Tiffany Theater
8534 W. Sunset Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90069
8534 W. Sunset Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90069
12 people
favorited this theater
Opened in 1966, the old Tiffany Theater was a much beloved West Hollywood movie house which, like the Nuart, Fox Venice, and Vagabond theaters, ran classic films during the 1970’s and 1980’s. It was also the site of an annual 3D festival.
The Tiffany Theater closed in the early 1990’s as a movie theater, but reopened a few years later as a playhouse, later known as The Actors Studio.
The Tiffany Theater, which is slated for demolition in the near future, ended its long run in March 2002 with Alan Bennett’s "Talking Heads" with solo pieces performed by actors such as Annette Bening, Tyne Daly, and Swoosie Kurtz.
Contributed by
Cinema Treasures
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Recent comments (view all 60 comments)
Rick and I used to go to the Tiffany all the time. We saw the 3-D festival there with the rare Three Stooges film. We also saw Ann Miller and Mickey Rooney there for the opening of (was it “Words and Music?). We also frequented the Vagabond, the Beverly, the Nu Art, and the Sherman. I met Bette Midler at the Sherman. She came to see "Some like it hot.” One night the cast of “Carrie” (William Katt, Sissy Spacek and others) showed up when we had a double feature for something. That was way too long ago. The Tiffany was the coolest of the revival theaters. Rick was probably their biggest supporter. He used to know everyone there. I probably spent half my income going to movies there between 1976 and 1979. Its one thing to see a film on DVD. Its an entirely different experience to see it projected in the original 35mm print.
I arrived in Los Angeles in May of 1977 and right away knew it was built for me. The first double bill I saw was Alexander’s Ragtime Band and The Gang’s All Here. Though the theatre was odd — very little rake, a low ceiling, and not a very large screen, it was run by dedicated cinemaphiles and for the next several years, it was one of my favorite hangouts. I miss it to this day.
I recall with great fondness the 3D festivals. I saw Kiss Me Kate whenever it was shown, but saw just about everything else, and most of them were really pretty terrible. The Tiffany boasted that it had a silver screen, and perhaps because the throw from the projector was in a straight line and the screen was small, the 3D was much more effective. They showed the shorts and cartoons, too, everything they could find. They also made it their business to find good posters. There was one 3 sheet of Rita Hayworth’s Down to Earth that was beautiful.
Often, old stars would show up for screenings. I once saw The Harvey Girls with Virginia O'Brien in attendance. She was wearing a rather tired leopard skin coat. After all, it had been a long time since she was at MGM. I felt bad for her since only about thirty people showed up, but she still seemed delighted to be there and gave a little talk beforehand, describing how she was discovered and what it was like shooting the movie.
Another time, I saw Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. One entered the theatre from the side. A dazzling figure in a dazzling red gown caught the corner of my eye. It was the star and former wife of director Russ Meyer, Edy Williams. She was alone and sat directly behind me. She seemed like a good sport, she laughed at her own performance, but then disappared about halfway through when her role
in the film ended.
The sister theatre to the Tiffany was the Vagabond. See my post for that for a few more stories.
Can’t bring up the Vagabond on the site…hmmm.
Also, what was the Gordon (on LaBrea south of Melrose) renamed?
KenRoe: Many thanks for the updates. I lived in LA 1981-89 and the Vagabond and Gordon were a couple of places I frequented…along with the Tiffany, the Oriental, the Four Star, the Clinton, the Fairfax, the New Beverly, the Pan Pacific. Obviously, I leaned to the inexpensive houses.
Here is a photo taken yesterday:
http://tinyurl.com/lg794w
Here is a Facebook page for Tiffany alumni.
View link
The Tiffany can be seen in the Mondo documentary “The Forbidden”. On the marquee is “Young Aphrodites” and Bergman’s “Smiles of a Summer Night”. That should place the footage around 1966 or 1967 based on the U.S. release date of the first film.
Here is another Facebook page for Tiffany alumni.
View link
Now on Wikipedia: View link
Described in this 1966 trade article: Boxoffice