I think a good rotation of quality films from 1930’s,1940’s,1950,s,1960’s,and films after 1970 would attract a large audience. A studio tribute to M-G-M during its 80th birthday would tie in Loew’s Jersey’s historical past.Maybe at the end of the tribute a new M-G-M film such as “Be Cool” with John Travolta and Uma Thurman could be premiered or shown. Maybe someone could contact MGM and gain some publicity for the Loew’s-MGM connection as well as promoting there new film. Its ironic that MGM will soon be part of Sony and at one time Sony ownded a 50% interest in Loew’s theatres.brucec
It would be nice if someone would post pictures of the Hippodrome and its marquee. It seems to be one of the forgotten movie palaces and yet it showed movies longer than the State,Palace,Allen and Ohio. I would like to know how the Hippodrome ranked in size with its origianl capacity. It sounds like it would rank in the top 20 of the largest movie palaces in North America.I remember in Weekly Varitey that the Hippodrome was listed as having over 4000 seats.brucec
The Brandt organization kept these theatres up for decades. The New Amsterdam was in better shape under Brandt than it was under the Nederlanders.brucec
Mann theatres when they let go of the Hollywood,Vogue and Fox stipulated that they could not be used for first run movies as this would be competition. I never really cared for these three theatres in there present state. Hollywood had so many movie palaces to choose from that these theatres were on the blah side. The Vogue was the best of the three and was an exclusive house in the 1960’s-1970’s.The last film I saw at the Vogue was “Home Alone”.brucec
The Pantages is the most ornate movie palace built in Hollywood. The Pantages is the largest movie palace on Hollywood Blvd,the Pacific Warner was the second largest until being triplexed in the 1970’s,Grauman’s Chinese was the 3rd largest.The Pantages had the second largest stage in LA for many years, only the Shrine was larger.The Pantages would be a great venue to start holding large film premieres again like it did in the past. I still remember seeing the huge premiere of “A Star Is Born” with Judy Garland and all the golden era stars in attendance. The last roadshow film to play the Pantages was “Tora Tora Tora” back in 1970.I loved seeing movies on there big screen,it seemed very large at the time.I only remember the screen as being flat and not curved like the Pacific,Chinese,Egyptian and Cinerama Dome.I remember back in 1967 if my memory serves me correctly, the Pantages was showing Disney’s “The Happiest Millionaire”,the Warner was showing “Thoroughly Modern Millie”,the Egyptian was showing “Hawaii”,the Paramount was showing “The Dirty Dozen”,the Chinese was showing “You Only Live Twice” and the Cinerama Dome was showing “Grand Prix”. We were staying at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and could see the long lines at the Chinese and Paramount, which were across the street from each other, from our hotel room. I was 14 at the time and I thought this was pretty impressive.The Pantages is still my favorite theatre on Hollywood Blvd after all these years.brucec
Saw a photo in the New York Times showing the facade with the rest of theatre demolished. A new modern 1000 seat theatre will be built along side the new Bank of America building.brucec
The roadshow reserved seat movie was at its height in the mid 1960’s. Every studio wanted to produce two event films with large budgets released on a long run basis so the studio could receive profits over a long period of time.I remember Radio City wanted Fiddler on the Roof for there holiday attraction but United Artists wanted the Rivoli for a long run. Fiddler was the last successful Roadshow presentation in the early 1970’s.The studios had so many large big budget flops between 1968-1970 that the studios gave up on the reserved seat roadshow film. After 1970 the average budget at MGM and Warner Bros dropped to 1.5 million things were so bad.“Love Story” released in 1970 saved Paramount and was produced on a small budget.Paramount during this period tried to sell the studio lot to the cemetery next door. MGM sold off its back lots and held a huge studio auction selling off its props,sets and costumes.Every studio was in bad shape except Columbia and Disney. Then Columbia got in trouble a couple of years later and was saved by Ray Stark.Columbia sold off its studio lot and moved to the Warner Bros lot and the studio was renamed the Burbank Studios. The studios at this time thought the youth market and low budget films that didn’t require a studio lot was the way to go, like “Easy Rider”. I remember when Paramount was going to make the “Godfather” with a budget of 6 million the studio was nervous. The Godfather became the biggest hit in Paramount history and played many exlusive runs