4 Star Theatre
5112 Wilshire Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90036
5112 Wilshire Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90036
13 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 75 of 90 comments
Here is an October 1950 ad for a Nancy Reagan film, per the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/2k7j9e
Have any live shows actually been booked here yet under the new name?
During the 90s, the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films occasionally screened at the Four Star. One weekend we gathered there to see The Crow 2, but the studio made a mistake and sent us the original Crow instead. As it turns out, they did us a favor, because I later learned that the sequel is terrible, but what was memorable about the whole experience was this: if you remember The Crow, it’s raining for much of the film. And at that time, the Four Star’s roof was in terrible shape, and it was raining outside. For the entire movie, we could hear water pouring down somewhere behind the screen as an accompaniment to the movie’s soundtrack.
Per the photos taken in October, it’s not a church anymore.
I may call the number on the side of the building and go see what the interior looks like.
Carnation restaurant and Ice Cream Parlor was across the street from this baby. Me, my sister, and father used to go here in the early 70’s, and eat burgers and ice cream across the street. This took me awhile to find the name of the Four Star. Thanks Cinema Treasures, you brought some joy to a couple of 40-50 somethings ;)
Kirk, the scenes were shot over at the El Rey Theatre down the street. It was the lobby and booth scenes and behind the theatre in the alley.
Here is an early forties ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/3y63fz
Here is March 1975 ad from the LA Times. Kids always welcome with ID:
http://tinyurl.com/36tpsb
I may be wrong but were some of the theatre scenes in “Night of the Comet” (1984) shot at the Four Star?
The former Fox Wilshire Theatre’s Norelco AA 70MM/35mm projectors that were installed in the Four Star during the 1980s were removed. And installed in the Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro, Ca.. So they would have to install new or they might of put back the old 35mm only projector back in.
Apparently the building is no longer a church but a general theatre venue. The signage now says “Oasis Theatre” (as opposed to “Oasis Christian Center”) and there are big ad banners on the wall announcing its availability to be booked for concerts, plays, and films.
This place was awesome for its double-feature presentations and discount nights. I was a preteen when I frequent the Four Star Theatre in the 80’s. Some of the movies I remember seeing there was a re-release of E.T., The Terminator, Fletch, Rambo III, Rocky IV, Scrooged, The Great Outdoors, My Stepmother Is An Alien, and Back To The Beach. Not to mention I used to sneak Burger King inside because the food was cheaper from next door ;) Then, I remember a period when they would host Indian film festivals (blah). One day I would move away from the Wilshre / La Brea area for San Fernando Valley in the early 90’s. From time to time I would re-visit the area I used to live. I later noticed Four Star Theatre had closed its doors and turned into aa a church (sigh).
Well the owner was Lou Federichi (sp), and during it’s final run as a revival house it was subleased to a former projectonist from Mann’s Chinese Theatre. Who ran it with his son during that short time. Then it was sold sometime after to the church the current owners.
What company operated the FOUR STAR during the ‘90s?
When I lived in Los Angeles in 1982, the Four Star was a revival house. It was a great place to see old movies because it still had the look of a movie house from decades earlier, so you felt as if you had been transported back to when the films were knew. I particularly remember a double bill of Preminger’s Laura and John M. Stahl’s Leave Her To Heaven, the latter shown in a breathtakingly pristine Technicolor print.
Here is a 1976 lawsuit against the Mitchell Brothers. Apparently there were some improper goings-on during the features:
http://tinyurl.com/y9dup6
I made a mini radio documentary about LA cinemas which featured the Four Star for BBC radio back in 1996, when I was a correspondent in LA. I also recorded a “From Our Own Correspondent” for the World Service and BBC Radio 4 about the man who ran it. He’d grown up working in cinemas in the mid West, where his own father was a theatre manager. And he had turned the Four Star into a revival house in the early 90s I think, with old friends running the projector and the concession stand. They installed a proper silver screen and had an impressively eclectic programme. Lots of William Holden, too, as that was his favourite actor. Sadly, as other contributors have pointed out, the landlord sold the property to a south American church and it closed in 97, I think. It was a privilege to have met the team who ran this place with such passion and love of film.
I had my first kiss in the back row of the Four Star – during Where The Boys Are. I also saw The Angry Red Planet there, and Pepe, and a real oddity called Behind The Great Wall, which was a documentary that had been retrofitted with smells to compete with Scent of Mystery in Smell-o-Vision, that was playing down the street at the Ritz. Behind the Great Wall was in Aromarama. I continued to go to the Four Star all during the 80s when they were a revival house. And yes, for a short time they went porno, and Behind The Green Door ran there for quite a while.
Another premier night:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics50/00044826.jpg
From the California State Library:
View link
I used to go here a lot in the mid-80’s as it had cool double features of 2nd and 3rd run films for real cheap.
Good catch guys. I normally use the imdb to date photos based on the movies on the marquee but in this instance I didn’t check since I thought that I could trust the MPTV. Who woulda thought!?
Because sometimes I’ve seen with reissue photos of theatres. They see only the main feature’s title and take that as being when the photo has been taken. The studio’s would release their older films from time to time. Since reissues are harder to date, sometime mistakes happen, like in that picture.
On the marquee of the theatre, it has “The Shiek” as the “A feature and "Where there’s a Will” as the “B” feature. This could be a reissue of “The Shiek” and they doubled it up with the only feature. Because the other feature is from 1936.