Warner Beverly Hills Theater

I worked as an usher and later an assistant manager there from March 1973 thru Spring 1975. Pacific Theatres had the lease at that time. Although I never counted all the seats, we said the capacity was 1314. The night janitor started working there in 1947. What a nice guy! Most of the movies booked there were sub-runs, but a few times we would have exclusive engagements for reissues. Both "The Sound of Music" and "Gone With The Wind" were there for several months each during my employment. I still have several "Lawrence of Arabia" road show programs that I found in one of the old dressing rooms backstage. What a great place to see films. I couldn't believe Beverly Hills, with all it's money, couldn't save that wonderful palace,

The demolition of the Warner Beverly Hills Theater in 1988 was a major loss to the city of Beverly Hills!

During the 50's thru the early 70's, the Warner Beverly Hills was one of the Best Places to see Roadshow movies. They were one of the best equipped theatres in the city. They had 70MM and was one of the only theatres to have true VistaVision projection. During the 30's they had a neon tower that read Warner. But was later removed because of re-zoning of signs. But the way the theatre was designed and located at Canon Dr and Wilshire Blvd., you could see the theatre from 6 blocks away. The Warner Beverly Hills was part of the Warner Bros.chain then part of the Stanley Warner chain till late 1970 when Pacific Theatres bought the Southern California part of the chain. In this sale they picked up the Warner Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Wiltern, Huntington Park and the Topanga. The Warner's Forum Theatre was part of Pacific owned Cinerama division. During it's last years it played host to many local concerts and shows. The theatre was still in great shape at the time it was razed. But the owners Glendale Federal Savings did not want to put any more money to Earthquake refit the building. (around 12 million dollars)When they were razed the building they started from the rear of the building, so if you were passing it looked like they were just working on the front.

Today the Warner Beverly Hills has become the parking lot for the Rolex Beverly Hills offices.

Just a quick update/correction. The Stanley Warner chain, borne of the consent decrees of the early 50's was indeed acquired by Pacific Drive-In Theatre Corp, (as it was originally known,) but in 1961. Included in that group was today's Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro.

The Beverly, as it was last known as, was razed in 1989, by Columbia Savings, who were intent on building a parking garage. In fact, the infant L.A. Conservancy, got word the theatre was being dismantled and when initial queries were made, the demolition company was told to stop dismantling and instead were offered a $100,000 bonus to drop the ceiling in one day. They succeeded, receiving the bonus and preventing any saving of this once elegant neighborhood palace.

Ironically perhaps, as this was the same Columbia Savings that became infamous for its Charles Keating scandal. The hole created after clearing the Beverly's debris, remained a hole in the ground for over 10 years.

If Pacific acquired the Stanley Warners here in 1961. Then why were they still listed as Stanley Warner Theatre assets as of January 1969 in the International Motion Picture Almanac from Quigley Publications and also in the Film Daily Publication. And I have also a film log from the Screen Room at the Warner Hollywood Theatre, that shows it was still part of the Warner chain till the late 60's.

I worked here with my first girlfriend right around 1976-7, when Chuck Yelsky was the manager (nice guy). I was just out of high school. Changed the letters on the marquee, went up into the catwalks to relamp when the theater got rented out for the High Holidays, you name it. This beautiful old palace, then known as the Pacific Beverly Hills, was being booked with the worst movies ever! But such was the movie business is those days immediately before the rise of Spielberg and Lucas--
Countless adventures were had there, and there was plenty of room to run around the utterly empty auditorium what with films like Scalawag, the soft-core porn movie Maitress, Terry Gilliams's Jabberwocky, and The Missouri Breaks playing. The time I can remember it most crowded was for the premiere of that memorable film Fun With Dick and Jane. Cranky executives from the home office came in and really made our life miserable for a few hours.
However, the real fun began when we ran an exclusive engagement of The Passover Plot. Remember that one? Zalman King (later the soft-core tzar behind Red Shoes Diaries, et cet) in the role of Jesus Christ; this--I believe--Golan and Globus production suggested that the Crucifixion was a trick. Local fundementalists--LA's got 'em by the thousands--phoned in bomb threats, and we on the staff drew extra hours to protect the otherwise empty theater from suspicious characters. Since the theater still had a stage, and since there were an average of three people a night paying to see this movie, and since the movie was a true lox, one time I rode my bicycle across the stage in mid film on a bet. Got a nice hand; no complaints.
One of the reasons I left LA is because they were tearing down buildings like this, and I'm sorry to hear it's gone.

