Paramount Theatre
323 W. 6th Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90014
323 W. 6th Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90014
19 people
favorited this theater
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Here is part of an LA Times article dated 5/28/52:
Hostesses in evening dress will greet numerous actors, Mayor Bowron and throngs of theatergoers at the Paramount Theater’s reopening at 8 p.m. tomorrow.
Improvements totalling $250,000 at the theater include a new marquee, lobby, foyer, new seats and rocking-chair loges. There will be new lounge rooms and a large television screen. Top motion pictures will be shown as well as stage shows when they become available, said Jerry Zigmond, United Paramount western division manager.
Two employees have been with the theater since it opened 29 years ago as Grauman’s Metropolitan. They are Earl C. Hamilton, 61, chief projectionist, and Vic Hayes, 60, doorman. The two remember the theater’s initial opening when “My American Wife"m starring Gloria Swanson and Antonio Moreno, was presented.
Yes, that shot is from the Paramount Theatre in Hollywood.
If it was in Hollywood, it was probably at the Paramount/El Capitan on Hollywood Boulevard.
Google Images has some interior photos of the Paramount in 1952, when they were having 3D screenings of “Bwana Devil”. Interesting shot of the formally attired peeps in the balcony:
http://tinyurl.com/5hqpdy
Ooops, I just noticed Ken just linked to the same photo…
Here’s a photo of the interior of the Metropolitan:
Click here for photo
Sorry, that was the New York public library. Force of habit.
Here is an undated interior photo from the LAPL:
http://tinyurl.com/68jkhg
Here is a photo from the LAPL, circa 1922. The man in the suit is the architect, William Woollett:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics42/00040808.jpg
These are some usherettes:
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics18/00028694.jpg
Here is a fairly florid LA Times article written a few days after the opening of this theater. It’s pretty long but I’ll post it since it contains a lot of details about the decoration and architecture.
(Jan. 26, 1923)
NEW GRAUMAN A WORLD APART
All Activity From Outside Ends at the Threshold
Masterpiece in Cement is Architect’s Reward
Beauty and Simplicity Are Keynotes of Creation
By Kenneth Taylor
Swing wide the portals, step over the threshold and, as the doors of the new Grauman Metropolitan Theater close softly behind you, find yourself in a world apart.
Nothing about the theater will remind you of the outside world from which you have just come. The light of day never enters the building while it is open to the public. The noises of the street are shut out just as surely as are the sights of hurrying crowds and vehicles. The architecture is of no one style. Here is a bit of the Greek, there is something Egyptian. Ideas have been borrowed from the Romans, from the Chinese. Beauty alone has been the keynote, and beauty alone is the result.
To just what extent this feeling of aloofness from the world has been sought for we found out just a week ago today when a party of men from The Times was shown through the theater. Even the windows are made of black, opaque glass, and shut out every ray of natural sunlight from the beautiful lounging and rest rooms as well as from the auditorium.
NEW LAND IS REVEALED
Here is a new land: a land that invites inspection and excites imagination. Before you rich velvet draperies hide a full view of the stage and auditorium, although glimpses of the great curtain, on which is painted a travesty of H. G. Well’s “Outline of History,” are visible occasionally as the crowds in front move down the aisles.
On each side of the foyer, stairways lead to the mezzanine floor and the balcony. As if guarding the staircases, stand two huge statues in gold. They do not balance but, on the contrary, prove striking contrasts in size and significance. On the right is an allegorical, grotestque image which has an enigma as deep as the sphynx and as undiscoverable. On the left is the Snail-Deer. The graceful neck of a deer is attached to the centrifugal folds of earth’s most slothful traveler, the snail. Symbolic of romance, tenderness, grace, beauty and aspiration, the deer is held from accomplishment by the sluggish, slimy crawl of the snail.
Beauty of painting and building are in evidence everywhere. Gorgeous hanging, highly valued, adorn the walls. Mural paintings by the score are revealed. The mezzanine floor seems a treasure house of beauty. Artistic arches, carved figures, velvety curtains, highly colored paintings all lend, too, a mystic air.
COMPOSITE BEAUTY STRIKING
Overembellished, you say? Perhaps. But let the composite beauties of the house sink in. go out into the auditorium and see the hugeness of the place. And as the eyes hunt out one innovation after another, they will find that this is not an overdecorated theater; it is, perhaps, reminescent of the Stone Age: the structure is primitive in its massive simplicity.
Stand a moment on the very brink of the balcony on the west side of the house. Below on one hand yawns the cavernous mouth of the auditorium: above on the other hand stretches the vast expanse of balcony.
