World Theatre

Here’s a google street view of the theater:

View link

This is part of a 1930 criminal case involving a hold-up at the Mar-Cal Theater:

In view of appellant’s contention that the evidence presented before the jury is insufficient to sustain the verdict rendered we will give a rather extended statement of such evidence. On the evening of April 8, 1929, between the hour of 6 and 7:30 the appellant, in company with one “Gazick,” now deceased, went to the auto rental place of Nicholas Macela at 1015 West Seventh Street, Los Angeles. Mr. Macela had only two automobiles on the lot at the time for rent, a Buick coupe and a Jordan coupe. After some discussion as to the relative speed of the two cars, during which appellant asked which car was the faster of the two, he rented the “Blue Boy Jordan Convertible Coupe,” which car he was told by the proprietor was the faster of the two. He paid the proprietor twenty-five dollars therefor. Appellant then signed his name as “J. J. Daley.” Mr. Gazick, who accompanied Davis, was described as being about five feet six inches in height and wearing a gray sweater and a cap. Appellant was dressed in a suit of dark clothes.

About 8:30 of the same evening Miss Schnauer, the cashier of the Mar-Cal Theater, at 6021 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, was held up while sitting in the box office of the theater. As she was rolling up some of the money that she had collected that evening a person described as about five feet six inches in height and who wore a gray sweater and a cap came into the box office. He pointed a gun at Miss Schnauer, who thereupon screamed and ran to the door of the theater, where she shouted to the door boy that someone was taking her money. One Alexander, a police officer, who was at that time sitting in the theater, heard her. He opened the front door of the theater and saw a man coming out of the box office with a gun in one hand and what looked to be money in the other hand. The officer fired a shot at the robber and then jumped back into the theater, where he remained for a period of thirty to sixty seconds. A man in the street pointed to a Jordan coupe which was parked near the theater, and as he pointed he said, “There they go.” Alexander then fired another shot, which went high. He then commandeered an automobile that was going in the same direction as the Jordan coupe, but after a little time lost sight of the latter on a side street leading off Hollywood Boulevard. The scream of the cashier attracted the attention of a man across the street, a Mr. Tate, who saw a man coming out of the lobby of the theater with a gun in his right hand and what resembled money in his left hand. The man fell down several times, stumbled and faltered, but proceeded to go and get into the Jordan coupe which was parked, as stated before, near the entrance of the theater. As Mr. Tate came across the street to the Jordan coupe, while the holdup man was getting into his car, he saw another man in the automobile. The two told him to go back where he had come from. The floor of the lobby of the theater was bloody and was strewn with money.

Here is an excerpt from an LA Times article dated April 6, 1949:

District Attorney Simpson yesterday conducted a reverse showup in an attempt to clear the strange Marcal robbery, for which one man has been convicted and a second man is now claiming credit.

Six stenographers from Simpson’s staff were in the showup with Wilda Bieber, 19, former cashier of the theater, while the newly confessed bandit, Charles P. McGranahan, ex-sailor, vainly attempted to point her out as his victim.

Miss Bieber, who is now a ballet dancer, recently gave testimony before Judge Clement Nye which resulted in the conviction of Calvin Fowler, 29, bartender. Fowler was sentencec to serve from five years to life in San Quentin for the robbery, which occurred on January 15, 1948.

McGranahan was arrested in Glendale on March 17 and according to Glendale police has confessed to five holdups. He was placed in teh same County Jail cell with Fowler, and on learning from the latter that Fowler had been convicted of the Marcal Theater holdup, immediately “confessed” to that robbery.

After the showup, Deputy District Attorney S. Ernest Roll said he and the other officers are convinced that McGranahan is merely attempting to take the blame to save Flower a trip to prison. Miss Bieber’s only comment was, “It was Fowler, all right. McGranahan looks like a mere child”. Roll said further investigation will be conducted.

Shouldn’t this theatre be in the Hollywood section for searches on the site?

We know from the evidence above that this theater changed from the Mar-Cal to the World sometime between 1954 and 1964.

I moved to L.A. in 1989, so I definitely missed this place. Too bad.

I did however get a chance at a similar place, The Ritz, formerly the Pussycat, which was running 3 second run movies for $3 as late as 1992. Further down Hollywood Blvd. I went there at least a dozen times before it too vanished. Similar atmosphere: sticky floors, squeaky seats, and lots of folks yelling back at the screen. Never got maced though. It is now a church, and location of the awesome Skooby’s Hot Dogs.

Now I note the banner hanging near the vertical sign. Does it read “Marcal’s 3rd Year Revival Pictures”?

Here is a 1937 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/23dxqj

This screen gem was playing at the World in January 1984:
http://tinyurl.com/22zw6p

Here are a few photos:
http://tinyurl.com/yuzpye

Here is an October 1953 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/yqadln

The one with the marquee is the old X-Twin Theatre.

I photographed the former Marcal/World Theatre in January 2005, in use as the Q-topia nightclub…..not much to show it was a movie theatre now, either externally or internally:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/368437948/