Let's go to the Movies...
We're assembling a list of interesting sites to visit for information about going to the movies in Los Angeles. Please contact us if we've missed your favorites. Please visit our various Los Angeles theatre pages for more resources on the buildings themselves.
The thumbnail images below are generally from Google Images, Yahoo! or other database image searches. Click on the photo to see where it was found in context.
All images are subject to copyright.
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
www.oscars.org Shown here is a photo of the Goldwyn Theatre on the Academy's website. See the events page for special screenings and other action both at the Goldwyn and at the Pickford Film Center in Hollywood. full size image
Blade Runner
www.brmovie.com All about the filming of Blade Runner at the Bradbury Building is on this site's Blade Runner Locations page. full size image
Blogs about the movies in Los Angeles
See our list in the left hand column. Also see our list of blogs about life in LA in the left hand column of our Los Angeles Links page.
Classsic Movies in Los Angeles
www.movieslosangeles.googlepages.com See this site for a rundown of where to go in the Los Angeles Area for classic film screenings. Shown here is the lobby of the ArcLight Hollywood which offers classics screenings in conjunction with the American Film Institute. full size image
Film Jerk
www.filmjerk.com Here's all the news, reviews, interviews and more. The early reports section includes a classic film calendar that is updated twice a month.
Film Radar
www.filmradar.com This site does a great job tracking foreign films, indie releases and classics appearing at a wide range of venues around town. Check their calendar
and plan your week. They also have a free e-mail newsletter you can sign up for.
Geo Cities -- Hollywood History
www.geocities.com/los_angeles_coast This photo of the Paramount-Famous Players-Lasky Co.in building in 1926 is from the nice section on this site devoted to Hollywood Studio History. Also see the great Movie Palaces page that Lawrence and Dennis have put together. full size image
Hollywood Studio Tour
www.gmrnet.com/studio.html This page on Grace Market Research's site is a nice rundown of the studios. Also see their Broadway Theatre tour. full size image
Movie News and Reviews
Boxoffice www.boxoffice.com/movies
Hollywood Reporter www.hollywoodreporter.com/film
Los Angeles Times www.calendarlive.com/movies
New Yorker www.newyorker.com/reviews/film
New York Times www.newyorktimes.com/movies
Variety www.variety.com/filmreviews
Movie Theatres in Movies
www.silverscreens.com See the Movie Theatres in Movies page on this French website (the link is to the English version) for an index to lots of movies that have scenes in theatres. There's information about where they were really shot and images from the films. Shown is a frame from a scene in Last Action Hero shot in the Los Angeles Orpheum.
Movie Times for Los Angeles Theatres
Google www.google.com/losangelesmovies
technical stuff...
70MM
American Widescreen Museum
www.widescreenmuseum.com From the Museum's collection: The TODD-AO screen at the Egyptian in Hollywood in a promotional shot for "Oklahoma" in 1955. See the Museum's "70mm is Born, Dies and is Resurrected" section.
Also see the section on early sound processes and VistaVision.
70mm in Los Angeles
www.fromscripttodvd.com This site is a facinating trove of information on movies in Los Angeles. 70mm in LA is a great article by Michael Coate and William Kallay exploring 70mm eguipped theatres and details 70mm engagements in Los Angeles. The thumbnail here is the Egyptian, which hosted a number of long run 70mm roadshow engagements larger image
DP 70 - the original TODD-AO projector
www.in70mm.com/dp70 Everything you wanted to know about 70mm projection is on this section of the in70mm site.
This view of the Todd-AO prototype is shown in Thomas Hauerslev's comprehensive article "DP70-The Story of the Todd-AO Projector" . full size image
See also "Construction of the DP70."
In 70mm
www.in70mm.com A terrific site concerning all things 70mm including information about new prints, screenings around the world and history of the various 70mm processes. Shown here is a 70mm "Star Wars" frame with 6 mag tracks on the film from an article on First Week Engagements of "Star Wars". enlarged image
Faded color of 70mm frames from "The Alamo" with John Wayne as shown in "Dust to Dust" an article about preservation problems with this film. Note the standard 2.21 to 1 aspect ratio as first used by TODD-AO in 1955. full size image
Cinemascope
American Widescreen Museum
www.widescreenmuseum.com Don't miss this site's main Cinemascope section. On page 1 we have this great image of Grauman's Chinese with "Prince Valiant" in 1954. full size view
The projector shown with Scope lens and attachment for Cinemascope's 4 channel magnetic sound is on this terrific site's reprint of Fox's "Cinemascope - Information for the Theatre".
