The Henry Fonda used to be the Pix, not the World. I worked at the World for two weeks in 1967. Also worked at the Pantages for the entire run of Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf.
Sickening. I hope Carol understands what karma is, because all these people who have purchased these historic theaters and are uninterested in keeping them as such will pay the price – these “trendy” little stupid nightclubs will all ultimately fail because the ADD generation can’t stay put for more than fifteen minutes. Good luck, Carol, and I hope you lose your shirt.
Agreed. I worked at the World in 1966 for a few weeks – was going to LACC and had to have rent and food money, so I worked the late shift. But, I also went there every week to see whatever triple bill was playing. That’s where I saw The Professionals for the first time. Even though the World was a low-rent affair, it was still terrific. Of all the Boulevard theaters, though, I loved going to the Paramount best of all (well, during its heyday) – what a theater and what curtains and what movies I saw there. Plus, it was just a short half-block walk to C.C. Brown’s!
I was at the Vogue back in 2002 for a screening of something. It was shocking, actually. It smelled horrendous, it was freezing and the whole thing was just nauseating. I spent so many wonderful days and evenings at the Vogue and to see it like that was just, well, horrible.
never tire of describing the magic of what it was like to go to the movies in the 50s, 60s, and even 70s, in the pre-multiplex days, when there were hundreds of stand-alone movie theaters in this city.
Exactly. One could spend an entire two or three days just going from movie theater to movie theater, catching all the latest, which is what I frequently used to do. Just start at the Chinese, then to the Paramount, then over to the Hollywood, then to the Egyptian, the Vogue, the Warner Cinerama (then the Pacific’s), the Fox (or Iris), and I’d even do the New View, Admiral, and the Academy in the early 60s. Back then, even the Iris and the Hollywood were nice and comfy theaters. Each theater had its own personality, which is what I loved about the nabes, too. I’ve written about these theaters in my various novels so much that I fear I will write myself out, and yet I never do – I never tire of describing the magic of what it was like togokjkjkjkjkjk
The owners should be run out of town on a rail. I’ll tell you something – if they renovated and re-opened these two theaters my guess is that they’d do well as movie theaters – like the El Capitan has. Warners should do that with the Pacific’s – make it their flagship theater. If the Dome can operate as a theater, so can these. Nightclubs – phooey.
The sad part is that they’d rather just sit on these buildings than give them over to someone who’d do the right thing. That’s just what we need in Hollywood – another movie theater turned into a sickening trendy (for fifteen minutes) nightclub. SHAME!
And most of the theaters in Reseda and Van Nuys and Burbank and NoHo are sadly long gone. The Reseda is, of course, still there, but I have no idea who owns it. And the Fox, as mentioned above. There are a handful of others, too.
If you look to the right of the 1956 photo, you’ll see Yaekel (sp?) Brothers Oldsmobile where they used to broadcast Rocket To Stardom from and where they did live commercials all through the 50s and 60s.
Bill, where are you finding these LA newspaper movie sections? Online? I have quite a few LA newspaper movie sections from the 50s and 60s (the actual newspapers) but I’m always looking for more.
I don’t know about anyone else here, but the photos I’D like to see would be of the Paramount. The El Capitan exists and we’ve all seen plenty of recent photos. The Paramount, on the other hand, doesn’t exist and those photos would be of interest.
Great photo, just the way I remember the theater! Beverly Blvd. between Fairfax and LaBrea. What a shame all these wonderful buildings are gone. LA has no sense of history. I mean, when they can tear down the Ambassador Hotel, then what’s next – city hall?
I spent a good deal of my childhood at the Wiltern, going regularly from the mid-50s until the late 60s – see my post above for details about its decline. One of my all-time favorite movie theaters.
The theater was not a little down – it was still very nice at that point. Three or four years from then it would start to look a little dowdy, both inside and out.
