Audience, films, owners, sound in the silent era
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| Image of the Morosco from The West Coast: An Illustrated Monthly, May 1913 issue |
Located in Downtown Los Angeles, The Globe Theatre is one of LA's first theaters to show films to an audience. It was opened as the Morosco in January 6, 1913 by producer Oliver Morosco, and was originally built to show stage drama. Morosco tried several new things with his theater that were uncommon at the time, one of which was not having an orchestra play between acts in order to stimulate conversation. Unsatisfied with the seating available in all other LA theaters he had been to, he also fitted his theater with comfortable chairs and not "seats of torture". It opened with 1300 seats on the main auditorium and in two balconies. While the first balcony was accessible through the main theater, the second balcony was only accessible through the alley behind the building.
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| 1930 ad for Henry Duffy Theatres. The President is advertised at the bottom right |
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| 1938 LA Times ad for the President |
In May 1928, under the ownership of Henry Duffy Players, the theater was renamed the President, still maintained as a playhouse priced for the general public at the time. Then in 1930, it was taken over by Fox West Coast Theatres and renamed again, this time as the Newsreel Theatre. The interior was completely refurbished, and a projection booth was built, including technology for showing sound-films. The theater was touted as the first theatre to show only newsreels, but the concept was very short-lived, as the theater was forced to revert to the President later that year. It ran features instead of newsreels, but still remained a fairly small venue. In 1938, the theater was back to being the Newsreel Theatre again, this time under the management of Metropolitan Theatres after a deal with Fox West Coast. The signature globe above the marquee was built in between 1940 and 1942.
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| The Newsreel Theatre in 1945. Photo by Harry E. Surerus |
The theater had its final name change in 1949. When Fox West Coast and Metropolitan Theatres split up, Fox was back managing the theater. It was renamed as the Globe, a name that finally stuck with it for some time. By the late 1950s, it catered to an entirely Spanish-speaking audience, only showing films in Spanish. In the 60s, Metropolitan Theatres was back in management, later buying the entire building. At some point in the 50s-60s, a Mexican wax museum was opened on the third floor of the building and the second balcony was closed, with the stairwell being used as an emergency exit from the third floor. This brought the seating in the theater from 1300 down to 782.
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| The Globe in 1972. Photo from the L.A. Public Library Archive |
The Globe was shut down as a theater in late 1986 when Metropolitan sold the building. The auditorium was flattened in 1987 and used for a swap meet, later becoming a nightclub called the Orion. It switched hands again later, staying as a nightclub but called Club 740 instead. Club 740 stayed open until 2011, when it was finally closed. The lobby continued use as a retail space for some time after.
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| Interior of Club 740 during 2008. Photo published by Club 740 |
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| The Globe in 2007. Photo by Bill Counter |
In 2013, new owner Erik Chol started giving the Globe a 5 million dollar restoration treatment, restoring much of the interior as well as the marquee out front. The marquee was re-lit in a ceremony in June of this year.
Most recently, it was used as the setting for a Jennifer Lopez music video. According to the Globe's Facebook page, the venue is currently available for film shoots and other events.
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| Restored marquee in Sep 2014. Photo by Google Maps |