downtown in 1972.It broke records at the Savoy(Opera HOUse} in Boston,the Chicago Theatre in the loop,the Fox in Downtown Philidelphia,Loew’s State 1 in NYC,Paramount in Hollywood and the Village in Westwood. As the studios release patterns got wider and wider through the years there was no longer the need for the deluxe movie theatres that played exclusive run films.The Roxy was just to large to house the big roadshow films of the 1960’s.The Capitol reduced its seating in 1960 to become a Cinerama roadshow house. Radio City was a rare example and became a modern day presentation showcase that lasted until 1967-68 until it could no longer book the major films which were no longer family oriented,and went into a steady decline. Julie Andrews who had been the number 1 box office attraction since the mid 1960’s was washed up in films by 1970 and would only make the “Tamarind Seed” in 1974 and “10” in 1979. The women in film fared very badly after 1970, only Barbra Streisand and Jane Fonda were considered box office for most of the 1970’s. Most of the stars and directors produced from the studio system weren’t able to get a job after 1970. The old Hollywood was dead and the new Hollywood was born. I remember a line from Mickey Rooney who said the old Hollywood had died but wasn’t given its last rights.The old MGM with help of Kirk Kerkorian was reduced to a meow by 1970 and released its last big budget film David Lean’s “Ryans Daughter”.Hollywood was a disaster area during this time it was television that kept many of studio lots going.brucec
Star Wars which was released after Jaws still opened on a rather exclusive basis. Many theatres played this film from 6 months to a year. I managed a theatre which played “Star Wars” on an exlusive run for more than 6 months. The wide saturation started with the building of the megaplex 14-25 screen theatres. Most films released today drop almost 50% by the second week because they are showing on 3000 screens. I think the year 1967 was a year where the old Hollywood met the new Hollywood. All the studios were very profitable in 1967. Studios such as Fox and MGM were showing profits from the long runs and wide release of both “The Sound of Music” and “Dr Zhivago”. MGM enjoyed the re-release of “Gone With The Wind” on a roadshow reserved seat which was a huge hit. Attendance had climbed in 1967. Starting in 1968-1970 the studios started releasing one big budget bomb after another with a few exceptions. The following movies almost forced the studios out of business,“Star”,“Hello Dolly”,On a Clear Day,Paint Your Wagon,Darling Lili,Goodbye Mr Cips,Sweet Charity,Ice Station Zebr,Finean’s Rainbow and many more. This period pretty much killed the movie musical for more than 30 years.brucec
Remember the Roxy was the flagship for 20th Century-Fox. The Music Hall played the top films of the day from various studios. The Roxy followed the decline of the studio system in the late 1950’s. The Music Hall had its last great year in 1967 and the old Hollywood had died by 1970 with the beginning of the new Hollywood. Hollywood had its best financial year since 1946 in the year 1967.The industry went into a severe decline after 1967 and didn’t start a revovery until 1972. The release of “Star Wars” changed the industry forever.The industry has been very stable since with all the large studios being owned by deep pocketed media companies such as Time Warner,News Corp,Disney,Viacom,Sony and General Electric’s NBC Univeral. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer a shadow of its former self with a huge library of non-M_G_M films will be taken over by Sony next year.The growth of Cable,Dvd,pay on demand has made the film libraries very valuable to these companies. I still think the industry produces some very good films each year along with a lot of crap.Its a testament to the old Hollywood that the years 1939-1941 at the height of the studio system and it movie palaces,produced the greatest number of mass quality films in Hollywood history.The Roxy and the Music Hall were two of the industries shining stars at the time.brucec
I think Downtown is another decade away from being a 24 hour destination. Many lofts are being redeveloped as we speek along with new condos and apartments. I think downtown in another ten years will have a large enough population to support more restaurants and theatres. The city of LA needs to continue to put money into cleaning up all the historic facades on Broadway.A lot of investment has gone into Downtown North of Broadway such as the Cathedral,Disney Concert Hall and the Staples Center. Maybe they can turn Broadway into an Old LA Historic District.brucec