To see an early exterior view of the Warner Bros Beverly Hills Theater, complete with tower (LAPL collection) go here:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014435.jpg
To see a 1931 view of the Warner Bros Beverly Hills Theater auditorium (LAPL collection) go here:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014431.jpg

The last film I saw in this beautiful theatre was "The Mirror Cracked" with Elizabeth Taylor,Rock Husdon,Kim Novak and Angela Landsbary. It was showing 2nd run features at the time. As the film
industry changed in the 1970's and the roadwhow prestige pictures were now out of favor I always had the feeling that Beverly Hills no longer saw these theatres as desirable. Mann theatres made the mistake of booking The Exorcist and movies like Woodstock in exclusive runs which brought at times unruly crowds into Beverly Hills and the city was not going to put up with this.brucec

When the "The Exorcist" opened it played exclusively at the Mann's National Theatre in Westwood. Then they opened a second westside engagement at the Mann's Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills. "Woodstock" opened at the Mann's Fox Wilshire Theatre in Beverly Hills. Both the Fine Arts and the Fox Wilshire Theatres were located in the eastern side of Beverly Hills. The large single screen theatres in Beverly Hills and Downtown Los Angeles were slowly dying during this time. The ones Downtown were all action/horror or Spanish by this time. The three large Beverly Hills theatres were dropped by their chains during the mid to late 70's. They tried to reopen the Warner Beverly Hills with double features and low admission prices, but it was to late. The Warner Beverly Hills Theatre was one of 340 theatres equipped with a full 70mm Norelco 70/35mm projection equipment and a Full 6-Track Ampex Stereo sound system.

I show the address for the Warner Beverly Hills at 9404 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, Ca. 90212.

I was lucky enough to attend two exclusive engagements at this theatre in the late 1960's, both Franco Zeferelli films--"Taming of the Shrew" and "Romeo and Juliet". And make no mistake about it--the name of this grand old Wilshire Blvd. theatre was the Stanley Warner.

The Warner Beverly was the place I saw both Lawrence of Arabia and Becket, in their road show engagements. That was in 1962 and 1963. The theater was impressive, and was still very well kept at that time. It was my favorite building in Beverly Hills, and, both inside and out, one of the best pieces of art deco in California.

I recall this being a 99-cent theater (along with the Criterion in Santa Monica, and the Meralta in Culver City) during the early 1980s.

Yes, during that time the theatre operated as a 99 cent house along with the Criterion, Meralta and also the Holiday in Canoga Park.

It seems bizarre for a theatre in Beverly Hills to be a dollar house.

Well after Pacific Theatres dropped the theatre from their chain. The theatre sat for a time empty. Then there was a plan to use the theatre as a playhouse. They where to stage I think the play "My Life in the Theatre". They were going to have the audience seated on stage and play was going to take place in the auditorium. The city of Beverly Hills put a stop to it, before it opened. So the theatre sat another year or so. Before Lou from the Four Star Theatre leased the theatre. So they reopened the theatre at 99 cents a seat. At that time they were operating those other three theatres. The theatre was still equipped to run film. Pacific Theatre left all the equipment in the booth. They were once a Road Show house. They ran second run and a few classics in 4-Track Mag Stereo. The theatre did not last a year, before they closed it forever as a movie house. It would sit for another year before a company reopened it as a concert type theatre like the Beacon Theatre in NYC. In one of my above posts you'll find the rest of the story of this once Grand Theatre in the Heart of Beverly Hills. The Norelco DP-70's were stripped for parts and were in the booth when the theatre was razed. The two Simplex Black bodied XL's were installed in the Vagabond Theatre near the Westlake Theatre in Los Angeles.

