Wiltern Theater

Nice Web Site. I've been in most of the great L.A. theaters that you have listed here. Seeking some information about Wiltern is what brought me to your site.

BTW - the Wiltern seats 2,200, balcony included and, to my knowledge, it still has its Wurlitzer pipe organ. The organ was restored by the American Theater Organ Society (ATOS) years ago. My father used to take me to ATOS concerts at the Wiltern.

If I can be of any help (photos, info, etc.) for your web site, please let me know.

- Art -

This theatre opened as the Warner Bros. WESTERN theatre. The theatre is located at the corner of Western and Wilshire Blvd. (Wiltern). An Art Deco delight. The organ in the Wiltern came from another local Warner House just south of it on Pico Blvd. (The Forum theatre). The last chain to operate the Wiltern was Pacific Theatres. Just before this was to close, Pacific removed the organ and placed it in storage (as of the mid 80's).

The theater opened 0ctober 7, 1931. Building Architects were Morgan,Walls & Clements. Theater architect was G. Albert Lansburgh, along with theater decorator Anthony Heinsbergen.

The Rolling Stones have just announced they will play this theater on No. 4th.

How do you say you fell in love with a theatre...hehe...well, the first time I saw this place in about 1940, I just could not get enough of it, I could use superlatives all day about it. I was in the "attic" area once, and I swear, you could have put a small one story two bedroom house up there. The one place I always recognize, besides the front, is that long metal ramp at the rear on the west side. In the movie made just a few years back, The Shadow, with Alec Baldwin, I saw that ramp with a 1946 Ford police car by it, and knew it right away. Yes, I will always remember that place, and long may it live.

In the late 70's Paramount Pictures made a film called "American Hot Wax". They redressed the Wiltern Theatre to look like the Brooklyn Paramount Theatre for the Rock and Roll concerts that DJ Allen Freed held. Paramount placed new neon on the vertical theatre sign and marquee. And Universal used the Wiltern for "Streets of Fire" and Chuck Norris used it for a location of one of his movies.

This site is such a great resource. As student of interior design I have just found my calling.

I was lucky enough to see the Rolling Stones at the Wiltern (!), and was so overwhelmed by the interiors I spent just as much time looking around, as at the band. Thanks.

To see a 1931 exterior view (grand opening) of the Warner Bros Western click here:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015653.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015655.jpg
To see a 1931 interior view of the Warner Bros Western click here:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015656.jpg

Such a beautiful and unique theatre. Easily one of my favorites just by looking! 2 cheers for restoration!

WHAT SUNDAY IN MARCH 2003 WAS THE JAHEIM CONCERT HELD AT THE WILTERN THEATER???

In 1970 I sat with my cousin Vic and watched a double Bill of Two Mules for Sister Serrs and Sweet Charity. In the Late 1980's I was at the Wiltern for a screening of 42nd St with Ruby Keeler in attendance. This is a wonderful theatre and thank god it was saved.Brucec

I did relief projection there in the mid 80s. The place is gorgeous, but the pipe organ flutes ran shivers down my back, as if the Phantom Of The Opera would somehow appear. :)

Didn't Carl Belfour also work there during that time? Carl said he closed that theatre when Pacific left.

Well, Carl may have been there, but another projectionist, who was also an attorney, was there when I was there. I forget his name now. He went on to become business agent in the mid 80s. Later, Kemp was back in and, eventually, Belfor became business agent.

Are you thinking of Richard Smith??

Geezzz, you got it!!!

I meet Richard back in around 1980-81 when he was over at the Picwood Theatre in West Los Angeles. He was with his girlfriend Robin, who was also a projectionist.

I don't know if I met her.

Richard's daughter Jennifer was dating Tom the projectionist over at the Winnetka 6 Drive-In.

It was all in the family back then.

During those days we had a operator in every booth. It was great working during that time. Not like todays theatres.

Are you still working in the biz today?

Yes, in the booth keeping the movie running. A single screen.

Is it through Local 150?

My booth is near Crossroads of the Worlds.

