Great pix! The Stadium was my favorite childhood movie theater, and it plays a huge role in a fictional trilogy of books I wrote about my childhood growing up in that neighborhood in the late 50s. I spent the most time there, as they had the best Cinemascope screen and stereo sound – I saw everything there – 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Carousel, The King and I, The Searchers, Village of the Damned, The Time Machine, The Last Voyage, Daddy Long Legs, The Naked Edge (one of the last films to play there), North By Northwest and on and on and on. A fabulous theater. When it was turned into a synagogue I was so upset that I stopped going to Temple and have not been inside a Temple since. Funny, huh?
Spent many afternoons and evenings at the Dome – what a great theater it was. My grandparents lived at the Hotel St. Regis, which was located on the opposite side of the boardwalk (literally across the street from what would become the entrance to POP). Great pix above!
Like two-reeler above, I went to the Picfair almost every week from 1954 to 1964, seeing every Saturday matinee (I was probably at the same shows as he was). I remember running into the lobby when The Fly was unmasked, so horrifying was it. I saw Hard Day’s Night there, and Billy Wilder’s One, Two, Three and hundreds upon hundreds of others. One thing no one has mentioned is that the Picfair could not show proper Cinemascope. They simply showed it on their 1:85 screen, cutting the sides of the image off – and having black bars top and bottom – in essence, the first letterbox cinema! For those who are nostalgia-minded, the Picfair (and the Lido and the Stadium) all play huge roles in three novels I wrote, a trilogy and thinly-veiled fiction of my childhood growing up in Los Angeles. For those who are interested, the books are Benjamin Kritzer, Kritzerland, and Kritzer Time – you can read about them at amazon.com.
The Lido was my childhood movie theater. Its marquee adorns the cover of my first novel, Benjamin Kritzer (you can see the cover at amazon.com). Prior to it being an art house, it was a second-run house, where I saw Man Who Knew Too Much, Vertigo, Invaders from Mars (many kiddie matinees), and countless other films. I’ll post a photo of it as soon as I scan it into the computer.
The other two “budget” theaters on the boulevard that no one has mentioned were the Admiral and the Academy, both on the north side of the street close to Vine (one is still there and goes by the name The Vine). If you want to see the Hollywood in all its 70s glory, rent the DVD of The First Nudie Musical and watch the musical number, The Lights and The Smiles, part of which was shot outside the Hollywood (you also get a great view of The Pix, which was across from the Pantages.
Can someone tell me exactly when the Vogue ceased being a regular-run movie theater? I thought it was the early 90s, but that appears not to be the case if I’m reading the above posts correctly. So, when was the last time the Vogue played a movie in regular release? I have many happy memories of the Vogue – saw The Parent Trap there many times, saw Robert Youngson’s Days of Thrills and Laughter (which got me interested in silent movies), saw What’s New, Pussycat there, and the bastardized version of Once Upon A Time In America. One of my fondest memories is when the Vogue had a sneak preview of a film I wrote and directed in the mid-70s. THAT was fun!
Great pix! The Stadium was my favorite childhood movie theater, and it plays a huge role in a fictional trilogy of books I wrote about my childhood growing up in that neighborhood in the late 50s. I spent the most time there, as they had the best Cinemascope screen and stereo sound – I saw everything there – 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Carousel, The King and I, The Searchers, Village of the Damned, The Time Machine, The Last Voyage, Daddy Long Legs, The Naked Edge (one of the last films to play there), North By Northwest and on and on and on. A fabulous theater. When it was turned into a synagogue I was so upset that I stopped going to Temple and have not been inside a Temple since. Funny, huh?
Spent many afternoons and evenings at the Dome – what a great theater it was. My grandparents lived at the Hotel St. Regis, which was located on the opposite side of the boardwalk (literally across the street from what would become the entrance to POP). Great pix above!
Like two-reeler above, I went to the Picfair almost every week from 1954 to 1964, seeing every Saturday matinee (I was probably at the same shows as he was). I remember running into the lobby when The Fly was unmasked, so horrifying was it. I saw Hard Day’s Night there, and Billy Wilder’s One, Two, Three and hundreds upon hundreds of others. One thing no one has mentioned is that the Picfair could not show proper Cinemascope. They simply showed it on their 1:85 screen, cutting the sides of the image off – and having black bars top and bottom – in essence, the first letterbox cinema! For those who are nostalgia-minded, the Picfair (and the Lido and the Stadium) all play huge roles in three novels I wrote, a trilogy and thinly-veiled fiction of my childhood growing up in Los Angeles. For those who are interested, the books are Benjamin Kritzer, Kritzerland, and Kritzer Time – you can read about them at amazon.com.
The Lido was my childhood movie theater. Its marquee adorns the cover of my first novel, Benjamin Kritzer (you can see the cover at amazon.com). Prior to it being an art house, it was a second-run house, where I saw Man Who Knew Too Much, Vertigo, Invaders from Mars (many kiddie matinees), and countless other films. I’ll post a photo of it as soon as I scan it into the computer.
The other two “budget” theaters on the boulevard that no one has mentioned were the Admiral and the Academy, both on the north side of the street close to Vine (one is still there and goes by the name The Vine). If you want to see the Hollywood in all its 70s glory, rent the DVD of The First Nudie Musical and watch the musical number, The Lights and The Smiles, part of which was shot outside the Hollywood (you also get a great view of The Pix, which was across from the Pantages.
Can someone tell me exactly when the Vogue ceased being a regular-run movie theater? I thought it was the early 90s, but that appears not to be the case if I’m reading the above posts correctly. So, when was the last time the Vogue played a movie in regular release? I have many happy memories of the Vogue – saw The Parent Trap there many times, saw Robert Youngson’s Days of Thrills and Laughter (which got me interested in silent movies), saw What’s New, Pussycat there, and the bastardized version of Once Upon A Time In America. One of my fondest memories is when the Vogue had a sneak preview of a film I wrote and directed in the mid-70s. THAT was fun!