The vertical marquee on the Paramount dates back to the 1930’s,the canopy was restored, but is not like the original three sided canopy.The original canopy was taken down in the late 1960’s due to the construction on the subway system.It was replaced with an ugly plastic canopy which didn’t last long. I don’t know why the three sided canopy wasn’t restored during the Paramount’s restoration. What happened to movie night at the Paramount?brucec
I saw the 300PM showing of Casablanca at the California today what a superb presentation. I had a hard time finding a seat in the balcony it was so full. The sound of the wonderful Wurlitzer organ proceeded the Newsreel Of President Roosevelt visiting the troops in North Africa,followed by a Warner Bros Bugs Bunny cartoon,followed by a wonderful print of Casablanca. It was a thrill to see this in a restored movie palace and the curtains opened and closed for the presentation. The lobby area is magnificient and the auditorium is beautiful. I love the new vertical marquee. Thanks again to Mr Packard and his foundation.brucec
The Beverly is the theatre that hosted the huge Metro-Goldywn-Mayer 50th Anniversary premiere of “Thats Entertainment” which was attended by M-G-M’s biggest stars such as Fred Astaire,Gene Kelly,Elizabeth Taylor,Donna Reed,Esther Williams,Lassie,Jimmy Durante,Ava Gardner,Shirley MacLaine,Louis Jordan,Jane Powell,Jackie Cooper,Debbie Reynolds,Howard Keel,June Allyson,James Stewart,Glenn Ford,Charlton Heston,Margret O' Brian,Marge Champion,Janet Leigh,Tony Martin,Cyd Charisse,George Burns,Nannette Fabray,Buddy Ebson,Merle Oberon,Myrna Loy,Donald O' Connor,Ginger Rogers,Johnny Weissmiller,Roddy McDowell,Alexis Smith,Keenan Wynn,Eva Gabor,Zsa Zsa Gabor,Jack Haley,Tom Drake,Adele Astaire,Dan Daily,Vic Damone,Gloria Swanson,Dennis Morgan,George Hamilton,Marjorie Main,Nicholas Bros,Virginia O Brien,Ann Rutherford and many others. A few people on the list were not M_G_M stars but it was the largest premiere I ever saw and it was telecast on Television. They had the red carpet where the stars walked from the theatre to the party at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel accross the street.brucec
William what do you think about Nederlander moving its Broadway shows from the Wilshire to the Pacific in Hollywood which has a larger capacity if restored. This would compliment the Pantages down the street and help Hollywood become more of a live theatre district. I always thought LA theatre was to decentralized for its own good.brucec
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 read in the paper that the city council has recommended 27 million for the restoration of the Fox Oakland Building. The charter school will be housed in the building surrounding the theatre. The theatre will be restored into a cabaret space seating 650. This means only a portion of the theatre will be restored at this time.It would be nice if a corporate donor could be found to restore the Auditorium completely. If the city is spending 27 million along with state grants them maybe another 6-8 million is needed to restore the auditorium. I wish the Packard foundation would get involved like they did with the California in San Jose. I also hope the Fox Oakland will also show film as well as live performance. The City Council will vote in March. I think downtown would get a much needed boost with a combo of both the Fox Oakland and the Paramount. We must thank Jerry Brown for getting the ball rolling or it would have just sat there for another 20 years. I have wonderful memories of Downtown Oakland as a child. My Aunt and Uncle use to take us to the Paramount,Fox Oakland,Roxie and T&D downtown and the Grand Lake along the lake. I feel the City now has a chance to move ahead in a positive direction and the restored Fox Oakland along with other projects will revitalize Downtown Oakland.brucec
The Paramount marquee from 1937 is outstanding. The Astro marquee is a little to plastic for my taste. The Rose marquee is an improvement over the Astro marquee but not as grand as the Paramount with its large vertical.brucec
It would be great if someone would post of photo of the Paramount. ABC/Paramount seems to have disposed of a lot of theatres in 1965. The Los Angeles downtown Paramount, New York Paramount,Buffalo Paramount and the San Francisco Paramount. William did the parent company have finacial problems at this time? This theatre was the only theatre of this size torn down in the theatre district. There was a lack of enough roadshow houses downtown that the Fox Parkside began showing roadshow films and that house wasn’t convenient for exlusive runs. The Golden Gate,Fox Warfield,and Orpheum were about the same size as the Paramount. The city of San Francisco has done a very poor job of cleaning up the theatre district. This part of Market Street had been rundown for almost 40 years now.brucec
