices which will require consideration of the historic nature of the facility.

And those are just the most obvious issues. While other theaters may be “restored” for less money, they may have had monies invested in them over the years. This facility, however, has had little, if any, work other than the demising into a multiplex in 1979.

I’m figuring the asbestos abatement alone at $5 million and that has to be the very first thing to be done. There are three huge steam boilers and hundreds of feet of asbestos covered piping running throughout the building. You’ve got to remember that in addition to the theater itself, there is a four story office building and a number of small stores within the outside walls of the building, all of which will require attention.

It is certainly doubtful that after such a restoration of a 2500+ seat facility, with both stage and screen, you could effectively recover the costs of renovation. I’m sure that’s why it had been dormant all those years.

We are using it for our purposes of testing and research and occasional special screenings without having to go into the infrastructure. Someone else that wants to reopen it, won’t have that freedom.

johnkriza
johnkriza on January 3, 2005 at 4:23 am

Went to Hollywood High. Great memories of this place. Sat thru “Cotton Club” 3 times in a row here.

trooperboots
trooperboots on January 2, 2005 at 11:44 pm

I found a great picture postcard of the theater from 1956 and posted it on the following link …

View link

Notice the Hollywood FOX theater, then called THE IRIS Theater to the right…… It was later remodelled in the late 1960s, so it looks nothing like that today and now sits boarded up and used as a warehouse, unfortunately.

trooperboots
trooperboots on January 2, 2005 at 12:53 am

From what I am told, the negative element on the boulevard that reached a peak in the 1980s, has improved every year. My strong feeling is that when you have a building or business in good repair or maintain an area, it shows you care…. and people naturally respect it for the most part. If something is boarded up and left to decay, graffiti and vandalism generally follow and it goes downhill from there.

The boulevard has a built in reputation as historically being the capital of motion pictures, and for years tourists have come and been disappointed. That is now changing, thank goodness. The apparent success of the new Hollywood Highland Center and El Capitan, Chinese Theater and Pantages restorations have caught the attention of intelligent big business who are now looking to develop and partially restore the “old Hollywood” that is left. They see these renewed areas are not being vandalized or trashed, but enjoyed and attracting a lot of attention, and money. Tourism dollars will potentially be a huge payoff if they play their cards right. Those of us who care about our history and culture can only benefit by seeing some of the glamour return to the area to be enjoyed at last on some level once more.

c13207
c13207 on December 28, 2004 at 8:03 pm

If you wanted to see Errol Flynn and Bette Davis in their new releases this where you would go. I saw The Adventures of Robin Hood
in 1938 The sea Hawk 1940. Last time I went there as the Warner Bros
was in 1949 saw the Hasty Heart. Is it a good investmet to restore. how are dealing with vandals in the other theatres on the Blvd.

trooperboots
trooperboots on December 26, 2004 at 1:41 pm

Years later in 1968, I saw the west coast premiere gala on television of “2001: A Space Odyssey” and a few days later actually saw the film in this theater. I understand that they wanted to use the newly constructed dome on Sunset Blvd, but it was unavailable, so it was shown here. Nearly all the walls were draped over in the theater, but it was clean and the film looked beautiful on the screen.

In 1971 I saw “The Andromeda Strain” here, again, only a few days after the premiere and the ticket takers and ushers wore sterile white clothes and keys around their necks to “unlock” the detonation device shown in the movie. Again, the theater looked very nice and was still one screen. During those years it was known as the Pacific CinermaTheater.

I cannot imagine anyone thinking this theater would cost 40 million to restore. There are great theaters being restored now, including the huge “California Theater” in downtown San Diego. This building has a great history and was quite beautiful in it’s day and deserves to be restored.

stevebob
stevebob on December 1, 2004 at 1:11 pm

An unusual element of the layout of this theater is the way the auditorium is set at an oblique angle to the street entrance on Hollywood Boulevard. The auditorium is horseshoe-shaped, and the lobby forms a grand, semi-circular, chandeliered promenade around its perimeter.

Tom10
Tom10 on November 28, 2004 at 7:23 pm

Ack. Let me try that Tripod site again. That’s the direct link

http://alexdlg.tripod.com/aco/pressbook.html

Tom10
Tom10 on November 28, 2004 at 7:14 pm

I found the web address with pictures of the Pacific as it looked in 1971 for the “Clockwork Orange” run:
[url=http://alexdlg.tripod.com/aco/pressbook.html] I got the address from a link (“Pressbook”) on this Malcolm McDowell site: [url=http://malcolmmcdowell.net/] It can also be addressed with this: [url=http://www.geocities.com/malcolmtribute/] I’ve bookmarked these sites and saved the web pages and image files. You never know how long these things will last on the net. It’s an interesting page in cinema history. As the web site says, they put this level of promotion into one theater for one film. I can’t believe I was actually there for the event. I rarely get to L.A. and just happened to be there for a few days visiting friends just after Christmas in 1971.