Oh okay, off Sunset. I have since left Hollywood for Long Island. I work for United Artists (can you believe that?) at a six and twelve plex; and I work for Loews at an eight and ten plex. Before leaving L.A., I was free-lancing with a guy named Charles Massa at some of the stars' homes.

I did the Bel-Air circuit too, I know Charles too, I talked to him about a year ago. You're right there is a Crossroads of the World near Sunset and Highland. But I'm in Times Square.

No way! Don't you run a screening room? If so, Charles had mentioned to me that I should get in touch with you when I came here two years ago, but I just never got around to it because I have been so busy on Long Island.

Yes, in the heart of Times Square. I'm the one, I've been here three years now.

I just left a message on Charles' cell phone. This is too funny...

The last theatre I ran in Los Angeles was the Vogue Theatre for the AFI Screenings back in 2000. The last extra shift I took was running the Westside of the Universal City. When I was at the Vogue it was a real dump. I really like the theatre when Mann Theatres cared about it.

I'll be darn. I used to relieve at the Vogue years ago. When I left Hollywood in 2002, I was living on Las Palmas. Remember the crappy apartment Julia Roberts lived-in in the movie, "Pretty Woman?" That was my apartment, just two blocks East of the Chinese. I had to pass the Vogue to get to the Chinese. I used to work Universal City before I landed the Marina Marketplace in 1988 with Bob Seeling. Was Messy Jesse still at Universal when you were there last?

What about Studio Bob?

Yes, he was and Studio Bob (Bob Atkins or Atkinson) and Joe Seeling and Tim Burke. I relieve for Jesse and Tim on the Westside. I only worked the Eastside twice. One early on when the Xenon Power supplies were newer and later when they were buzzing like I was working at ConED. I worked the Marina Marketplace a few times later. When I was on the extra list I worked a lot at GCC houses like GCC Sherman Oaks with Bob Burke and GCC Fallbrook with Osmend pence and Al Pearl and GCC Beverly Connection and GCC Glendale for Roger Matson and GCC Santa Anita for Conrad Button. I enjoyed the GCC houses.

I have worked with all those guys too, except Roger Matson. I got Charles on the phone right now.

It was Bob Brooke at GCC Sherman Oaks. Did you know they closed the twin down last fall and AMC sold the 5 plex to Pacific Theatres.
Talk to you soon. I'm on my last reel right now.

Talk with you later. Charles says, "hello." He cancelled a date because he has a tummy-ache. See-ya!

My father was a theater manager of the Hollywood and Vogue theaters, and later became a projectionist. When "The Music Man" opened at the Wiltern in the '60's, I would leave Le Conte Jr. High after school and take the bus down Western Ave. to the Wiltern and wait for Dad to get off work. I had the balcony all to myself, and sat day after day watching Music Man over and over again. I can still sing all the songs. I used to walk the narrow hall from the booth, behind the north wall, to the organ lofts. On Saturdays I would often go in for the whole day, and my job was cleaning the mirrors behind the carbon arcs in the projectors, and cleaning out the copper drippings from the arc rods. In those days, the booth always had two projectionists, and there was also a stage hand on duty. I still love my memories of the Wiltern, but it will never be the same as it was then. I worked as a teen at the PIX on Hollywood Blvd.

This web site has some nice pics of the exterior. http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=116487

07/21/04 Wednesday Bill Sims
Rumor has it that Jayne Mansfield worked in the concession stand before she became big! It is a HUGE theater, and I have generally enjoyed going there, its being not far from my apartment. But one day, for the first five minutes or so, the sound had dropped out of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I complained to the concession employee, who said she would talk with the ticket taker who would talk to the projectionist. But, before anything could be done, the sound miraculously came back on. So I enjoyed the rest of this then-innovative movie.

As per union contracts with projectionist local 150 in Los Angeles. During that time till the 60's. Theatres had to employ two projectionists per shift if your theatre seated over 1000 seats. That worked well for the large theatre that made money. But some of those smaller theatres in neighborhoods around Los Angeles that seated over 1000 seats, it was a hardship. So theatre companies would pull seats out of theatres to be within the contract terms. So they would save in payroll on projectionist staffs.

