Curtains close for L.A.'s Golden Era movie theatres
Thomas Ramirez
Issue date: 5/15/09 Section: Entertainment
If one were to ask anyone over 60 about the old forgotten Movie Palaces in Downtown LA, most will immediately be overcome with cherished memories.
They will tell stories of times when people got dressed up to go see a movie, because going to see a movie was a glamorous event. It started the moment one stepped into the movie theater because it wasn't just a building, it was a Movie Palace.
However movie-goer's today are not as lucky, all they have is the generic cookie-cutter style movie theaters, but people in Los Angeles can catch a brake and can experience movie watching as people did back in the Golden Era of Hollywood because once a year the Los Angeles Conservancy has an event called "The Last Remaining Seats" which presents classics films in the Downtown Los Angeles classic Movie Palaces for 20 dollars a seat or 16 dollars for members of the Conservancy.
Unbeknownst to many Los Angelenos, Los Angeles has the highest concentration of Movies Palaces in the United States.
Most were built in the early 1900's and they were feats of architectural, sculptural and engineering genius.
The Million Dollar theater ,one of the first Palaces to be built in the United States, was built in 1917 and legend claims it cost 1 million dollars to buy and build, which at today's cost of inflation would be equal to 16 million dollars.
This year the Conservancy will be showing six films in 3 Movie Palaces, The Orpheum Theater, The Million Dollar Theater, and The Los Angeles Theater.
The Orpheum Theater opened in 1926 and was the last of 4 theaters built by the famous Orpheum vaudeville circuit. The other 3 theaters are located in major cities in the United States.
This year the Orpheum will be showing "The Sting", a comedy which won seven Academy Awards, and "Pandora's Box" a film many critics hail as "one of the greatest silent films ever made".
The Million Dollar Theater will be showing a film entitled "Buck Privates", one of Abbott and Costello's, a famous comedy duo, best films. Also showing at the Million Dollar Theater is "Macunaíma", an award winning Brazilian film based on a classic novel by Mario de Andrade.
The Los Angeles Theater will presenting a film which won eight Academy Awards, "Cabaret" along with the film that made Marlon Brando a legend and was nominated for 12 Academy Awards, "A Streetcar named Desire".
Tickets are available for purchase only online at The Los Angeles Conversancy's website, http://www.laconservancy.org or by telephone,
The Los Angeles Conservancy has this annual film series because they hope to raise awareness of the important history that made Los Angeles famous that is quickly vanishing.
Several movie palaces have been gutted out and made into retail stores or turned into churches for different religious organizations. The money made goes into protecting the last remaining seats of these forgotten movie palaces.
They will tell stories of times when people got dressed up to go see a movie, because going to see a movie was a glamorous event. It started the moment one stepped into the movie theater because it wasn't just a building, it was a Movie Palace.
However movie-goer's today are not as lucky, all they have is the generic cookie-cutter style movie theaters, but people in Los Angeles can catch a brake and can experience movie watching as people did back in the Golden Era of Hollywood because once a year the Los Angeles Conservancy has an event called "The Last Remaining Seats" which presents classics films in the Downtown Los Angeles classic Movie Palaces for 20 dollars a seat or 16 dollars for members of the Conservancy.
Unbeknownst to many Los Angelenos, Los Angeles has the highest concentration of Movies Palaces in the United States.
Most were built in the early 1900's and they were feats of architectural, sculptural and engineering genius.
The Million Dollar theater ,one of the first Palaces to be built in the United States, was built in 1917 and legend claims it cost 1 million dollars to buy and build, which at today's cost of inflation would be equal to 16 million dollars.
This year the Conservancy will be showing six films in 3 Movie Palaces, The Orpheum Theater, The Million Dollar Theater, and The Los Angeles Theater.
The Orpheum Theater opened in 1926 and was the last of 4 theaters built by the famous Orpheum vaudeville circuit. The other 3 theaters are located in major cities in the United States.
This year the Orpheum will be showing "The Sting", a comedy which won seven Academy Awards, and "Pandora's Box" a film many critics hail as "one of the greatest silent films ever made".
The Million Dollar Theater will be showing a film entitled "Buck Privates", one of Abbott and Costello's, a famous comedy duo, best films. Also showing at the Million Dollar Theater is "Macunaíma", an award winning Brazilian film based on a classic novel by Mario de Andrade.
The Los Angeles Theater will presenting a film which won eight Academy Awards, "Cabaret" along with the film that made Marlon Brando a legend and was nominated for 12 Academy Awards, "A Streetcar named Desire".
Tickets are available for purchase only online at The Los Angeles Conversancy's website, http://www.laconservancy.org or by telephone,
The Los Angeles Conservancy has this annual film series because they hope to raise awareness of the important history that made Los Angeles famous that is quickly vanishing.
Several movie palaces have been gutted out and made into retail stores or turned into churches for different religious organizations. The money made goes into protecting the last remaining seats of these forgotten movie palaces.
Be the first to comment on this story