The Errol Flynn Blog

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1. David DeWitt

   February 21, 2020 at 2:57 am

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   • Ralph Schiller

     March 4, 2020 at 9:32 pm

     Thanks David for these historic photos. Where exactly is the theatre building in Los Angeles? I see 7th Street and something? Ralph Schiller

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2. Gentleman Tim

   March 4, 2020 at 11:12 pm

   I believe its at 7th and South Hill, Ralph. It was originally the Pantages Theatre

   “The 1920 Pantages Theatre, a nine-story steel-framed building designed by architect B. Marcus Priteca, was the city’s second theatre (and the country’s sixteenth) built for the namesake vaudeville circuit. It is a richly ornamented Beaux Arts structure that includes a 2,200 seat theatre, shops, and offices on the upper floors.

   In 1929, the theatre became the Warner Bros. Downtown Theatre and eventually Warren’s Theatre. When the theatre finally closed in 1975, it was used as a church and then converted into retail space as the Downtown Jewelry Exchange in the late 1980s.

   Vestiges of its Warner Bros. legacy remain. The familiar Warner Bros. emblem is visible behind the current diamond motif above the buildings’ corner marquee. The parapet continues to read “Warner Bros. Downtown Bldg.”

   Despite the building’s new use, much of the interior of the theatre’s baroque ornamentation remains. The elaborate coved auditorium ceiling features a sunburst mural surrounded by Egyptian, Oriental, Greek, and Roman figures. The figures are still intact, although a modern chandelier obscures the sunburst. Flanking the stage are the original Corinthian columns.”

   [img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Los_Angeles_Pantages_Theatre_1920.jpg[/img]

   Here’s some sensational history regarding “The Trial of the Century” involving an alleged rape by ‘Alexander the Great’ Pantages in a “broom closet” at the original Pantages pictured above. Some say it was a set-up masterminded by his ruthless KO competitor, Joe Kennedy. Pantages was convicted and sent to San Quentin for a couple of years, but was freed after a retrial in which he was represented by none other than Jerry Giesler, who argued he was too old and frail to rape a young athletic dancer, particularly in such a small room.

   On This Day October 4, 1929: The “Trial of the Century” Gripped America

   homesteadmuseum.wordpress.com…

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