Preserving Silent Sites: Downtown LA

Before I begin I'd like to give an update on the Mayfair/Majestic in Santa Monica. Apparently the interior was gutted in the 70s and 'made' to look older. Although I still would find that worth saving the Santa Monica Conservancy told me that a lawsuit took place a few years back which gave the rights to demolition. They say there is 'nothing they can do' which I find a crying shame. But I'm in a good mood today so I'm going to try and look over that for now.


Unfortunately I was too late for the really cool tour that went through The Los Angeles Theatre. But I did make the LA Historic Theatre Foundation tour that was scheduled for today. I don't go downtown...mainly because of traffic which even on a Saturday was backed up at the ungodly hour of 10AM. See we built our highways in the 40s (after tearing up our trolley lines...yeah that was real smart) and haven't updated them since. Its a hell of a shock coming from a more modern highway city but you get used to it.


On the schedule today was The Tower Theatre, The Rialto, and The Olympic. Except apparently a Nokia commercial decided to film at that intersection (using both the Rialto and the Olympic) so the Olympic was bumped. Instead we got to look at the Globe which I guess was on the last tour. Its gorgeous and I believe from 1913, created by David Belasco for 'real' theatre. Now its a nightclub where really drunk people get to enjoy it instead.

Next was the Tower. The Nokia people were using it for an office but we got around okay. It was built in 1927 so it really did not get to enjoy silents. In fact it was one of the first theatres in LA to have sound, but apparently no it didn't host the Jazz Singer in a premiere or preview. The sound system was so clunky they had to hang it out the window! Jeesh. Sadly that's not there anymore.




The Tower is in pretty good shape and is under good ownership. Its used a lot for filming including the Mambo King and oddly enough Coyote Ugly (which features a 5 second cameo by my favorite singer Alex Band). The ceiling needs redone (I mean pretty wise, its in good condition its just ugly) and the seats were torn out for the Mambo King on the first floor. The balcony still has its seats, but they really need repaired. I don't think at this point it'll ever be used as a real theatre for now, its doing too good filming wise.


Next was the Rialto. Now...you are warned...these pictures may give you a heart attack. Built in 1917 it was one of the major 'small' theatres and under Graumman's hands it was host to many a Metro/Famous Players opening. It also had stadium seating which was new at that time. I don't remember WHY its in the shape it is now, but its very sad. NOTHING is left...just the shell basically. Personally I think it'd make a great local band type venue/bar or theatre. Millionaire's feel free to contact me we'll make it happen. The LAHF have gone to great pains to make sure this theatre can not be destroyed (further). I'd love to see some kind of restoration effort...it could happen.

This is the stadium seating and what would be the projection area. I don't know if that's Charlie haunting me or just some bad lighting...my apologies for the spots!

This nearly made me cry....this was the movie screen!

Our docent said they had scratched away at the paint (this was on the right wall) and found some original paintings underneath. See restoration is possible!

The stadium seating again

Moving along...







At this point we were told no Olympic. I had parked a million miles away and spotted some great silent sites on the way. The Orpheum is just past the Rialto. This was the building that Harold Lloyd (and his stunt double) used for Safety Last. Its absolutely massively huge and one can just imagine filming on its rooftop! OMG! Considering Harold was missing a few fingers and still did such stunts gives me a great amount of respect for him.

Down the road from that is the United Artists Theatre. Some crazy crazy Christians have taken it over (okay I don't know for a fact they're crazy, but they tend not to open it up to non church goers) though at the very least their keeping it nice instead of letting it go to rot. Shall you suddenly find yourself holy you can get on their list and go in. I am not doing that...and I really hope I wont melt near the holy water. Supposedly Mary Pickford had a huge hand in designing it. It'll be interesting to see.


Heading the opposite direction one finds the Palace and The Los Angeles Theatres.

Spring Street was apparently the 'hotel street'. See back in the day when actors came here (I'd assume this lasted well into the 60s/70s) they would rent hotel rooms to live in instead of rooming with 6 people in a house or apartment. I seen at least 3 or 4 such hotels still there, now mostly condos. Sorry I didn't get pictures...I was too excited at finding The Alexandria!

I believe this hotel went up in 1906 or something like it. When Griffith and his company (complete with Mack Sennett, Mary Pickford, Jack Pickford, etc) first came to California in 1910 this is where they stayed. In fact I believe when they returned again (this time for good) they stayed here once again, until something more permanent was found. This is the hotel Valentino stayed in when he first came to LA, this is THE hotel to end all hotels!


I'm not going to post the many pictures I took, mainly because a very nice security guard said he seen nothing though apparently they frown on picture taking. The Alexandria was a hotel for many years, and as long ago as 2005 it was in very poor condition from most accounts. The people working there had no clue it had a history, and the lobby was filled with bums and various scary looking people.

I'm not sure what year it was renovated though I would guess 2007 or so. The Alexandria was turned into apartments/lofts and though I don't have enough pictures to say they were faithful they certainly have made it look nice. There's security at the front, the ball room is restored, and there is also a theatre for community performances (right now their doing a play about silent film stars, which I can not vouch is accurate or Hollywood Babylon bad...I need to see it first). There was also a room I wandered into that I'm not sure WHAT it was or what they were turning it into...but it looked like it had been a bar or something. That combined with the ballroom is enough to make me happy.

I was pleasantly surprised by Downtown LA. I've only been through once and it was on the other side of downtown. Parking isn't so bad, or expensive ($5 all day today) and there are just a ton of gorgeous buildings still standing (much to my surprise). Being yelled at in Spanish several times to buy things is never fun, but that's the same hazard you run anywhere in LA. Oddly I wouldn't call this area touristy. I don't think enough tourist know WHY these buildings are so spectacular to still have. And that is a crying shame.

If you do find yourself in the LA area the Los Angeles Conservancy will be screening several films this summer in the Million Dollar Theatre, The Orpheum, and the Los Angeles Theatre. My favorite is Louise Brook's in "Pandora's Box" in July. THESE are the type of events we need more of (*coughtherudolphvalentinofilmfestivalcough*)!