They really don’t make buildings like this any longer, more’s the pity. This was the Fox Movietone studios, where the Fox Movietone News newsreels were put together. It had a longer run than most studios, from 1928 to 1963. This photo was taken on Orton Ave in Century City at around Fox Hills Drive in around 1928. The building, which was absorbed in to Twentieth Century-Fox and also housed dressing room at one time, is still standing, albeit in a stripped down version.
***UPDATE*** – The name “Movietone” was the name given to Fox’s sound film process, so it’s very likely that this was actually the chief administration building for the studio and not just the newsreel department from which it took its name.
The same building in April 2019:
Here is a timeline of the early incarnation of what eventually because the 20th Century-Fox studio lot:
Here’s the timeline:
1915 William Fox purchases the old William Selig studios as 1st Fox studio in Southern CA.
1916: William Fox purchased the property for the Western Ave studio.
1923: William Fox purchases what will be Fox Hills (strictly a very big backlot for the squeezed-for-room Western Ave lot that remains the main lot).
October 28, 1928 Fox Hills opens as Movietone City and becomes the main Fox lot. Western Ave remains as a secondary lot, for the B movies etc. and later for television.
Guessing taste had more to do with the change than maintenance. Post WWII everything prewar was derrided as over ornamented bad taste.Striped down minimalism was publicised as the only acceptable modern style. Also think the 1933 Long Beach earthquake had a lot to do with removing materials that could fall and injure pedestrians.
If I’m looking at this properly, this is the group of new buildings that went up along the west border. The original wall was along the southside, and then they tore out the features and left the backlot on the expansion area to the north half. So, in the last image we see a large structure to the right that was once known as Studio 6. Photos show cars had access to get in there so this must have been the gateway to enter with a jog to the left, two turns to the right, and then you do the timewarp again. Don’t forget to put your hands on your hips (we’ll leave RKO out of this).
They really don’t make buildings like this any longer, more’s the pity. This was the Fox Movietone studios, where the Fox Movietone News newsreels were put together. It had a longer run than most studios, from 1928 to 1963. This photo was taken on Orton Ave in Century City at around Fox Hills Drive in around 1928. The building, which was absorbed in to Twentieth Century-Fox and also housed dressing room at one time, is still standing, albeit in a stripped down version.
I will never understand why they would remove all of those incredible details? Does anyone know the reasoning for doing that?
As Gordon said, tastes do change. But also I’d imagine that style of architecture also involves a high level of maintenance.
Guessing taste had more to do with the change than maintenance. Post WWII everything prewar was derrided as over ornamented bad taste.Striped down minimalism was publicised as the only acceptable modern style. Also think the 1933 Long Beach earthquake had a lot to do with removing materials that could fall and injure pedestrians.
Ah yes, that does make sense about the earthquake liability.
Changing tastes.
If I’m looking at this properly, this is the group of new buildings that went up along the west border. The original wall was along the southside, and then they tore out the features and left the backlot on the expansion area to the north half. So, in the last image we see a large structure to the right that was once known as Studio 6. Photos show cars had access to get in there so this must have been the gateway to enter with a jog to the left, two turns to the right, and then you do the timewarp again. Don’t forget to put your hands on your hips (we’ll leave RKO out of this).