Nowadays, movie theaters are equipped with everything that can improve the movie-watching experience: 3D, 4D, and other super high tech features. However, the theaters of yore had maybe provided the movie goers only with a 2-dimensional screen, but they had something the nowadays-cinema doesn’t, classiness and crowds of people eager to see a new motion film.
There is something truly beautiful about movie theaters of the past that makes us nostalgic, they tend to have a specific flamboyance that the nowadays cinemas visibly miss.
We’ve stumbled upon a ravishing collection of photos that document the movie theaters in the golden age of Hollywood.
So, here, borrow our time machine and take a look at how movie palaces looked like in their heyday.
A crowd gathers for a premiere at the Warner Theater on Hollywood & Wilcox
A much-quieter Hollywood Blvd. in front of Grauman’s
A nice color photo of Grauman’s Chinese Theater, which opened in 1927
A premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theater for the Marlene Dietrich film ‘Morocco’ in 1930
‘Cleopatra’ also screened at the Vista
Funny Girl plays at the Egyptian in 1968
Grauman’s Egyptian Theater in 1924. Note the streetcar tracks on Hollywood Blvd
a comedy being filmed on location outside the Egyptian Theatre in 1926
Hollywood Blvd. in 1936. Notice the exterior of the Pantages Theater on the right
Although, megaplex is nowadays the ubiqitous option for watching a movie, we are happy to say that some of these gorgeous movie theathers have been preserved from the Golden Age of Hollywood like :The Egyptian, Grauman’s Chinese Theater.
Movie theater magnate Sid Grauman at the Egyptian Theatre with two usherettes.
People walk under the marquee of the Hollywood Theater sometime in the 1930s
Shirley Temple attends the premiere of The Little Princess’ at the Carthay Circle Theatre in 1939
The Carthay Circle Theatre
The Cinerama Dome looks much more dramatic without the Arclight complex behind it in the 1960s
The courtyard of the Egyptian
The crowd at the grand opening of Grauman’s Egyptian Theater in 1922
The dazzling interior at the Pantages
The Egyptian’s facade changed over the years
The El Portal Theater was located in North Hollywood
The exterior of the Mar-Cal Theatre, 1935
The film title ‘Hells Angels’ is displayed on the columns of Grauman’s puts this photo at 1930
The Fox Theater in Westwood
The grand opening of Bard’s Theater in 1923; now, known as the Vista Theater
The lavish balcony at the Pantages
The Mann Bruin is right across the street from the Fox (and, conveniently, next to Diddy Riese, too; though it wasn’t open in 1938)
The Pantages lobby. Sheesh
The Pig ‘n’ Whistle is still there
The raven-haired protest the Marilyn Monroe flick, ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ in front of the Chinese Theater
The sweeping interior staircase at the Pantages
The theater is still a popular spot for film premieres, as it was in the late 1930s
The Vista at night, 1938
Ticket prices listed in the foyer of the El Capitan Theater in 1935
Two women on a ladder by the marquee of the Egyptian Theatre
(Photos via the Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection)