Friday, March 07, 2008

Disney's Hollywood: The Warner Beverly Hills

On our last visit to Disney's Hollywood, we explored the Academy Theatre and its Florida counterpart, the Legends of Hollywood facade at Disney's Hollywood Studios. We're now going to take a few short steps across Sunset Boulevard and discover the aesthetic inspiration behind the Beverly Sunset, another movie palace-themed design that is home to the Beverly Sunset Sweet Spells store. Its very name gives a hint to the location and name of the southern California theater upon which it is based.

The Warner Beverly Hills Theatre was located at 9404 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. Designed by well known theater architect B. Marcus Priteca, the building's large scale and elaborate art deco design made it a prominent feature in the landscape of Beverly Hills, distinguished especially by its tall neon-lit tower sign. Once a showcase for high profile films such as Lawrence of Arabia and The Sound of Music, it declined to a barely attended bargain venue prior to its demolition in 1989. It was razed to make room for a parking lot.


Photo Credits
Legends Facade - Flickr User the crystal skull
Warner Beverly Hills - LAPL

1 comments:

Lou Mongello - WDWRadio.com said...

"It was razed to make room for a parking lot."

I cringe when I read these words when they make reference to a beautiful building such as this.