My best memory of the Wiltern is being caught recording a Santana concert in the mid-80's, and being shuffled out a side door! Luckily, when they asked for the tape, I handed them a blank one. So I missed the encore of Europa but still had the rest of the show!

Wasn't there a recording studio of the same name on the location or at least nearby?

The Wiltern's organ was by W.W. Kimball, opus 6644. It had a four manual console and 37 ranks of pipes. Nine of these ranks were for the "echo" organ in the rear of the house. The organ was indeed removed and pretty much sold for parts. The 32-foot Diaphone rank lives on in the new LDS Convention Hall organ in Salt Lake City. The Wiltern's is another famous organ that had an infamous ending. Won't people ever learn about these treasures?

I just added this one to my favorites as it's another grand art deco lady!

The Theatre Historical Society plans to visit this theatre on June 21st, 2005 as one of its conclave highlights.

In 1929, Henry de Roulet decided to build an office building and theatre at the corner of Wilshire and Western. Begun at the start of the Great Depression, the Pellissier Building/Wiltern Theatre was constructed as an act of faith in the future of the city. De Roulet hired Stiles O. Clements, a partner in Morgan, Wall & Clements, to design the office building. Clements was an architect of great talent and versatility who was adept at many styles. Among his hundreds of designs are the black and gold Richfield Building (1928-30; razed 1968), the Assyrian Revival-style Samson Tire Company (1929) and the Churrigueresque Chapman Park Studio and market (1928-29). With designs for the Pellissier Building progressing, de Roulet engageed the services of Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts-traines architect G. Albert Lansburgh, a premier American theatre designer, to develop the plan for the interior of the theatre. What resulted from the creative energies of Clements and Lansburgh is one of the nation's finest Art Deco buildings. Clements designed a 12-story steel-reinforced concrete office tower sited dramatically on a diagonal to the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue. The theatre marquee and entrance face the courner, and the tower entrace is located on Wilshire Boulvard. Flanking the central tower and theatre are two, two-story wings designed to house retail shops. The exterior is clad in blue-green terra-cotta tile, created by the Gladding Mc Bean company. Gladding Mc Bean developed the unusual color at de Roulet's request and it became known as Pellissier green. Warner Brothers leased the theatre, which was known as the Western Theatre. The tower, which rose to the city-imposed height limit of the day, seened taller than it was because of the bands of small vertical windows that pierced the facade and swept the eye upward. During that time you only could build a building as high as the Los Angeles city hall. The theatre entrace was marked by a sheet metal and neon marquee, richly decorated on the underside with a plaster relief sunburst. The movie-goer approached the ticket booth on colorful terrazzo paving and entered the lobby foyer through carved, mahogany doors. inside the theatre, Lansburgh developed a complex design using sweeping curves and large open spaces. As acounterpoint to the large flowing space, he used intricate, richly textured decorative surfaces to catch the eye and fire the imagination. Adorning the interior were metallic leaf designs, decorative plaster and tile work and colorful murals. The murals were designed by Anthony B. Heinsbergen and were executed under his supervision by Heinsbergens Decorating Company staff. Inaddition to the extravagant interior design and movie screen, the theatre housed a working stage and the largest theatre pipe organ ever built by the Kimball Company. (Moved over from their Forum Theatre nearby). On October 7th, 1931 the Western Theatre opened for the premiere of "Alexander Hamilton". Because the city would not close Wilshire Boulvard for the opening Warner Bros. built a bridge across Wilshire Blvd. and called it the "Bridge of Stars" for the night. Although the office tower flourished, the theatre closed within a year of opening. The theatre's initial failure may have been caused by a neighborhood population that was thought to be insufficient to suport its 2,344 seats. The theatre reopened in the mid 1930's and was operated by 20th Century Fox and independent exhibitors as the Wil-Tern Theatre This new name was a congregate of the street names that crossed at the intersection in front of the theatre. In time Wil-Tern became Wiltern. In 1956, the Pellissier-de Roulet family sold the building and theatre to the Franklin Life Insurance Company of Springfield, Illinois. Under the new ownership the building remained virually intact. However, the original "Pellissier Building" sign was replace with the words "Franklin Life Building", and and the nearly original sheet metal and neon marquee was replaced. During the late 30's Warner Bros. would return as management of the theatre till the mid 60's when Pacific Theatres would pickup most of Warner's Southern California Theatres. Pacific Theatres would operate it until late 1979, when the theatre closed.

