Let’s see if this works – here’s an incredible photo I bought at a memorabilia show a couple of weeks ago – Nick Adams standing in front of the Wiltern Theater, where his name is above the title on the marquee.
I’ve got amazing photos – I know the guy who has the biggest photo archive of this kind of LA stuff. The Stadium and Picfair both have pages, as do every other theater I can remember in this city. But not nearly enough classic pix from the era when these theaters actually were in business.
I think they only disabled the Add A Photo for the top of the page. On photobucket, there’s several different codes one can use, and one of them uploads the pic to the actual site, so maybe that’s the ticket from now on. :)
Now, should I go do some photos of the Stadium? I’m definitely going to do some of the Hollywood theaters, because everyone who posts pix of them does so with current pix – like anyone wants to see these glorious theaters all closed up or redesigned or as trendy clubs. Feh.
I had several option on photbucket and chose the last of them and it put the image on here. Is that a no-no? But when you go to the link can you see all three photos? Do I need to post the third?
I don’t think the Picfair was gray originally. I think I saw my first movie there around 1954 or 1955 and was there most Saturdays for the kiddie matinee – a double bill, cartoons, coming attractions, a Stooges short, and sometimes they’d do serials every week. I think you’ll find there’s a listing for the Picfair on this site. I was always intrigued by the little studio there, and eventually when I became an actor I shot two shows there. Go know. Back to the Lido – back in the day, the northeast corner of Pico and La Cienega had a pharmacy there for years. To the east of that was Big Town Market (where I had my very first slice of pizza), and directly east of Big Town was a Ralph’s Five and Ten Cent Store (and you could enter it FROM Big Town. On the south side of the street just east of La Cienega, was a terrific Chinese restaurant called Wan-Q. On Sherbourne and Pico, just a couple of blocks from the Lido, on the northeast corner was a hamburger joint called Kentucky Boys – it’s now a mortuary! But the building, a diner, is exactly the same. Across from that was Leo’s Delicatessan. I lived on Sherbourne, between Airdrome and 18th, and went to Crescent Heights, Louis Pasteur, and then Hamilton High.
As said, the Picfair was on the north side of Pico and a little bit west of Fairfax. It was always the rattiest of the three nabes on Pico (the Picfair, Lido, and Stadium). As I said above in a post a couple of years ago, all three theaters play prominent roles in my first three novels and the Lido adorns the cover of the first of them. Interestingly, while I have a few photos of the Lido and the Stadium, I’ve never been able to find a photo of the Picfair. The best of the three theaters was the Stadium, which had a nice big screen and stereo sound.
I’m sorry, I think I got confused – the D-5 is not the roadshow version – it’s the 157 minute version, but the DVD of it does have the intermission and exit music – the D5 doesn’t. Sorry for the the confusion – it was the initial post about why the intermission wasn’t there that confused me.
It was the roadshow version – and the intermission and entr'acte was gone because they couldn’t fit them on the D-5, which is what they showed. Same thing happened when they did the screening at the Pacific’s a few years ago, and that was explained to us by the fellow who did the restoration.
J. Sittig, thanks for the info. I do know that when they finally showed three panel Cinerama there, it was not a louvered screen. But that explains why Mad World looked so good there.
William, I remember now the drapes covering the other booths, so I was wrong about that part, but not wrong about the fact that they never had the louvered screen, which is the only way to get enough light on the side panels.
I wish I could work up enthusiasm for seeing three-panel Cinerama at the Dome, but they have never had a proper Cinerama screen to project on (louvered) and the image is just too damn dim for it to have the effect it had in true Cinerama theaters. Remember, the Dome was not designed to show true three-panel Cinerama, and a few years ago when they renovated, they should have installed the proper louvered screen – THEN you’d be seeing Cinerama the way it should be seen.
Having seen HTWWW at the Dome a few years ago, I can only say it was way too dim and just didn’t have the power it should have. Nothing like when it was originally shown at the Warner Cinerama on Hollywood Blvd.
I’ve been told that the reason South Pacific will be digital is because Fox won’t let them platter the film. Bravo, Dome – get it together or stop the pretense.
That was probably a lot back then – if it’s still 13 mil I can’t imagine why a studio wouldn’t buy it and restore it and make it a flagship house like the El Capitan. All they need to do is make one piece of crap less for the year and voila.
Is it for sure digital on South Pacific? I have no reason to see it if it is, but I’d love to see the 70mm print – and why would they show digital if they have the 70mm print.
Let’s see if this works – here’s an incredible photo I bought at a memorabilia show a couple of weeks ago – Nick Adams standing in front of the Wiltern Theater, where his name is above the title on the marquee.
I’ve got amazing photos – I know the guy who has the biggest photo archive of this kind of LA stuff. The Stadium and Picfair both have pages, as do every other theater I can remember in this city. But not nearly enough classic pix from the era when these theaters actually were in business.
