Inside United Artists Theatre

The United Artists Theatre in Downtown LA (9th and Broadway) has been closed off as a slightly kooky church for many years (but kudos to the church for keeping it in good condition!).  It was created by 3 out of 4 United Artists (Chaplin had a 'thing' about the studio having its own theatre) and opened in December 1927.  I'm pretty sure Coquette was one of the opener films, but I can't remember.  Either way silents were all but done for.  Even Charlie's final ones would premiere elsewhere ("City Lights" premiered down the street at the Los Angeles Theatre, apparently he changed his mind in the ensuing years as he invested heavily in that theatre.)  From Bringing Back Broadway:


The United Artists Theatre (aka Texaco Building) opened on December 26, 1927, by its founders D.W. Griffith, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford; who needed the massive Spanish Gothic style movie palace as a venue for world premieres of their movies.

The opening of the studio's Flagship premiere house in L.A. marked the beginning of a theatre chain that is one of the nation's largest today.

Mary Pickford took large part in the project, selecting the site, the architect, and spending so much money on it that the plaster cast molds used for the theater had to be re-used in Detroit and Chicago to amortize their cost. Although C. Howard Crane of Detroit was engaged to design his only theatre west of Omaha (not counting Sydney, Australia), the 12-story office frontage for the complex was designed by the L.A. firm of Walker and Eisen for a long term lease by Texaco for their western regional offices.

The UA Building was the tallest privately owned structure in LA until 1956, when the city finally repealed its Beaux Arts inspired "City Beautiful" concept of a 125-foot height limit for everyone but City Hall. In fact, the tower on the roof exceeds that limit but squeezed through on a technicality since it was unoccupied space used to house elevator equipment, the sprinkler system reservoir, and other equipment. The building permits described it as "signage."

The screening room in the basement used by Mary Pickford is now the repository of the church's bible collection.

The style of the building was originally described as "Spanish Gothic," a rare combination for an auditorium. Much of the plaster decorations around the building’s entrances and in the auditorium are copied from those at the Cathedral at Segovia – although the Spaniards themselves never contemplated anything on this scale.

The lobby of the UA is half a block long, separating the auditorium from an adjacent office building.

To mitigate the length and height of the lobby space, Crane designed two double-decked bridges to connect each balcony with a staircase on the opposite side of the lobby.

The vaulted ceiling is finished in fresco murals, the only installation of its type on a west coast theatre. All mirrors in the lobby are gold-backed. Stairways at either end lead to basement lounges, a smoking room and a powder room. The smoking room was elaborately furnished in the Moorish manner and still retains its elaborate Malibu tile baseboards. Most of the original furnishings were relocated to Santa Barbara when the Fox Arlington theatre was restored as a performing arts center. The lavishness of the smoking room could probably be explained by the fact that it also functioned as a lobby for a private screening room built for Mary Pickford's use.

The screening room is also connected by passageways with the dressing rooms, and elevators from the lobby to the balconies.

Although United Artists needed a theatre to guarantee an outlet for their product, they had no intention of operating it themselves. The Publix unit of the Paramount Corporation was engaged to open the theatre, an arrangement that lasted until the depression. Always more committed to film than to the stage, United Artists discontinued stage productions here several times, but always seemed to revive them when competition got the edge with downtown stage shows.

In the early 30's, the theatre was operated by Paramount Publix for United Artists. In the mid-thirties it was being called Grauman's United Artists. Later Fox West Coast was the operator. The theatre was closed briefly during the depression, then reopened to spotty attendance, due to the relatively remote location it occupied too far south on Broadway.

Saddled with a 50-year lease they couldn't break, UA decided in 1956 to day and- date first run with their Hollywood houses by remodeling the UA for 70mm Todd- AO wide screen projection. The booth was relocated from the second balcony to the main floor, a curtain and a screen were installed in front of the proscenium (necessitating the removal of some decorative elements), and the first balcony or "golden horseshoe" was removed to guarantee sightlines from the back corners of the orchestra level.

UATC took over the operation themselves in the 50's (along with the nearby Loew's State). The theatre reopened with a first-run engagement of "Oklahoma," which soon closed, as did the theatre. The entrance, lobby and main floor of the auditorium have a nice appearance in "Sweet Smell of Success" (1957). Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis and others do a scene in front of the stage and we see the booth installed for Todd-AO, the sidewall murals and a bit of backstage. After being dark for the next 10 years, the UA reopened as a Spanish language movie house, in surprisingly good condition as a result of the wear and tear it was spared in the early 60's. At the end of the United Artists' movie days it was operated by Metropolitan Theatres.

Several notable features of the UA include the auditorium murals depicting the history of the film industry, featuring UA players, of course. The fire curtain bears an adaptation of the Shakespeare quote "The Picture's The Thing" implying the ultimate triumph of the motion picture over performing arts. The theatre also contains one of the most ambitious lighting systems of its time, controlled by an immense 35 foot, pre-set control board. All ceiling fan vaulting is backlit, as are organ screens, illuminated in layers.

The ceiling dome is indirectly floodlit, and can be adjusted to contrasting and changing color combinations. The manual Wurlitzer was removed in 1955, but an orchestra pit lift still functions (outliving those at the Hollywood Pantages and downtown Paramount.)

The office tower above the theatre was once the headquarters for Texaco, and the penthouse floor features mahogany wainscoting, arched windows, and lower floors feature views of the buildings gargoyles.

Information compiled from sources including: Los Angeles Conservancy; Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation; Cinema Treasures; google pages downtownlosangelestheatres; Forgotten Detroit

Bringing Back Broadway and some Los Angeles Conservancy members were recently allowed a tour.  They took many photos that make me postiviely giddy.  You can see them on their Facebook profile by clicking here.  The Theatre is now for sale and I know many wish to see it become a Theatre again.  Here's hoping as I'm pretty sure it'd make my life complete.