I was looking at some photos at the Bacon Library (Wyandotte) website and Majestic and Rialto were completely separate from the Wyandotte Theater, so they should be removed from the “also known as…” line. I’ll be creating new pages for these theaters.
By the way, as you can see from the photos on the page that Lost Memory posted, this started out as the Fort Drive-in. When Nicholas George bought it, he renamed it the Fort George.
The Main was built in 1938, but the Annex was added sometime in the 40s to handle overflow crowds. They showed the same movie until 1958. If it’s true that the Main seated 1700, and the total seating was 2000, then the Annex only seated 300 — ? That’s not right.
“The booth of the Million Dollar was apparently an afterthought, as it was located at the front center of the balcony.”
Gordon made this comment back in 2003, but the recent “All About” presentation by LAHTF addressed this issue:
The position of the booth was well considered. For one thing, it meant the projectors were closer to the screen, so the image was brighter. Also, they were square on to the screen, so there was no keystoning to be corrected.
Yes, it’s a small booth in an odd place — but that does give it certain advantages.
Just got back from taking pictures of the Mayfair; too bad it’s a grey, overcast day. Right this instant, the fencing and plywood barrier that they put up after the earthquake is down. You can see everything down to the terrazzo sidewalk. No telling how long this will last…
Someone with a large format camera was taking photos to document the building. A couple of guys who are working on restoring the facade were looking around. Lots of interest from passersby on the building.
By the way, the description above mentions the Mayfair as “one of four theaters in downtown Santa Monica (Fox Criterion, The El Miro, The Hitching Post, Majestic).”
There’s an article and photo of the NuWilshire rehab on the front page. I’m on my way over now to see if I can get some photos of the Mayfair; it’s the first time the facade has been visible since I moved to Santa Monica.
Howard, I emailed the Santa Monica Conservancy, and unsurprisingly, got no response.
There’s no doubt now — they’ve removed the front doors and the businesses in front (however, they have set aside the terrazzo sidewalk) and you can see it’s nothing but a shell inside.
This is from Joe Vogel’s post on the Fox Rosemary (Santa Monica) page:
“Incidentally, the second Rosemary Theatre was located across the Promenade from the site of an earlier theatre called the Wonderland, which was listed in a 1915 directory of Ocean Park as being at 2939 Ocean Front Promenade.”
So the address above is in error. 2939 Ocean Park is way out by the airport. 2939 Ocean Front puts it down by the pier where all the action was.
I’m starting to think the guy I talked to on Feb 11 was wrong. For the past few days, the jackhammers have been running over at the NuWilshire. They’ve cut a large opening in the side of the building near the back stage area, and it appears that they’re stripping the place down to the walls. I peeked in yesterday and saw a pile of rubble about six feet high in the area of the lobby. It doesn’t look good.
MPol, which ultimately turned into a huge cash cow for the studios. Irregardless of its effect on the theater business, would you have denied them that?
Oops! I was referring to Lost Memory… Not to belabor the whole parking issue that bugs him, but I’m in Santa Monica, and most of the side streets are restricted parking. That doesn’t leave many options if you want to go to the NuWilshire (before it closed) or the Aero. It really forced them back into what they started as — neighborhood theaters.
LM, I don’t know where you’re located, but here in LA, the car is king. If you can’t drive there and park easily, a lot of people just won’t go. Many great neighborhood theaters suffer for this reason.
Yes, KingBiscuits, but we’re talking about movie theaters where the projection booths are run by high school kids. Who do you think would crew those computers and lasers? Video game geeks. Every time you went to a movie, you’d risk becoming “collateral damage.”
If you’re going to blame piracy for keeping people out of the theaters, then you also have to blame VHS, DVDs, Blu-Ray, cable, satellite TV, and paid downloads. All of this legal stuff is competing with theaters for customers' dollars too.
As for the death of movies and the movie theater business, paid attendances were up last year. One article I read put the figure at 16% above the previous year. How does that square with your image of kids with camcorders destroying an industry?
That’s just what I was thinking, Justin. I thought they had this covered with those dots. Does this mean that they’ve been annoying me for no good reason?
Chris, please tell Ruth that Don Solosan said hello. I met my ex-wife in a class she taught at U of Michigan, and the fact that Ruth moved down to Athens was a big reason why we looked at Ohio U and ended up applying there.
Glad to hear that the Athens Film & Video Festival is still going strong.
I was looking at some photos at the Bacon Library (Wyandotte) website and Majestic and Rialto were completely separate from the Wyandotte Theater, so they should be removed from the “also known as…” line. I’ll be creating new pages for these theaters.
By the way, as you can see from the photos on the page that Lost Memory posted, this started out as the Fort Drive-in. When Nicholas George bought it, he renamed it the Fort George.