The Orpheum was one of the San Francisco Bay Area’s premiere roadshow reserved seat houses. I remember the theatre advertising Exclusive Northern California engagement for films like “Dr Zhivago”. It was the only Cinerama theatre in the Bay Area until the Golden Gate became a Cinerama theatre.It was one of the first downtown movie palaces to close in the early 1970’s. The film “Hello Dolly” was booked into the Orpheum, but due to construction of the BART subway the booking was canceled and moved to the Cinema 21 and the Orpheum never recovered, until it was restored as a Broadway Theatre.brucec
San Francisco is a great city despite itself. The city made the mearchants along Market Street take down all there vertical marquee’s in an effort to beautify Market Street, and it had the reverse effect on the theatre district. Everyone put up these ugly flat plastic marquee’s like the Warfield. The Golden Gate got lucky because its not right on Market its on Jones and Taylor but you can see it on Market Street. I think if Shorentstein and Nederlander can produce Broadway Shows which cost millions the least they could do was spend a little money and relight the two huge Verticlals which spell out Golden Gate which were always lit when it was a movie palace.brucec
I wish more people would write in comments about the Fabulous San Francisco Fox. It is considered one of the finest movie palaces ever built. I have never seen a lobby like that of the Fox. I would love people to share some of there movie memories attending the Fox. I attended the Fox only once when I was nine and I have never been the same since.The Fox is the reason I fell in love with the movie palaces.The Los Angeles theatre reminded me of the Fox, but its about half the size. This theatre was a Grand Lady all the way to the end.brucec
I agree the Shrine Auditorium should be considered a theatre.It looks very much like a movie palace. I saw “Hello Dolly” with Pearl Baily with my friend Richard Oliver who told me the theatre was larger than Radio City Music Hall. The only difference I see is that Radio City and the Fox in Atlanta showed movies for most of its life during the movie palace era where the Shrine showed movies rarely. I love Radio City but I would have preferred the Roxy. I also prefer the Art Deco lobby of the Oakland Paramount over the ART Deco lobby of Radio City and would have loved to have stood in the lobby of the Roxy.brucec
I think a good rotation of quality films from 1930’s,1940’s,1950,s,1960’s,and films after 1970 would attract a large audience. A studio tribute to M-G-M during its 80th birthday would tie in Loew’s Jersey’s historical past.Maybe at the end of the tribute a new M-G-M film such as “Be Cool” with John Travolta and Uma Thurman could be premiered or shown. Maybe someone could contact MGM and gain some publicity for the Loew’s-MGM connection as well as promoting there new film. Its ironic that MGM will soon be part of Sony and at one time Sony ownded a 50% interest in Loew’s theatres.brucec
It would be nice if someone would post pictures of the Hippodrome and its marquee. It seems to be one of the forgotten movie palaces and yet it showed movies longer than the State,Palace,Allen and Ohio. I would like to know how the Hippodrome ranked in size with its origianl capacity. It sounds like it would rank in the top 20 of the largest movie palaces in North America.I remember in Weekly Varitey that the Hippodrome was listed as having over 4000 seats.brucec
The Brandt organization kept these theatres up for decades. The New Amsterdam was in better shape under Brandt than it was under the Nederlanders.brucec
Hope they kept the Vertical that spells Fox.brucec
Mann theatres when they let go of the Hollywood,Vogue and Fox stipulated that they could not be used for first run movies as this would be competition. I never really cared for these three theatres in there present state. Hollywood had so many movie palaces to choose from that these theatres were on the blah side. The Vogue was the best of the three and was an exclusive house in the 1960’s-1970’s.The last film I saw at the Vogue was “Home Alone”.brucec
The Pantages is the most ornate movie palace built in Hollywood. The Pantages is the largest movie palace on Hollywood Blvd,the Pacific Warner was the second largest until being triplexed in the 1970’s,Grauman’s Chinese was the 3rd largest.The Pantages had the second largest stage in LA for many years, only the Shrine was larger.The Pantages would be a great venue to start holding large film premieres again like it did in the past. I still remember seeing the huge premiere of “A Star Is Born” with Judy Garland and all the golden era stars in attendance. The last roadshow film to play the Pantages was “Tora Tora Tora” back in 1970.I loved seeing movies on there big screen,it seemed very large at the time.I only remember the screen as being flat and not curved like the Pacific,Chinese,Egyptian and Cinerama Dome.I remember back in 1967 if my memory serves me correctly, the Pantages was showing Disney’s “The Happiest Millionaire”,the Warner was showing “Thoroughly Modern Millie”,the Egyptian was showing “Hawaii”,the Paramount was showing “The Dirty Dozen”,the Chinese was showing “You Only Live Twice” and the Cinerama Dome was showing “Grand Prix”. We were staying at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and could see the long lines at the Chinese and Paramount, which were across the street from each other, from our hotel room. I was 14 at the time and I thought this was pretty impressive.The Pantages is still my favorite theatre on Hollywood Blvd after all these years.brucec
