Tower Theatre
802 S. Broadway,
Los Angeles,
CA
90014
802 S. Broadway,
Los Angeles,
CA
90014
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Here are a few more:
http://tinyurl.com/358z6w
http://tinyurl.com/2ptytz
I don’t think we’ve seen this 1938 photo yet:
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics32/00065597.jpg
As well as “Mulholland Drive” and an upcoming Sci-Fi Noir thriller tentatively titled “Dark Streets”
The interior of the Tower theater, most notably the balcony section can be seen in “The Good German” starring George Clooney.
Does anyone know if the very top of the tower still exists somewhere? I read somewhere that it was removed after an earthquake, but I don’t know if that’s correct. I wonder if the top will ever be replaced.
My link for the 1928 photo expired, so here it is again:
http://tinyurl.com/rsqo6
OK, I’ll buy that.
ken: I think that must be the back wall of the Palace Theatre, which was called the News Palace for a few years in the early 1940s. In fact, the photo which accompanies the Cinema Treasures entry for The Palace shows “Newsreels” on both of the theatre’s blade signs.
If you look very closely, you can see an advertisement for the Newsreel theater at the back of the shot. The forefront is Main Street, west side between 6th and 7th, circa 1941:
http://tinyurl.com/gje9b
Mark Campbell: The current proscenium of the Tower is not where the CinemaScope screen was located. The wide screen was placed several feet in front of the old screen’s location, and surrounded with drapes that closed off the stage end of the theater. This was done in the early 1950’s. The 1965 renovation didn’t involve any major structural changes to the auditorium, though some canvas murals that had been in the ceiling dome were removed and the wall murals were covered over.
Here is a 1978 photo showing an old ad for the Newsreel painted on an alley wall:
http://tinyurl.com/mnvnt
Scope films were shown at the Tower many times over but instead of the side masking moving outward to accomodate a scope size image the top masking moved down instead. Yes, it was a pretty good size 1.85:1 image for flat pictures but lousy for scope. As a movie-goer in my late teens I saw a reissue of Dr. Zhivago (in scope) at the Tower in November of 1970.
Visited The Tower this evening during a prep for a film shoot. The theatre is very narrow indeed. I wonder if any 2.35:1 scope films ever played there, because the area where the screen would have been is narrow as well. Does anyone have any idea what the presentation was like after the theatre was remodeled in the ‘60’s?
On the way to see Metropolis at the Orpheum last night, I passed by the Tower and the side door was open on 8th street. I peeked in and it was pretty fabulous. Even though the ground floor seats have been removed, it still has what looks to be the original walls and ceiling. I think they were getting ready to film something there since it was full of workers painting and building a set on the stage.
I guess its all cyclical:
(Oct. 4, 1965)
Tower Theater Reopens Oct. 13
Los Angeles will have its first new downtown first-run theater in 25 years when the modernized Tower Theater opens Oct. 13 at 8th and Broadway. The new policy was announced by Mrs. Villis G. Randall, daughter of the late H.L. Gumbiner, who originally opened the Tower on Oct. 12, 1927. “The Sandpiper,” starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, will be the opening picture.
(Oct. 11, 1965)
One of the few remaining show business landmarks of downtown Los Angeles, the Tower Theater at 8th and Broadway, has been rebuilt and refurbished at a cost of $250,000 and will reopen Wednesday with “The Sandpiper”, film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. This will be the first movie house to open with first-run product in 25 years and at a time when the wrecker’s ball has been demolishing several former de luxe theaters. Mrs. Villis G. Randall, who is operating the new Tower for the estate of her father, the late H.L. Gumbiner, says she has “implicit faith that an entertainment rebirth is beginning in the downtown area.”…..Improvements include an oversize air conditioning unit, a coffee lounge, new drapes, carpetting and a redesigned exterior….
This obituary might be the reason for the widely held myth that the Tower Theater was the first to show “The Jazz Singer”. Read the second entry for the contradiction.
(March 14, 1952)
Funeral services for H.L. Gumbiner, 72, pioneer independent motion-picture exhibitor, will be conducted at 11 a.m. today at the Little Church of the Flowers, Forest Lawn Memorial-Park. Mr. Gumbiner built and operated the old Tower Theater, now the Newsreel Theater at 802 S Broadway, in 1927, where the first talking picture, “The Jazz Singer,” was introduced. In 1931 he opened the Los Angeles Theater, 615 S Broadway, with the world premiere of Chaplin’s “City Lights.”