A picture, courtesy of the LA Library:

http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015652.jpg

Renovation photos and information:
http://www.levinarch.com/urban/wiltern.html

Another photo of the Wiltern Theater can be seen here.

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!

george.hughes@twofour.co.uk

I look forward to your responses!

Here is a 1951 photo from the LA Library. Do they still make Old Grand-Dad?

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics19/00009281.jpg

An interesting photo of the theater and surrounding neighborhood, from 1930:

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics19/00009277.jpg

Another modern photo of the Wiltern Theater can be seen here.

What can I say about the Wiltern? My father owned a wonderful steak house a block from there, on Serrano and 8th, called the Kiru. As a kid, I would go with him and hang out, then have the chef make me a turkey sandwich, and I'd walk over to the Wiltern and stay there all day. I loved that theater more than any other. The first film I have a conscious memory of seeing there was Lisbon with Ray Milland. I saw the opening day of Tammy and the Bachelor there, with Miss Debbie Reynolds appearing in person and giving away signed 45s of the title song (which I still have), I saw Li'l Abner there, I saw Hercules there, and Jack the Ripper, and Pay or Die, and, best of all, North by Northwest, which I saw every day for a week, and on and on and on. I can't remember the last time I was there, but I think it was the late 60s and it hadn't been kept up very well. The Wiltern figures prominently in my first three novels, a trilogy about my childhood growing up in LA.

This is another photo of the Wiltern Theater.

I thought this 1939 photo was interesting as it shows some adjacent Art Deco structures:
http://tinyurl.com/m73bq

Here is a panoramic photo from 1948:
http://tinyurl.com/nz36j

This photo is from the 1960s. The Melody Lane drive-in across the street has been replaced by an office building, taking some of the focus away from the Wiltern. The theater is pre-renovation and looks a little down. The movie is "The Carpetbaggers":
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics19/00009347.jpg

The theater was not a little down - it was still very nice at that point. Three or four years from then it would start to look a little dowdy, both inside and out.

I wasn't around here then, so I will defer to your opinion.

I spent a good deal of my childhood at the Wiltern, going regularly from the mid-50s until the late 60s - see my post above for details about its decline. One of my all-time favorite movie theaters.

Here is a 1956 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/g5svb

Here is a 1938 photo from the LA Library. A dime to park all day isn't a bad deal:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics48/00058722.jpg

If you look to the right of the 1956 photo, you'll see Yaekel (sp?) Brothers Oldsmobile where they used to broadcast Rocket To Stardom from and where they did live commercials all through the 50s and 60s.

This is a recent photo of the Wiltern Theater at night.

Here are two photos from the 1920s via the USC archive:
http://tinyurl.com/yeryz3
http://tinyurl.com/yj7uv8

Here is another night view of the Wiltern Theater.

Wonderful, but we like views when it was a MOVIE THEATER, not this horrid rock/concert house with no seats

I understand your point, but it does make it more interesting to see the progression from yesterday to today. This is especially important when you consider how many places like the Wiltern are now parking lots.

Your entitled to your opinion haineshisway. Maybe you don't like the post movie theater photos of the Wiltern but others might enjoy seeing what it looks like today. If I come across a vintage photo of the Wiltern I would be happy to post a link to it. Until that time, I post whatever photos I can find.

I understand - it just irks me every time I see it - I grew up going to the Wiltern, almost every week of my childhood.

I went by the place the other day, and it looked great all lit up at night. I believe the marquee said Incubus was coming to performe there, but it was going to be after I left town. I may have been tempted to buy tickets if I was going to be in the area that night.

I went by the place the other day, and it looked great all lit up at night. I believe the marquee said Incubus was coming to performe there, but it was going to be after I left town. I may have been tempted to buy tickets if I was going to be in the area that night.

