Grauman's Metropolitan Theatre
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The Paramount Theatre in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
was a
movie palace A movie palace (or picture palace in the United Kingdom) is any of the large, elaborately decorated movie theaters built between the 1910s and the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opening every year between 192 ...
opened in January 1923 as Grauman's Metropolitan Theatre. It was built by impresario
Sid Grauman Sidney Patrick Grauman (March 17, 1879 – March 5, 1950) was an American showman who created two of Hollywood's most recognizable and visited landmarks, the Chinese Theatre and the Egyptian Theatre. Biography Early years Grauman was the so ...
, who had already built the
Million Dollar Theatre The Million Dollar Theatre at 307 S. Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles is one of the first movie palaces built in the United States. It opened in 1917 with the premiere of William S. Hart's '' The Silent Man''. It's the northernmost of the collect ...
a few blocks away, but who is best remembered today for his two
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...
movie palaces,
Grauman's Chinese Theatre Grauman's Chinese Theatre (branded as TCL Chinese Theatre for naming rights reasons) is a movie palace on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States. The original Chines ...
and
Grauman's Egyptian Theatre Grauman's Egyptian Theatre is a historic movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater ...
. It was also home to variety acts. In 1941,
Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz pi ...
, Rochester and Kitty Murray were all on the bill together. The theater became famous as the birthplace of "All That Meat and No Potatoes" – a Waller onstage wisecrack about the "brick house" physique of singer-dancer Murray. The largest movie theater ever built in Los Angeles, the Metropolitan was acquired by the exhibition arm of
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
in 1929 and renamed. The building had been designed by architect William Woolett, and the massive six-floor commercial and office block in which it was encased was a major landmark across from Pershing Square for several decades. Paramount operated the venue through the 1950s. It was closed in 1960 and demolished the following year to make way for a high rise office building which was never built. After the site served as a parking lot for many years, a building from the wholesale jewelry trade was erected on there in the late 1970s and remains today. The theater was located at 6th and Hill Streets, one block west of
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
, where most of the city's major theaters were then located. After the Metropolitan opened, Grauman decided to build an entrance on Broadway and constructed a building with a grand stairway up to a long hall which entered the theater on the mezzanine level, crossing a bridge over an alley to reach it. This entrance was closed by the Paramount company and the Broadway space rented out for retail use. When the theater was demolished, this annex survived and is today the only part of the theater that remains. The theater was demolished and the 16-story International Jewelry Center was built on the site, opening in 1981 and as of 2020 still operating as such with jewelers and other office and retail occupants.“International Jewelry Center”, Emporis
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References

{{Coord, 34, 02, 50, N, 118, 15, 10, W, type:landmark_region:US-CA, display=title Cinemas and movie theaters in Los Angeles Demolished theatres in Los Angeles Former cinemas in the United States Theatres completed in 1923 Buildings and structures demolished in 1961 1923 establishments in California 1960 disestablishments in California