Now go back and read what I believe is correct:
(Dec. 25, 1927)
When “The Jazz Singer” opens at the Criterion Theater Wednesday night, Al Jolson, the star of the picture, will not only be heard in a short spoken sequence, but he will sing, too, his incomparable songs, “Blue Skies,” “Mammy” and others. This has been made possible through Vitaphone, controlled by Warner Brothers. The picture is regarded by far the most ambitious and significant step made in the field of talking pictures. The industry, as far as Hollywood generally is concerned, regards “The Jazz Singer” as doing much toward putting over films of this type. The picture attracted unusal interest when first shown in New York, and where it is still attracting crowded houses.
This article about the opening goes on and on, if anyone wants the complete article, let me know:
(Oct. 12, 1927)
Marking a new milestone in the progress of Los Angeles toward the rank of first theatrical city in the world, the new Tower Theater, one of the first in America to be built exclusively as a motion-picture house, will be formally opened this evening with a premiere showing of Lois Wilson in “The Gingham Girl.”…..It is a picture theater only. No provision has been made for stage entertainment of any kind, other than that which may come under the head of such as the Vitaphone. It is a small theater, seats but 1000, although it occupies space at Eighth and Broadway, in the heart of downtown Los Angeles.
Vitaphone enters the picture:
(Oct. 4, 1927)
A long-term contract whereby Vitaphone prologues will be shown at the new Tower Theater at Eighth and Broadway, scheduled to open the 12th inst., was concluded yesterday when Sam Warner of the Warner Brothers Studios, signed the document which ensures the showing of the Vitaphone in the new amusement house. This will be the first time the ‘pictures with a voice’ have been presented in Los Angeles since their premiere showing at Grauman’s Egyptian some time ago.
Is this the first with overhead air conditioning?
(Sept. 27, 1927)
An overhead refrigerating system comprising the latest scientific methods of ventilation has been installed in the new Tower Theater at Eighth and Broadway, opening October 12, according to H.L. Gumbiner, manager. The Palmer Theater in New York is the only other theater in the United States which has installed this new air conditoning plan. It is said that the overhead system is a protection against colds which sometimes result from a draft beneath the seats.
A little about the accoutrements:
(Sept. 25, 1927)
French renaissance design is being employed in the Tower Theater at Eighth and Broadway. Paintings which will appear in the halls of the playhouse are replicas of those in the palace at Versailles, according to H.L. Gumbiner, official of the theater. Marble pillars imported from Italy will be used in the entrance, while the stairway will be made of French marble. The main floor will seat 600 people and a balcony will accommodate 400. The building was designed by Charles Lee.
Pretty close to being on time although the cost seems to have doubled….
(Sept. 22, 1927)
The new Tower Theater at Eighth and Broadway will have its gala opening on October 12. According to H.L. Gumbiner of the Tower, the new palace of entertainment will have a “brilliant premiere.” Some of the country’s leading stars will be present to take part, he says. Many special features have been scheduled for the first week, in addition to the motion-picture production, which is to be announced later. First-run films are scheduled. The management of the $1,000,000 theater has a representative in the East at present who is gathering new ideas for presentations. The theater is reported negotiating for an orchestra which is now making a hit in New York. If secured, it will be here in time for the first week. An eastern organist has also been secured.
I think MagicLantern is correct that this theater replaced the Garrick, but it sounds as though it was torn down instead of burned down.
(March 6, 1927)
Wrecking of the old Garrick Theater, located on the southeast corner of Eighth and Broadway and for many years a landmark of downtown Los Angeles, was started last week, to make way for a new $500,000 playhouse to be constructed there for the Gumbiner Theatrical Enterprises. Plans for the new theater, to be known as the Tower Theater, have been completed by Architect S. Charles Lee and according to the specifications the structure is to be one of the finest in the city. The interior is to be finished in marble and bronze in a method of execution never before attempted, according to Lee. The seating capacity of the theater will be 900. The exterior of the building will be featured by a 100-foot tower of terra cotta and this will not, it was said, infringe upon the height-limit building ordinance of the city. Contract for the work has been awarded to R.E. Campbell and under the terms of the document the building is to be completed within six months.
This theater is listed as Music Hall under the Independent Theater Guide in the LA Times from 1945-1947. It may have been called that for a longer period, I just can’t find the listings other than those years.
Some early photos during construction of the Tower, from the UCLA Collection:
http://sclee.library.ucla.edu/007/01/i0070105.jpg
http://sclee.library.ucla.edu/007/01/i0070104.jpg
A William Reagh photo:
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