Oriental Theatre

7425 Sunset Boulevard,
Los Angeles, CA 90046

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Additional Info

Architects: Phillip W. Holler, Mendel Meyer

Firms: Meyer & Holler

Functions: Retail

Styles: Spanish Colonial

Previous Names: Granada Theatre, West Coast Hollywood Theatre

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News About This Theater

Oct 10, 2008 — Rubber stamps from the Oriental Theatre

The Granada Theatre opened on December 22, 1921 with Bobby Vernon in “Fresh from the Farm” & Charles Ray in Two minutes to Go". In around 1929 it was known as the West Coast Hollywood Theatre. By 1932 it had been renamed Oriental Theatre.

It closed in 1985 and has been converted into the Guitar Centre, with the building now altered.

Contributed by William Gabel, Ken Roe

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Recent comments (view all 35 comments)

Joe Vogel on August 20, 2007 at 10:29 am

This theatre is listed in the 1929 Los Angeles City Directory by the name West Coast Hollywood Theatre.

kencmcintyre on March 25, 2008 at 4:38 am

Here is a 1932 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/29ejnc

ka0gyf on March 25, 2008 at 4:50 am

During the Mid to late 50â€™s â€œThe Bugs Bunny Clubâ€ at the Oriental Theater was the place to be every Saturday afternoon . Mom and Dad got about three hours of Saturday peace and quiet at the expense of that poor Oriental Manager , every seat filled with screaming kids .

Fifty Cents admission , Ten weeks punched on the Bugs Bunny Club Card meant a free admission .

Saturday Lineup at 1PM
Cartoon
Serial, Flash Gordon , Western , etc.
Sometimes an on stage manager would draw for a prize.
Main feature movie
Always a second feature that required written permission from parents to stay longer .

Pedestrian Underpass beneath Sunset Boulevard at Gardner made a great play ground while waiting on parents to pick us up and take us home up to Laurel Canyon.

A few years earlier about 1954 , I recall my Dad taking me on a Red Car Trolley Ride , tracks cut diagonally through Sunset right along side of and behind the Oriental , the old easement for the trolley tracks can still be seen on Google Maps (satellite).

Doug

Joe Vogel on April 17, 2008 at 6:05 pm

The Oriental was built in 1921, according to both the county assessor’s office and the April 15, 1921 issue of Southwest Builder & Contractor. The SB&C article gives the projected seating capacity of the theatre as 1200. Having been to this theatre, I can say this was a gross exaggeration.

Also, I’d say this theatre should definitely be listed as being in Hollywood, not Los Angeles. That’s why it was once called the West Coast Hollywood Theatre.

kencmcintyre on April 10, 2009 at 7:15 pm

Here is a 1982 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/cq2ud6

BillCounter on March 14, 2011 at 1:17 pm

The shots from the great 1958 Allied Artists epic “Unwed Mother” that vokoban and haineshisway mention in their 2007 posts:

Here we get Robert Vaughn crossing the street to the Oriental for a holdup:
View link

Leaving afterward:
View link

We see the cashier hitting the button on the floor of the boxoffice to summon the police. It doesn’t go well. The car won’t start and he gets caught.

skyvue on August 2, 2012 at 11:57 pm

The exterior of this theatre is seen briefly in a scene towards the end of a 1970 episode of DRAGNET entitled “DHQ—The Victims.” Friday and Gannon drive by, but the theatre is not mentioned and otherwise plays no role in the episode. It’s just in the background (if rather prominently so) as the two police detectives drive by.

I couldn’t quite make out which picture(s) were listed on the marquee as they drove by.

JimFarris on April 17, 2017 at 4:34 pm

I loved second run double feature houses and this was one of the best. I think the last time I was there was for “Hamburger Hill” and a vampire picture. Over the years how many war- horror double bills showed at the Oriental.