Tower Theatre (Los Angeles)

The Tower Theatre, at South Broadway and West Eighth Street, was commissioned by H.L. Gumbiner. He would also build the Los Angeles Theatre in 1931.

The Tower was the first theater designed by architect S. Charles Lee. Seating 900 on a tiny site (50 feet wide by 153 feet long{{Cite web|url=http://zimas.lacity.org/mapsheet.aspx?val=127-5A209|title=ZIMAS|website=zimas.lacity.org|access-date=2017-07-30}}), replacing the 650-seat 1911 Garrick Theatre,{{Cite web|url=https://sites.google.com/site/downtownlosangelestheatres/tower|title=Tower Theatre - Historic Los Angeles Theatres - Downtown|website=sites.google.com|access-date=2017-07-30}} it was designed in powerful Baroque Revival style with innovative French, Spanish, Moorish, and Italian elements all executed in terra-cotta. Its interior was modeled after the Paris Opera House. Its exterior features a prominent clock tower, the very top of which was removed after an earthquake.{{Cite web|url=https://losangelestheatres.blogspot.com/2017/09/tower-theatre-recent-exterior-views.html|title=Los Angeles Theatres: Tower Theatre: recent exterior views|last=Counter|first=B.|website=Los Angeles Theatres|access-date=2017-11-25}}

The Tower was the first film house in Los Angeles to be wired for talking pictures, and it was the location of the sneak preview and Los Angeles premiere of Warner Bros.' revolutionary part-talking The Jazz Singer (1927), starring Al Jolson.{{cite web |title=Tower Theatre Official Site |url=http://www.towertheaterla.com/ |access-date=2009-10-07}}{{citation

|last1=Kaplan

|first1=Sam Hall

|title=L.A. Follies: A Critical Look at Growth Politics & Architecture

|year=1989

|publisher=Cityscape Press

|location=Santa Monica, CA

|isbn=0-9622007-0-0

|page=199

}} It was the first theater in Los Angeles to be air conditioned.

The theater opened in 1927 with the silent film The Gingham Girl starring Lois Wilson and George K. Arthur.{{cite web |title=Tower Theatre |url=http://cinematreasures.org/theater/3/ |publisher=CinemaTreasures.org |access-date=2009-10-07}} For a while during the early 1950s, the name was changed to the Newsreel Theater.[http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assetserver/controller/view/search/EXM-N-9442-006~1 Photo of Tower Theater, 1951, with "Newsreel" on marquee, USC Digital Library] It closed as a theatre in 1988.{{Cite web|title=Apple takes over DTLA's historic Tower Theatre after decades of vacancy|url=https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/greater-la/downtown-la-santa-barbara-aerial-arts/tower-theatre-apple|access-date=2021-11-15|website=KCRW|language=en}}

The Tower Theatre's exterior and/or interior can be seen in the following films and TV series:

• The Omega Man (1971)
• The Mambo Kings (1992)
• Last Action Hero (1993)
• Fight Club (1999)
• Coyote Ugly (2000)
• Mulholland Drive (2001)
• The Prestige (2006)
• Transformers (2007)
• Twin Peaks (3rd season, 2017)
• Nike, Inc. Dream Crazy (2018 ad){{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq2CvmgoO7I&t=81|title=- YouTube|website=www.youtube.com}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead YouTube link|date=February 2022}}

The Tower Theatre has been declared a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, HCM #450, by the Office of Historic Resources, Department of City Planning, City of Los Angeles.{{cite web |title=Tower Theater, HCM #450, in Downtown Los Angeles |url=http://preservation.lacity.org/node/280?size=_original |publisher=Office of Historic Resources, Dept. of Planning, City of Los Angeles |access-date=October 8, 2009}}

As with many other historic theaters in Downtown Los Angeles, though largely intact, the theater was abandoned for many years because of migration of cinema attendance to Hollywood Boulevard and other Los Angeles locations. Over the years, its lobby has been leased to various vendors, and the auditorium has been used by the Living Faith Evangelical Church.

In November 2015, the website DTLA Rising reported that Apple was interested in leasing the Tower for a retail store.{{Cite web|url=http://brighamyen.com/2015/11/09/rumors-apple-store-taking-over-historic-tower-theatre-in-downtown-la/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151112033254/http://brighamyen.com/2015/11/09/rumors-apple-store-taking-over-historic-tower-theatre-in-downtown-la/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=November 12, 2015|title=Rumors: Apple Store Taking Over Historic Tower Theatre in Downtown LA|date=2015-11-09|website=DTLA Rising with Brigham Yen|access-date=2017-07-30}} Six months later, The Los Angeles Business Journal reported that Apple was "in the process of securing a lease".{{Cite web|url=http://labusinessjournal.com/news/2016/may/10/apple-nabs-retail-space-downtown-los-angeles/|title=Apple Nabs Retail Space in Downtown Los Angeles {{!}} Los Angeles Business Journal|website=labusinessjournal.com|access-date=2017-07-30}} On August 2, 2018, The Los Angeles Times reported that Apple was submitting plans for the renovation of the building. The company also released an artist's rendering of the converted space.{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-apple-downtown-20180802-story.html|title=At the historic downtown L.A. Tower Theatre, Apple plans a store and event space unlike any other {{!}} Los Angeles Times|website=www.latimes.com|date=2 August 2018|access-date=2018-08-02}} The refurbished space opened on June 24, 2021 as an Apple Store, with the store serving as a flagship Apple Store for Los Angeles.{{cite news | last=Hochman | first=David | title=Behold Apple's Stunning Los Angeles Flagship Store In A 1920s Theater | url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhochman/2021/06/23/behold-apples-stunning-los-angeles-flagship-store-in-a-1920s-theater/?sh=3e29e2527249 | work=Forbes | date=June 23, 2021 | access-date=October 18, 2021}}{{Cite web|last=Sharp|first=Steven|date=2020-04-03|title=DTLA's Historic Tower Theatre Continues Transformation into Apple Store|url=https://urbanize.city/la/post/dtlas-historic-tower-theatre-continues-transformation-apple-store|access-date=2021-02-25|website=Urbanize LA|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Apple Tower Theatre now open in downtown Los Angeles|url=https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/06/apple-tower-theatre-now-open-in-downtown-los-angeles/|access-date=2021-06-25|website=Apple Newsroom|language=en-US}}

• Los Angeles Theatre
• Million Dollar Theater
• Orpheum Theatre (Los Angeles)
• List of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments in Downtown Los Angeles
• List of contributing properties in the Broadway Theater and Commercial District

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category|Tower Theatre (Los Angeles)}}

• [http://www.towertheatrela.com/ Official website]
• [http://cinematreasures.org/theater/3/ CinemaTreasures.org: Tower Theatre]
• [https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/06/apple-tower-theatre-opens-thursday-in-downtown-los-angeles/ Apple Tower Theatre Press Release]

{{Downtown Los Angeles}}

{{LABTCD}}

{{Movie theaters in Los Angeles}}

{{LAHMC}}

Category:Former cinemas and movie theaters in Los Angeles

Category:Movie palaces

Category:Buildings and structures in Downtown Los Angeles

Category:Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments

Category:Historic district contributing properties in California

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles

Category:Event venues established in 1927

Category:Theatres completed in 1927

Category:1927 establishments in California

Category:Baroque Revival architecture in the United States

Category:Spanish Revival architecture in California

Category:Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles

Category:Broadway (Los Angeles)