RobertR
RobertR on November 27, 2004 at 10:54 pm

Does the front look better then the picture above? I guess the narrative should be changed since the theatre is now a screening facility, and is not closed.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on November 27, 2004 at 3:04 pm

When I was in second grade, at Monterey Vista School in suburban Monterey Park, the highlight of the year was a school field trip to see the original Cinerama production, “This is Cinerama” at the Warner Hollywood Theatre. I had already attended many of the big Downtown Los Angeles movie palaces, but I was still amazed by the Warner. Some of my classmates had never seen any theaters other than our small, suburban neighborhood movie houses, and could scarcely believe that such a place as the Warner even existed.

Our seats were on the main floor, near the front, just to the side of the central projection booth for which a section of seats had been removed. The Cinerama screen was awe inspiring, and I remember becoming a bit dizzy from the roller coaster scene. All the girls screamed. We had a great time, even though the chaperones wouldn’t allow us to visit the concession stand.

After the movie, the theater opened the side exits from the lobby to the side street where the curb space had been reserved for school buses. Leaving the theater was like being expelled from a magical world, and more than a few of us looked back through the doors for a last glimpse of the splendid lobby as we boarded the bus for the long ride back home through the everyday world. I’ve had a special fondness for the Warner ever since, and hope that it can be saved to delight future generations.

br91975
br91975 on November 27, 2004 at 5:36 am

‘The Incredibles’ and ‘The Polar Express’ were both recently presented digitally at the Pacific.

bruceanthony
bruceanthony on November 27, 2004 at 4:33 am

This theatre is not closed and is being used on a regular basis for digital movie industry screenings. The Pacific is being used a movie theatre by people who love movies.Daily Variety lists the Pacific as one of the major screenings venues for the industry.brucec

BhillH20
BhillH20 on November 17, 2004 at 9:32 pm

The El Capitan, Hollywood Pantages, Grauman’s Chinese, Music Box, all have been restored to their glory days of yesteryear. Still waiting for the last of the grand movie palaces of Hollywood Boulevard to reclaim its past as well.

Tom10
Tom10 on October 17, 2004 at 8:18 pm

I saw a screening of “A Clockwork Orange” at the Pacific in December of 1971. The theater was still single screen at that time, and the place was packed for either a Friday or Saturday evening performance. I recall the crowd was a bit rowdy. We sat in the balcony. The lobby seemed small for the auditorium which was huge. Somewhere on the web is a site with black and white photos of the marquis and lobby for that “Clockwork Orange” run. I’ll try to find it again. “A Clockwork Orange” was a rather violent film for that era. Heck, it would still be violent. I’ve never seen it again. The first viewing was vivid enough. Emerging from the theater after the film, I looked up at the radio towers on the building looming in the darkness. It all had a noirish quality.

thomasl
thomasl on October 1, 2004 at 8:56 pm

As a boy, my Dad took our family to see every one of the Cineramas at the Warner Hollywood. Working as a sound engineer for Westrex in Hollywood, he had a deep appreciation of the Cineramas. The last film I remember seeing at the Warner was “How the West Was Won”, a 1964 epic with an all-star cast, and the last of the original type 3-camera Cineramas. By this point, huge red drapes covered what had once been magnificent romanesque columns. It seems sad that such a great organization as Cinema Treasures should be refering to the Warner Hollywood as the “Pacific 1-2-3”—for this was a true motion picture palace.

bruceanthony
bruceanthony on August 19, 2004 at 5:10 am

The restoration of the Pacific doesn’t have to cost $40 Million. The Pacific is in very good shape and not on its last leg like the New Amsterdam in New York was before Disney spent $30 Million to restore it and turn it into a state of the art broadway house. I think it would take between $8-12Million to restore the theatre and turn it into a single screen. To turn the Pacific into a broadway house would be between $20-30Million. I would love to see the origianl name Warner back on the theatre. I would even settle for Pacific Warner. I even think the Nederlanders could make better use of the Pacific than the Wilshire in Beverly Hills for broadway shows. I have always felt that Hollywood and Downtown should be the legit districts. The Fox-Wilshire would make a great house for movie premieres like the old days.brucec

rdstanton
rdstanton on July 21, 2004 at 10:10 pm

I worked as an usher at the Hollywood Pacific from 1979 to 1980. It was one of the best times of my life. Restore it!!! It was, and still is, a treasure. Whatever happened to the magnificent chandeliers?
RDS

paulm248
paulm248 on July 20, 2004 at 10:29 pm

The “Collateral” screenings are not open to the public; they are for the press and for the Cast & Crew of the movie.

Actually, we’ve been holding special studio screenings for a number of years but we are not open to the public. We’ve had thousands of people enjoy the latest in Digital Cinema projection here since that is our speciality.

Restoration is really not an option unless someone comes along with “very deep pockets”. It would cost in excess of $40 million just to bring it up to acceptable conditions. We know of no one willing to spend that kind of money for what may be a very low return.

rrichford
rrichford on July 20, 2004 at 7:13 pm

Dreamworks will be hosting a screening of the Tom Cruise movie, Collateral, at the Pacific in late July. I think this is the first time a major studio is holding a screening there. Hopefully it will go smoothly and the theater will be seen as a viable place for premieres, and restoration will follow.

Bill Huelbig
Bill Huelbig on July 14, 2004 at 6:14 pm

You can read about the Digital Symposium and see pictures of the theater interior here:

View link

It was a pleasure to see the theater where “2001” played in Hollywood for well over a year.