Gaumont Chronophone Theater

Los Angeles, CA

473 S. Spring Street

, Los Angeles, CA, United States

(map)

Status:	Closed
Screens:	Single Screen
Style:	Unknown

Function:	Unknown
Seats:	Unknown
Chain:	Unknown

Architect:	Unknown
Firm:	Unknown

The Gaumont Chronophone was one of many early attempts to create sound movies. It was used primarily to make short movies of musical acts, and several dozen of these films were produced by both the British and French Gaumont studios in the first decade of the twentieth century. Many theaters were opened specifically to present Gaumont Chronophone productions, and for a while, the process enjoyed some success. Sound for the films was recorded on discs, and amplified for the theater audience by a system of pneumatic speakers powered by a 1 horsepower compressor.

The Los Angeles Gaumont Chronophone Theater opened on Monday, April 27, 1908. Under the management of local theatrical impresario E.A. Fischer, it presented continuous performances daily, from 1:00 to 5:00 P.M. and from 7:00 to 11:00 P.M.

It is not known how long this theater remained in operation, or whether it ever ran movies other than Gaumont's sound shorts. Although the 400 block of Spring Street is today occupied mainly by large office buildings dating mostly from the 1920s, there were one or two small structures still standing in the mid 1990s, one of which may have been the location of this early theater.

Contributed by Joe Vogel

YOUR COMMENTS

This was an ad for opening day of the Gaumont Chronophone Theater.

They’re Here!
The Wonderful Pictures
That Sing — Dance — Talk —Act
“As large as life and twice as natural.” See them at the
Gaumont Chronophone Theater

473 South Spring Street. E.A. Fischer, Manager.
Opens Monday, April 27
With a great program of
Grand and Comic Opera — Latest Song Hits
Instrumental Music
Continuous Performances Daily From 1 to 5 and 7 to 11 p.m.
Don't Fail to See the Scientific Marvel of the Age

posted by Lost Memory on Jan 13, 2005 at 6:55pm

The ad mentioned in the above comment can be found at this link.

posted by Lost Memory on Oct 4, 2006 at 4:37am

I recommend that website - lots of interesting stuff from the turn of the century, or last century now, I guess. Tempus fugit.

posted by ken mc on Jun 20, 2007 at 7:32pm

Now that the L.A. County Assessor's office has parcel information online, I've been able to find out that the building now on this site was built in 1914. The building which housed the Gaumont Chronophone Theatre in 1908 was demolished nearly a century ago.

posted by Joe Vogel on Feb 8, 2009 at 5:16pm

Note: Please read our comment policy before posting. Comments which are off-topic, obscene, spam, or personal attacks will be removed. Help us keep the discussion productive!

Search

Theater Guide

Add Your Cinema Treasure!

Newest Theaters

Recent Comments

Updated Theaters

Gaumont Chronophone Theater

YOUR COMMENTS

Notify me when someone replies to my comment?