Paramount Theatre (Los Angeles)

Paramount Theatre (Los Angeles)

The Paramount Theatre in Los Angeles was a movie palace opened in January 1923 as Grauman's Metropolitan Theatre. It was built by impresario Sid Grauman, who had already built the Million Dollar Theatre a few blocks away, but who is best remembered today for his two Hollywood movie palaces, Grauman's Chinese Theatre and Grauman's Egyptian Theatre.

It was also home to variety acts. In 1941, Fats Waller, Rochester and Kitty Murray were all on the bill together. The theater became famous as the birthplace of "All That Meat and No Potatoes" - a Waller onstage wisecrack about the "brick house" physique of singer-dancer Murray.

The largest movie theater ever built in Los Angeles, the Metropolitan was acquired by the exhibition arm of Paramount Pictures in 1929 and renamed. The building had been designed by architect William Woolett, and the massive six floor commercial and office block in which it was encased was a major landmark across from Pershing Square for several decades. Paramount operated the venue through the 1950s. It was closed in 1960 and demolished the following year to make way for a high rise office building which was never built. After the site served as a parking lot for many years, a building from the wholesale jewelry trade was erected on there in the late 1970s, and remains today.

The theatre was located at 6th and Hill Streets, one block west of Broadway, where most of the city's major theaters were then located. After the Metropolitan opened, Grauman decided to build an entrance on Broadway, and constructed a building with a grand stairway up to a long hall which entered the theater on the mezzanine level, crossing a bridge over an alley to reach it. This entrance was closed by the Paramount company and the Braodway space rented out for retail use. When the theater was demolished, this annex survived and is today the only part of the theatre that remains [http://you-are-here.com/broadway/annex.html (photo)]

External links

* [http://cinematreasures.org/theater/495/ Paramount Theatre at Cinema Treasures]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Paramount Theatre — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Paramount Theatre fait référence à plusieurs lieux aux États Unis : Paramount Theatre (Seattle), une salle de spectacle à Seattle Paramount Theatre… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Los Angeles (Kalifornien) — Los Angeles Spitzname: City of Angels, L.A., Horizontal City Skyline von Los Angeles …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Los Angeles — Spitzname: City of Angels, L.A., Gang Capital of the Nation, Horizontal City Skyline von Los Angeles (Downtown LA) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Los Angeles, California — Los Angeles Pour les articles homonymes, voir Los Angeles (homonymie). Los Angeles …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Los Angeles, Californie — Los Angeles Pour les articles homonymes, voir Los Angeles (homonymie). Los Angeles …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Los Angeles (Californie) — Los Angeles Pour les articles homonymes, voir Los Angeles (homonymie). Los Angeles …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Los angeles — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Los Angeles (homonymie). Los Angeles …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Los angeles 2013 — Titre original Escape from L.A. Réalisation John Carpenter Acteurs principaux Kurt Russell Stacy Keach Steve Buscemi Peter Fonda Georges Corraface Cliff Robertson Michelle Forbes Scénario John …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Los Angeles 2013 — Los Angeles Données clés Titre original …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Los Angeles County, California — For the city in California, see Los Angeles. County of Los Angeles   County   …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”