See what a glance around the temple will reveal.
On the left the great proscenium arch, apparently roughly hewn from naked rock, shields the stage, flanked on either side by great stone columns surmounted by grotesque images. Perched on the column at your side is a carving representing Mirth; on the opposite column another representing Tragedy. In the very center of the arch Gabriel occupies a secluded niche of his own. Hanging from the proscenium, as well as from other parts of the ceiling all over the auditorium, are great pendants, oddly shaped and weighing tons.
And now glance across the auditorium to the opposite wall, where hangs a tapestry or two. The gray monotony of the unfinished cement is relieved here and there with niches, some large, some small. Some contain images.
THREE SPHERES
In the first tall niche hangs an object like a totem pole made of an opaque glass, representing three spheres——of the earth, of the air, of the spirit. Colored lights arranged back of this throw the design in silhouette.
The wall across the back of the balcony is also unique. It is arched all the way across, giving the impression of great distance beyond the actual physical limitations of the auditorium. Perhaps it suggests an ancient aqueduct, serving the needs of a primitive civilization. But the effect is not allowed to predominate, for in the center of the wall, closely hugging the ceiling, are the tell-tale, square openings of the projecting room, for all the world, from the distance at which you stand, like a group of pueblo stone dwellings perched high on a mountain side.
Overhead hangs a great circular design, ninety feet in diameter, which covers the greater part of the ceiling. Never mind its technical name: it has been dubbed the “doily” by the men who have watched the theater rise from the ground. And like a great doily it is, with its latticed, golden strips forming a network behind which thousands of different colored incandescent lamps produce varied effects.
And as you look up, beyond the doily, the beams of the room themselves, covered with cement to be in keeping with the rest of the structure, are visible. Here is an example of the courage and originality of William Woollett, the architect. For instead of covering from view the crude looking braces and rafters with a false ceiling, and suspending false beams from that in order to produce the effect of strength and solidity, he has utilized the same beams that the construction engineer used for the actual work of holding up the roof.
CEMENT AGE IS HERE
Inspect closely the construction of the theater. You will be struck with the thought that the cement age is here at last, for everywhere you turn, that material has been used almost exclusively. It is, in fact, a most deceptive theater.
Mr. Woollett had an inspiration. He insisted that he could use cement to the exclusion of practically all other materials and make it look like anything he wished.
As a result, the wonderful stone and marble work inthe lobby is not stone and marble work at all; it is cement. The great stone pillars on either side of the proscenium are not stone: they are cement. The plush cloth covering the bases of these pillars is not plush: the pillars have merely been painted to resemble that texture of cloth.
And the columns on the stage itself? Ah, you think, there at least is something that is cement and looks like it from all over the house. But approach them and discover that once more you have made a mistake, for upon investigation you will find that what looks like cement is not. It is wood. This was done in order that by a very simple, mechanical operation the entire stage is inclosed in a wooden shell, which acts as a sounding board when the orchestra is heard in concert numbers.
For the most part, the cement has been left unfinished. The walls are rough, revealing the grain of the boards used for molds. Edges of the material protrude where it has oozed out between these boards. Not only are the crude edges still left to view, they are emphasized with gold leaf.
And you turn to sum it up. Huge and massive it is. Beautiful, simple——-and finely primitive.
Excitement a few days before opening…..
(Jan. 21, 1923)
LOS ANGELES' NEW PLAYHOUSE
Sid Grauman’s Metropolitan Theater
ON FRIDAY evening, the 26th inst., will occur the opening of Sid Grauman’s gorgeous Metropolitan Theater, to which William Lee Woollett, architect, has contributed his genius. Identified with the West beginning in San Francisco, whence come so many of the world’s theatrical celebrities, from David Belasco to David Warfield, Sid Grauman has made himself an international figure as a premiere exhibitor and director of theatrical attractions. Owing to the enormous interest aroused in the event, the opening night will necessarily be more exclusive than is usual in picture presentation. A process of elimination has been imposed upon the director by reason of the overwhelming demands for seats. Though there are possible, reservations for 4400 persons this number is inadequate to accomodate the applications. Mr. Grauman makes announcement of the following plan: Stars, producers, directors and other film celebrities are requested to communicate to the Metropolitan the number of reservations desired on the opening night. It is Mr. Grauman’s intention to make this a gala event. “The Metropolitan Theater is to be the very center of the motion-picture universe,” says Mr. Grauman, “and it is fitting, I think, that arrangements be made for the accommodation of representatives of the industry, even if the general public is forced to wait for the second night, which really is the inauguration of the theater’s career, when the opening program will be repeated.
