The Pantages Theater and Early Hollywood
The Pantages Theatre in Hollywood has become an iconic part of historical Hollywood and is considered to be the last of Hollywood’s glorious movie palaces. It was said to be built to remind those who attended of grand opera houses and theatres in Europe. Designed by B. Marcus Priteca, who also designed 21 other theatres for Alexander Pantages, the Hollywood Pantages was built at the height of the Art Deco era and is still considered one of the most beautiful theatres in the world. Not only has the long history of this theatre made it an icon to historians, but the theatre has garnered a reputation as one of Hollywood’s famous haunts. As a result, people from all walks of life and interests pay a visit to this grand location. The Pantages has a long history of design, scandal, surviving the Great Depression, and undergoing extensive rehabilitation before it arrived at the version familiar to people today.
The Hollywood Pantages was given the name of Hollywood’s last glourious movie palace because it was first opened on June 4, 1930. The theatre had cost 1.25 million dollars to build and was designed in the style that was popular at the time. But the Pantages had to be better than everything else. Alexander Pantages wanted his theatre to exude a great elegance that would rival other vaudeville playhouses across the country. He wanted to have the Hollywood Pantages be a palace where fantasies would come to life. The unusual style of Art Deco allowed for B. Marcus Priteca to build this glorious palace to give off the style that interested Pantages. B. Marcus Priteca designed a number of the Pantages vaudeville playhouses in the Pantages circuit. Accroding to Priteca at the opening ceremony of the Hollywood Pantages, that the theatre would “best exemplify America of the moment. Effort centered upon motifs that were modern -- never futuristic -- yet based on time-tested classicism of enduring good taste and beauty” (HistoryLink.org). Pantages was a huge fan of elegance and sophistication and he wanted each of his theatres to reflect this. Keeping in stride with past Pantages theatres, the Hollywood’s color palette consists or gold, silver, bronze, ivory, red, and deep blue. The deep blue is primarily found as a backdrop color to the ceiling design.
B. Marcus Priteca designed a number of the Pantages vaudeville playhouses in the Pantages circuit. Accroding to Priteca at the opening ceremony of the Hollywood Pantages, that the theatre would “best exemplify America of the moment. Effort centered upon motifs that were modern -- never futuristic -- yet based on time-tested classicism of enduring good taste and beauty” (HistoryLink.org). Priteca said he was most fond of the Pantages theatre in Seattle, but the Hollywood Pantages is considered by most critics to be his crowning achievement. It has been said that the Hollywood Pantages is the most significant of Priteca’s work and has most successfully stood the test of time.
The scandal surrounding Alexander Pantages would ultimately force him to sell his beloved theatres in 1932. In 1929 Alexander Pantages was accused of raping a 17 year old dancer named Eunice Irene Pringle. Pringle had made it clear on a number of occasions prior to the incident that she wanted to meet “Alexander the Great,” as Alexander Pantages was known in Hollywood. After quite a lot of pestering, Alexander Pantages agreed to meet with her in his private offices on the mezzanine level of the theatre. A short while later, Pringle ran into the street and, with matinee movie goers as her audience, screamed that she had been raped.
At the time, Alexander Pantages was a 54 year old, Greek immigrant, who could neither read nor write any language. He was known to be worth well over 30 million with his chain of over 60 vaudeville playhouses and theatres. After the first trial in 1929, Alexander Pantages was found guilty and sentenced to 50 years in prison. He appealed, and in 1931 the case was brought before the courts again. After the second trial he was found to be not guilty and the verdict marked a turning point in California law. According to the case record:
The Alexander Pantages case marked a turning point in California law as the state's Supreme Court ruled on appeal that, where rape was alleged, if the girl was under 18, evidence of her previous sexual activity was admissible to discredit her testimony that she had been criminally attacked. The case also established a national reputation for defense attorney Jerry Giesler, who went on to handle many Hollywood cases (1).
Jerry Geisler, Pantages’s defense attorney for the trial, made this a basis for several of his future Hollywood cases. With all that was spent on lawyers and trials, it did not take the financial strain of the Great Depression to force Pantages to sell all of his theatres.
The Hollywood Pantages survived the Great Depression in the hands of FOX Studios, who purchased the theatre from Pantages in 1932. During the Depression, the expenditures of live theatre were too great and the Pantages theatre was deemed a movie-only venue. This continued until RKO purchased the theatre from FOX in 1949. Once purchased, “it was renamed the RKO Pantages Theatre, with the name ‘Pantages’ retained due to a contractual stipulation” (Pantages). RKO was owned by Howard Hughes at the time of the purchase. He promptly moved his private offices into the second floor of the Pantages theatre. The location of the Pantages theatre was ideal for business as it is very close to the corner of Hollywood and Vine. This corner is still a corner of significant activity in what is now historic Hollywood.
