From the light reflected on a wet Wilshire Boulevard, I’d say the “Lawrence of Arabia” premiere at the Stanley-Warner Theatre (formerly the Warner Beverly Hills Theatre) took place on a rainy day in 1962. Still, that movie was an event so I’m sure its Hollywood opening was wall-to-wall glamor, if this photo is anything to go by.

Susan says: “It was in Dec as I recall, and it was raining. I went with a gentleman I was ‘ensconced’ with at the time who worked at Columbia then; he had the tickets for the premier. It was not as big of premier as was the London one I was told. I saw Peter O’Toole, Omar Sharif, Rock Hudson, Jack Lemmon and Jose Ferrer there. There was some post premier party I think was held at the Beverly Hilton, but we didn’t go to that.”

Everett says: “Sadly, this beautiful theater was demolished right under the noses of the Beverly Hills City Council by none other than the infamous predatory capitalist, Charles Keating, the leading figure in the Savings & Loan Crisis in the 1980’s. He had purchased the property previously and brought in bulldozers to level the theater the very night preservationist where presenting a plan to renovate and reopen the theater. Keating’s plan to build a office building on the site never materialized partly because he went to Federal Prison for racketeering. Instead of a spectacular refurbished movie palace, Beverly Hills got a empty parking lot that remained a eyesore for years.”