PROFESSION IS FIRST
” I am asking stars, producers, directors, players, writers and promoters of picture industries to communicate their needs to the boxoffice and make the required reservations. I am asking the public’s co-operation also to buy at the boxoffice and not from speculators. I have done all that I could to keep tickets for the opening night out of the hands of ‘scalpers.’ I hope that my endeavors in the regard will be supported vigorously by the public.“ As a foretaste of what may be expected on the opening night Mr Grauman announces the following uncompleted program:
To begin with, there will be a demonstration outside the big theater. Details of this are all worked out but are not to be made public. The opening number will be "The Star Spangled Banner,” played by a great symphonic orchestra under the direction of Ulderico Marcelli and with Henry Murtagh at the console of the mighty organ. A chorus of 500 voices will be heard. A flag, said to be the largest in the world, will be unfurled at this time and will be the signal for the beginning of a gorgeous patriotic pageant. Then will follow the big orchestral number, the overture to “Tannhauser,” by Richard Wagner. It will be directed by Marcelli and the Pilgrim’s Chorus will be sung by grand choir of 500 voices. Schubert’s “Ave Maria” will be played as a solo number by forty violinists, accompanied by eight expert harpists. Before and after this number will be dancing acts in which a ballet of 200 artists will be employed. Coming direct to the Metropolitan for this engagement are Waring’s Pennsylvanians, the greatest syncopaters this jazz country has thus far produced. They come from a successful New York season. All this and more will be the prelude to the feature picture, Gloria Swanson in “My American Wife.” A supporting cast of brilliance will appear with the star and will include Antonio Moreno and Walter Long.
I guess the organ cost $1 per pound. This is the beginning of an excruciatingly detailed and long article about the organ:
(Jan. 21, 1923)
ORGAN IS LARGEST OF KIND
Complicated Instrument Installed in Metropolitan Theater
One hundred thousand dollars for a musical instrument! A stupendous apparatus of a multitudinous number of small parts correctly assembled! That is the new Hope-Jones unit orchestra Wurlitzer organ that is now installed in Grauman’s Metropolitan Theater, the largest instrument of its type in the world. This intstrument was built under the direction of James H. Nuttlall, world-famous builder of fine organs, and the man who was most closely associated with the manufacturer, Hope-Jones. In showing the writer through the organ and explaining the many parts and novel features, Mr. Nuttall said that the instrument is in many ways like the human body. “As the brain is the center of distribution for the body and connecting impulse with the various organs is conveyed through the spinal column with fine nerves, so the console or keyboard is the distributing end of the instrument and the impulse of the various parts of the mechanism is conveyed through a cable on insulated wires. This cable may be ten feet or two miles in length and instantaneous response can be obtained from the console. "The total weight of the instrument is 100,000 pounds,” Mr. Nuttall said. “The space necessary to contain the instrument consists of ten independent chambers, each measuring twenty feet long and eleven feet wide…………….
Here is the article that goes with the graphics above:
(May 22, 1921)
PLAN INTERIOR OF PLAYHOUSE.
Local Architect Designing Hill-Street Theater.
Oriental Decorations Will be Principal Motive.
Expect to Complete Structure by January First.
Under the supervision of Architect William Lee Woollett, plans have practically been completed for the interior of the big theater which will form a part of the twelve-story building now under construction at the northeast corner of Sixth and Hill streets by the Hill Street Fireproof Building Company, Mr. Woollett, as the architect of the theater, which will be known as Grauman’s Metropolitan Theater, will have charge of the interior decoration, of the paintings and murals, hangings, furniture and electric fixtures, all of which will be designed and installed under his supervision. Mr. Woollett was the designer of the interior of Grauman’s Million Dollar Theater at Third and Broadway. In coloring and motive the architecture of the theater will be derived principally from the architecture of Egypt and the Orient. The lobby entrance, from the Sixth-street side of the building, will be flanked by massive columns, while the interior of the main lobby, 46 by 59 feet, will be patterned after the rock-cut tombs of Egypt and Arabia. The floors will be constructed of hand-made tile, each of which will depict phases of the development of Western America. On each side the main lobby will be flanked by a grand staircase leading to the mezzanine floor, which will command a view of both the main lobby and theater auditorium. The concrete surfaces of the interior of the theater will be partially exposed, but it is planned to treat these surfaces with color and gold ornamentation. The same type of decoration will be carried out in the theater auditorium. The great concrete trusses over the audiorium will be partially exposed, but as in the lobby and mezzanine, these tresses will be richly treated with color. A feature of the proscenium arch will be the great canopy, hanging without visible support. This canopy will be decorated with a composite of oriental and occidental designs. Suspended from the ceiling there will be an immense flat dome, which will be made of perforated plaster, and ornamented richly with embossed bronze and gold designs, with medallions in the center large enough for mural paintings.
