Double Header! Two “trips of the week” in one weekend! The second outing this weekend was a trip to the Warner Grand Theater in San Pedro, California. I always enjoy visiting old movie theaters for the sake of the architecture and the grand opulent interior design. I especially love it when I can see an old classic in such a theater…a classic movie in a classic theater…the way movies were made to be seen! I’ve seen Mildred Pierce at the Alex Theater in Glendale and most recently Mary Poppins at the El Capitan in Hollywood. This week was the 1946 classic “The Harvey Girls” starring Judy Garland and the academy award winning song for that year “On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe”. The timing of this movie was great since I just recently visited one of the old Harvey Houses in Barstow, California on a trip of the week last month. To make it even more interesting, some of the movie was filmed in that particular Harvey House in Barstow. To be honest, I had never seen the movie before but it was thoroughly enjoyable…a good clean romantic story with a bit of history, music, and nostalgia. Frankly, I actually preferred Angela Lansbury’s role in the movie than Judy Garland. But the main reason for going was to see the classic Art-Deco Theater.

This lavish Art-Deco theater was originally opened to the public on January 20, 1931 with a star-studded gala premier. It was designed by B. Marcus Prieca who had formerly been the "house architect" for the Pantages Theater chain. The Warner Brothers hired the architect to build three lavish Art-Deco Palaces located in San Pedro, Beverly Hills and Huntington Beach, California.

The Warner Grand Theatre is the last of the three original theaters left intact. It is one of the few remaining theaters of its kind anywhere. It boasted an opulent lobby with decorative ceilings, etched glass chandeliers and colorfully-tiled fountains. A double staircase led to equally ornate mezzanine lounges. The auditorium included such details as floral stenciling on the ceilings, period lighting fixtures, lavish organ screens, and a curtain featuring a castle rising from the sea, in keeping with the theater's billing as "The Castle of Your Dreams". It was the first sound-equipped theater in all of the South Bay area of Los Angeles. As with virtually all of the theaters of that day, it was designed to accommodate traveling vaudeville circuits with a full stage house, orchestra pit and basement designed for dressing rooms, but unfortunately stage performances were never pursued under the Warner Brothers flag.

In physical decline for the last thirty years, this historical landmark was recently purchased by the City of Los Angeles for the community of San Pedro. Restoration was completed last yearand the Warner Grand returned to it's former glory. It is being preserved for generations to come, and revitalized by bringing the theater back to life through a variety of uses, including movies, live theater and concerts. The Warner Grand has, since 1985, welcomed film and video shoots. In the past year, the theater has been used as a location for "The Ghosts of Mississippi", commercials for Magnavox DVD and Coca-Cola Classic, USA Network's "Pacific Blue" and "Melrose Place".