In 70mm
www.in70mm.com Here's a 35mm "Star Wars" frame with 'Scope squeeze and Dolby Stereo optical sound track. This is on an article entitled "First Week Engagements of "Star Wars" .
Focal Press - Cinemascope
http://books.elsevier.com/us//fpaudio/us/subindex.asp 
See the film formats article on this site for lots of information on aspect ratios and image dimensions. The frame here shows the original Fox 4 channel mag striping and reduced size ( fox-hole) perforations to make room for 2 tracks inside the perforations. Note that there is no optical sound track so aspect ratio would be 2.55 to 1. Most later mag prints also had a 1/2 width optical track visible and were intended to be shown at 2.35 to 1, the currently used ratio. full size image
Cinerama
The name Cinerama and the distinctive zig-zag logo are trademarks of Cinerama Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Pacific Theatres.
For more information on Cinerama in Hollywood, see our our Cinerama Dome page.
Cinerama Adventure
www.cineramaadventure.com Lots of fun on this site--downloadable documentaries and trailers, links to Cinerama photo albums and much more. full size image
Also on this site: links to other cinerama sites
Cinerama Topcities
This site has all the Cinerama trivia--ads, articles, exhibition dates and more. The Cinerama Dome page has interesting construction photos in a reproduction of an article from Boxoffice magazine. One great photo (with construction hardly started) says "Mad World" would be opening in 12 weeks. Also see this site's page on the Warner Cinerama. more images from cinerama.topcities.com
Cinerama in Los Angeles - From Script To DVD
www.fromscripttodvd.com A great collection of lore compiled by Michael Coate. The image here is from a revival of "This is Cinerama" at the Cinerama Dome. This site has all the details on the Cinerama in L.A. page. full size image
Also see the site's great page on the Cinerama Dome for a number of interesting photos, including these of the Dome under construction.
The Dome was intended for 3 strip projection but opened with 70mm for "Mad, Mad World". Construction schedule was 16 weeks.
Film Tech
www.film-tech.com Here we have a view of the center of the booth at the Cinerama Dome with a Kinoton 35/70mm behind the platter and the center Cinerama projector behind that. full size view
There are lots more photos and information on 3 strip projection on the site's great Cinerama Dome page.
Also go to the site's home page and click on "pictures" for a list of great theatre photos.
Here we have the 35mm mag dubber for the Cinerama sound. full size view
In 70mm
www.in70mm.com Here's a photo of a section of a louvered Cinerama screen -- designed to prevent washing out the sides of the deeply curved screen. From Greg Kimble's article on "This is Cinerama", a great history of the process. full size image
Also on this site see the article Cinerama Dome 2002 and "This is Cinerama" -- a fun recap of the first 3 strip screening at the Dome in 2002. There's also lots more interesting Cinerama process and 70mm lore on this site.
From another page of Greg's "This is Cinerama" article we get sample frames. Note the 6 perforation pull-down of the Cinerama process. A panel enlarged
See our Cinerama Dome page for more on the Cinerama process.
Ominous Valve
www.ominous-valve.com Visit "Cinerama II: The Revival" for Hugh's great review of a 3-strip screening of "How the West Was Won" at the Cinerama Dome as well as a discussion of the technical aspects of the process itself. Bonus feature: aspect ratio chart. full size image
This site also has a nice rundown on the history of Altec Voice of the Theatre speaker systems on the Altec page. Shown here are the Altec Speakers behind the original Cinerama Dome strip screen. full size image
Cinemiracle
Cinerama Topcities
www.cinerama.topcities.com This site devoted to all things Cinerama (and Cinemiracle) has this nice postcard of the 1958 "Windjammer" run at the Chinese linked on the site's "Windjammer" page. The Cinemiracle process was like Cinerama except all 3 projectors were in the same center booth, using mirrors to bounce the left and right images. full size view
See also the 1958 listings for lots of Cinemiracle articles and ads.
In 70mm
www.in70mm.com Here's a photo of the "Windjammer" premiere at Chinese Theatre (1958) in an article on Cinemiracle. The 3 strip presentation later moved down the street to the Fox/Music Box. The process was later acquired by Cinerama Inc. full size image
Wittkowski - Windjammer
www.wittkowsky.net Wilfried Wittkowsky's "Windjammer" article has lots of details on this first (and only) presentation in Cinemiracle. full size image
Early Widescreen 1910 - 1931
American Widescreen Museum
www.widescreenmuseum.com This wonderful site curated by Martin Hart is compendium of great photos and delightfully obscure information. Check out the beginning of his 70MM section for information on early widescreen efforts. Here we have frames from the 65mm production of "The Bat Whispers", a 1930 United Artists release. full size image
Also on this site: "Seventy Millimeters," an article about widescreen cinematography from the February, 1930 issue of American Cinematographer.