This was also the theater used in the 1980's flick 'Get Crazy', one of the greatest New Years films ever and a good dcumentation of the theaters interior at the time, lots of shots of the lobby and the empty auditorium. At the films end there's a great shot of the freestanding ticket booth with the ticket girl passed out inside of it as the crowd runs out of the lobby. It was mentioned earlier that 'Streets of Fire' was filmed here, but I'm fairly certain SOF was filmed at the El Ray, also on Wilshire.

Working on the marquee in 1939:
http://tinyurl.com/34669w

Sam Hall Kaplan reported the imminent demise of the Wiltern on 4/15/79. How close was this theater to becoming a parking lot?

PERMIT SOUGHT FOR DEMOLITION
Landmark Theater in Jeopardy

A beneficent buyer is needed to save the historic Wiltern Theater from becoming just another vacant lot on Wilshire Blvd. with a forsaken "for sale" sign on it.

Here are some photos I took while making a left turn onto Western. Don't try this at home, kids:
http://tinyurl.com/2dgj2z
http://tinyurl.com/2zqlbo

1931, from the USC archive:
http://tinyurl.com/yrw7w3

Thats more like it. At least that photo has an easy to identify theater building in it.

The USC archive has changed its links, so here are some of the photos I posted before:
http://tinyurl.com/38fkbt
http://tinyurl.com/2tadp7
http://tinyurl.com/3dtawv
http://tinyurl.com/2o3wru
http://tinyurl.com/3yfxgj
http://tinyurl.com/39h8po

I remember my first time setting foot inside the Wiltern Theater. It was in the summer of 1972, at a sound check for "Little Richard". I was playing drums for Richard and the Wiltern Theater was my first big gig with the King. The sound in the theater was air tight and the feel of the room was warm and vibrant. I remember sitting in the balcony looking down at the stage while the instruments were being set up. As I sat there, relaxed and in a dream like state of mind, I could only imagine how the audience would respond when we hit the stage. I have also attened many concerts at the Wiltern Theater and each show has been spectular. I have nothing but good memories when I think of the Wiltern Theater, long live the Wiltern!

My website: home.earthlink.net/~rrussell007/

Here are three recent photos:
http://tinyurl.com/3cgt2o
http://tinyurl.com/33tdx6
http://tinyurl.com/3dkbmh

That's the Wiltern for sure, thanks much!!

Here is a recent photo of the Wiltern Theater.

I was involved with the restoration of the big Kimball ppe organ in the early 60s. Here's some photos of that era
http://wilterntheater.palacehilo.org/Wiltern_Theater.html

Nice shots Bob, the Wiltern was one of my favorites. I have an opening night program for the theatre. When it opened in Oct. 1931 as the Warner's Western Theatre.

I recently found some more photos of the interior of the Wiltern from about 1965. They are posted here......
<http://palacehilo.org/Wiltern-Theater.html>
You can see full size versions of the three newest photos by clicking on them.

Bob Alder

Thanks Bob,
Here is a working link to what you gave above:
http://palacehilo.org/Wiltern-Theater.html

Here is a March 1948 ad from the LA Times. Note the Ronald Reagan film that was finishing its run:
http://tinyurl.com/33sddd

This is a more recent photo of the Wiltern Theater.

Here is the Wiltern at night.

Recent daytime exterior:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/laWilternJan122008008.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/laWilternJan122008001.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/laWilternJan122008002.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/laWilternJan122008005.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/laWilternJan122008007.jpg

A 1932 view as the Warner Bros. Western, with the gala premiere of a Samuel Goldwyn production released by United Artists: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/western32.jpg

Wow, the 1932 photo is awesome...Thanks!

This is another recent photo of the Wiltern Theater.

Here is an April 1964 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/2j882w

The Mark of Zorro with Douglas Fairbanks was released in December of 1920.

Here is a box office photo, circa mid 70s:
http://tinyurl.com/3czvmp

Here is a 2001 shot I took of the Wiltern:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/achangeinscenerymovies/2400519649/

The fact that this theater is now a live venue is in no way upsetting to me, unlike what a previous poster felt. The fact that it still stands, and is in use for the arts, is something I think needs to be embraced by theater/theatre enthusiasts.