According to this website:
http://www.daads.org/threatened02.htm
The Main was built in 1938, but the Annex was added sometime in the 40s to handle overflow crowds. They showed the same movie until 1958. If it’s true that the Main seated 1700, and the total seating was 2000, then the Annex only seated 300 — ? That’s not right.
I just saw Wolverine at the Chinese and they had a poster out front for Harry Potter 6 labeled “coming soon.”
Clearlight, I love your photo. I’ve never seen this theater at night. It’s beautiful!
“The booth of the Million Dollar was apparently an afterthought, as it was located at the front center of the balcony.”
Gordon made this comment back in 2003, but the recent “All About” presentation by LAHTF addressed this issue:
The position of the booth was well considered. For one thing, it meant the projectors were closer to the screen, so the image was brighter. Also, they were square on to the screen, so there was no keystoning to be corrected.
Yes, it’s a small booth in an odd place — but that does give it certain advantages.
cnichols posted some info about films shown in 1950 back on Nov 18, 2008, with ad links.
We should have been wearing our Cinema Treasures beanies…
Just got back from taking pictures of the Mayfair; too bad it’s a grey, overcast day. Right this instant, the fencing and plywood barrier that they put up after the earthquake is down. You can see everything down to the terrazzo sidewalk. No telling how long this will last…
Someone with a large format camera was taking photos to document the building. A couple of guys who are working on restoring the facade were looking around. Lots of interest from passersby on the building.
By the way, the description above mentions the Mayfair as “one of four theaters in downtown Santa Monica (Fox Criterion, The El Miro, The Hitching Post, Majestic).”
Doesn’t Laemmle’s count?
A photo of the Mayfair is in the Santa Monica Daily Press today.
http://www.smdp.com/pdf/032009.pdf
There’s an article and photo of the NuWilshire rehab on the front page. I’m on my way over now to see if I can get some photos of the Mayfair; it’s the first time the facade has been visible since I moved to Santa Monica.
Article and photo of the rehab on the front page of the Santa Monica Daily Press today.
http://www.smdp.com/pdf/032009.pdf
Also, inside is a photo of the Mayfair. I’m on my way over now to see if I can get some good photos of the place.
There’s a sign on the lot about 24/7 retail space opening up in Spring of 2009. Oops. I think they’re going to miss that deadline.
Howard, I got a reply tonight. They said that the “envelope” of the building is protected, but not how the space inside is laid out.
Howard, I emailed the Santa Monica Conservancy, and unsurprisingly, got no response.
There’s no doubt now — they’ve removed the front doors and the businesses in front (however, they have set aside the terrazzo sidewalk) and you can see it’s nothing but a shell inside.
This is from Joe Vogel’s post on the Fox Rosemary (Santa Monica) page:
“Incidentally, the second Rosemary Theatre was located across the Promenade from the site of an earlier theatre called the Wonderland, which was listed in a 1915 directory of Ocean Park as being at 2939 Ocean Front Promenade.”
So the address above is in error. 2939 Ocean Park is way out by the airport. 2939 Ocean Front puts it down by the pier where all the action was.
I’m starting to think the guy I talked to on Feb 11 was wrong. For the past few days, the jackhammers have been running over at the NuWilshire. They’ve cut a large opening in the side of the building near the back stage area, and it appears that they’re stripping the place down to the walls. I peeked in yesterday and saw a pile of rubble about six feet high in the area of the lobby. It doesn’t look good.
MPol, which ultimately turned into a huge cash cow for the studios. Irregardless of its effect on the theater business, would you have denied them that?
Oops! I was referring to Lost Memory… Not to belabor the whole parking issue that bugs him, but I’m in Santa Monica, and most of the side streets are restricted parking. That doesn’t leave many options if you want to go to the NuWilshire (before it closed) or the Aero. It really forced them back into what they started as — neighborhood theaters.
LM, I don’t know where you’re located, but here in LA, the car is king. If you can’t drive there and park easily, a lot of people just won’t go. Many great neighborhood theaters suffer for this reason.
King: me too.
Yes, KingBiscuits, but we’re talking about movie theaters where the projection booths are run by high school kids. Who do you think would crew those computers and lasers? Video game geeks. Every time you went to a movie, you’d risk becoming “collateral damage.”
If you’re going to blame piracy for keeping people out of the theaters, then you also have to blame VHS, DVDs, Blu-Ray, cable, satellite TV, and paid downloads. All of this legal stuff is competing with theaters for customers' dollars too.
As for the death of movies and the movie theater business, paid attendances were up last year. One article I read put the figure at 16% above the previous year. How does that square with your image of kids with camcorders destroying an industry?
That’s just what I was thinking, Justin. I thought they had this covered with those dots. Does this mean that they’ve been annoying me for no good reason?
Chris, please tell Ruth that Don Solosan said hello. I met my ex-wife in a class she taught at U of Michigan, and the fact that Ruth moved down to Athens was a big reason why we looked at Ohio U and ended up applying there.
Glad to hear that the Athens Film & Video Festival is still going strong.