Saban Theatre
8440 Wilshire Boulevard,
Beverly Hills,
CA
90211
8440 Wilshire Boulevard,
Beverly Hills,
CA
90211
30 people
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Color sketch from a 1929 trade journal: archive
Extensive renovations described in this 1960 trade article: boxoffice
This was the location of the L.A. Conservancy’s first screening in Beverly Hills during their annual Last Remaining Seats program. There were two showings of “The Wizard of Oz,” at this theater on Saturday, June 30th.
There was already new carpet in the auditorium when we held the All About. It’ll be nice when they get the carpet and walls and decorations all matching. Right now the place looks a bit odd.
Walked by the theatre the other day and they were hard at work installing new carpet in the lobby, and possibly throughout.
Undated color photo:
http://tinyurl.com/32mmamn
Here is a link to a photo of the Saban from the LAHTF tour. A couple interior shots accompany it: View link
I just watched Silent Movie again with an eye toward comparing it to the theater we just toured. The name above the marquee resembled the one it had until recently, but I’ve never seen a photo of the Wilshire that had a ticket booth like that one. Also, they don’t show much of the auditorium, so it’s hard to place as well. But that lobby — the pillars are very identifiable, as well as the curved shape of the back wall, the stairs, and that side hall to what are now handicapped-accessible restrooms… that I feel confident about. The rest of it? Who knows?
It was forty-five years ago this week that THE SOUND OF MUSIC premiered in Southern California at this theater. With a run of 94 weeks, I imagine THE SOUND OF MUSIC was the most successful film to ever play the Fox Wilshire/Wilshire/Saban.
And in case you missed it last week when first posted, here’s a little retrospective article I put together to celebrate the film’s 45th anniversary.
Damn! The ; should not be a part of the link above!
The LAHTF Insider’s Peek for the Saban (Fox Wilshire) is now up at www.youtube.com/lahtf; theater historian, manager and restoration expert Ed Kelsey talks a bit about the work done on the proscenium. Also shown is the new marquee with the new name. Ed actually gave me about 15 minutes worth of material covering all areas of the theater, and I’ll be putting a longer, more comprehensive video on the LAHTF channel soon.
There’s a typo in the URL indicated above: the correct one is: http://www.lahtf.org/
There is an amazing new photo of the interior posted on the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation’s FaceBook Page
Remember that the LATHF will have a public tour of this theatre on Saturday, March 20th at 10:30 am!!
www.lathtf.org
Very nice.
Keep March 20th open, because on that morning the Wilshire/Saban Theater will open its doors for an LAHTF All About. More details soon.
It was probably the Wilshire Theater in West Los Angeles that they used for the auditorium scenes in Silent Movie. The Fox Wilshire was still a major venue in 1976 and a big money maker. The Manager, Bob Shapiro, was old school and would never have allowed it to become “shabby” or anything less than perfect.
The original seating capacity was well over 2000. During it’s roadshow days it seated 1840, and that was with the two upper balconies closed off.
I drove by the theater this morning. The marquee is wonderful, though not exactly true to the original. Almost all traces of the ugly sixties modernization to the exterior are gone
I’m watching Silent Movie (1976) right now and the marquee and auditorium look pretty shabby, and I wonder how they fit 1900 seats into it. But the lobby looks good.
The new marquee is up and is a pleasant surprise. I went by last night expecting back-lit plastic, and instead I saw neon. They’ve done a great job.
The Wilshire Theatre is being renamed the Saban Theatre, so I’d surmise the marquee is being rebuilt. No events are scheduled until October, so they might be doing some other renovation work as well.
Here’s a press release about the theater and about Cheryl and Haim Saban, for whom the theater is being renamed.
Anybody know what’s going on with the Wilshire? They’ve boarded up the front and removed the marquee. When I was by there the other day, only the frame of the marquee was left.
1983 Photo
1984 Photo
I am glad to know that this beautiful theatre is being maintained.
I believe it was Christmas day 1963, when my girlfriend and I went to the Fox Wilshire to see THE VICTORS. The Fox was the only theatre in the country playing the film as I think the producers were trying to get it qualified for Oscar. A very nervous man was walking around the lobby when we come in and when we left. Someone said it was Carl Foreman. I remember the picture ran a little over 3 hours with no intermission. I guess the picture didn’t do that well. Several months later, I saw the picture again and almost 35 minutes had been cut out. I wonder what happened to the 35 minutes.
Always trust the library. LOL
Sorry, the LAPL captioned that for the Wilshire. Thanks for the correction.