Olympic Theatre
313 W. 8th Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90014
313 W. 8th Street,
Los Angeles,
CA
90014
14 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 60 of 60 comments
Manwithnoname,
Do you know what the 1908 in that photo’s caption refers to? According to KenRoe above, it opened in 1925.
No interior viewed unfortunately. I would imagine that the original 1925 (restrained) Chinese styled auditorium which it opened with as Bard’s 8th St Theatre is long gone(Probably in 1932 when it was re-named Olympic Theatre to commemorate Los Angeles hosting the Olympic Games in that year).
Did you happen to catch a glimpse of the interior, Ken? In a post from March 23rd of last year, ‘Manwithnoname’ noted that the space appeared to have been gutted, with the back wall visible and all the auditorium seats removed.
On a recent visit to L.A. I noticed that the facade and marquee of the Olympic had been repaired and looked much better than it has in recent years. I believe this is part of a scheme of the Los Angeles Conservancy to tidy up the Broadway theatre district and many of the old unused theatres have had their marquees and neon signs repaired and are lit up occasionally.
The exterior of the Olympic is briefly visible in a current TV commercial for the Nissan Altima.
The Olympic, in its final years before it closed sometime around 1997, was often the last stop for films within the Metropolitan Theatres downtown circuit, which, at the time, also included the Orpheum, the Palace, and the State.
This theatre can also be seen at the end of “Daredevil”, but the film is set in New York City(!).
This theatre can be best remembered as being the exterior location for one of the best pieces of dialogue ever captured on film.
The film was 1971’s “The Omega Man” with Chuck “Moses” Heston as Robert Neville, scientist/lone non-mutated survivior of bio-warfare.
Neville has just come out the Olympic, smiling after seeing yet another screening of the film Woodstock and has just looked up at the late-afternoon into dusk sky and becomes concerned…
NEVILLE-
“There is no phone ringing! dammit!"
"There is no phone!”
NEVILLE-
“Oh my God its almost dark!"
"They’ll be waking up soon!”
The first theater I had worked at in Los Angeles as a projectionist was the Million Dollar. The second theater was the Olympic. The year was 1978. I ended up marrying a cashier on-loan to the Million Dollar who was a permanent employee at the Olympic. Oddly enough, former Mayor Sam Yorty was a projectionist at the Olympic in his younger years.
The Olympic Theatre is located at 313 W. 8th. Street.