What a shame he wasn’t successful. Every time I see that parking lot I want to vomit on the ground. I recently attended the Ricardo Montalban Theater (formerly the above-mentioned Huntington Hartford) – what they’ve done there in terms of its “redesign” is also reprehensible, but at least the building is still there.
Sorry, but as Dave Strohmaier, the fellow who made the documentary on Cinerama, will be happy to tell you, while the screen may in fact be huge, it was NOT as tall as the Cinerama screen at the Warner Cinerama or any other of the original Cinerama screens.
I worked at the Albermarle for about three months in 1969. It was a spectacular theater. I was living in Flatbush in a building where my aunt lived – I was in NY trying to be an actor. If I remember correctly, the apartment building was on East 29th St. (does that sound right?) – we got off the subway at Newkirk, and there was a great pizza parlor right there. In any case, when I worked there, some of the movies I definitely remember being shown were Once Upon A Time In The West (I saw it as many times as I could – it hadn’t yet been cut by Paramount – they removed about twenty-three minutes after the first run), Can Hieronymous Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness, Night Of The Following Day, and Daddy’s Gone a Hunting. Can’t remember any others, although I’m sure there were a couple.
A little more of “my” history with this beautiful theater: First time I was ever in it was for Seven Wonders of the World (a revival showing a couple of years after its original run) and I was flabbergasted (and wrote about it at length in my novel Benjamin Kritzer, in which many LA theaters are fondly remembered). I saw How The West Was Won, Brothers Grimm, then, when it changed over after Cinerama, I saw Flower Drum Song and The Counterfeit Traitor, and Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Back Street and many, many others. After the screwed up the balcony by twinning upstairs, I stopped going regularly. I think the last film I saw there was Carrie, although I may be misremembering.
The Henry Fonda used to be the Pix, not the World. I worked at the World for two weeks in 1967. Also worked at the Pantages for the entire run of Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf.
I understand – it just irks me every time I see it – I grew up going to the Wiltern, almost every week of my childhood.
Wonderful, but we like views when it was a MOVIE THEATER, not this horrid rock/concert house with no seats
Please don’t!!! What about the Fine Arts on Wilshire?
Sickening. I hope Carol understands what karma is, because all these people who have purchased these historic theaters and are uninterested in keeping them as such will pay the price – these “trendy” little stupid nightclubs will all ultimately fail because the ADD generation can’t stay put for more than fifteen minutes. Good luck, Carol, and I hope you lose your shirt.
Agreed. I worked at the World in 1966 for a few weeks – was going to LACC and had to have rent and food money, so I worked the late shift. But, I also went there every week to see whatever triple bill was playing. That’s where I saw The Professionals for the first time. Even though the World was a low-rent affair, it was still terrific. Of all the Boulevard theaters, though, I loved going to the Paramount best of all (well, during its heyday) – what a theater and what curtains and what movies I saw there. Plus, it was just a short half-block walk to C.C. Brown’s!
I was at the Vogue back in 2002 for a screening of something. It was shocking, actually. It smelled horrendous, it was freezing and the whole thing was just nauseating. I spent so many wonderful days and evenings at the Vogue and to see it like that was just, well, horrible.
Oops – continuing –
never tire of describing the magic of what it was like to go to the movies in the 50s, 60s, and even 70s, in the pre-multiplex days, when there were hundreds of stand-alone movie theaters in this city.
Exactly. One could spend an entire two or three days just going from movie theater to movie theater, catching all the latest, which is what I frequently used to do. Just start at the Chinese, then to the Paramount, then over to the Hollywood, then to the Egyptian, the Vogue, the Warner Cinerama (then the Pacific’s), the Fox (or Iris), and I’d even do the New View, Admiral, and the Academy in the early 60s. Back then, even the Iris and the Hollywood were nice and comfy theaters. Each theater had its own personality, which is what I loved about the nabes, too. I’ve written about these theaters in my various novels so much that I fear I will write myself out, and yet I never do – I never tire of describing the magic of what it was like togokjkjkjkjkjk
The owners should be run out of town on a rail. I’ll tell you something – if they renovated and re-opened these two theaters my guess is that they’d do well as movie theaters – like the El Capitan has. Warners should do that with the Pacific’s – make it their flagship theater. If the Dome can operate as a theater, so can these. Nightclubs – phooey.
