World Theatre
6021 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90028
6021 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90028
14 people
favorited this theater
Originally opened in 1925 as the Marcal Theatre by Hansen Theatres Inc. The plans by architect William Allen called for 1,250-seat theatre, with 550 of those seats in the Loges. It was equipped with a stage-house, and an organ (make unknown). Large arches along the side-walls of the auditorium contained painted panels depicting scenes from cities around the world, which were back-lit.
It was renovated and reopened March 31, 1949 screening Clark Gable in “San Francisco” & Marx Brothers in “A Night at the Opera”. Later operated by Pacific Theatres, it was renamed World Theatre on July 3, 1963. The World Theatre was closed in the Summer of 1986. It was located at the east end of Hollywood Boulevard and showed second-run features in a triple bill for bargain prices.
“I think they were open 24 hours. Last rememberance of seeing anything there was a triple feature of "Footloose”, “Against All Odds” and “The Big Chill” in the Summer of 1984."
Today the much altered building is in use as a nightclub named Academy.
Contributed by
B Erickson
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Recent comments (view all 103 comments)
Has this theatre been demolished? I have driven by the X twin which supposedly is right next to it, but I can’t for the life of me remember seeing a building for this one!
The building is still there but the entire façade was removed several years ago. It’s directly across the street from the Toyota service entrance.
why?
Why…what? The facade was removed after the 94 earthquake. It had already been severely modified by that time so it was no great loss. If you mean why is it across the street from Toyota, I can only guess because the theater was there before Toyota. The only indication of it ever being a theater is the low profile of the auditorium part of the building. It seems to sink into the ground. This was done to allow for the rake. With the stage house also gone, there is nothing left of its theatrical beginnings. By the way, The Museum of Death is next door. That should help narrow it down.
Three photos of the lobby of the Marcal Theatre can be seen on this page from the USC Digital Archive (click the thumbnails of the two additional photos in the right column of the page.) The photos were taken by the Dick Whittington Studio in 1932.
i worked there in 80 and 81, it was $2 dollars then
March 31st, 1949 grand opening ad in photo section
July 12th, 1925 announcement
Marcel Theatre announcement Sun, Jul 12, 1925 – Page 97 · The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) · Newspapers.com
The article posted by rivest266 notes that the projected Marcal Theatre was being designed by architect William Allen.
Reopened as World on July 3rd, 1963. Grand opening ad posted.