There are more important theatres in LA to save than this one. Bad neighborhood of mostly poor new immigrants. It will probably remain retail for quite some time. The condition of the interior is quite poor.
One of the best small neighborhood theatre’s to see a film. Fond memories from my days of living in Ottawa. Fantastic original interior. A real cinema gem although the exterior could use a bit of an upgrade.
Love the link to the 1951 photo academy133 posted. Its unfortunate all these amazing theaters are abandoned on Broadway downtown. With the recent opening of the megaplex a few blocks away, there really is no future for any of these old cinemas to show movies again, or even to become live performance venues. There’s many of those in the area already. I suppose they’ll just remain relics to tour of a time in movie history that is long gone.
Well good luck. Hollywood Blvd only has the Chinese (great projection and sound) and El Capitan (for Disney films only) left showing films. The Egyptian is curated by the American Cinemateque and most of the original decor is lost. All other theatres are closed. Most people attend the modern Arclight movie complex.
The downtown movie palaces are all closed and only show movies on special occasions like the Last Remaining Seats series. The Million Dollar, although in poor condition, was amazing to see for a one time screening of Mildred Pierce. The Mayan, one of the most spectacular movie palace interiors in the US is only open on occasion as a nightclub and concert venue. Fantastic decor in original condition.
Downtown was lacking a new theatre and LA Live is looking to fill the gap.
At best, its Carnival cruise ship ‘Deco’ with a suburban shopping center facade. The Grove did the faux retro thing better and the Arclight will remain the better place to see films. A welcome addition to the LA cinema scene but a disppointment in terms of design.
Many of the older links no longer work above. This site has numerous photos of the interior during its heyday as the Palladium nightclub. The interiors were designed by architect Arata Isozaki.
The mall, even today, has the feeling of a deserted suburban shopping center. A Fresh & Easy supermarket is now on the lower level and brings some life to the central courtyard. A sad example of 90’s commercial architecture.
The diner ‘Sweet Love Hangover’ opened in the lobby of the Fox theater today. Very nice design and cool mirrored ceiling which extends through the glass under the old marquee. The rest of the building is now the popular Playground nighclub. All traces of the theater are gone except for the restored marquee. Nice to have this simple diner added to a still decrepit Hollywood Blvd and saving the facade of this once crumbling movie theater.
Cool to see current interior shots of this theatre. Looks like its too far gone to make it financial viable to restore. In the current economy, the gentrification of Broadway will stall and these old theatres will continue to decay.
The tress are a nuisance and the city doesn’t maintain them. You can’t see any signage as you drive down Hollywood Blvd. and they are starting to damage the siddwalk as they grow taller and the roots spread.
The marquee is in poor condition and the trees in front of the theatre are growing into it. I wish the tress on Hollywood Blvd would be trimmed back and those if front of the Vogue, Pacific and Vine theatres should be completely removed.
Link to some vintage photos of this unique theater:
[url]http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm1.static.flickr.com/166/359637249_a8c05f4e28.jpg%3Fv%3D0&imgrefurl=http://flickr.com/photos/82529191%40N00/359637249/&usg=__Dr5iBjAa-PZatKoiEacjE0zn5Ew=&h=402&w=500&sz=69&hl=en&start=5&sig2=BdvLvw0tBHe7CEHegFnNOA&um=1&tbnid=0kJZttDhWKsCrM:&tbnh=105&tbnw=130&ei=tFw1SYDDLZWUsAOYi8GMBg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbaldwin%2Btheatre%2Blos%2Bangeles%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den[/url]
Signage has just gone up on the boards indicating the opening of the nightclub/event venue Playhouse. The interior renderings look good (click on link, then click on Playhouse) Another space for the young and wealthy to party the nights away. None of the original theatre remains except for the facade and marquee. The facade has still not been renovated. Hopefully they will keep the kooky design intact and leave the marquee.
The Eglinton was a beautiful Art Deco movie palace that was closed by Famous Players Theaters while still popular and profitable. A ridiculous campaign to have the theater updated for wheelchair accessability made further investment by Famous Players unprofitable and the theater was closed. It was unfortunately converted into a rental hall a few years later with all seating removed and the floor leveled. A huge loss to cinemagoers in Toronto (along with the Uptown – demolished and the Capitol – closed. Toronto, the epicenter for one the film industry’s most important film festivals, now lacks any significant single screen movie theater. (The Elgin although used for film premieres is now only used occasionally for musical theater performances)
Having visited the Westlake theater today, I can’t say there’s much left to save and the neighborhood is a nighmare. Who is going to come to this renovated theater in this poor Latino neighborhood? No one is going to park in this area at night, if you can even find parking. The concrete floor that was poured seems to have destroyed much of the decoration on the side walls of the theater below the small curved balconies shown in Neonrocks photo above. I can’t say I was too impressed by the decor that was left. It was rather garrish and cheap looking. I’m all for saving old theaters but this doesn’t seem like one worth concentrating a lot of effort on. I’d rather see the Pacific in Hollywood or the Tower, Roxie or Warner downtown restored. The Westlake might work as a Latin American Cultural/Community Center but not as a film venue.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion.