For people to see what the Warner Beverly Hills Theatre was once like should take a trip down to the Warner Grand Theatre. The Warner Grand Theatre is the only Warner Theatre in Los Angeles that was never remodeled like other theatres of that era. The Warner Huntington Park Theatre another sister theatre to the Beverly Hills and San Pedro was twinned by Pacific Theatres.

William I always wondered why Pacific didn't try to book in Exclusive upscale films after the era of the roadshow failed. Was it to difficult to get bookings due to the day and date bookings in Westwood and Hollywood? I remember talking to a high ranking executive from Pacific and he said this was his favoite theatre in the entire chain. This was my personal favorite of the Beverly Hills movie palaces.brucec

I attended movies at many of Southern California's grand old movie palaces in the 1960s, but there was always something special about the Warner Beverly. It had, and was surrounded by, an air of elegance and sophistication, almost as though it had somehow remained suspended in an earlier age while most of the other theatres had been caught in the tides of change and had fetched up on the tatty shores of the more modern world, surrounded by McDonald's franchises and discount stores.

The last time I passed by the Warner was in the mid-1980s. I had impulsively taken a bus jaunt to Santa Monica, and, on the way back to Los Angeles, I noticed that the bus was full of hippies, by then a rare species. I wondered at the oddity, and this sudden feeling of displacement in time. Then, at the bus stop near the theatre, the hippies all disembarked, which seemed to me even stranger than their presence. What on earth could they be doing in Beverly Hills? Then we passed the Warner, and I saw the marquee. The Grateful Dead were playing a concert there! I think that this must have been one of the last events the theatre ever hosted.

But even at that late date, the facade of the Warner was still splendid. It looked as though it would last forever. When I heard, only recently, that it had been demolished, I could scarcely believe it. It is very sad that the City of Beverly Hills could not save this marvelous gem.

A parking lot seems an incredibly low-end use for prime Wilshire Boulevard real estate, especially when it's been no more than that for almost twenty years. But, given what Rolex charges for its watches, I guess they can afford the extravagance. Still, it seems to me that even had the main floor of the theatre been turned into retail space, as was the Beverly Theatre, it would have been a more economical use of the place.

I don't remember Beverly Hills having a Civic Auditorium of any sort (or do they use the auditorium at the high school?) I would have thought that they would have been glad to spend a bit ( and take one small lot off the tax roles) to catch up with cities such as Santa Monica, Pasadena, and Glendale, which have had such facilities for decades. I doubt that it would have cost very much to convert the Warner to public use. The building appeared to have been well maintained through the years. When even the small city of San Gabriel has managed to operate a 1500 seat municipal auditorium for ages now, (and San Gabriel probably doesn't have even a tenth of the wealth that is concentrated in Beverly Hills), it really is a shame that they didn't make the effort to save at least this one theatre, which could have provided so much benefit to the city.

I remember by around 1967/68 when roadshow engagements began to slowly fade away, the Warner/Pacific Beverly Hills started showing more hipster and youth oriented first run Hollywood films. I remeber going to see first run engagements of THE PRESIDENT'S ANALYST, WILD IN THE STREETS, CANDY and LAST SUMMER at this theatre. They all had succesful runs at this theatre, but soon after Westwood Village pretty much grabbed all of these type of films for the college crowd. I remember the outer lobby displays for the current attraction were always quite elaborate and showy. I miss this theatre more than all the others that were closed down.

In the early 70's the Pacific Beverly Hills booked some prestigious pictures such as David Lean's RYAN'S DAUGHTER as a reserved seat attraction. Perhap's Mr. Lean requested the film to play in this theatre, since LAWRENCE OF ARABIA had such a successful run here. RYAN'S DAUGHTER wasn't his most successful picture and other upscale films like TRAVELS WITH MY AUNT also performed less than hoped for, so soon afterwards the theatre had to survive on discount double feature programs.

To answer GB's above post about the VistaVision projectors. They were removed around 1957 or 58. The theatre had two Norelco DP-70s (AAII) and two Simplex Black cased XLs. It was a great booth to work.

Um, getting this page back on track ... I noticed an error in the introductory paragraph. It states: "This theater, like the other two Warners (the Pantages and the Wiltern), are outstanding examples of what Art Deco can be."

