WGA Theatre
135 S. Doheny Drive,
Beverly Hills,
CA
90211
135 S. Doheny Drive,
Beverly Hills,
CA
90211
11 people
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Now 473 seats after renovation. https://www.writersguildtheater.com/about
Do members get reserved seating?
July 9th, 1970 grand opening ad in photo section.
@elcapone – I have a L.A. Free Press ad. September 1972.
I FOUND A SMALL POSTER THAT I AM TRYING TO DATE. IT ADVERTISES THE WEST COAST PREMIERE OF A 1936 FILM, “MARIJUANA, WEED FROM THE DEVIL’S GARDEN” ON SEPT 13 AT 9PM AT THE NATIONAL CINEMA’S DOHENY PLAZA. ANY HELP DATING THIS WOULD BE APPRECIATED.
From 1975 to 1979 I lived within walking distance of what I knew of as the Writers Guild Theater, when it ran second-run (or even somewhat older) titles for $1 or $2 admission for the general public. Maybe that was just on certain nights. But it was a wonderful find. I do remember the curtains on the walls look, and maybe even the uncomfortable seats — though in my opinion the Vagabond took the prize for hardest seats in town. A few of the films I recall catching up with here: “French Connection II”, “Give ‘Em Hell, Harry”, “Missouri Breaks”, and “The Reincarnation of Peter Proud”.
Here is a March 2010 photo I took: View link
Here is a December 1973 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/y8wzf76
While the Wilshire-Doheny Plaza complex in which this theater is located was designed by Maxwell Starkman & Associates (see my comment of June 29, 2008, above), the February 23, 1970, issue of Boxoffice Magazine attributes the design of the theater itself to George T. Nowak, who was also the lead architect of the original, single-screen Lakewood Center Theatre.
They are still there? OMG Guess that explains why I am not there. Oh well, gotta find a new plan as the snow flies around me. My car got stuck, and I had to walk up the dirt road to my cabin. It is really snowing like crazy here tonight.
The Rubins have been in there forever.
William, boo-hoo. I should or wish I was. William, I left Strong and the hell of taking care of theaters in New Jersey and New York. I am in my cabin in the Poconos, PA, wondering what I will do when I finally grow up.
So why are you not working there?
And you know what? I should be working there right now! Yeap!!
This theatre is located in the former Wilshire-Doheny Plaza (renamed 9100 Wilshire after the 1992 renovation), a major office-retail complex designed by Beverly Hills architectural firm Maxwell Starkman & Associates. Starkman was a Toronto-born architect who began his career in the office of Richard Neutra in 1950. His own company, founded a few years later, had become the fourth-largest architectural and engineering firm in the U.S. by the early 1980s. Maxwell Starkman’s last project was the Museum of Tolerance, in Los Angeles.
In 1978, the Doheny Plaza Theatre scheduled a British documentary film called “The Palestinian” which was produced and narrated by anti-Zionist actor Vanessa Redgrave. At 4:16 A.M. on June 15, a small bomb was detonated at the theatre, causing about $1,000 damage. After hasty repairs to the theatre, the film opened on schedule. Two men were arrested for the bombing. There’s no word on how much of an audience the movie attracted, but Jewish groups picketed the theatre.
Everybody inhale. September 1973:
http://tinyurl.com/25qbc3
Here is a 1975 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/2aht39
This is from the LA Times, dated 3/20/70:
“Funny Thing” Will Open Plaza Theater
“Love Is a Funny Thing”, the new Claude LeLouch motion picture, has been selected to be the premier attraction at the newly constructed Doheny Plaza Theater when it opens in June. The United Artists release stars Jean Paul Belmondo and Annie Girardot. The Doheny Plaza, a 575 seat house, is on Doheny Drive south of Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills.
When this theatre opened it was known as the Doheny Plaza Theatre and was operated by Metropolitan Theatres. The same chain that once operated many of the great theatres that lined Broadway in the Downtown area of Los Angeles.