Vidiots
4884 Eagle Rock Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90041
4884 Eagle Rock Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90041
14 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 45 of 45 comments
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!
Disagreeing with Charlie Fisher on local history is never easy, but I really don’t remember the Pussycat chain ever running movies here. I do know that in the mid-70’s they wanted to run adult movies at the nearby Highland, but community activists stopped them.
Joe W.
For the record, the current marquee is the one the was installed by the Pussycat chain. That one replaced an earlier neon one that probably dated from the 1950s. They kept the Eagle name so only the word “Pussycat’s” was removed when the theater went back to showing more family oriented fare in the 1980s. Shortly after the Eagle closed, so did the 4 screen multiplex at the Eagle Rock Plaza, leaving only one theater, The Highland, in nearby Highland Park, actually showing movies in Northeast Los Angeles. By the way, the comment about sticky floors was absolutely right, but then, the price was incredably low, so many came, in spite of the floor.
The grilled openings that were mentioned as part of the orginal designs are still there, but there are no landscapes left from what I could see, I walked back behind and looked up, and the azure ceiling might be hidden under the popcorn..other than that, the place is gutted, you would have to have pictures of the interior to even restore it, the theatre was never designed to be a show piece, just a neighborhood theatre. Even the details on the outside of the building that made it look Spanish in the old pictures are gone!! You would have to rip out the box office and the modern doors to restore the original plan. Too bad…who knows where even the original fixtures went or the old box office, or old marquee…if anyone wants to look at the theatre, you can call the agent, it might even be sold by now, or go around 2pm on a Sunday, or go when the church is hoppin' on a Friday night.
Lynn
THSA Member
I know the venue is bare-ish (and not likely to show up as a special bonus on this year’s THS tour—wish I were going!)… but this fellow from TERA seemed to believe that some worthwhile period detail had been plastered over that could still be salvaged if the modernization were carefully removed. I have no idea if he knew what he was talking about or not—like you, I’ve been in there and seen little or nothing of historical interest to the naked eye—but the thought that something might be buried there did intrigue me.
I neglected to mention that in the projection room there was a toilet and a sink, but the fire doors to the room are long removed, so when you go up the stairs the room is visable right there in the open! Once again, there is no equipment in the projection room and see my previous note from April 6th of this year about any architecture features left in the theatre. There are along the walls in the auditorium colums that are painted white that I didn’t notice before. The front about 10 rows of seats have been removed for the stage built for the church services. The movie curtain and screen are gone. This venue is very bare and I have been unable to find any pictures of what the original insides ever looked like.
Does anyone know?
LYNN
THSA Member
ps Hi Ken Roe! See you soon!
In theatres of that era, the projection booth would have two entrances. Because the booth would have to have two exits by code for the projectionist the escape in case of fire.
As to the info on the Dolby install. A few films did get released in a Dolby Stereo format. The Pussycat in West Hollywood and two other Pussycat houses had used Dolby CP-50’s installed. Once everything became video projection, all the film equipment was removed from all of the theatres and sold as used, A friend handled many of the removals.
At a TERA meeting last year, some old-timer who knows historic theaters claimed that he had been inside and that there ARE historic elements remaining, just covered up. I didn’t have a chance to ask specifically what he meant.
Well, lucky me I was able to contact the selling agents assistant and I got to go up to the mezzanine. The cry room window is still there, the projection room has no equipment left and being used for an office. The mens room is reached by another stair case, couldn’t tell if the mens room was ever reachable from the staircase to the projection room and cry room, the hall way is blocked off at the end, anyone else out there know? I did look in the mens room and there was no door that would lead to the hallway, may have beem remodeled and blocked off. The church has the theatre leased till the end of 2007 I think.
LYNNIE
THSA Member
“During the 1970’s and through to 1983 it became part of the Pussycat chain of cinemas playing adult porn movies. In 1983 it was completely re-decorated, with new stage draperies, new seats and a Dolby sound system was installed…” (Ken Roe)
I don’t think the years or Dolby-install data is correct. The Eagle was booking first-run studio films during 1980, some of them advertising Dolby Stereo presentations.
The “Firm” was JH Woodworth and Son, and Kenneth A. Gordon was the manager of the architecture and construction departments according to an article from the Eagle Sentinial newspaper Friday, April 26th, 1929. The theatre as of today is for sale again. The agent is Scott Howard at 323.871.8585, listed for about 1.5 mil. The church has occupied the space for about 2 years. One of the church members let me in last fall to look around briefly, the place has no architectural features left except the proscenium arch, everthing is painted white, no original fixtures, popcorn ceiling with fluorecent light fixtures, wasn’t allowed up to the mezzanine where the projection room, lounge, cry room and manager’s office were supposed to be. Maybe someone else out there can get in? I have put in a call to the agent to ask questions about it for THSA.
Lynnie
THSA member
The marquee looks very pussycatish
It didn’t last night. :)
The top listing does show it as a single screen theatre.
Again, it should be pointed out that this was a single screen theatre – the listing should be amended to reflect that. I saw an avant-garde art opening and neoclassical music concert / performance action here late 2003. Fred never did buy the place; hence the involvement apparently of one church organisation or another. Very small theater, painted a drab blue-gray in most spots. It was previously known as the Yosemite Theatre (1930 – 1935) and the New Eagle Theatre.
The Eagle is a legend to anyone who attended Occidental College in Eagle Rock. I was a student there from 1987-1991. Contrary to another post, it was not a Pussycat theater during that time, although it may have been so much earlier. During my time, it was famous for its 75 cent Thursday double features. That’s right. Two movies for 75 cents, in the late 80’s. The theater was a single screen, and absolutely filthy, but come Thursday there would be lines down the block of local residents and Occidental students. It was often sold out if you didn’t make it early enough. The floors were always super-sticky, and the house lights were NEVER turned up, apparently so nobody would see the grime.
I remember seeing The Untouchables at this theater, and having a stray 2-year-old peek over a chair while a guy was clubbed on-screen. (The theater played host to many local families, whose children would run up and down the aisles with abandon.)
At some point in the 90’s, after I’d graduated, the theater closed, and was available for rent. Lately I’ve seen it as a church.
The Eagle Rock Theatre was recently sold and is going to be used as a church.
Saw Zebra in the Kitchen here with my grandfather. If I ever make a million, I’ll buy it.
Closed since early 2000, the theater was just bought by Fred Eric, a prominent L.A. restaurant operator, who plans to reopen it and convert the 99 cent store next door into a diner, a la his Fred 62 over in Los Feliz. Rumor has it that the theater itself will offer food service.
The Eagle spent the 70’s thru 80’s as a Pussycat theatre. During the early 90’s it ran 2nd and 3rd run films.