One of my favorite of all the old theaters in Los Angeles is the Warners Theater at 9404 Wilshire Blvd, on the corner of Canon Drive in Beverly Hills. As we can see from this photo, it was a palace of Art Deco glory, teeming with details and embellishments we no longer see on any buildings, let alone our cinemas. It opened in 1931. The marquee is advertising a Richard Barthelmess picture, “The Finger Points” (and describes the movie as “To daring to print”) which came out in 1931, so this picture was taken not long after the theater opened.
Inaugural program from the Warner Theater, Beverly Hills, May19, 1931:
Warner Brothers Beverly Hills Theatre dedication slide:
Roughly the same view in December 2020. The theater is gone, but at least no ugly monstrosity has gone up in its place.
So sad it was torn down! What a gorgeous building that was!!!
At least?!
Why couldn’t the people of LA stand up for these great buildings and stop them from being destroyed!!!! We will never again see that kind of craftsmanship in architecture. I wish I was born so much earlier just to marvel at these fine buildings.