Theatres in Los Angeles (Images of America: California) [Paperback]

Suzanne Tarbell Cooper (Author), Amy Ronnebeck Hall (Author), Marc Wanamaker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 21, 2008

Los Angeles and the movies grew up together, and a natural extension of the picture business was the premium presentation of the product the biggest, best, and brightest theatres imaginable. The magnificent movie palaces along Broadway in downtown Los Angeles still represent the highest concentration of vintage theatres in the world. With Hollywood and the movies practically synonymous, the theatres in the studios neighborhood were state-of-the-art for showbiz, whether they were designed for film, vaudeville, or stage productions. From the elegant Orpheum and the exotic Grauman's Chinese to the modest El Rey, this volume celebrates the architecture and social history of Los Angeles's unique collection of historic theatres past and present. The common threads that connect them all, from the grandest movie palace to the smallest neighborhood theatre, are stories and the ghosts of audiences past waiting in the dark for the show to begin.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Suzanne Tarbell Cooper is the coauthor of Arcadia Publishing's Los Angeles Art Deco and Long Beach Art Deco. Amy Ronnebeck Hall is the coauthor of Los Angeles Art Deco. Marc Wanamaker, the author of more than a dozen books, owns Bison Archives, one of Southern California's largest repositories of historic photographs, from which these rare images were selected.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing (January 21, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738555797
• ISBN-13: 978-0738555799
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,084,737 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Do Not buy this book- A Waste of Money, September 26, 2011

By 

La history buff "deco fan" (california) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Theatres in Los Angeles (Images of America: California) (Paperback)

This book is a rip off. It costs too much. No significant information. Don't waste your money. There are better books out in the marketplace.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Grand Old Theaters in So Calif, February 8, 2008

By 

Bruce E. Roberts (California) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Theatres in Los Angeles (Images of America: California) (Paperback)

This is a great history book for all of us who grew up with the grand movie palaces of Downtown Los Angeles and surrounding areas. Lot of pictures of both the outside and inside of many of the great old theaters. My only complaint is not enough pictures of the inside of these palaces of a bygone era.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars nostalgic trip, July 21, 2008

By 

James E. Van Buskirk "jevb" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Theatres in Los Angeles (Images of America: California) (Paperback)

What a delight to revisit so many cinemas vividly remembered. In the 1960s my grandmother used to take me to the Belmont and the Beverly, the Wiltern and the Westlake, the Los Feliz and the Fox Wilshire, among many other movie houses large and small. Seeing these images of theatres, many of which are now long gone, is a treasured trip down memory lane. My only complaint: the lack of an index in the "Images of America" series.