Saw a photo in the New York Times showing the facade with the rest of theatre demolished. A new modern 1000 seat theatre will be built along side the new Bank of America building.brucec
The roadshow reserved seat movie was at its height in the mid 1960’s. Every studio wanted to produce two event films with large budgets released on a long run basis so the studio could receive profits over a long period of time.I remember Radio City wanted Fiddler on the Roof for there holiday attraction but United Artists wanted the Rivoli for a long run. Fiddler was the last successful Roadshow presentation in the early 1970’s.The studios had so many large big budget flops between 1968-1970 that the studios gave up on the reserved seat roadshow film. After 1970 the average budget at MGM and Warner Bros dropped to 1.5 million things were so bad.“Love Story” released in 1970 saved Paramount and was produced on a small budget.Paramount during this period tried to sell the studio lot to the cemetery next door. MGM sold off its back lots and held a huge studio auction selling off its props,sets and costumes.Every studio was in bad shape except Columbia and Disney. Then Columbia got in trouble a couple of years later and was saved by Ray Stark.Columbia sold off its studio lot and moved to the Warner Bros lot and the studio was renamed the Burbank Studios. The studios at this time thought the youth market and low budget films that didn’t require a studio lot was the way to go, like “Easy Rider”. I remember when Paramount was going to make the “Godfather” with a budget of 6 million the studio was nervous. The Godfather became the biggest hit in Paramount history and played many exlusive runs downtown in 1972.It broke records at the Savoy(Opera HOUse} in Boston,the Chicago Theatre in the loop,the Fox in Downtown Philidelphia,Loew’s State 1 in NYC,Paramount in Hollywood and the Village in Westwood. As the studios release patterns got wider and wider through the years there was no longer the need for the deluxe movie theatres that played exclusive run films.The Roxy was just to large to house the big roadshow films of the 1960’s.The Capitol reduced its seating in 1960 to become a Cinerama roadshow house. Radio City was a rare example and became a modern day presentation showcase that lasted until 1967-68 until it could no longer book the major films which were no longer family oriented,and went into a steady decline. Julie Andrews who had been the number 1 box office attraction since the mid 1960’s was washed up in films by 1970 and would only make the “Tamarind Seed” in 1974 and “10” in 1979. The women in film fared very badly after 1970, only Barbra Streisand and Jane Fonda were considered box office for most of the 1970’s. Most of the stars and directors produced from the studio system weren’t able to get a job after 1970. The old Hollywood was dead and the new Hollywood was born. I remember a line from Mickey Rooney who said the old Hollywood had died but wasn’t given its last rights.The old MGM with help of Kirk Kerkorian was reduced to a meow by 1970 and released its last big budget film David Lean’s “Ryans Daughter”.Hollywood was a disaster area during this time it was television that kept many of studio lots going.brucec
Star Wars which was released after Jaws still opened on a rather exclusive basis. Many theatres played this film from 6 months to a year. I managed a theatre which played “Star Wars” on an exlusive run for more than 6 months. The wide saturation started with the building of the megaplex 14-25 screen theatres. Most films released today drop almost 50% by the second week because they are showing on 3000 screens. I think the year 1967 was a year where the old Hollywood met the new Hollywood. All the studios were very profitable in 1967. Studios such as Fox and MGM were showing profits from the long runs and wide release of both “The Sound of Music” and “Dr Zhivago”. MGM enjoyed the re-release of “Gone With The Wind” on a roadshow reserved seat which was a huge hit. Attendance had climbed in 1967. Starting in 1968-1970 the studios started releasing one big budget bomb after another with a few exceptions. The following movies almost forced the studios out of business,“Star”,“Hello Dolly”,On a Clear Day,Paint Your Wagon,Darling Lili,Goodbye Mr Cips,Sweet Charity,Ice Station Zebr,Finean’s Rainbow and many more. This period pretty much killed the movie musical for more than 30 years.brucec
