El Capitan Theatre is a fully restored movie palace at 6838 Hollywood Boulevard in the Hollywood neighborhood in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California, United States. The theater and adjacent Hollywood Masonic Temple (now known as the El Capitan Entertainment Centre) are owned by

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

and serve as the venue for a majority of the Walt Disney Studios' film premieres.

History

El Capitan early years

In the early 1920s, real estate developer Charles E. Toberman (the "Father of Hollywood") envisioned a thriving Hollywood theater district. Toberman was involved in 36 projects while building the Max Factor Building (now the Hollywood Museum), Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and the Hollywood Masonic Temple. With Sid Grauman, he opened the three themed theaters: Egyptian (1922), El Capitan (1926), and Chinese (1927). Barker Bros. Furniture Emporium took up the rest of the building in the 1920s. El Capitan, dubbed "Hollywood's First Home of Spoken Drama," began presenting live performances on May 3, 1926, with ''Charlot's Revue'' starring Gertrude Lawrence and Jack Buchanan. El Capitan continued presenting live theater for a decade, with over 120 productions including such legends as

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American actor often referred to as the "King of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". He appeared in more than 60 Film, motion pictures across a variety of Film genre, genres dur ...

and Joan Fontaine. By the late 1930s, El Capitan felt the economic effects of the Depression, showcasing fewer and fewer productions. This period saw a cycle of experimentation with entertainment. In an effort to boost attendance at the theater, its management attempted to lure revues, road shows and benefits. Despite these efforts, business was faltering, and the theater then began showing movies. When

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...

was unable to locate a theater owner willing to risk screening ''

Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...

'', he turned to the El Capitan, and in 1941, ''Citizen Kane'' had its world

premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...

there. The theater then closed for one year as

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

purchased the theater.

Hollywood Paramount

The building was remodeled in the modern style, with the decor covered with curtains and removing the box-seat balconies. The theater reopened in 1942 as the Hollywood Paramount Theater. Its inaugural film presentation was Cecil B. DeMille's feature '' Reap the Wild Wind''. The theater remained the West Coast flagship for

until the studio was forced by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the

antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...

case '' U.S. vs. Paramount Pictures, et al.'' to divest itself of its theater holdings. After this, the Hollywood Paramount was operated by United Paramount Theatres for some years, then by a series of other companies, culminating with ownership by the Pacific Theatres Circuit in the 1980s. After a 50-year stay, Barker Bros. Furniture closed its location in the building in the 1970s. In 1985, Pacific Theatres purchased the theater from SRO Theaters. The building's owners, Nick Olaerts and Thomas L. Harnsberger, had assigned authority for the theater's facade to the Los Angeles Conservancy in exchange for historical building tax credits.

Disney and restoration

Late in the 1980s, Disney purchased a controlling stake in one of Pacific Theatres' chains, leading to Disney's Buena Vista Theaters and Pacific renovating the El Capitan Theatre and the Crest by 1989. These theaters became Disney's flagship houses. They spent $14 million on a complete renovation of the Paramount, restoring much of the building's original decor as well as the theater's original name. El Capitan reopened in 1991 with the premiere of '' The Rocketeer''. The 1992 National Preservation Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation was bestowed on the restorers of the theater. In 1984, the Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

, with El Capitan/Paramount listed as a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic dist ...

in the district, and in 1990, the city designated El Capitan a Los Angeles Cultural-Historic Monument. A

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

mural was approved by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

to be placed on the side of the building in December 1992. After the

1994 Northridge earthquake The 1994 Northridge earthquake affected Greater Los Angeles, California, on January 17, 1994, at 04:30:55 PST. The epicenter of the moment 6.7 () blind thrust earthquake was beneath the San Fernando Valley. Lasting approximately 8 seconds ...

, the building's frame was compromised and the theater had been flooded by its sprinklers and was considered uninhabitable by building inspectors. The owner walked away from the theater leaving the building to its mortgage company, CUNA Mutual Group. CUNA Mutual, having Disney as a continuing tenant, not only refurbished the theater but the office floors above for $10 million . In July 1995, Buena Vista purchased the Lanterman organ from Glendale City Redevelopment Agency. From the November 18, 1995, ''

Toy Story ''Toy Story'' is a 1995 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the first installment in the Toy Story (franchise), ''Toy Story'' franchise and the Firsts in animation, firs ...

'' premiere to January 1, 1996, Disney rented the Masonic Convention Hall, the next-door building, for Totally Toy Story, an instant theme park and a promotional event for the movie. In July 1998, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution purchased the convention hall to continue using it as a promotional venue. A Disney Store location opened next to the theater in the El Capitan Building in 1998. The $3 million seismic retrofitting was finished in time for the June 21, 1996, premiere of ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame''. The building's full restoration was completed in December 1997, which included the sign tower. The Hollywood Entertainment District, a self-taxing business improvement district, was formed for the properties from La Brea Avenue to McCadden Place on Hollywood Boulevard. The office space's first tenants were TrizecHahn Centers, builders of the 425,000-square-foot development on the other side of the boulevard. In conjunction with the '' Herbie: Fully Loaded'' premiere on June 22, 2005, the Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store opened up in the El Capitan Building on the ground floor replacing a Disney Store. CUNA Mutual, having leased the building to full capacity, placed the building up for sale in 2008 at a price of $31 million, and eventually sold it for $28 million . In November 2013, Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop co-located with the Disney Studio Store next to the theater in the El Capitan building. On March 17, 2020, the theatre temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in California. The theatre eventually reopened a year later with a reduced capacity of just 100 seats. The first film shown after its reopening was '' Raya and the Last Dragon''. Disney Parks opened a theme ride called Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway at

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...

on January 27, 2023. The facade is meant to resemble a movie theater in Toontown called "El CapiTOON Theater" based on the El Capitan.

Features

The theater is built into a six-story office building built in the 1920s. The design featured an exterior done in California Churrigueresque style of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture exterior designed by Stiles O. Clements of the architectural firm of Morgan, Walls & Clements, and mixed interior by G. Albert Lansburgh. The interior is a lavish East Indian in the main auditorium, English Tudor in the wood-paneled lower lobby and Italian Baroque on the facade. The refurbished theater features a large Wurlitzer

theatre organ A theatre organ (also known as a theater organ, or, especially in the United Kingdom, a cinema organ) is a type of pipe organ developed to accompany silent films from the 1900s to the 1920s. Theatre organs have horseshoe-shaped arrangements of ...

originally installed in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

's Fox Theatre in 1929. Below the theater is a small exhibit space, often used to display props from the films, such as costumes or set pieces. Next door is the adjacent Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store, where patrons can purchase ice cream themed to the film currently playing in the cinema next door. A wide variety of Disney and movie merchandise is available there. File: File: File: File: El Capitan Theatre Marquee, Los Angeles, California LCCN2010630907.tif, Marquee, 2005 File: El Capitan Seating 1926(2).jpg, Interior, 1926 File: El Capitan Seating 1926.jpg, Seating, 1926 File: LA El Capitan organist 1.jpg, Organ, 2009

References

External links

El Capitan Theater
Official Website

Renaissance of El Capitan Theater – Hollywood, CA
El Capitan Theater
at Cinema Treasures {{Portalbar, Greater Los Angeles, Theatre 1926 establishments in California Movie palaces Cinemas and movie theaters in Hollywood, Los Angeles Hollywood Boulevard Walt Disney Studios (division) Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments Theatres completed in 1926 Morgan, Walls & Clements buildings Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in California Spanish Revival architecture in California History of Hollywood, Los Angeles Culture of Hollywood, Los Angeles Historic district contributing properties in California Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles