Filmarte Theatre
1228 Vine Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90038
1228 Vine Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90038
1 person
favorited this theater
Opened as the La Mirada Theatre in the mid-1920’s. This theater was converted into a recording studio before a fire closed its doors for good.
The building was converted into office space and has since been demolished.
Contributed by
William Gabel
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Recent comments (view all 24 comments)
Stood in the alley between the market and the theater many a night and watched the Steve Allen Show being filmed through an open fire exit door.
Some night there wer empty seats and Steve would motion us in to sit down and watch the show.
Didn’t know until I read the above that this was the Art Linkletter Theater. Was twice one of the grade-school kids on House Party, back in the ‘50s.
@menziesii – do you remember an imprint of a salami in set in the sidewalk outside the stage entrance when the Steve Allen Show was there?
The Filmarte’s career as a movie house ended by 1952. Daily Variety of July 14, 1952, reported that Fox West Coast Theatres had leased the Filmarte Theatre to a “telepix producer.” That was most likely Columbia’s television subsidiary, Screen Gems, which produced Art Linkletter’s “House Party” for television.
IMDb says that Linkletter’s show aired from CBS Television City, but that must have been in later years. Television City didn’t begin operating until November 16, 1952, and “House Party” had begun airing on September 1 that same year, so it most likely aired from the Filmarte from its first show until some time no later than 1962, when Steve Allen’s syndicated nightly show began using the venue.
The Filmarte had aka’s of Art Linkletter Playhouse and Steve Allen Playhouse during its TV studio years, but of course never operated as a movie theater under those names. I’m not sure if the house continued in use for television after Allen’s show was canceled in 1964.
Bob do not recall seeing it, but do remember hearing of it.
That’s a grim replacement for the pleasant building that housed the Filmarte. The new building is probably bad for the mental health of people who have to look at it every day.
The building was owned by Songwriter Bob Hilliard’s wife in the 70’s..
how long she owned it before that I dont know…yes, the theatre
was used in the 70’s for video production.Barbara Mandrell taped there, as well as this singer named Troy Something or other..)
I drove past there the other day as was saddened to see the new building.Used to go there as a teen to watch the Allen Show.
This is Steveorini again…the Troy I was speaking of in the above post that recorded his show at the Filmarte in the 70’s was talk show host Troy Cory, and this would have been somewhere around the mid 70’s.
His show aired on KTLA and also KCOP.There are some clips of him on youtube.
The name of the place at this time was called The Vine St. Video Centre, and the left side of the building had a small restaurant.
there was another small storefront on the right…
@steveorini – hi. Since you were there several times was there still the imprint of a salami in the sidewalk outside the theater?
David James’s book “The Most Typical Avant-Garde” says that this theater became the Filmarte in July, 1928.