Arts & Culture
9
The El Capitan Theatre was built as a legitimate theatre by developer Charles E. Toberman, who also developed the nearby Egyptian Theatre and the Chinese Theatre, and was designed by G. Albert Lansberg for the interior and Morgan, Walls and Clements for the exterior. It opened on May 3, 1926, with Charlot's Revue, a song and dance variety show starring Gertrude Lawrence. For 15 years it presented more than 120 productions featuring stars such as Fanny Brice, Jackie Cooper, Henry Fonda, Clark Gable, and Rita Hayworth, but by the late 1930s business had slowed and its future was uncertain. On May 9, 1941, Orson Welles premiered Citizen Kane there after being unable to secure a movie house, and soon afterward Fanchon and Marco persuaded the owners to remodel it as a movie house, ending live stage performances. Reopened as the Paramount on March 18, 1942, with the world premiere of Cecil B. DeMille's Reap the Wild Wind, it then enjoyed 50 years of success as a film venue with movies including Sunset Boulevard, War and Peace, Gigi, and Cimarron. In 1989, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc., a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, and Pacific Theatres began a major restoration, and after renovation the theatre reopened in June 1991 with its original grandeur restored and new state-of-the-art projection and sound.
Hear stories like this as you drive
ExploreHere reads historical markers out loud as you pass them: over 325,000 stories across the US. No account needed.
4.7 · 800+ ratings · Free
FIND IT
Los Angeles, California · United States