Remember the Roxy was the flagship for 20th Century-Fox. The Music Hall played the top films of the day from various studios. The Roxy followed the decline of the studio system in the late 1950’s. The Music Hall had its last great year in 1967 and the old Hollywood had died by 1970 with the beginning of the new Hollywood. Hollywood had its best financial year since 1946 in the year 1967.The industry went into a severe decline after 1967 and didn’t start a revovery until 1972. The release of “Star Wars” changed the industry forever.The industry has been very stable since with all the large studios being owned by deep pocketed media companies such as Time Warner,News Corp,Disney,Viacom,Sony and General Electric’s NBC Univeral. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer a shadow of its former self with a huge library of non-M_G_M films will be taken over by Sony next year.The growth of Cable,Dvd,pay on demand has made the film libraries very valuable to these companies. I still think the industry produces some very good films each year along with a lot of crap.Its a testament to the old Hollywood that the years 1939-1941 at the height of the studio system and it movie palaces,produced the greatest number of mass quality films in Hollywood history.The Roxy and the Music Hall were two of the industries shining stars at the time.brucec
It would be nice if somebody could update the photo on this theatre since it has been restored.brucec
I think Downtown is another decade away from being a 24 hour destination. Many lofts are being redeveloped as we speek along with new condos and apartments. I think downtown in another ten years will have a large enough population to support more restaurants and theatres. The city of LA needs to continue to put money into cleaning up all the historic facades on Broadway.A lot of investment has gone into Downtown North of Broadway such as the Cathedral,Disney Concert Hall and the Staples Center. Maybe they can turn Broadway into an Old LA Historic District.brucec
The vertical marquee on the Paramount dates back to the 1930’s,the canopy was restored, but is not like the original three sided canopy.The original canopy was taken down in the late 1960’s due to the construction on the subway system.It was replaced with an ugly plastic canopy which didn’t last long. I don’t know why the three sided canopy wasn’t restored during the Paramount’s restoration. What happened to movie night at the Paramount?brucec
I saw the 300PM showing of Casablanca at the California today what a superb presentation. I had a hard time finding a seat in the balcony it was so full. The sound of the wonderful Wurlitzer organ proceeded the Newsreel Of President Roosevelt visiting the troops in North Africa,followed by a Warner Bros Bugs Bunny cartoon,followed by a wonderful print of Casablanca. It was a thrill to see this in a restored movie palace and the curtains opened and closed for the presentation. The lobby area is magnificient and the auditorium is beautiful. I love the new vertical marquee. Thanks again to Mr Packard and his foundation.brucec
The Beverly is the theatre that hosted the huge Metro-Goldywn-Mayer 50th Anniversary premiere of “Thats Entertainment” which was attended by M-G-M’s biggest stars such as Fred Astaire,Gene Kelly,Elizabeth Taylor,Donna Reed,Esther Williams,Lassie,Jimmy Durante,Ava Gardner,Shirley MacLaine,Louis Jordan,Jane Powell,Jackie Cooper,Debbie Reynolds,Howard Keel,June Allyson,James Stewart,Glenn Ford,Charlton Heston,Margret O' Brian,Marge Champion,Janet Leigh,Tony Martin,Cyd Charisse,George Burns,Nannette Fabray,Buddy Ebson,Merle Oberon,Myrna Loy,Donald O' Connor,Ginger Rogers,Johnny Weissmiller,Roddy McDowell,Alexis Smith,Keenan Wynn,Eva Gabor,Zsa Zsa Gabor,Jack Haley,Tom Drake,Adele Astaire,Dan Daily,Vic Damone,Gloria Swanson,Dennis Morgan,George Hamilton,Marjorie Main,Nicholas Bros,Virginia O Brien,Ann Rutherford and many others. A few people on the list were not M_G_M stars but it was the largest premiere I ever saw and it was telecast on Television. They had the red carpet where the stars walked from the theatre to the party at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel accross the street.brucec
William what do you think about Nederlander moving its Broadway shows from the Wilshire to the Pacific in Hollywood which has a larger capacity if restored. This would compliment the Pantages down the street and help Hollywood become more of a live theatre district. I always thought LA theatre was to decentralized for its own good.brucec
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