Disney didn’t buy the Holywood. They leased, not bought, the Paramount (now renamed El Capitan-its orginal name). The building btw just went up for sale although Disney is saying it will keep on leasing the theater. The Hollywood is the Guiness Records museum.
A bit heavyhanded to say all clubs in Hollywood are dying. There are still new ones opening like The Kress as older ones close or change hands. Avalon is still going strong. I don’t honestly know what is exactly going into the Fox but from what I’ve read there wasn’t much left to begin with (it was a storage facility for years). A single screen venue of that size isn’t feasible anymore and the Fox has seen its day (although I loved its crazy 60’s facade). Time will tell what will happen to these places but anything is better than the eyesore state the Vogue is in right now. They did a nice job redoing the exterior of the Ivar but nothing goes on there anymore (I think the Los Angeles Film School bought the building)
Haineshisway: Those are great pics of the Vogue I haven’t seen before. As someone else pointed out, they have started removing the marquee on this theater. The whole place is such a wreck and Hollywood Blvd overall still has a long way to go in terms of rejuvenation. The hookers and drug dealers may be gone but there are a lot of empty stores and too many homeless wandering the streets with their shopping carts (I live a couple of blocks away). It will take a few big name retailers to get the ball rolling. Not sure if the Vogue is still slated for a nightclub conversion but the Fox seems to be on its way to becoming a retail outlet once the Crobar club pulled out of its commitment to the place. The Vine and Pacific and X theater near Gower also sit empty and unused. Sad.
The Last Remaining Seats series during the summer is a great way to see the inside of the old movie palaces on Broadway and watch a classic film projected on a large screen. The recent screening of Mildred Pierce at the restored Million Dollar theater was great. Its beautiful inside although there were complaints of bad sighlines in the back part of the orchestra.
As to the Vogue, there was a lot of work going on for a while but recently, nothing. Not sure what is going on. The place is a real mess and needs to be cleaned up.
As to the comment above regarding the Las Palmas theater, its not empty, it functions as Element nightclub.
There are more important theatres in LA to save than this one. Bad neighborhood of mostly poor new immigrants. It will probably remain retail for quite some time. The condition of the interior is quite poor.
One of the best small neighborhood theatre’s to see a film. Fond memories from my days of living in Ottawa. Fantastic original interior. A real cinema gem although the exterior could use a bit of an upgrade.
Love the link to the 1951 photo academy133 posted. Its unfortunate all these amazing theaters are abandoned on Broadway downtown. With the recent opening of the megaplex a few blocks away, there really is no future for any of these old cinemas to show movies again, or even to become live performance venues. There’s many of those in the area already. I suppose they’ll just remain relics to tour of a time in movie history that is long gone.
A great video chronicling the theatre’s days as the Palladium nightclub, a couple of year’s before its demolition:
http://tinyurl.com/yaf5bz8
Well good luck. Hollywood Blvd only has the Chinese (great projection and sound) and El Capitan (for Disney films only) left showing films. The Egyptian is curated by the American Cinemateque and most of the original decor is lost. All other theatres are closed. Most people attend the modern Arclight movie complex.
The downtown movie palaces are all closed and only show movies on special occasions like the Last Remaining Seats series. The Million Dollar, although in poor condition, was amazing to see for a one time screening of Mildred Pierce. The Mayan, one of the most spectacular movie palace interiors in the US is only open on occasion as a nightclub and concert venue. Fantastic decor in original condition.
Downtown was lacking a new theatre and LA Live is looking to fill the gap.
These are photos from the opening.
View link
At best, its Carnival cruise ship ‘Deco’ with a suburban shopping center facade. The Grove did the faux retro thing better and the Arclight will remain the better place to see films. A welcome addition to the LA cinema scene but a disppointment in terms of design.
Many of the older links no longer work above. This site has numerous photos of the interior during its heyday as the Palladium nightclub. The interiors were designed by architect Arata Isozaki.
http://tinyurl.com/2o5wg8
The mall, even today, has the feeling of a deserted suburban shopping center. A Fresh & Easy supermarket is now on the lower level and brings some life to the central courtyard. A sad example of 90’s commercial architecture.
The diner ‘Sweet Love Hangover’ opened in the lobby of the Fox theater today. Very nice design and cool mirrored ceiling which extends through the glass under the old marquee. The rest of the building is now the popular Playground nighclub. All traces of the theater are gone except for the restored marquee. Nice to have this simple diner added to a still decrepit Hollywood Blvd and saving the facade of this once crumbling movie theater.
Sad to walk by this place and see it slowly falling apart. The vertical sign is in really poor condition.
Cool to see current interior shots of this theatre. Looks like its too far gone to make it financial viable to restore. In the current economy, the gentrification of Broadway will stall and these old theatres will continue to decay.
This theatre is a dump. Not worthy of restoration.
