Guild 45th Theatre

During the 50's the 45th Street Theatre seated 490 people.

The second screen is just west of the original Guild. They both sandwich a pizza place. (or pizza a sandwich place). The second screen has about 200 seats with steep stadium seating. This must have been a really original idea in 1983. The design accomodates the lobby under the auditorium to make up for the lack of depth in the building. Although the old Guild is still a great place to see a film, one usually hopes it is in the smaller, newer Guild. It has the most comfortable high-backed seats I have ever sat in at a theatre. Landmark actually installed 70MM capacity in BOTH of the Guild Theatres and actually had 2 70MM engagements at once in 1993. (Remains of the Day and Short Cuts). I saw Short Cuts in the smaller Guild in 70MM and the presentaion was superb!

Does anyone have pictures of the Guild 45th theatres, inside or out?

There's a partial illustration/photograph of a portion of the exterior of the Guild 45th Theatre under the month of May in the 2005 Landmark Theatres calendar. Even at this incredibly late time of the year, I'd think it's worth a shot, Mark, to see if your neighborhood Landmark Theatre has an extra copy kicking around or to perhaps contact the corporate office of Landmark and find out if they have one to spare.

There's a photo of the marquee at this site:

http://www.landmarktheatres.com/market/Seattle/Guild45thTheatre.htm

This is a photo of the Guild 45th Theater in Seattle.

Here is another photo of the marquee.

This theater was also called Bruen's 45th St. Here's a photo from 1934.

This is a recent photo of the Guild 45th Theater.

Here is a 2007 close-up photo of the Guild 45th Theater.

Another 2007 photo of the Guild 45th Theater can be seen here.

This is a recent photo. Was the marquee removed? The Guild looks different in this photo.

That is the smaller house. (seperate building) The older big house has the big marquee.

Thanks Mark. I thought the marquee was removed for unknown reason.

Here is a recent night view of the Guild 45th Theater.

This is a nice photo of the Guild 45th Theater.

Another recent photo can be seen here. Whoever places the description below the movie title has a good sense of humor. :)

It may be the same peron who does (or did) the marquee changing at he Neptune in Seattle; similar humorous commentary used to (perhaps still does) appear on that marquee.

It reminds me of the political messages on the Grand Lake Theater marquee in Oakland. Although some of those messages aren't funny to some people.

The programmers at Landmark have hit a new low: The Love Guru starts there today. Why not put it at the Metro??? Considering the history of these 2 theaters and the great films that have played there, it is an insult.

This is an August 2008 photo.

Here is a nice close-up view.

October 2008 photo

The Related Websites needs to be updated with this link.

This is a November 2008 photo.

Just saw "Doubt" here. A bit dingy inside, but good sound and picture, and a decent crowd. Nice place! Worth a look.

Regarding putting funny comments on the movie below the actual movie title on the marquee: This has also long been an amusing policy at Landmark's Aquarius, in Palo Alto, CA. sometimes they do it at the little Guild in nearby Menlo Park as well. They used to do it at the now-closed Park, also in Menlo Park. I'll always remember when "Cold Comfort Farm" played at the Park, and they put "I saw something nasty in the woodshed" on the marquee. When the Guild played the Afghani film "Osama," they wrote underneath, "No, not THAT one!"

1982 Photo

1982 Photo

1985 Photo

1985 Photo

I worked at this theater for almost 4 years, in addition to most of the other Landmark Theaters in Seattle. The employees (myself included, I suppose) tended to be quirky and one of the ways that manifested was on the marquee. Near the end of a theatrical run we really had fun thinking up funny stuff to put on the marquee. At least in the late 1990s the manager OK'd and/or helped think up the jokes.

What goes up depends entirely on the particular manager. A few of the managers around town had no sense of humor, so only titles and times went on their marquees. I remember when The Neptune, down the street, played Das Boot: one suggestion was to put WHAT'S LONG AND HARD AND FULL OF SEAMEN? on one side of the marquee, and DAS BOOT on the other... Needless to say that was a little too vulgar ; )