Free previewStop 10 of Hollywood Walk of Fame Walking Tour: Chinese Theatre to Hollywood and Vine
The Palace That Learned to Sing
You're standing on Hollywood Boulevard just east of Vine, in front of the Pantages. Look up past the marquee to the roofline. Those are sculpted goddesses up there, and above them a slender spiked finial. Now look at the windows on the first story, outlined in metal zigzags. This is Art Deco at full volume, and it was built to sell one thing: the movies.
Alexander Pantages was a vaudeville impresario who had built a whole chain of theaters across the West. This one was his last. It opened on June 4, 1930, with a Marion Davies picture on the screen and a live stage revue on the same bill. It was also the last movie palace ever built in Hollywood. And the timing could hardly have been worse. The Great Depression was arriving just as the curtain went up.
The building you see is only part of the plan.
That's the opening. The rest plays at stop 10 of Hollywood Walk of Fame Walking Tour: Chinese Theatre to Hollywood and Vine (3 min in all). Unlock the tour to hear it all, or try stop 1 free first.