The tress are a nuisance and the city doesn’t maintain them. You can’t see any signage as you drive down Hollywood Blvd. and they are starting to damage the siddwalk as they grow taller and the roots spread.
The interior is currently being completely gutted and renovated into a nightclub venue (as is the Fox down the street on the south side)
The marquee is in poor condition and the trees in front of the theatre are growing into it. I wish the tress on Hollywood Blvd would be trimmed back and those if front of the Vogue, Pacific and Vine theatres should be completely removed.
Link to some vintage photos of this unique theater:
[url]http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm1.static.flickr.com/166/359637249_a8c05f4e28.jpg%3Fv%3D0&imgrefurl=http://flickr.com/photos/82529191%40N00/359637249/&usg=__Dr5iBjAa-PZatKoiEacjE0zn5Ew=&h=402&w=500&sz=69&hl=en&start=5&sig2=BdvLvw0tBHe7CEHegFnNOA&um=1&tbnid=0kJZttDhWKsCrM:&tbnh=105&tbnw=130&ei=tFw1SYDDLZWUsAOYi8GMBg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbaldwin%2Btheatre%2Blos%2Bangeles%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den[/url]
Signage has just gone up on the boards indicating the opening of the nightclub/event venue Playhouse. The interior renderings look good (click on link, then click on Playhouse) Another space for the young and wealthy to party the nights away. None of the original theatre remains except for the facade and marquee. The facade has still not been renovated. Hopefully they will keep the kooky design intact and leave the marquee.
[url]http://muselifestylegroup.com/[/url]
The Crest theatre is for sale by the owner, its future in jeopardy.
View link
The Eglinton was a beautiful Art Deco movie palace that was closed by Famous Players Theaters while still popular and profitable. A ridiculous campaign to have the theater updated for wheelchair accessability made further investment by Famous Players unprofitable and the theater was closed. It was unfortunately converted into a rental hall a few years later with all seating removed and the floor leveled. A huge loss to cinemagoers in Toronto (along with the Uptown – demolished and the Capitol – closed. Toronto, the epicenter for one the film industry’s most important film festivals, now lacks any significant single screen movie theater. (The Elgin although used for film premieres is now only used occasionally for musical theater performances)
Actually the store renovation next door is looking really good. Sad that they removed a part of the marquee but better than the eyesore that it was.
Having visited the Westlake theater today, I can’t say there’s much left to save and the neighborhood is a nighmare. Who is going to come to this renovated theater in this poor Latino neighborhood? No one is going to park in this area at night, if you can even find parking. The concrete floor that was poured seems to have destroyed much of the decoration on the side walls of the theater below the small curved balconies shown in Neonrocks photo above. I can’t say I was too impressed by the decor that was left. It was rather garrish and cheap looking. I’m all for saving old theaters but this doesn’t seem like one worth concentrating a lot of effort on. I’d rather see the Pacific in Hollywood or the Tower, Roxie or Warner downtown restored. The Westlake might work as a Latin American Cultural/Community Center but not as a film venue.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion.
Disney didn’t buy the Holywood. They leased, not bought, the Paramount (now renamed El Capitan-its orginal name). The building btw just went up for sale although Disney is saying it will keep on leasing the theater. The Hollywood is the Guiness Records museum.
A bit heavyhanded to say all clubs in Hollywood are dying. There are still new ones opening like The Kress as older ones close or change hands. Avalon is still going strong. I don’t honestly know what is exactly going into the Fox but from what I’ve read there wasn’t much left to begin with (it was a storage facility for years). A single screen venue of that size isn’t feasible anymore and the Fox has seen its day (although I loved its crazy 60’s facade). Time will tell what will happen to these places but anything is better than the eyesore state the Vogue is in right now. They did a nice job redoing the exterior of the Ivar but nothing goes on there anymore (I think the Los Angeles Film School bought the building)
Haineshisway: Those are great pics of the Vogue I haven’t seen before. As someone else pointed out, they have started removing the marquee on this theater. The whole place is such a wreck and Hollywood Blvd overall still has a long way to go in terms of rejuvenation. The hookers and drug dealers may be gone but there are a lot of empty stores and too many homeless wandering the streets with their shopping carts (I live a couple of blocks away). It will take a few big name retailers to get the ball rolling. Not sure if the Vogue is still slated for a nightclub conversion but the Fox seems to be on its way to becoming a retail outlet once the Crobar club pulled out of its commitment to the place. The Vine and Pacific and X theater near Gower also sit empty and unused. Sad.
The Last Remaining Seats series during the summer is a great way to see the inside of the old movie palaces on Broadway and watch a classic film projected on a large screen. The recent screening of Mildred Pierce at the restored Million Dollar theater was great. Its beautiful inside although there were complaints of bad sighlines in the back part of the orchestra.
As to the Vogue, there was a lot of work going on for a while but recently, nothing. Not sure what is going on. The place is a real mess and needs to be cleaned up.
As to the comment above regarding the Las Palmas theater, its not empty, it functions as Element nightclub.