Warrens Theatre
401 W. 7th Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90014
401 W. 7th Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90014
19 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 75 of 82 comments
Here is a recent addition from the LAPL:
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics32/00065594.jpg
Interesting. Thanks.
ken mc, No those stairs were put in when there was a Burger King operating in the former lower lounge area of the theatre. There was once a free standing box office and then where the stairs are was once just tiles/ walk way to the front doors of the theatre.
I took a tour around the exterior yesterday, but I couldn’t get into the building itself. Underneath the main entrance are stairs which lead to an exit presumably used for overflow theater crowds.
Joe: The building is architecturally…beautiful!
Here is a contemporary picture of the Theatre Jewelry Center.
The entire building and auditorium still exist from 1920 to the present day!
This Warner is listed as “closed” so does the theatre building still exist?
Must also say —– the comment above about people who do business at the jewelry mart not noticing the magnificence —– someone in my tour group made a similar remark. I wouldn’t jump to such a conclusion. Perhaps some people don’t notice, but I think people who work there everyday must be aware of the heritage of the building, as anyone who works in an historic building might. I appreciate the fact that theaters that have been used as warehouse or retail space have been preserved at least, and have not been demolished.
Can someone fix the width of this?
Anyway — this was the last theatre we toured yesterday on our Conservancy tour. It was, of course, the hottest day on record in LA, and B'way was quite the place to be when it’s 102 degrees!!!!
It feels very surreal to walk into the jewelry market, and then see the giant torch over the proscenium and realize you’re standing in a theatre. They’ve added a dreadful 70’s or 80’s-ish tivoli light chandelier right in the center of the ceiling, but the wonderful murals are still visible. The decorative plasterwork is all painted white and gold, which I doubt was the original color scheme, but you can still see the wonderful details. They don’t let you take photos inside, due to the sensitivity of the current use.
Wonderful place!!
Box office, 1938:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015625.jpg
Exterior, 1938:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015624.jpg
Another photo from the LA Library:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014813.jpg
From the LA Library:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014811.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014819.jpg
CALLING ALL THEATRE / MOVIE ENTHUSIASTS!!!
T'he Los Angeles Theatre' on South Broadway, LA is playing host to the UK television show ‘Dead Famous LIVE’. We are currently looking for people who would like to come along as part of the studio audience.
‘Dead Famous LIVE’ is a studio entertainment show all about Hollywood History and the paranormal. We will be welcoming celebrity guests on to the show and investigating famous locations around Hollywood which are rumoured to be haunted including the Los Angeles Theatre itself.
This is an invaluable chance to get access to the Los Angeles Theatre, the place where Charlie Chaplin’s ‘City Lights’ premiered in 1931 and to have a thoroughly great day out! (And its free!!)
We’re transmitting ‘Live’ back to the United Kingdom so expect it to be exciting and fun!
We will be filming on three days from 11th – 13th November between 11.30am – 4pm. If you are interested in coming on one or all of these days then email me for tickets!
.uk
I look forward to your responses!
The gist of the articles describing the demise of the Wax Museum is an inexplicable lack of interest in Harold Lloyd and other decades-dead stars by today’s youth. Hard to figure.
William;I accept your local knowledge on the distribution situation in L.A. theatres is greater than mine. Apologies:)
That’s not that true about Columbia Pictures not playing at Warner houses. Columbia Pictures did not have a theatre chain of their own. So would have played films from other studios from time to time. Once this theatre became a Warner property, it played many time opposite the Warner Hollywood house. One of the many Columbia outlets in Downtown Los Angeles was the old RKO Hillstreet Theatre (long gone). Look at the old Paramount Downtown Theatre it played many Warner titles in the 50’s and it was a Publix Theatre.
Jenni;Rita Hayworth worked mainly for Columbia Pictures which would not have played at a Warner Brothers theatre. She did make a couple or so films for Warner Bros. in the early 1940’s but these were not starring roles.
Best Wishes with your project. I look forward to viewing it.
Hello,
I work as researcher for a UK production company called Twofour Productions who produce a series called Dead Famous which is a biographical look into the lives of Hollywood’s most glittering stars we are in our third series and have covered the lives of John Lennon, Grace Kelly, Alfred Hitchcock, Buddy Holly and Howard Hughes to name a few. Our programme is aired on the Biography and A&E channels over in the US and is made for Living TV here in the UK. What sets Dead Famous apart from other shows is that we also focus on the paranormal and actually try to make contact with the person who we are investigating. We are filming in Los Angeles in our next visit in the next few weeks and we are investigating Rita Hayworth and are hoping to film at the Warner Hollywood Pacific Theatre on .
We are looking at locations relating to Hayworthâ€\s films and her time in LA and we also would like to incorporate this with filming at some haunted locations that are also relate to her. Which is why we are interested with in the theatre as it is where the famous stars attended their film premieres and is also apparently haunted by Sam Warner!
Therefore I am emailing Cinema Treasures to see if anyone knows anymore about the history of the theatre in connection with Rita Hayworth, and whether anyone worked there in the past and has had experiences of seeing Sam.
If anyone would like to provide any information please contact me at my email .uk I would be happy to hear from you.
All the Best.
During the Metropolitan years, this theater was called WARRENS (not WARREN). Just a minor detail perhaps worth mentioning.
1947, from the UCLA collection:
View link
This theatre opened as the second Pantages Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles on August 16, 1920. The first one being located on Broadway and later renamed the Arcade Theatre. This theatre reopened as the Warner Downtown Theatre with the premiere of “Golddiggers of Broadway” in the fall of 1929.
In between its use as a movie theatre and before it became the jewelry mart, it spent some time as the Church of Compassion (I think that’s it), and in place of WARREN it spelled COMPASSION in giant gold letters. I believe that may have been Rev. Moon’s congregation.
Present day view of the unique circular marquee of the former Warner Theatre:
View link
The Warner Brothers Downtown Theatre is sadly one of those theaters that has had the ground floor totally changed to make away, in this case for a jewelry mart, for retail space. You can still see the intact balcony if you walk to the back of the jewelry mart. The Westlake Theatre is another sad case of this phenomenon.