 Vintage exterior view of the Forum TheaterPhoto courtesy of William Gabel
Opened on May 15, 1924 with Lionel Barrymore in D.W. Griffith's "America". The Forum Theatre was described as 'The Most Beautiful Theatre in the World', and styled as its name suggests, it looked like a building from Ancient Rome. The facade is in a costly terra-cotta finish and has the name' Forum' over the pillared entrance, with 'Comedy' 'Drama', 'Art' and 'Music' set into the stonework on the two end bays. Originally there was a small plinth containing a fountain on the left hand side on the sidewalk, which had a Doric column, supporting a statue of a winged figure, holding one arm outstretched (now removed).
When first opened there was no marquee over the entrance, but Warner's added one when they took over the building. A large 'oil-derick' style sky sign was on the roof, spelling out the 'FORUM' name in vertical neon letters. On left of the theatre was a very large 500 capacity, car park which had a Roman style arched entrance and portico facing the street (now demolished).
The lobby entrance was oval shaped and decorated in a Beaux Arts Classical style fitting the rest of the building. Inside the auditorium, all seating was on one level, beneath a painted tented plaster ceiling. Elaborate painted murals by artist Christian von Schneidau depicting Roman garden scenes, ran along the side walls in large panels, which were broken by decorative columns, giving the impression of being seated in a tented room, with open sides overlooking gardens outside.
The square proscenium arch had no decoration, but on each side of it were convex columned curtained areas which served as side stages and held the organ chambers behind. The Forum Theatre had only a very small stage and was equipped with a stage house. The house curtain had a painted scene depicting a Roman ruin atop a hill. Located above the auditorium, was the Forum Ballroom.
The Kimball 4 Manual / 37 Ranks organ was one of the largest theatre organs ever to come from that manufacturer, and it had an 8 Rank echo division with an extra set of swell shades that allowed it to be heard outside of the building! The organ only stayed in the Forum Theatre for seven years, as it was transfered to the new Warner Western (Wiltern) Theatre in 1931, where it remained until that theatre closed in 1979, mysteriously vanishing out the building!
After serving many years as a popular general release theatre for Warner Brothers productions, the Forum Theatre was closed in the mid-1950's, and was taken over by Cinerama Inc. They installed the 3-projector system Cinerama into the theatre and used it as a test facility for their Cinerama film stock prints. The theatre was not open to the public for these screenings as it also served as a print testing and despatch building for shipping out Cinerama print copies to their other Cinerama theatres worldwide. Eventually this ceased with the demise of Cinerama in the mid-1970's.
The building was purchased by Walgreen's drug stores and converted into retail use. This use seems to have been short lived, as in the late-1970's it become a Hebron Presbyterian Church, serving the local Korean community. There is now nothing decorative left inside the building from its cinematic past, only the magnificent facade remains to show what a beautiful & prestigious theatre building this once was.
Contributed by William Gabel, Ken Roe
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