Category Archives: Theaters

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – ‘The Loves of Pharaoh’

Posted on September 12, 2022 by lmharnisch

Photo: Dagny Servaes in “The Loves of Pharaoh.” Credit: American Cinematheque. Note: This is an encore post from 2011. To celebrate the 89th anniversary of the opening of Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre, American Cinematheque screened the 1922 restored Ernst Lubitsch film … Continue reading →

Posted in 1922, Film, History, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Photography, Preservation, Theaters | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – United Artists Theatre

Posted on February 7, 2022 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2012. Los Angeles and Hollywood have been the Mecca and Medina of movies, where their acolytes came to worship, work and learn in the teens and 1920s.  After making movies, reverent places of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1926, 1927, Architecture, Art & Artists, Downtown, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Preservation, Religion, Theaters | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – the Photoplayer

Posted on September 6, 2021 by lmharnisch

Photo: Joe Rinaudo with his Fotoplayer.  Credit: Joe Rinaudo. Note: This is an encore post from 2011. For a short time in the 1920s, 8,000-10,000 photoplayers ruled the roost at medium-sized motion picture theaters. Basically organs with player piano rolls … Continue reading →

Posted in 1912, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Music, Stage, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: T.L. Tally – L.A.’s Pioneer Film Exhibitor, Part 2

Posted on November 16, 2020 by lmharnisch

“The Great Corbett Fight” at Tally’s theater. Note: This is an encore post from 2017. Former Texan T. L. (Thomas) Tally pioneered early film exhibition practices in the film metropolis of Los Angeles, catering to the needs of his audiences. … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: T.L. Tally – L.A.’s Pioneer Film Exhibitor, Part 1 (Updated)

Posted on November 16, 2020 by lmharnisch

T.L. Tally, Moving Picture World, 1915. Note: This is an encore post from 2017. Los Angeles has stood at the forefront of not only motion picture production, but the fields of exhibition and distribution as well. Former Texan T. L. … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Broadway, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Main Street, Mary Mallory, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Mack Sennett, Theater Owner

Posted on January 13, 2020 by lmharnisch

The Woodley Theatre, from Motography, July 14, 1917. Comedy king Mack Sennett recognized the self-promotion power of owning his own movie theater long before film studios owned theater chains or Netflix looked to acquire the Egyptian Theatre. In 1917, savvy … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: TCM Film Festival Walks on the Dark Side

Posted on April 17, 2019 by lmharnisch

Humphrey Bogart in a Warner Bros. ad for “All Through the Night.” TCM threw a wild party for its 25th Anniversary on air and 10 years of honoring classic films with its just concluded TCM Classic Film Festival, a packed … Continue reading →

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Jan. 3, 1959: Russia Winning Space Race! Bulla Leads L.A. Open!

Posted on January 3, 2019 by lmharnisch

The Soviets are winning the space race! Moral Re-Armament stages “Turning of the Tide” and “The New American!” French Foreign Legion rifles, only $9.88!  Johnny Bulla leads the L.A. Open! The entire post from the 2009 Daily Mirror via Archive.org.

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October 1947: Firefighter Sits Through Movie With Dead Friend to Avoid Audience Panic

Posted on October 22, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Moviegoers Walter Saul of Cincinnati and his wife had just settled into their seats for a double feature with his friend Aloysius Bollin and son Joseph … Continue reading →

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Oct. 15, 1907: Fire Threatens Orpheum

Posted on October 15, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Oct. 15, 1907 Los Angeles On a rainy night in Los Angeles, a fire broke out in the four-story brick office building at 235 S. Spring St. housing the Orpheum Theater and … Continue reading →

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October 1947: Spike Jones at Philharmonic Auditorium

Posted on October 12, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. BY EDWIN SCHALLERT Hitting the bull’s-eye squarely in the center with the title of his show, which he calls “Musical Depreciation Revue,” Spike Jones last night … Continue reading →

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Oct. 12, 1947: Father Charged With Beating Son, 2, for Talking During Movie

Posted on October 12, 2018 by lmharnisch

  Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project in response to a post by Kim Cooper. Judge Arthur Guerin told Sheppard W. King III that the beating he gave to his son was … Continue reading →

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Oct. 14, 1897: ‘La Boheme’ Receives American Premiere in Los Angeles

Posted on October 5, 2018 by lmharnisch

    Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. San Francisco has long claimed the first American performance of Puccini’s “La Boheme” in March 1898 and is given credit for that distinction in … Continue reading →

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Sept. 27, 1907: Child Welfare Officer Cites Ringling Bros. for Underage Performers

Posted on September 27, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Sept. 27, 1907 Los Angeles Ringling Bros. manager Charles Davis said farewell to Los Angeles, leaving $50 ($1,026.18 USD 2005) and some choice words for local authorities. Child welfare officer Robert W. … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights – Hamburger’s Department Store, Arrow Movie Theater

Posted on September 17, 2018 by lmharnisch

A postcard of Hamburger’s Department Store is listed on EBay as Buy It Now for $2.99. Note: This is an encore post from 2013. The classy, oversize May Co. Department Store located at 801 S. Broadway in downtown Los Angeles … Continue reading →

Posted in 1908, Architecture, Broadway, Downtown, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Aug. 13, 1947: ‘Cuando Lloran los Valientes’

Posted on August 13, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Imagine my surprise to find that The Times reviewed Mexican movies, usually in critiques signed “G.K.,” who praised this classic of Mexican cinema starring Pedro Infante, … Continue reading →

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July 30, 1947: Peaches Strange at the Follies Burlesque

Posted on July 30, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. She was born Mildred Strange in Oklahoma in 1910. Raised by her uncle, a Methodist minister, she taught Sunday school in Shawnee, east of Oklahoma City. … Continue reading →

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Black L.A. 1947: Jury Selection Begins in San Diego Slavery Case

Posted on June 28, 2018 by lmharnisch

Above, Cab Calloway is at the Million Dollar Theater with “Ding Dong Williams.”  June 26, 1947: Jury selection begins in San Diego in the case of Alfred and Elizabeth Ingalls, who are accused of holding Dora L. Jones as a … Continue reading →

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Black L.A. 1947: When Hollywood ‘Toned Down’ Black Actors

Posted on June 21, 2018 by lmharnisch

Nina Mae McKinney, above, was “toned down” for MGM’s movie cameras in filming “Hallelujah,” Harry Levette said. June 19, 1947: Harry Levette, a longtime Sentinel columnist, sports editor and publicist, reflects on the Lafayette Players. The Lafayette Players was established … Continue reading →

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June 21, 1947: ‘The Drunkard,’ L.A.’s Favorite Melodrama

Posted on June 21, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. In the summer of 1933, expecting nothing but a brief run and modest ticket sales, two theater people from Carmel, Preston Shobe and Galt Bell, hatched … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Food and Drink, Hollywood, Stage, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments