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Fantastic images of Chinatown
, riichkay.
...
Here's another one of those Hollywood snapshots.
When I first glanced at the photo I thought the building in the distance (on the right) was
Earl Carroll's Theater on Sunset.
eBay
It isn't. What we're looking at is the construction site of the Capitol Records Building. (how cool is that!)
So
, yes
, we're looking north on Vine from near Hollywood Blvd.
Let's take a closer look.
ebay
I believe the B C is for N B C. It's the old Hollywood Playhouse / El Capitan Theater that was converted to a television studio. (later it would become A B C)
Here's a photo from the same time period.
storyofhollywood
Note -
the Gruen sign still says El Capitan.
As most of you know
, we have visited the theater numerous times over the years on nla. . but I believe there's some information in the text (below) that we didn't cover.
Courtesy of
historictheatrephotos
"The name of the theater was changed to
El Capitan in mid-1942. Ken Murray’s variety show “Blackouts of 1942”, was received favorably and led to a seven year run of “Blackouts” shows.
In 1949 CBS offered Ken Murray a television show but stipulated that it had to be broadcast from New York. Thus ended the long run of the “Blackouts” shows, and Charles Toberman sold the theatre to the Catholic church, who in turn leased the building to NBC. NBC initially stuck with the El Capitan name, or at least that is how it was commonly referred to, but by 1952 it was firmly branded as an NBC Television location.
The Los Angeles Times reported rumors of NBC’s interest in buying the theatre as early as February 1951, however the rumors were rebuffed by engineers who said that the theatre was “not quite suitable for big-scale TV operations since it has no back entrance for scenery shifts and storage”. A month later, in late March 1951, the newspaper reported that the theatre had been sold “presumably to NBC” and would likely become a television house. By mid-September the newspaper reported that NBC was planning a $1 million renovation job on the theatre.
The first show to be broadcast from NBC’s newest studio was The Colgate Comedy Hour, starring Eddie Cantor et al, on 30th September 1951. The opening of the show utilized establishing shots of Hollywood & Vine with the hosts walking up the street to the theatre and through its entrance doors. Hollywood had firmly established itself on television.
Hot on its heels was The Bob Hope Show broadcast on Sunday 14th October 1951. In mid-June 1952 the first coast-to-coast telethon was held at the theatre; a star-studded 14.5 hour event to raise money for the US Olympics Team.
On 23rd September 1952 Richard Nixon broadcast his famous “Checkers” speech from the theatre. At his request the sole audience member in the theatre was his wife, however the half-hour speech was broadcast across the nation and was heard or seen by some 60 million Americans.
In 1963 ABC purchased the theatre and, following a $400,000 renovation, renamed it the Jerry Lewis Theatre with it becoming the home of the The Jerry Lewis Show from September 1963. The success of the show was short-lived and it was replaced by a one-hour variety show: The Hollywood Palace, which started its run on 4th January 1964. The show went on to run for over six years and featured the U.S. television début of the Rolling Stones”.
Things I learned:
I didn't know the Catholic Church
(at one point in time) owned the building.
I didn't know Nixon's famous "Checkers" speech was broadcast from the theater.
I thought the "Jerry Lewis Show" debacle happened at the
other El Capitan Theater. (on Hollywood Blvd.)
To read about the theater's early history go
Here.
.
Prev
(on the right)
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lol
ransom for anyone who can find a clip of the chair going up and down. (I believe it would go really high. .like several feet!)
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