Tower Theatre
802 S. Broadway,
Los Angeles,
CA
90014
802 S. Broadway,
Los Angeles,
CA
90014
38 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 75 of 154 comments
Here is a 1951 photo from the USC archive:
http://tinyurl.com/7yryry
BTW, it was an episode of “Numb3rs” that was filming at the Tower when Ken was there. They showed the same marquee banner that was in his photo, and some scenes were filmed inside. It was supposed to be an exclusive magic club like the Magic Castle, only called something like “Tower of Illusion,” but of course just “Tower” on the outside.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1256344/
Here is a photo taken yesterday:
http://tinyurl.com/4dm7n4
They were filming at the Tower today. The theater was open. I took a look inside, but there was a lot of security so you couldn’t just start walking around the auditorium. I took some photos.
I’ve notice lately that all of the little vendor’s on the side of the Tower are gone or never open. Maybe they kicked everyone out. Also, the graffiti has been removed.
I’ve notice lately that all of the little vendor’s on the side of the Tower are gone or never open. Maybe they kicked everyone out. Also, the graffiti has been removed.
You can see the auditorium set-up as a night club and stage in the new film “Dark Streets”. In the opening the 8th. Street side of the theatre is next to a overpass to a highway (Hollywood magic).
What’s going on with this place? I drove by the other day, and there was no sign of life. Does anybody have an update?
I posted a diptych of the Tower and the Rialto on my Flickr page:
View link
I noticed today that somebody spray painted graffiti on the north side of the Tower over the weekend or yesterday…..I hope they clean it off soon.
I was looking at the Tower the other day and thinking I’m glad they’ve cleaned the building but I hope they can somehow preserve the faded signs.
Here is a March 2008 photo. I took it while I was driving, hence the odd angle:
http://tinyurl.com/2gxba8
Nick, if you go up this page to january 7, 2006 you can read my little tirade about this issue….I also quoted the obituary you speak of.
A Times obituary for HL Gumbiner (March 11 1952) credits his Tower with introducing ‘the first talking picture’, ‘The Jazz Singer’. I wonder if the Tower’s history has become mired in the confusion caused by the use of ‘The Jazz Singer’ as shorthand for ‘first talkie’? Contemporary reports do suggest the Tower held the first Downtown screenings of the Vitascope…
A correction to William’s 2001 note, in case anyone’s counting on it… the Tower appears in the Governator’s ‘End of Days’, not ‘The 6th Day’. Apparently one of the side exits takes you down through the New York subway, along corridors lined with flaming torches and into a cavernous machine room where people still assemble for public entertainment (in this case a live performance involving the Devil, a virgin and a casting couch).
Correction: The Tower Theater was designed by S. Charles Lee and S. Tilden Norton, not Lewis A. Smith.
I’ve sifted and sifted and haven’t found anything. That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, of course. However, if it did happen I can understand that it might not be leaked before the event but after the event it would be highly unlikely that there wouldn’t be some mention….somewhere.
These days, if a movie has a “sneak” it’s usually part of it’s publicity package, but in the 1920s sneak previews were genuinely sneaky (unannounced), and intended as a way to audience-test a movie before its release, so last-minute changes could be made. The Tower opened on October 12th, after The Jazz Singer had already been playing for several days in New York (it opened there on October 6th), and by that time the main reason for having a sneak preview would have passed.
In any case, if the preview did happen, it would have been before the Los Angeles opening of the movie at the Criterion on December 28th, so, assuming the event got mentioned in the press, there’d be about ten or eleven weeks of newspapers to sift through to find the evidence. But I suspect that the story of a Jazz Singer preview at the Tower is most likely apocryphal.
Nick…..I still haven’t seen proof of the mysterious sneak preview that people talk about at the Tower. My bet still goes with the Fox Criterion for the Jazz Singer award. If there was a sneak preview at the Tower there should be at least one tiny printed piece of evidence stating the date, but so far its only talk. There’s a long discussion on the Criterion page about this. Here’s a few excerpts:
(Feb. 22, 1928)
Only seven more days remain for Al Jolson as “The Jazz Singer” at the Criterion Theater when the Vitaphone production gives way to Richard Barthelmess in “The Patent-Leather Kid.” The final showing of the black-face comedian’s picture will mark the 138th performance, establishing a new record for the Criterion.
Here is the clincher:
(April 29, 1928)
The Metropolitan Theater has booked “The Patent Leather Kid” with Richard Barthelmess in its first downtown showing at popular prices, “Sunrise” with George O'Brien and Janet Gaynor is at the Criterion, and Al Jolson in “The Jazz Singer” comes to the Tower.
I have been told that the Tower screened a sneak preview of ‘The Jazz Singer’. It’s interesting that the Times ran a brief story about the Tower being equipped for Vitaphone just two days before ‘The Jazz Singer’s’ release.
But the October 14 report on the Tower’s opening night states that the Vitaphone subjects that accompanied the screening of ‘The Gingham Girl’ were the first downtown showing of Vitaphone.
From the Times, March 12 1921:
GREAT BUILDING FOR BROADWAY
Chicago Capitalist Leases the Eighth-Street Corner
Plans to Put Twelve-Story Structure on the Site
Over Two Millions Involved in Transfer of Ground
…'While Mr Gumbiner has resided in Los Angeles for only a few weeks, he is confident of the growth and expansion of the city as a commercial and industrial center. As soon as his affairs in Chicago can be satisfactorily arranged, he will come to Los Angeles to make his permanent home.'
Wonder what held him up for six years? The eventual building is four stories high, and the tower itself another six on top – in total, two short of the original plans.
Gumbiner also seems to have run the Cameo, up the street, at some point after 1924.
Ken mc, That ad could be for the Globe Theatre, also at the same area as the ad. The Globe Theatre was known as the Newsreel Theatre during the early 40’s.
Here is an August 1939 ad:
http://tinyurl.com/yvn3on
Here is a July 1928 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/3948tk
Great photo…I love how the terra cotta comes to life. I read somewhere that they are going to restore the top of the tower and the clock is being repaired.