In a city of marvelous movie palaces (the Chinese, the Egyptian, the Pantages, the Million Dollar) one of the most famous and most loved cinemas in Los Angeles was the Carthay Circle Theatre, which opened in 1926. It stood at 6316 San Vicente Blvd, and as this aerial shot shows, it had quite a bit of empty land around it—at least in the early 1940s, when this image was captured. And that empty land would have been handy because the Carthay Circle became one of the go-to venues for big Hollywood premieres, including The Great Ziegfeld (1936), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Marie Antoinette (1938), Gone with the Wind (1939), Fantasia (1940). All those limos and press and fans needed to go somewhere. The theater was demolished in 1969. (Source: Calisphere)
Andie P. said: “And it had a fantastic, specially made curtain that had the theme designs of Around the World in 80 Days across the entire bottom of the curtain!”
Cindy D. said: “I saw Gone with the Wind there just before the theatre was closed and razed. They showed it as their final offering.”
This is how that site looked in December 2023:
What was the reason they torn down such a marvelous building? I can not understand the thinking behind this.
For what it’s worth, here’s what is says on Wikipedia:
“Although the Carthay Circle Theater had hosted the first-run “roadshow”, reserved-seat engagements of a great many aesthetically- and economically important films, by the 1960s the “roadshow” concept, and, indeed, the Carthay Circle Theater itself, was considered an anachronism, overshadowed by modern multi-screen cinemas. Its customer base had also been sapped by suburbanization, and many other economic factors.”
which sounds about right to me.
Progress can be such a NASTY thing!!!! If that is what you call it. I have other words for it that I cannot share!!!!
Did Century City Shopping Center have a multiplex movie theater in addition to the Shubert when it opened in the 60’s? Westside Pavilion, Beverly Center and Beverly Connection all opened after the Carthay closed. Fox Hills would have been too far to drive. Farmer’s Market didn’t have a theater complex at the time as I recall.
My bad. Fox Hills opened in 1975.
Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza (1939) was too far to drive for sure
The Shubert opened in July, 1972, at the ABC Entertainment Center, across from the Century Plaza Hotel. In the same center the Century Plaza Theatres had opened in April that year, which were two large capacity movie theaters. In 1987 a new ownership took over and then there were 4 theaters. The whole center was demolished in 2004 for the new 2000 Avenue of the Stars Office Building. I greatly miss the Shubert Theatre. I was not so fond of the movie theatres that were located there, though I did go there occasionally. Wasn’t really an inspiring set-up to visit.
As for the Century City Shopping Center. No, there was not a movie theater at the Century City Shopping Center when it opened in 1964. The first AMC cinema was added in 1987. The first movie I saw there was Hope & Glory! I really enjoyed that location. The last movie I saw there was Rent in 2005. AMC then rebuilt a new theatre at the opposite end of the mall with stadium seating and other accoutrements.
I fondly remember the Plitt Theatres, those two large movie theaters at the ABC Entertainment Center, which hosted the annual Filmex Film Expo in the late 70s. I saw many interesting foreign imports that I never would have seen if not for Filmex. After seeing a film or two, then hanging out at Harry’s Bar for a drink and watching out for celebrities was a fun pastime. I really miss those days.
My dad said his mom dragged him to movie premieres in the early 30s when he was a kid. The only movie theater I remember him specifically mentioning was the Carthay Circle.
In the 60s, I saw a revival of “Gone With the Wind” there with a high school class.
Wow! What a beautiful movie house! I bet the premieres there were spectacular! I did not know LA had so many fabulous movie houses! Thank you for sharing, Martin!
Romeo & Juliet (1936) had the Los Angeles premier there on the night that Thalberg died. His wife Norma Shearer starred in the film.