THE FOUR HORSEMEN.
The screen will be surmounted with monumental figures of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The horses, modelled from life, will be made of porcelain, with the colors burned in them. The curtains will be held in especially designed bronze screen frames and will be operated by burnished bronze chains which will move on especially constructed swivels which will make them noiseless. The organ to be installed will be one of the largest and finest in the country, it is claimed. Plans for this organ, which is being especially designed for the theater, will include a disappearing console, which can automatically be raised up into the view of the audience upon demand. The theater will have a seating capacity for 4000 people. More than 400 workmen, it is stated, are now employed on the building, and it is planned to have the structure completed and ready for occupation by January 1 of next year. In the construction of the building, according to Brook Hawkins, chief engineer of the Winter Construction Company, there will be used 5,000,000 pounds of steel, mor than 100,000 sacks of cement, and over 2,000,000 feet of lumber in the falsework. The immense cantilever which will support the balcony will weight 1100 tons.
Here are a few drawings from the newspaper on May 22, 1921. Click on ‘download the large size’ to see the details:
View link
I’ll post the text of the article soon.
A few revealing remarks from the LA Times:
(July 24, 1920)
THEATER PLANS PROGRESS.
Various rumors having circulated that the construction of the Grauman Metropolitan Theater building at Sixth and Hill streets was being purposely delayed, Sid Grauman now comes forward with a denial that such a thing has happened, or is liable to happen. “The evolving of a cinema theater with the conscious aim of making it superior is something that cannot be done over night. I rejected six different sets of plans before finally accepting a scheme of architecture and decoration that satisfied me,” said Mr. Grauman yesterday. “In fact,” he continued, “I don’t mind saying that I’ve changed my mind not once, but several times, regarding various ideas to be incorporated in the Metropolitan. For some time I was ‘on the fence’ regarding the advisability of having an office building above the theater, and of having stores on the ground floor, but finally decided that both ideas are practical and economically advantageous. "In my lifetime, it is hardly possible that I will ever conceive an instituiton that will surpass the Metropolitan. Therefore, it is logical that this theater, representing my life’s ideal to me, should be given tremendous consideration. For a time I felt that an office building would mar the artistic values of the Metropolitan, but a way was pointed out to me by which art and practicality could be easily wedded, and I agreed. My contractors now promise me that I can count on the opening of the Metropolitan by May 1, 1921.” Mr. Grauman added that work will be begun within two weeks on the construction of Grauman’s Hollywood Theater, which he states will probably be opened before the Metropolitan, probably in February. He added that there was also a possibility of his taking over another local theater in the near future, but would not state which house he had been offered.
Here is a January 1935 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/yp8p57
I didn’t realize until now that the style category can contain more than one term, as would be appropriate for stylistic melanges or situations where a building, auditorium and marquee are actually of differing styles. It’s especially useful for atmospheric theatres, too, in permitting a description of the specific atmospheric ambiance. (I just noticed that the Pacific 1-2-3 is listed as Atmospheric, Moorish, Renaissance Revival and Spanish Baroque!)
Unfortunately, a frustratingly large number of theaters are incorrectly designated “Style: Unknown.” While that term legitimately describes theaters that no longer exist and of which no one has any accurate recollection, it’s also become a catch-all for theatres that don’t fit any of the designated labels or are otherwise difficult to categorize.
The RKO Hillstreet, for example: “Style: Unknown” even though its twin, San Francisco’s Golden Gate, is described as Art Deco and Gothic Revival! (I’ve never seen pictures of the Golden Gate’s auditorium, but the Hillstreet’s seems rather Adamesque to me in its original form.) There’s enough photographic documentation of the Hillstreet â€"– and enough members like Joe Vogel with long memories! — that “Unknown” isn’t really appropriate. It’s certainly not useful for anyone browsing the database by style.
Or consider Westwood Village’s ill-fated Mann’s National. Obviously, its style isn’t “Unknown,” but no appellation like Mid-Century Modern (or the like) is available. “Unknown” seems to be chosen by default, for lack of a more suitable catch-all term like “Miscellaneous” or “Other.”
I have no idea how often people actually browse the Cinema Treasures database by style or other criteria. But, all things being equal and to the extent possible, it would be nice for the listings to be as accurate and complete as possible. In the case of the Paramount, I do think at the very least that East Indian should be added to Art Deco.
