El Portal Theatre

The original marquee is used to advertise the gift shop. In 1969, I saw "Once Upon a Time in the West" there before it was released in L.A. When it finally hit L.A. shortly thereafter it was missing many scenes I remembered, including the death of a major character. I would not see it uncut again until it's videocassette release. Do not believe those who say "West" never played uncut in the U.S. when first released.

Opened in 1928, the El Portal was built for Ernie Craigin and William Pike. Craigin later served as Mayor of Las Vegas during the 30s and 40s.

It was designed by the Salt Lake City-based firm of Ryberg & Sorenson.

The address for the El Portal is 310 Fremont Street.

I use to go this this theater all the time back in the '60s and '70s.
It was a beautiful theater with great big theater curtains and plush seats (plush by '60s standards) The first movie I saw there was with my dad and it was "The Dirty Dozen."

Architect: Charles Alexander MacNelledge. Photos and some history of the El Portal Theater in Las Vegas can be seen here.

My photograph of the EL PORTAL.
www.flickr.com/photos/lastpictureshow/295609914

This is an older photo dated at 1991 and here is another.

The "Fremont Street" experience is not for me. Old, crowded casinos, lots of pushing and shoving and too many tourists eating deep-fried Twinkies. I'll stick with the Strip.

Here is another photo of the El Portal:
http://tinyurl.com/yqv5ld

The March 2008 issue of Classic Images Magazine has a wonderful B&W photo of the El Portal's original auditorium, as well as information about the theatre's history. The article also includes some newspaper advertising from October 10, 1952, showing theatre ads for the El Portal, Huntridge, Palace, Fremont, and Motor Vu Drive-In, as well as ads for some of the hotel nightclubs.

The 1943 Film Daily Year Book gives a seating capacity of 700 for the El Portal Theatre. Judging from the photo in Classic Images, it was a single floor auditorium, with no balcony.

The El Portal opened on June 21 ,1928. The architect was Rishard D. King of Los Angeles and the contractor was Ryberg-Sorensen. When the El Potal opened, Cragin & Pike closed the Majestic theatre. It appears that the Wurlitzer organ was moved from the Majestic to the El Portal.
The opening film was "Ladies of the Mob" starring Clara Bow.

An appropriate movie to open in Vegas.

Gambling didn't become a major industry in Las Vegas until 1931, when it was "legalized."

I was in error regarding the Wurlitzer organ. It was an original installation, Opus #1854, shipped from the Wurlitzer factory on March 8, 1928.

Here's an image of the El Portal's single-floor auditorium. Note that the last four rows comprised a "loge" section, with larger and plusher seats than those in front of it. The loge tickets were almost certainly priced a bit higher than general admission, and may also have included the right to smoke during performances:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/lvelportal.jpg

I'm in front of the El Portal right now. The Fremont light show is going on.

Here are some photos:
http://tinyurl.com/6dokep
http://tinyurl.com/5z75hz

Richard D. King was apparently not the architect of the El Portal. A Southwest Builder & Contractor article from May 13, 1924, said that he was designing a theater and office building for Las Vegas, but that was four years before the El Portal opened. It's pretty much certain that the architect of the El Portal was Charles Alexander MacNelledge, as the plaque on the building (seen on this page) says. I don't know if King's 1924 project was carried out or not, but if it was it has to be some other theater.

An extensive remodeling of the El Portal in 1961, including enlarging the lobby, some alterations to the auditorium, the installation of a new marquee and vertical sign, and redecoration throughout, was handled by architect J. Maher Weller, according to an article in the August 21 issue of Boxoffice Magazine that year.

Sad to see the blade sign as the only remaining part of the marquee.

I was passing through Downtown Vegas' Fremont St eight years ago after getting off a bus at the Greyhound depot on my way to the bus stop on the Vegas strip and I missed seeing this theatre.

To be fair, LawMann, it wasn't a theater back then. All you would have seen was the blade sign and marquee. That's all I saw, and I never guessed that it had been a theater.

The theater can be seen in this 1950 photo from the LAPL:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics47/00043387.jpg

1973 photo of the El Portal Theatre.
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c28%2c3%2c-1&ProductID=29836

I think I liked Fremont Street better without the canopy. The light show is not too interesting after you see it a dozen times.

Here is a night version of the 1973 street photo.

1982 Photo

This is a 1970 ad.