Here is a 2002 photo from the LA Times site:
http://tinyurl.com/5afscq

Here is a May 2008 close-up view.

It looked beautiful last night on "The Bachelorette."

Here is a June 2008 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/6729s8

Here is a 1956 photo from the LAPL:
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics49/00074484.jpg

Finally, a photo from the good old days, when it was actually a movie theater.

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.

Links - we don't need no stinking links :) Apparently, you can post photos right in the comment box - and I'm jiggy with that.

The webmaster needs to comment ASAP on the matter of "stinking links." Are they no longer welcome at Cinema Treasures?

What??? Of course links are welcome - I was joking. I just didn't know that you could post an actual photo in the comment box. Are you a cop?

Poor Nick Adams, part of the doomed "Rebel Wihout a Cause" cast, with James Dean, Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo. The only one that didn't die an unnatural death was Jim Backus.

haines: While it's easy enough for those who know markup code to embed an image in a Cinema Treasures page, it violates the site's comment policy (fourth bullet point in section one.) As I don't run the site, I don't know the reason for the policy- though I surmise it may have something to do with the potential for copyright violations which could lead to legal problems for the site and, to a lesser extent, the problem of overly wide images stretching the pages horizontally, which would lead to a lot of work for the webmasters, removing those comments to restore the damaged pages.

Large graphics can distort the page similar to posting a very long link. Another problem with large embeded graphics is people that have slow or dial-up modems will have to wait a long time for the page to load.

Well, I'd remove the post but there doesn't seem to be a way to do it. I'll just use links from now on.

I liked the photo, though.

If management feels that the photo is a problem, they will remove it.

I do too. The marquee looks great.

Just in case they remove it, here's the link.

<img src=\"http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/whitesheik/wiltern.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Wiltern - mid 50s\">

I've got other really incredible photos, which I'm going to start linking to - I've already put up three of the Lido Theater on Pico and La Cienega, and later tonight I'm doing the Vogue, since I'm quite bored of looking at the photos there, which are all of the run-down decrepit current sad thing it's become.

Just a suggestion. If you post the link this way:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v147/whitesheik/wiltern.jpg

We only see the photo and not the rest of your photobucket.

Thanks for the tip!

I've loaded some photos of the Vogue, the Bruin, the Stadium, and the Lido. Will do more as I get the time. Check 'em out.

No problem. Thanks for posting the photos.

Here is an October 2008 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/4va444

Here is a photo taken yesterday:
http://tinyurl.com/67lmm9

Here is an undated interior photo from the USC archive:
http://tinyurl.com/8x2q5n

Brian Wilson will be at the Wiltern at the end of the month:
http://tinyurl.com/8zt764

Here is a photo taken today:
http://tinyurl.com/cdczlz

Here is a 1981 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/ctetwn

1981 Photo

1983 Photo

1984 Photo

Here is a photo circa 1940s from the LAPL:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00079/00079561.jpg

Another beauty.

This is such a classic looking theater. I remember passing it a few times when driving on Wilshire.

Here is a June 2009 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/lsmvo8

Here is a photo taken today:
http://tinyurl.com/m9p3hl

Here are some July 2009 photos:
http://tinyurl.com/nxhs6r
http://tinyurl.com/mrztpc
http://tinyurl.com/kublsn
http://tinyurl.com/mf2p32
http://tinyurl.com/mxnk9r
http://tinyurl.com/lpftfs

This is an August 2009 photo.

Lost Memory the post you did back on May 13th. 2009. That 1981 shot looks like they miss labeled it. It's a long shot of the 1983 picture. There is a service truck working the vertical sign. The 1983 is a closer look.

I used to work in a landscape architectural firm that was located in the tower of the Wiltern. The elevators are beautiful and the polished stone throughout the building is a knockout, classic deco. A co-worker dubbed the building the Emerald City which stuck, still call it that. I never tired of it's beauty, approaching it on the drive to work, even on bad days.

i worked at the wiltern from nov.1968 to june 1969 $1.35 an hour.. and would be interested in talking to other who were there at the same time.