Wednesday, January 23, 2008 – On Broadway

Revisiting two architectural gems, one from 1893 and one from 1918, in downtown Los Angeles, both oddly connected to Hollywood.

The Million Dollar Theater, 307 South Broadway, 1918, Albert C. Martin –

Awesomely Churrigueresque – Spanish Rococo, in the manner the Churriguera family of Salamanca going back to an architect and sculptor named Alonso Cano, the man who designed the facade of the cathedral at Granada in 1667. This is actually Mexican Churrigueresque, the mid-eighteenth century style of Lorenzo Rodriguez. The theater was covered in these pages two years ago, noting this place is no cathedral –

The Million Dollar Theater was built by legendary showman Sid Grauman as a film theater and not as a vaudeville venue. The theater opened on February 1, 1918. The marquee that day advertised cowboy William S. Hart starring in The Silent Man. During the 1950's, the theatre was leased to Latino businessman Frank Fouce. It became a premier Latino venue and showed top Spanish language films and hosted Latino musicians and dancers in vaudeville-like shows called "variedades." Lines ran all the way to Hill Street (about four blocks) for some of the top performers. The theatre, in sore need of repair, was leased to a Hispanic evangelical church, Iglesia Universal, in 1993. The Church moved to the State Theatre, also on Broadway, in 1998. The theatre has been taken over by the Metropolitan Theatre Co. and renovated. It reopened on April 9, 1999, again featuring "variedades." The headline performer that night was ranchero balladeer Juan Valentin who sang "corridas" ballads to a cheering crowd.

It's an odd place.

Across the street, The Bradbury Building, 304 South Broadway, George H, Wyman, 1893 –

The exterior is plain and unremarkable, but the interior is amazing. Previously covered in these pages also two years ago with this link -

The Bradbury Building, built in 1893, is one of Southern California's most remarkable architectural achievements. Its plan was commissioned by real estate and mining entrepreneur Louis L. Bradbury who decided to build it just a few blocks from his home on fashionable Bunker Hill and not far from the base of Angels Flight. After rejecting a plan submitted by Sumner P. Hunt, Bradbury approached junior draftsman George Wyman. Wyman is said to have accepted the commission after consulting a Ouija board. Wyman was influenced by Edward Bellamy's 1887 book that described a utopian civilization in the year 2000. The typical office building was described as being a "vast hall of light received not alone by the windows, but from a dome overhead." The interior of the court is flooded with natural light. In the true spirit of Los Angles, it has been featured in many movies, from DOA in 1946 to Blade Runner in 1982.

The wrought iron decoration was made in France and first displayed at the Chicago World's Fair before it was installed here.

Walk out the north door and you meet Anthony Quinn.  The mural pops up in a lot of movies.

If you wish to use any of these photos for commercial purposes I assume you'll discuss that with me. And should you choose to download any of these images and use them invoking the "fair use" provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976, please provide credit, and, on the web, a link back this site.

Technical Note:

Most of these photographs were shot with a Nikon D70 - using lens (1) AF-S Nikkor 18-70 mm 1:35-4.5G ED, or (2) AF Nikkor 70-300mm telephoto, or after 5 June 2006, (3) AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor, 55-200 mm f/4-5.6G ED. They were modified for web posting using Adobe Photoshop 7.0.  Earlier photography was done with a Sony Mavica digital still camera (MVC-FD-88) with built-in digital zoom.

All text and photos, unless otherwise noted, Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 - Alan M. Pavlik