The Pantages in Hollywood is indeed another outstanding example of what art deco can be, but it was never a Warner Bros. house. If the reference is to the Pantages at Seventh and Hill in downtown Los Angeles that later became Warner Bros., that theater was not art deco.

Stevebob is correct. Also, the links to the Pantages and the Wiltern in that first paragraph don't work.

I think that William must have meant to reference all four theaters (Warner San Pedro, Warner Huntington Park, Pantages Hollywood and the Wiltern) as outstanding examples of art deco, but the phrasing and punctuation got confused when the links were added.

The Warners Downtown Theatre was originally the Pantages Theatre, but this was never Art Deco, more Beaux Art/Greek style.

The Wiltern Theatre was originally the Warner Western Theatre and that was/still is splendid Art Deco styled.

Yes, Joe Vogel has it right about the post. I've had a few introductory paragraphs re-worded on this site.

70mm engagements at the Stanley-Warner Beverly Hills (aka Pacific Beverly Hills):

Source: http://www.fromscripttodvd.com/70mm_in_los_angeles_main_page.htm

Title (Premiere Date)
RSE = Reserved Seat Engagement

Lawrence Of Arabia (Dec. 21, 1962; RSE)
Becket (Mar. 18, 1964; RSE)
Lord Jim (Mar. 4, 1965; RSE)
The Flight Of The Phoenix (Feb. 2, 1966; 70mm unconfirmed)
The Taming Of The Shrew (Mar. 21, 1967; RSE; 70mm unconfirmed)
Julius Caesar (Sep. 22, 1970; RSE; 70mm unconfirmed)
Ryan's Daughter (Nov. 17, 1970)
Mary, Queen Of Scots (Dec. 22, 1971)

Re-Issue/Second Run/Move-Over/Return Engagements include:
Doctor Zhivago (1968, 1970)
Patton (1970; RSE)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1969; RSE)
The Sound Of Music (1973)
Gone With The Wind (1974)

I remember seeing LAWRENCE OF ARABIA here when I was 11. I probably saw it with my family first, but I returned six separate times over the course of its roadshow engagement. In those days, I lived in Santa Monica off of San Vicente on Lincoln and would take a bus up to the intersection of Santa Monica and Wilshire then walk the rest of the way. I often went to the evening show, which let out somewhere around 11 pm, I believe then had to walk back to the bus stop where I hoped to catch one of the last buses home. Often as not I missed the bus and would call my parents to come pick me up. Meanwhile I continued to sit on the bus stop sometimes until midnight. Now, imagine letting your 11 year-old-son travel from Beverly Hills at that hour, and compare it to today's conditions, where you don't dare let your kids out of the backyard! In those days neither I or my parents had any fear I'd been kidnapped or molested, and we all felt I was perfectly safe. Those were the days!

I also saw BECKET here--LAWRENCE made me a die-hard fan of Peter O'Toole's and I always had enormous respect for Burton (I often wrote and acted in plays both in elementary and junior high school, so that I was probably one of the only kids my age in SoCal public schools who would watch something like Burton's HAMLET and listen to the complete recording of the play over and over again; and what kid around my age was into something like NIGHT OF THE IGUANA??).

Finally, I also saw LORD JIM here, a rather widely over-looked film that I nevertheless found compelling enough that it helped inspire an interest in lost ruins and hence a career as an art historian.

Before HBO, heavyweight boxing title fights were satellite fed to various large capacity theatres, the Pacific Beverly Hills among them. Several of the seats in the center of the theatre were removed to accumulate the satellite equipment. I worked the Ali-Forman title fight in 1974. The house was sold out. This was the "Rope a Dope" fight which Ali won. At the end, we had a bunch of pissed off people who spent considerable cash for a half hour of boxing.