"The Bat Whispers" played the United Artists in downtown Los Angeles. It was advertised as "Twice the Size" but details of the projection method are unknown. The film was produced in both 65mm and 35mm versions. Ken McIntyre has posted the "The Bat Whispers" ad on photobucket.
From Script to DVD -- early widescreen in LA
www.fromscripttodvd.com Michael Coate and William Kallay have researched films exhibited in Los Angeles in 70mm Fox Grandeur and other early widescreen processes: 70mm & Wide Gauge: The Early Years.
In 70mm
www.in70mm.com See "'The Bat Whispers' in 65mm" by Rick Mitchell for more information on the "Magnifilm process. Some of these 1929-30 era cameras were used in 1955-57 to film the first three TODD-AO features.
See also "Early Large Format" by Thomas Hauerslev for a list of early widescreen experiments and "In the Splendor of 70mm" by Grand Lobban for a nice history of various 70mm processes.
Also on this site is "Magnified Grandeur - The Big Screen 1926-1931" by David Coles. Here there's lots of information on the 70mm Fox Grandeur process and other capers during this time period. Much of this knowledge (and equipment) was put to use again in the widescreen frenzy of the 1950's.
Film Formats
Digital Versatile Developments
www.dvdaust.com This site's Film Formats page has a nice rundown of current and long-vanished formats along with sample frames.
Shown here at full size is a frame from the 65mm Warner Bros Vitascope process from 1931.
See also: This site has a great Sound Formats page discussing traditional optical, mag, Dolby and the various digital formats on current 35mm release prints.
Movie Projectors
Film Tech
www.film-tech.com This wonderful site is the place to go for information on projectors old and new, equipment manuals, tech discussion groups and pictures of theatres and screening rooms. Here we have instructons on threading a Christie projector on the site's Threading 101 page. full size view
One of many photos on the site of projectors on a page devoted to the Chicago Cinema Museum. full size view
For more adventures, go to Film Tech's home page and select "pictures" to scroll down a long list of the treasures available for viewing.
Smell-O-Vision
In 70mm
www.in70mm.com This ad is from a reprint of a Variety review of Michael Todd Jr.'s "Scent of Mystery" in 1960. full size image
"Scent of Mystery" played Los Angeles at the Fox Ritz Theatre on Miracle Mile in 70mm and 6 channel stereo (and the smells).
The film was later re-cut as "Holiday in Spain" and went out in both 70mm and 3 strip Cinerama and Cinemiracle versions. See the "Holiday in Spain" listing on www.cinerama.topcities.com for all the details.
Hollywood Ballyhoo: more on smell-o-vision
Theatre Sound Systems
Also see our listings under Cinemascope.
Film Sound
www.filmsound.org A vast compendium of current production practice and archive of the history of sound on the movies. Here is a drawing from the article 100 Years of Cinema Loudspeakers by John Aldred. Check out the site for many more articles.
In 70mm - DTS sound
www.in70mm.com A 35 mm DTS time code reader shown in a "What is 70mm DTS?" article. Most new 70mm prints no longer have the mag striping and are using sound synchronized from a CD with the DTS system. full size image
Here's a 70mm DTS reader (on a Norelco DP-75 projector) as pictured in an article detailing equipment requirements to play DTS 70mm. full size image
Lee Sound - Altec Voice of the Theatre speakers
www.leesound.com This photo of the original Altec Voice of the Theatre speaker system installation at the Cinerama Dome is part of this site's Altec photo gallery. full size image
Lenard Audio
www.lenardaudio.com Leonard is an Australian manufacturer of theatre sound systems. Here we see a collection of older style Altec speakers on their Cinema Sound Education page. It's a good history of different film formats and discussion of problems with cinema sound systems. full size view
Ominous Valve - Altec equipment
www.ominous-valve.com This site has a nice rundown on the history of Altec Voice of the Theatre speaker systems on Hugh's Altec page. full size image
VistaVision
American Widescreen Museum
The photo is from an article on the Horizontal VistaVision Projector by Larry Davee of Century Projector Corp. Not many of these were installed as most VistaVision releases were shown in 35mm reduction prints. The New York Paramount was equipped. Radio City Music Hall ran "White Christmas" on horizontal machines and Williamsburg got a set with mag sound attachments for "Story of a Patriot." full size view
And don't miss this site's great main section on VistaVision.
Digital Bits
www.thedigitalbits.com Here's an ad touting VistaVison's ability to allow a higher picture as well as a wider one. See Robert Harris's article on VistaVision: Motion Picture High Fidelity. full size view
More to come...
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