Oriental Theatre

jmarellano on February 16, 2005 at 9:29 pm

I went into Guitar Center today. If you go in the store down a level to the acoustic room, and into the vintage room, not only can you see where the screen was located, but there is still some ornamental moulding on the ceiling. this is the only room where you can see this at, since drop ceilings were added to the other part.

Oddly enough, if you go upstairs in the Drum Store area, it takes you in part of what was the projection room.

Definitely a site to see.

Joe Vogel on December 6, 2004 at 6:46 am

There are mentions of Meyer and Holler’s plans for the Granada Theatre in Southwest Builder and Contractor as early as the issue of April 15th, 1921. The theater must have been open by 1924, as the Hollywood Citizen of March 11th, 1924 carries an article about the new air systems which had been installed in both the Granada and the Apollo, making them the best ventilated theaters in the city.

Joe Vogel on November 3, 2004 at 9:51 pm

In the mid-1960’s, the Oriental occasionally ran art films, though it was not their regular policy. I remember going there two or three times when they ran movies I had missed in their earlier runs at full-time art houses such as the Los Feliz and the Cinema, or that I wanted to see again. I believe that the Oriental was the third theater at which I saw Fellini’s La Dolce Vita, sometime about 1964. I have no memory of the decor, but I do recall the place being a bit run-down even then, with threadbare patches on the carpets.

JAlex on May 7, 2004 at 11:20 pm

Original name of the theatre was the GRANADA.