Once Upon a time in the fabled City of Beverly Hills, stood a monument of golden structure, a theater made of gold gilt and neon tubing, the grandeur and magnificence ONLY read about in books, with its handcrafted ceilings and exotic chandeliers, a marquee tower that stretched high into the starlit skies', that could be seen for miles around. As the king and court jesters spoke of preservation of our beloved city of Camelot, the property as referred by, on Canon Drive and Wilshire Blvd's., once a star on Hollywood's "A LIST" and upon entertainment history, and in the hearts of many, to which memories are made of, was taken DOWN and with it, the shattered childhood memories that are forever etched upon our hearts. Some, as I, cried as we saw the bulldozers do their work! Regretting the decisions made, ... As the story goes ... the future held great wealth from decisions past ... On October 1st 2005 The Beverly Theater on Wilshire and Beverly Drive with its onion shaped dome and romantic Middle Eastern motif was once AGAIN, proof positive, that our future has NO hold on sentimental days nor romantic nights, nor the loss or sadness we may feel, nor the neglect upon our heritage or the historic values, these monuments hold in their destruction. Making way for new generations, new memories, new dreams? I say "NOT!" ... As we close our fairytale story, much like others in other towns and cities' around the good ole' USA... All the kings horses and all the kings men, couldn't put sense into this unfair, unjust act cast upon historical landmark treasure's! To the generations to come, IF ONLY, You could have shared the beauty within their walls, IF ONLY You could have seen these palace's through my eyes, and the loss to the entertainment and historical societies' and to our collapsing culture as a whole, and the sadness left in the hearts of many! I was one of the lucky one's, I lived the dream! Rest In Peace, With a heavy heart, Fondly I remain, David Harrison Levi - Beverly Hills 90210 TVCelebrity90210@aol.com

Hello,

I work as researcher for a UK production company called Twofour Productions who produce a series called Dead Famous which is a biographical look into the lives of Hollywood's most glittering stars we are in our third series and have covered the lives of John Lennon, Grace Kelly, Alfred Hitchcock, Buddy Holly and Howard Hughes to name a few. Our programme is aired on the Biography and A&E channels over in the US and is made for Living TV here in the UK. What sets Dead Famous apart from other shows is that we also focus on the paranormal and actually try to make contact with the person who we are investigating. We are filming in Los Angeles in our next visit in the next few weeks and we are investigating Rita Hayworth and are hoping to film at the Warner Hollywood Pacific Theatre on .

We are looking at locations relating to Hayworth’s films and her time in LA and we also would like to incorporate this with filming at some haunted locations that are also relate to her. Which is why we are interested with in the theatre as it is where the famous stars attended their film premieres and is also apparently haunted by Sam Warner!

Therefore I am emailing Cinema Treasures to see if anyone knows anymore about the history of the theatre in connection with Rita Hayworth, and whether anyone worked there in the past and has had experiences of seeing Sam.

If anyone would like to provide any information please contact me at my email jenni.long@twofour.co.uk I would be happy to hear from you.

All the Best.

Jenni; This is the wrong theatre and it has now been demolished. It seems you are seeking out information on the Warner Pacific 1,2,3, Hollywood, which is located on Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, CA. and has its own seperate listing here on Cinema Treasures. However I must point out that Rita Hayworth made most of her films for Columbia Pictures which would not have been played at a Warner Brothers first run theatre.

When I worked the Warner Hollywood (Pacific 1,2,3), late night strange things would happen in the theatre. I was the last regular projectionist to work the theatre before Pacific closed it.

Thanks you for your comments and corrections, I'll post on the appropriate page!

And thank-you William for letting me know your experiences and I'm interested to hear more if you wouldn't mind telling me? For example what type of strange things happened at late night as they may be worth investigating when we are there. And what dates were you projectionist? If you would like to email me please do so jenni.long@twofour.co.uk, I do hope and look forward to hearing from you again, many thanks
Sincerely
Jenni Long, www.Twofourgroup.com

IF You grew up in Beverly Hills or remember Beverly Hills in "better times" There's a great photograph of the Beverly Theater (demolished) note: Thrifty Drug Stores on Canon Drive and Wilshire Blvds, today on Dayton Way and Canon Drive Rite-Aid Stores! Kiddy corner to Thrifty Drug Stores WAS the Stanley Warner Movie Theater! (demolished!) David Harrison Levi TVCelebrity90210@aol.com here: http://www.yesterdayla.com/Graphics/beverly2.jpg

Apparently, some readers are confusing this art deco Warner Beverly Hills theater with the onion-shaped domed Beverly theater.

The unfortunate confusion is compounded by the fact that the Warner (later Pacific) Beverly Hills Theater was indeed known as The Beverly in its last years, as a couple of earlier comments mention. It was a venue for live music acts, and could have continued as a splendid mid-sized concert hall.

I saw Parliament/Funkadelic there in the early 1980s. And though that act wasn't necessarily representative of the bookings, I can just imagine the civic leaders in a tizzy over the element that the live shows brought to downtown B.H.

I'm not sure in what year the City of Beverly Hills changed the regulations with regard to signage, but the oil derrick-style tower on top of the building survived into the Pacific years. The WARNER letters were capped to spell out PACIFIC in the same manner as atop the Warner Cinerama/Hollywood Pacific.

beatleMANIA later The Motown25 Revue with The Four Tops and The Temptations with LIVE performances, performed as many as 4 times a day! We went to every performance. I was co-owner of the Beverly Hills Diner at 206 South Beverly Drive as my Mom and Dad owned the world famous Beverly Hills Liquor Castle at 212 South Beverly Drive, all in Beverly Hills. YES, in 1989, The Stanley Warner Theater (Canon Drive and Wilshire Blvd.) is long gone and most who grew up here, miss it! I worked as an usher, floor manager and later assistant manager under Robert Blankenship (Robert was a VERY kind and caring man!) from age 13-17 1965-1969. I still have my double breasted mustard/green ushers waistcoat with gold buttons. Zsa Zsa Gabor laughed " You look like a young Jerry Lewis" to me at the Ship of Fools Premiere in 1965 Directed by Stanley Kramer!
The Beverly Theater on Wilshire and Beverly Drive (demolished in Octiber 2005) is another foolish loss on the part of the Beverly Hills community. It was the movie industry that brought the attention, money and celebritie's/people to Beverly Hills. How easily it ALL was forgotten!!! Shame on those who let this happen! Respectfully; David Harrison Levi TVCelebrity90210@aol.com Anyone know the whereabouts of Robert Blankenship? He worked at the Beverly Hills Hotel for a time then later went I heard, to Paramount Pictures or Universal Studios.

From the LA Library:

http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015627.jpg

http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014433.jpg

In ken mc's first pic, notice the painted sign on the side of the building that says "The Pride of Beverly Hills". Yeah, right. Once upon a time.

Two more interior photos from the LA Library:

http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014431.jpg

http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014434.jpg

I, too, loved the Warner BH. Saw Lawrence there, of course. The last film I saw there was Swashbuckler, but by then it was in a sad state of affairs.

Such a shame that this Warner in Beverly Hills CA was demolished as it was the the site of the original LA premiere for the film, Lawrence of Arabia.

Quite a place:
http://tinyurl.com/2al845
http://tinyurl.com/24ewvv
http://tinyurl.com/26t7t9

Strange ad from the LA Times, dated 5/10/69:

This motion picture is the story of a kind of a woman you may not have known even existed. Because of the unusual nature of the title, we suggest that you call 278-8790 for the title, then check your dictionary for the full meaning so you will not be surprised by the sophisticated subject matter of this film. This motion picture is rated x, for adults, naturally.

Starring Janine Reynaud and Jack Taylor
Directed by Jess Franco
Screenplay by Pier A. Caminneci

Exclusive Engagement - Pacific's Beverly Hills Theatre (formerly Warner Beverly Theater)
9404 Wishire at Canon Drive

Holy moley. This chick's filmography is impressive. I can't tell which weird film was the secret one in 1969, but here is a sample, from the imdb:

Janine Reynaud

Getraumte Sunden (USA title - Succubus) 1968
Im Schloss der blutigen Begierde (Castle of Bloody Lust) 1968
Rote Lippen, Sadoerotica (aka Red Lips, aka Sadist Erotica) 1969
Kuss mich, Monster (Kiss Me, Monster) 1969
Wie Kurz ist die Zeit zu Lieben (How Short is the Time for Love) 1970
Je suis une nymphomane (no translation necessary) 1970

After viewing the b/w photo with this theatre link does it still have that beautiful marquee?

All of the b/w photos of this truly beautiful art deco Warner theatre are spectacular.

