The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958)

The inspiring biographical drama The Inn of the Sixth Happiness is the story of missionary Gladys Aylward (1902-70) who unselfishly devoted her life to the people of China.

We first meet Gladys (Ingrid Bergman) in her native England in 1930. She then travels to Yang Chen, China to a little inn called "The Sixth Happiness" where she assists an elderly missionary Mrs. Lawson (played with great enthusiasm by Athene Seyler). Gladys becomes accustomed to the culture, including learning the language, and faces some hostility in the new land.


In one scene, someone asks her why she bothered to come to China, and wonders why she didn't stay in England to live a more normal life, with a family. She replies:  "For some people, having a family never happens to anyone no matter where they are. I always felt I was one of those"

There are many memorable moments in the film. In one scene, we are treated to a beautiful traditional dance performance. In another scene, Gladys single handedly stops a violent mob.


Also from watching this movie, I learned about the centuries-old custom of foot-binding, a gruesome practice where a young girl's feed are prevented from growing. This practice was prohibited by the Chinese government at the time Gladys arrived, but it was still going on illegally.

Robert Donat plays the Chinese leader of the village who snickers at the thought of the equality of women, but allows Gladys enforce the government's law that prohibits the barbaric practice. She is assisted by a half European/half Chinese officer, played by Curt Jurgens.


By 1938, China was at war with Japan. There is a chilling sequence where we see Japanese planes bomb Gladys' village, which takes place not long after the horrific massacre of nearby Nan King. Hundreds of extras were used during this very realistic recreation of the bombing. Incredible work from the great cinematographer, three-time Oscar winner Freddie Young (Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, Ryan's Daughter). Director Mark Robson earned the Best Director nomination.


In the end, Gladys gains a family she never thought she'd have: all the orphan children she adopts in her village and leads to safety.


From the very first scene, Bergman convinced me that she was Gladys. This may be her most beautiful and tender role.

The musical score by Malcolm Arnold (Bridge on the River Kwai) is lovely. Highly recommended. Available on DVD/NetFlix.

Another review of this movie from the blog:
The Wonderful World of Cinema

The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1959)

The titular monster of the titular, tongue-twisting town of Piedras Blancas is a cave-dwelling sea creature and probably a distant cousin of the Creature from the Black Lagoon. The townsfolk are shocked to find headless (and bloodless) bodies on the shore, for no apparent reason. No one seems to have a clue who could be the killer except for the butcher who believes in the legend of a blood-sucking monster. Another suspect who may be hiding a secret is the creepy lighthouse keeper Sturges (John Harmon). Conveniently, his daughter is a popular, skinny-dipping babe (Jeanne Carmen) and provides a love interest for the monster. I liked the fact that the movie kind of keeps us guessing as to whether or not the shady lighthouse keeper is using the monster as a pet. There's one important clue that almost gives the secret away - the butcher winds up DEAD hours after he refuses to give Sturges any meat scraps.  After more people - including a little girl - wind up dead the same way (heads cut off, blood sucked out) the monster hunt begins. Predictably, but fun nonetheless, the film climaxes in the lighthouse, almost King Kong style. The ending sort of sets things up for a sequel which never came to be. Les Tremayne plays the town's doctor; his presence in the film automatically gives it redeeming quality in my book.

Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles (Part 8 in series)

Continuing the series entitled Theaters of Los Angeles,

let's take a look at some theaters along Wilshire Blvd, AKA the "Miracle Mile".

Disclaimer: If it looks like I took some of these photos from a car, you're right! 

WILSHIRE THEATER

8440 Wilshire Blvd. Beverly Hills, CA

Opened in 1930; was one of the premiere movie palaces in LA.
Was converted into a stage venue in 1981.
The marquee no longer says "WILSHIRE"; it's now the Saban Theater.

WILTERN THEATER

3790 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA

Built in 1930 as a vaudeville house; 

Named for it's intersection: WILshire and WesTERN

Now a major concert venue

CREST THEATER

1262 Westwood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90024

Opened in 1940 as the Westwood Theater, a live venue. Later became a movie theater. Today it still shows movies and also hosts film fests. It is just a block from Wilshire Blvd, and the UCLA campus is close by.