There exists a theater which has interior details influenced by the Metropolitan/Paramount. This is the Parkway in Oakland, designed by Mark T. Jorgensen. This theatre still operates independently as a fulltime movie theater. It was twinned “cross-wise” in the late 60s, but the forward auditorium, with the original proscenium is where the obvious influence of Grauman’s Metropolitan is seen, albeit filtered through and combined with distinct Egyptian detailing.
The proscenium itself is a full arc much like that of the Metropolitan, and although the detailing is different, it has a zig-zag plasterwork “valance” within it that is very obviously copied from the Metropolitan. There are pharaoh-headed sphinxes flanking the proscenium, but instead of having the hindparts of lions, they exhibit the curling tails of the “Snail Deer” creature which was featured in the lobby of the Metropolitan. Flanking all this are a pair of doorways which have plasterwork surrounds copied from the Metropolitan’s doorways which led from the mezzanine to the balcony.
It should also be noted that the Parkway’s organ grille is modeled after the ceiling sunburst of Grauman’s Egyptian (Meyer and Holler), as were similar ceiling features in many other subsequent Egyptian style theaters.
Plainly, the Parkway’s design stands on its own, but the influences on architect Jorgensen from Woolett’s motifs used in the Metropolitan are obvious.
A trip to a movie at the Parkway is worthwhile if one is ever in Oakland. To find out what’s playing:
www.speakeasytheaters.com
No, I don’t work for them. The Theatre Historical Society is planning on stopping by the Parkway during our Conclave/Tour in July ‘08.
www.historictheatres.org
A correction to my above post: Joseph Woollett represented the 5th, not the 4th, generation of the Woollett family to practice architecture.
As far as I know, nobody has ever come up with a satisfactory descriptive term for the style of the Paramount, or for the many other movie palaces which sported unique combinations of historic styles that were often supplemented with additional stylistic inventions by their architects or decorators. The terms “exotic” and “eclectic” both come to mind on viewing such designs, but neither seems to me fully adequate.
The problem with calling the Paramount’s style either East Indian or Oriental is the same as the problem with calling it Mission (which was how it was originally described on this page); the majority of its elements would be unrecognizable when compared to the elements of buildings actually built in East Indian or other oriental styles. Too much is left out of the conventional terms.
The Paramount’s design did, in fact, share some elements in common with Mission style as it was conceived by the late 19th century followers of the Arts and Crafts movement (rough, somewhat crude finishes, for example, and murals- by Woollett himself- evoking Spanish and Mexican California), but these elements were subsumed in the overall stylistic frenzy.
I’ve always been dissatisfied with the term Art Deco being applied to the Paramount as well, but the more photos I’ve seen of it the more it does appear- both inside and out- to be characteristic of the early 20th century stylistic experimentation with an eclectic mix of exotic styles and modernist, machine-age fantasies which eventually produced what came to be called Art Deco. Still, calling the Paramount “Art Deco” outright further stretches a term that is already used too broadly.
But I do think that the style could be accurately (though incompletely) described as proto-Art Deco, and that the building can certainly be recognized as kin to such acknowledged Art Deco architectural icons as Buffalo City Hall, which was built a decade later.
It would be interesting to know what William Lee Woollett called the style, but I’ve never found any of his published articles- only citations of them in the California Index. I believe that his grandson, Joseph L. Woollett, may still have a practice in Orange County, California, he being the fourth generation of Woolletts to follow the profession of architecture. Perhaps he would know? One thing he would undoubtedly know, by the way, is that Cinema Treasures misspells his family name as Woolett. It’s spelled Woollett, with three double letters.
I never got to visit this theater, but — on the strength of the photos I’ve seen — describing its style as Art Deco is way off the mark.
Since it’s a convention to list a theater on Cinema Treasures by its current (or most recent) name, one would expect, by analogy, that a theater’s style would be the current or most recent one. Yet, while the Paramount-era marquees might be thought to have some element of art moderne, I don’t believe the original decor of the auditorium or public spaces was significantly altered.
But how should such a startlingly unique melange of pre-Columbian and East Asian elements be classified? Of the categories offered by Cinema Treasures, I’d go with East Indian or Oriental.
From the USC archives:
http://tinyurl.com/39uhyy
Ha ha! You can still advertise that you are selling “Havana Cigars.”
Maybe one day again.
Neither do I. Depressing, isn’t it?
Here is a re-post of the 1960 photo from the USC archive:
http://tinyurl.com/2tkego