Does anyone have a list of movies that played the Fox from 1950 until 1963 when it closed? brucec
I read in the paper that the city council has recommended 27 million for the restoration of the Fox Oakland Building. The charter school will be housed in the building surrounding the theatre. The theatre will be restored into a cabaret space seating 650. This means only a portion of the theatre will be restored at this time.It would be nice if a corporate donor could be found to restore the Auditorium completely. If the city is spending 27 million along with state grants them maybe another 6-8 million is needed to restore the auditorium. I wish the Packard foundation would get involved like they did with the California in San Jose. I also hope the Fox Oakland will also show film as well as live performance. The City Council will vote in March. I think downtown would get a much needed boost with a combo of both the Fox Oakland and the Paramount. We must thank Jerry Brown for getting the ball rolling or it would have just sat there for another 20 years. I have wonderful memories of Downtown Oakland as a child. My Aunt and Uncle use to take us to the Paramount,Fox Oakland,Roxie and T&D downtown and the Grand Lake along the lake. I feel the City now has a chance to move ahead in a positive direction and the restored Fox Oakland along with other projects will revitalize Downtown Oakland.brucec
The Paramount marquee from 1937 is outstanding. The Astro marquee is a little to plastic for my taste. The Rose marquee is an improvement over the Astro marquee but not as grand as the Paramount with its large vertical.brucec
It would be great if someone would post of photo of the Paramount. ABC/Paramount seems to have disposed of a lot of theatres in 1965. The Los Angeles downtown Paramount, New York Paramount,Buffalo Paramount and the San Francisco Paramount. William did the parent company have finacial problems at this time? This theatre was the only theatre of this size torn down in the theatre district. There was a lack of enough roadshow houses downtown that the Fox Parkside began showing roadshow films and that house wasn’t convenient for exlusive runs. The Golden Gate,Fox Warfield,and Orpheum were about the same size as the Paramount. The city of San Francisco has done a very poor job of cleaning up the theatre district. This part of Market Street had been rundown for almost 40 years now.brucec
The Orpheum was one of the San Francisco Bay Area’s premiere roadshow reserved seat houses. I remember the theatre advertising Exclusive Northern California engagement for films like “Dr Zhivago”. It was the only Cinerama theatre in the Bay Area until the Golden Gate became a Cinerama theatre.It was one of the first downtown movie palaces to close in the early 1970’s. The film “Hello Dolly” was booked into the Orpheum, but due to construction of the BART subway the booking was canceled and moved to the Cinema 21 and the Orpheum never recovered, until it was restored as a Broadway Theatre.brucec
San Francisco is a great city despite itself. The city made the mearchants along Market Street take down all there vertical marquee’s in an effort to beautify Market Street, and it had the reverse effect on the theatre district. Everyone put up these ugly flat plastic marquee’s like the Warfield. The Golden Gate got lucky because its not right on Market its on Jones and Taylor but you can see it on Market Street. I think if Shorentstein and Nederlander can produce Broadway Shows which cost millions the least they could do was spend a little money and relight the two huge Verticlals which spell out Golden Gate which were always lit when it was a movie palace.brucec
I wish more people would write in comments about the Fabulous San Francisco Fox. It is considered one of the finest movie palaces ever built. I have never seen a lobby like that of the Fox. I would love people to share some of there movie memories attending the Fox. I attended the Fox only once when I was nine and I have never been the same since.The Fox is the reason I fell in love with the movie palaces.The Los Angeles theatre reminded me of the Fox, but its about half the size. This theatre was a Grand Lady all the way to the end.brucec
I agree the Shrine Auditorium should be considered a theatre.It looks very much like a movie palace. I saw “Hello Dolly” with Pearl Baily with my friend Richard Oliver who told me the theatre was larger than Radio City Music Hall. The only difference I see is that Radio City and the Fox in Atlanta showed movies for most of its life during the movie palace era where the Shrine showed movies rarely. I love Radio City but I would have preferred the Roxy. I also prefer the Art Deco lobby of the Oakland Paramount over the ART Deco lobby of Radio City and would have loved to have stood in the lobby of the Roxy.brucec