FINE ARTS THEATER

8556 Wilshire Boulevard | More from Cinema Treasures

Opened in 1937 with the movie THAT GIRL FROM PARIS.
A PLACE IN THE SUN had its world premiere here in 1951.
Hosted film fests and showed movies until it closed - sadly - last year in 2010.

EL REY THEATER

5515 Wilshire Boulevard | More from WikiPedia

Built in 1936 and served as a single-screen movie house for 50 years.
Since the 90s, it has been a live music venue.

HAYWORTH THEATER
(AKA VAGABOND)

2509 Wilshire Boulevard | Official Website | Cinema Treasures

Opened in 1926 as the Vagabond Theater.

By the 1970s the theater became a revival theater. Laura of Laura's Miscellaneous Musings has seen more classic films here in the '70s and '80s than any other venue. Among the films she remembers enjoying at the Vagabond for the first time: Tonight and Every Night (post), Summer Holiday (post), The Emperor Waltz (post), and the musicals Cover Girl and The Gang's All Here, which she wrote about here. 

(Here's a 1980s-era pic from American Classic Images)

Sadly, the theater closed in 1993, and reopened in 2006 as a live theater venue,
renamed the Hayworth (no relation to Rita Hayworth)

By the way in case you are wondering what the marquee says, it reads "Adam Baum and the Jew Movie". No, I didn't make that up. 

MUSIC HALL THEATER 

9036 Wilshire Boulevard | Cinema Treasures

Originally opened as the Elite Theatre in 1937; ten years later it was renamed Music Hall Theatre, and was renovated in the mid-1990’s. Today the theater shows art house and independent films.

United Artists on Wilshire
(Now Oasis Church)

5100 Wilshire Boulevard | Church Website

The Oasis Theatre was one of the original United Artists theatres. Many movie premieres and gala events were held here and attended by celebrities like Clark Gable, Ronald Coleman and many others. The theatre was purchased by the Oasis Church in February of 1997. (church website)

I could not find any vintage photos of this building but it would have resembled these other United Artists palaces:

United Artists Theater (606 E Colorado Blv, Pasadena CA)

United Artists Theater (148 Market Str. Inglewood CA)

Here's another view of the church looking down the block. Every time I am in LA on a Sunday I try to make it to a service here; I get such a blessing here. The church volunteers are friendly and welcoming, and the worship is fresh and contemporary and the sermons relevant. There's also a bookstore, coffeeshop and lots of social activities and events as well. I recommend attending church here if you are in town.  

Also you don't see this anywhere else:

In July of 1998, a star, similar to the ones seen on Hollywood Blvd., was installed in the sidewalk in front of the theater. It reads - "Jesus Christ - The Son of God".  (church site)

Tom and Jerry episode: Jerry's Cousin (1951)

Today, a cartoon for Saturday morning.

This one is "Jerry's Cousin" from 1951.

In this funny episode, Jerry's cousin Muscles Mouse comes over to teach Tom a lesson.

Tom tries a few tricks to do away with Muscles. Hilarity ensues.

Movie theaters of Los Angeles - Part 7

The United Artists Theater

From Wikipedia: Opened in 1927 with a seating capacity of 2,214. It was the showcase for movies from the United Artists group created in 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith. 

Here's a 1932 photo:

Here's another photo from 1939: Mickey Rooney in Hardys Ride High

From the 1936: Marlene Dietrich in Garden of Allah

From 1931: The Bat Whispers

Today the theater is a church. I've never been inside. 

I love the vertical sign

Roxie / Cameo / Arcade

Three theaters on the same block; one opened as a nickelodeon (Cameo),

one a vaudeville house (Arcade/Pantages), and the other a movie palace (Roxie)

All of these theaters are closed, sadly

Above: all that remains of the three theaters, as of 2008

Below, circa 1920. Notice how the Roxie isn't there....before it was built, another theater was there called Quinn's Superba, built in 1910 and demolished in 1931 to make way for the Arcade. 