I just answered my own question after reading that this beautiful art deco theatre was demolished.

Re: the secret movie from 1969: What a great come on, eh? It turns out that "Succubus" (aka Getraumte Sunden--what does it mean in German?) is the movie in question. I know it's Succubus because I called the phone number...how could my 11 year old self resist.

Basically something like "dreamed sins" or "sins dreamed of"...something in that line.

Here is the May 1969 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/2gr4nm

Cheap seats in June 1980, from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/2cgavn

9404 Wilshire Blvd. today:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/labhWarnerBHsiteOct182007001.jpg

Here is another photo of the Warner.

I may have missed it in the earlier comments, but probably the main reasor for the closing of the Warner was that the city of Beverly Hills passed a law that no place of entertainment could operate after 10PM, thus pretty much ruining evening performances. I think this was mainly done to stop the rock shows at the theatre.

This is a 1953 shot from UCLA's collection, with Joan Crawford's Torch Song on the marquee. (The location is misidentified in the database as Los Angeles, CA.)

This 1937 photo from the LAPL is a new addition:
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics45/00072199.jpg

This ad is from March of 1958.

Here is a USC photo from the late 1930s:
http://tinyurl.com/d2x8e6

Yawn

Here is another USC photo circa 1939:
http://tinyurl.com/csal22

My husband (boyfriend in the early 80's) worked as the projectionist at the Warner when Lou ran the theatre. I'd hang out watching the movies from the booth and after hours we'd explore every nook and cranny of that wonderful place. I still have pix somewhere of the fresco that was on the ceiling of the balcony lobby. I remember wanting to go back when they closed and take the old carbon arc spot light that had been there since the 1930's and the sea-shell shaped brass water fountain that was in the down stairs lobby, I wish I had. When we drove by it as it laid in ruins I cried like crazy, what a horrible loss.

The only things saved from the booth was the two Black Simplex XL projector heads and parts from the Norelco AA-2 35-70 projectors. Everything else was razed with the building. I have some photos of the booth without the auditorium and the bulldozer in the opened up pit area with no stage house.

It was a real loss to the city. It was the right size house to work with for concerts and film and other programs.

I used to patronize this theatre back in the 70's when Pacific ran it. It was a nice theatre but Westwood was the top choice in that area during that period. Funny, now Westwood is becoming the new Beverly Hills and may be virtually void of any theatres in the next few years.

In the early 80's I worked as an usher manager at the Beverly during the very exciting time of live music shows, which was unfortunately short-lived and not very well documented. I have incredible memories and I think the importance of this period of the theater's incarnation has been under reported. Luckily I kept a journal in 1983 so here are some of the highlights: BB King with James Brown (many times), Beetlemania, The Cure, INXS, Depeche Mode, Simple Minds, The Motels, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Wall of Voodoo, Berlin (incredible New Years Eve show), The Stranglers, REM, Ratt, Meatloaf, the now defunct Los Angeles Ballet (which I loved), Dionne Warwick, Lee Ritenour, Sylvie Vartan, Chaka Kahn, George Clinton & the P-Funk Allstars (from which there is a live album), Stephan Grapelli, Chic Corea with Paco De Lucia, Aretha Franklyn, The Temptations and the 4 Tops, Michael Bolton, Hiroshima, Stephan Stills, Adrian Belew, The Isley Brothers, Peoboe Bryson, Quarterflash, George Winston, Tom Scott and Frankie Valli to name a few. Jerry Garcia played several times and brought with him his colorful Dead fans that provided an ironic contrast with the elegant Art Deco surroundings. DEVO filmed a video there over several days for which I was a grateful witness. During one BB King concert both Prince and Michael Jackson jumped on stage with him and performed an unforgettable impromptu set. As I recall, Walter Matthau would walk down from his house up the street on a regular basis and give the boys pointers on changing the marquis. I remember a somewhat inebriated Tom Petty being thrown out for punching someone. This was a magical time for me and I'd love it if other people from that time would find this board and post their memories. I know I've missed some show because I cannot find my 1982 journal. Jay, Steve, Oliver, Wally, Bill, Karen, and the rest of us, you know who you are.
Deborah Palmer