Howard Hughes owned many other businesses aside from RKO Studios. He owned the Aircraft Company, RKO Studios, TWA Airlines, several Vegas Casinos, and Spruce Goose Aircraft. He favored the Pantages theatre out of all of the buildings he owned. Some say this is why he allegedly still haunts the halls of the Pantages. Karla Rubin, his assistant when he was still alive, claimed to have seen Howard Hughes wandering around where his offices used to be located. The apparition was dressed in modest business clothes—a brown suit and a neutral colored tie—and would spend most of his time around the old offices. There are cases of him being other places throughout the theatre. Some of the stage hands claim to have seen him backstage or sitting in the audience and watching the show. During his ownership of the Pantages, the Academy Awards called the theatre home for eleven years: 1950 to 1960.
The Pantages had to undergo extensive rehabilitation to appear the way it does today. Pacific Theatres purchased the Pantages in 1965. During the time it was in RKO’s possession, most of the Art Deco decor was hidden behind curtains and thin plaster walls. The Art Deco had initially been hidden during the Great Depression, but when Pacific Theatres bought the Pantages, the grand chandeliers were taken down and even more of the Art Deco was covered by heavy curtains. The ceilings were also lowered in some places in order to cover the Art Deco starbursts. This left the Pantages looking relatively boring. There were a few live performances at the Pantages when RKO owned the theatre, and there occurred with more regularity when Pacific Theatres purchased the Theatre. The venue was no longer a movie-only venue.
Everything changed when the Nederlander Organization joined with Pacific Theatres and came in as a partner to manage the Pantages and still does in 2015. Today, the sign of the Pantages has a caption at the bottom that says: A Nederlander Theatre. The Nederlander Organization came in as a partner in 1977. The theatre did not change much until the year 2000 when the Pantages underwent a massive rehabilitation to restore the Pantages to its palace-like charm once again. All of the original Art Deco was uncovered and restored. The Art Deco itself is said that “from sidewalk to stage, the Pantages dazzles theatre-goers with chevrons, zigzags, starburst, and exotic figures (Los Angeles Conserrvancy). New frosted crystal chandeliers were hung in the lobby and the Pantages was finally finished being built. In its original design, there were supposed to be an additional ten floors of office space added above the theatre. Alexander Pantages never had the opportunity to build them due to the massive scandal and the financial strain it caused as well as the Great Depression. He was forced to sell his beloved theatre before it was ever finished. During the renovation, those ten floors of office space were installed above the Pantages. Completion the office space was ideal for several business owners. There was litting difficult in renting the office space above the Pantages because, as stated before, the Pantages is very near the corner of Hollywood and Vine, which is still an important corner in the heart of historic Hollywood.
One of Alexander Pantages’s most grand theatres, the Hollywood Pantages, is still considered one of the most beautiful theatres in the world and the last of Hollywood’s glorious movie palaces. The Pantages has survived scandal, the Great Depression, and underwent a massive restoration making it one of Los Angeles’s prized landmarks. As one of Hollywood’s famous haunts, the young woman who supposedly haunts the theatre will likely keep performing her songs. It is said she is the ghost of a young woman who died in the audience who had always dreamed of performing in the Pantages. Now she sings when the theatre is quiet, and occasionally she can be picked up over the monitors during a live performance. The Pantages, now the Broadway center of the West Coast, continues to bring live performances to the people of Los Angeles, as movies are no longer played in the Pantages. It is a live-production only venue now. The Pantages theatre is in the heart of historic Hollywood and will likely remain near that famous corner of Hollywood and Vine for many years to come.
Works Cited
Ken Roe. “Pantages Theatre: 6233 Hollywood Blv, Los Angeles, CA 90028.” Cinema Treasures. 11 Jan 2011. Web. 20 Nov 2015.
LA Conservancy. “Historic Places: Pantages Theatre.” The Los Angeles Conservancy. N. d. Web. 18 Nov 2015.
Pantages. “History: Pantages Theatre.” Official Website for Hollywood Pantages Theatre. Pantages Theatre. N. d. Web. 20 Nov 2015.
Pantages. “About Pantages Theatre, the top theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles.” Official Website for Hollywood Pantages Theatre. Pantages Theatre. N. d. Web. 20 Nov 2015.
“Alexander Pantages Trials: 1929 – School Girl versus “Slinky.” Law Library – Pringle, Hollywood, Law and Giesler. N. d. Web. 17 Nov 2015.
“Priteca, B. Marcus.” Essay 8815. HistoryLink.org. N. d. Web. 6 Dec 2015.