Notice the PANTAGES VAUDEVILLE sign on the right...I love that!

Quinn's Superba, Clune's Broadway (Cameo), and Pantages (Arcade)

The Roxie

The Art Deco-style Roxie opened in 1931 as a movie palace, with a seating capacity of 1,600.

Below: The Roxie lit up at night. 

(source: Cinema Treasures)

Above: 1943 marquee featuring the full name of the theater

Below: "OXI" (Not ROXIE)

The Cameo

Opened in 1910 as Clune's Broadway Theater, and was a nickelodeon which seated 775. It closed in 1991. Like it's next door neighbor, the Cameo has been turned into storefronts.  

It's heartbreaking to see the Cameo in such shape, when it used to look like this:

See how the Cameo used to look in 1919....92 years ago:

THE TIME...THE PLACE..CLUNE'S BROADWAY

I never heard of Bryant Washburn 

The Arcade

Opened in 1910 as a vaudeville house called the Pantages.

Above: Arcade (Pantages) in 2008

Below: Pantages in 1910s, featuring Lottie Mayer and the Diving Girls

In both pictures, notice how you can still see the  letters: "PANTAGES" in the structure

Below: The Cameo and Arcade in 1937

(source: Cinema Treasures)

You could see Cary Grant in Thrill of a Lifetime for 15 cents at the Arcade.
But who had that much money back then? 

The Mayan
(downtown LA, not Theater District)

I don't have any phtotos of the Mayan but I did see some photos a few months ago in a blog post over at Dear Old Hollywood. Check out the post here.

Part 6 of 10: Theaters of Los Angeles

Part 5 highlighted the Los Angeles Theater. There are 11 more surviving theaters along the Broadway District of movie houses; here are 7 more of them. (the last 4 will be covered next time)

The Globe

744 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90014

Opened in 1913 as the Morosco play house, then functioned as a newsreel theater during WWII.

 It showed Spanish-language films from the 1970s through the 1980s. Today the theater lobby serves as a storefront.

The Million Dollar

Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the Million Dollar. When my friend and I visited the Broadway District in 2008, I didn't kn ow this theater existed. We parked our car near the southern end of the district (around 900 South Broadway) and worked our way north, but never made it up to the Million Dollar which is the last theater on the north end of the district. Next time I'm in LA I'll have to make a point to see it!

It opened in 1918.

The silent film Ben Hur (1925) played here for 6 months.

Today the theater is home to concerts and movies. More information here
http://www.milliondollartheater.com/History.html
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/15

The Orpheum 

Opened in 1926 as a vaudeville house and showed movies for decades. It was renovated in 1989 and 2000 and today hosts concerts and film fests.

The Orpheum can be seen in the 1998 music video for "Heroes" by The Wallflowers. Fast-forward the video to the 2:00 mark to see Godzilla leave his mark on the building.

The Palace 

630 S. Broadway

Built in 1911 as a vaudeville house with a seating capacity of 2,200. 

Check out this photo from the 1950s:

http://tinyurl.com/28mavhm

The theater has been renovated and recently celebrated its 100th anniversary on June 26 2011 with a special movie screening.

The Rialto  

Built in 1917 as a nickelodeon. It showed films for decades. Even spanish-language films for a while. It's now closed and the lobby is now home to small retail shops. The auditorium is sitting there vacant.

Here's an awesome photo of the Tower, Rialto, and Opheum from the early 1980s when they were all fully operational as movie houses!  http://tinyurl.com/qp2c7r

The State 

Located at 703 S. Broadway

Loew's State opened in 1921 with a seating capacity of 2,450. The theater offered both film and vaudeville when it opened. Judy Garland performed at the theater as part of the Gumm Sisters in 1929

Since 1998 it has been a spanish-language church.

Cinema Treasures page: http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/43
Photo from 1952: http://tinyurl.com/2vg92kx

The Tower

Wow. Just look at this structure:



Here's another view from a little further away:



Marquee:

Located at 802 S. Broadway, the Tower opened in 1927 with a seating capacity of 1,000.

Today it is used mostly for concerts

Cinema Treasures page:  http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/3