I think they only disabled the Add A Photo for the top of the page. On photobucket, there’s several different codes one can use, and one of them uploads the pic to the actual site, so maybe that’s the ticket from now on. :)
Now, should I go do some photos of the Stadium? I’m definitely going to do some of the Hollywood theaters, because everyone who posts pix of them does so with current pix – like anyone wants to see these glorious theaters all closed up or redesigned or as trendy clubs. Feh.
Just in case, here’s the third – you can see the BofA sign if you look to the right of the theater.
<img src=“http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/whitesheik/lido1.jpg” alt=“Lido Theater mid-1960s”>
I had several option on photbucket and chose the last of them and it put the image on here. Is that a no-no? But when you go to the link can you see all three photos? Do I need to post the third?
Did the link work for the second one? If not, I’ll do what I did and post the other photos directly.
Let’s see if this works differently, but at least there’s a photo above. Next would be:
<img src=“http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/whitesheik/lido2.jpg” alt=“Lido circa early 1960s”>
Let’s see if THIS works:
Maybe you need to set up an account? Let me see what the deal is.
Someone let me know that it worked. Thanks.
Gee, it might help to include the link! http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v147/whitesheik/
Okay, let’s see if this works – I’ve uploaded two great photos of the Lido – if these work, I’ll upload another.
I don’t think the Picfair was gray originally. I think I saw my first movie there around 1954 or 1955 and was there most Saturdays for the kiddie matinee – a double bill, cartoons, coming attractions, a Stooges short, and sometimes they’d do serials every week. I think you’ll find there’s a listing for the Picfair on this site. I was always intrigued by the little studio there, and eventually when I became an actor I shot two shows there. Go know. Back to the Lido – back in the day, the northeast corner of Pico and La Cienega had a pharmacy there for years. To the east of that was Big Town Market (where I had my very first slice of pizza), and directly east of Big Town was a Ralph’s Five and Ten Cent Store (and you could enter it FROM Big Town. On the south side of the street just east of La Cienega, was a terrific Chinese restaurant called Wan-Q. On Sherbourne and Pico, just a couple of blocks from the Lido, on the northeast corner was a hamburger joint called Kentucky Boys – it’s now a mortuary! But the building, a diner, is exactly the same. Across from that was Leo’s Delicatessan. I lived on Sherbourne, between Airdrome and 18th, and went to Crescent Heights, Louis Pasteur, and then Hamilton High.
As said, the Picfair was on the north side of Pico and a little bit west of Fairfax. It was always the rattiest of the three nabes on Pico (the Picfair, Lido, and Stadium). As I said above in a post a couple of years ago, all three theaters play prominent roles in my first three novels and the Lido adorns the cover of the first of them. Interestingly, while I have a few photos of the Lido and the Stadium, I’ve never been able to find a photo of the Picfair. The best of the three theaters was the Stadium, which had a nice big screen and stereo sound.
I’m sorry, I think I got confused – the D-5 is not the roadshow version – it’s the 157 minute version, but the DVD of it does have the intermission and exit music – the D5 doesn’t. Sorry for the the confusion – it was the initial post about why the intermission wasn’t there that confused me.
It was the roadshow version – and the intermission and entr'acte was gone because they couldn’t fit them on the D-5, which is what they showed. Same thing happened when they did the screening at the Pacific’s a few years ago, and that was explained to us by the fellow who did the restoration.
J. Sittig, thanks for the info. I do know that when they finally showed three panel Cinerama there, it was not a louvered screen. But that explains why Mad World looked so good there.
William, I remember now the drapes covering the other booths, so I was wrong about that part, but not wrong about the fact that they never had the louvered screen, which is the only way to get enough light on the side panels.
I wish I could work up enthusiasm for seeing three-panel Cinerama at the Dome, but they have never had a proper Cinerama screen to project on (louvered) and the image is just too damn dim for it to have the effect it had in true Cinerama theaters. Remember, the Dome was not designed to show true three-panel Cinerama, and a few years ago when they renovated, they should have installed the proper louvered screen – THEN you’d be seeing Cinerama the way it should be seen.
The D5 was shown over a year ago at the old Warner’s Cinerama (Pacific’s) on Hollywood Blvd. I was there – hardly the premiere.
Having seen HTWWW at the Dome a few years ago, I can only say it was way too dim and just didn’t have the power it should have. Nothing like when it was originally shown at the Warner Cinerama on Hollywood Blvd.
I’ve been told that the reason South Pacific will be digital is because Fox won’t let them platter the film. Bravo, Dome – get it together or stop the pretense.
That was probably a lot back then – if it’s still 13 mil I can’t imagine why a studio wouldn’t buy it and restore it and make it a flagship house like the El Capitan. All they need to do is make one piece of crap less for the year and voila.
I’ve heard this comment before about trying to sell Pacific’s. What is the asking price?
Is it for sure digital on South Pacific? I have no reason to see it if it is, but I’d love to see the 70mm print – and why would they show digital if they have the 70mm print.
Finally, a photo from the good old days, when it was actually a movie theater.