The sad part is that they’d rather just sit on these buildings than give them over to someone who’d do the right thing. That’s just what we need in Hollywood – another movie theater turned into a sickening trendy (for fifteen minutes) nightclub. SHAME!
And most of the theaters in Reseda and Van Nuys and Burbank and NoHo are sadly long gone. The Reseda is, of course, still there, but I have no idea who owns it. And the Fox, as mentioned above. There are a handful of others, too.
If you look to the right of the 1956 photo, you’ll see Yaekel (sp?) Brothers Oldsmobile where they used to broadcast Rocket To Stardom from and where they did live commercials all through the 50s and 60s.
Bill, where are you finding these LA newspaper movie sections? Online? I have quite a few LA newspaper movie sections from the 50s and 60s (the actual newspapers) but I’m always looking for more.
That’s what I’M talkin' about. :–)
I don’t know about anyone else here, but the photos I’D like to see would be of the Paramount. The El Capitan exists and we’ve all seen plenty of recent photos. The Paramount, on the other hand, doesn’t exist and those photos would be of interest.
Great photo, just the way I remember the theater! Beverly Blvd. between Fairfax and LaBrea. What a shame all these wonderful buildings are gone. LA has no sense of history. I mean, when they can tear down the Ambassador Hotel, then what’s next – city hall?
Yes, it was the Paramount all through the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, right up until Disney did its thing.
I spent a good deal of my childhood at the Wiltern, going regularly from the mid-50s until the late 60s – see my post above for details about its decline. One of my all-time favorite movie theaters.
The theater was not a little down – it was still very nice at that point. Three or four years from then it would start to look a little dowdy, both inside and out.
What a shame he wasn’t successful. Every time I see that parking lot I want to vomit on the ground. I recently attended the Ricardo Montalban Theater (formerly the above-mentioned Huntington Hartford) – what they’ve done there in terms of its “redesign” is also reprehensible, but at least the building is still there.
Sorry, but as Dave Strohmaier, the fellow who made the documentary on Cinerama, will be happy to tell you, while the screen may in fact be huge, it was NOT as tall as the Cinerama screen at the Warner Cinerama or any other of the original Cinerama screens.
I worked at the Albermarle for about three months in 1969. It was a spectacular theater. I was living in Flatbush in a building where my aunt lived – I was in NY trying to be an actor. If I remember correctly, the apartment building was on East 29th St. (does that sound right?) – we got off the subway at Newkirk, and there was a great pizza parlor right there. In any case, when I worked there, some of the movies I definitely remember being shown were Once Upon A Time In The West (I saw it as many times as I could – it hadn’t yet been cut by Paramount – they removed about twenty-three minutes after the first run), Can Hieronymous Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness, Night Of The Following Day, and Daddy’s Gone a Hunting. Can’t remember any others, although I’m sure there were a couple.
I think I remembered what car the clock advertised! Austin-Healy.
A little more of “my” history with this beautiful theater: First time I was ever in it was for Seven Wonders of the World (a revival showing a couple of years after its original run) and I was flabbergasted (and wrote about it at length in my novel Benjamin Kritzer, in which many LA theaters are fondly remembered). I saw How The West Was Won, Brothers Grimm, then, when it changed over after Cinerama, I saw Flower Drum Song and The Counterfeit Traitor, and Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Back Street and many, many others. After the screwed up the balcony by twinning upstairs, I stopped going regularly. I think the last film I saw there was Carrie, although I may be misremembering.
Read my comments about the Pacific – one of my favorite theaters. I was just there two weeks ago.