Vista Theatre (Los Angeles)

History

Located at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Hollywood Boulevard in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, the location first came to prominence when director D.W. Griffith built an antebellum town set there for his controversial 1915 film The Birth of a Nation, often regarded as the first "blockbuster". Louis L. Bard later chose the intersection, referred to as "the great crossroads of Los Angeles", to be the location for the next theater in his chain.

Design

The Vista was designed by architect Lewis A. Smith, and presents a hybrid of two different styles: while the exterior was designed first and sports a Spanish Mission Revival style, the interior features an Egyptian Revival style, inspired by the later excavation of King Tut's tomb in 1922. The theater's forecourt features cement handprints and footprints of notable film figures.

The Vista is one of the remaining historic structures from the 1920s, when Hollywood was first developed and began attracting residents to its new suburban homes from areas near downtown Los Angeles and East Los Angeles, which, at the time, were middle-class and wealthy areas of Los Angeles.

Opening

The Vista opened on October 9, 1923, as a single-screen, 838-seat theater, known as either the Lou Bard Playhouse or Bard's Hollywood. The cinema's first screening was the film Tips, starring Baby Peggy. In addition to screening films, the theater also featured vaudeville acts on its stage. After experiencing only modest success, Bard sold the theater in 1927, when it was rebranded as the Vista. Eventually, every other row of seats in the theater was removed to allow for increased legroom, reducing the number of seats to 400.

Later ownership

In the 1950s, the Vista reopened as the Vista Continental and was the only southern California theater to screen films from the Soviet Union, a decision met with controversy in the midst of the Cold War. In the 1960s, the theater also courted controversy when they began screening pornographic films, including those with same-sex themes, which continued until its refurbishment by Thomas Theaters in 1980. It also showed gay-oriented non-pornographic films, including the local premiere of The Times of Harvey Milk in 1984.

After going through a number of different owners, the Vista was purchased by Landmark Theatres in 1982, but business declined with the advent and rise of home video. In 1997, it was acquired by Lance Alspaugh's Vintage Theater Group, who focused on "community outreach" and often rented the theater out for weddings, late night screenings, local premieres and other events.

The Vista has drawn many famous actors and directors to attend, host, or sometimes surprise audiences at screenings of their films there: Taika Waititi, Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, John Cho, Lupita Nyong'o, Anne Hathaway and Zoë Kravitz have attended screenings of their films at the Vista since 2018.

The theater closed indefinitely in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Quentin Tarantino ownership

In July 2021, director Quentin Tarantino revealed that he had purchased the theater and intended to screen titles only on film, but added that, unlike his other theater, the New Beverly Cinema, it would not be a revival house. The theater also announced plans to sell beer and wine and open an arcade featuring 12 games.

The Vista officially reopened on November 17, 2023. Under Tarantino's ownership, the Vista incorporated a new 70 mm film projection system and new sound system, and screens only on film, rather than digital, with an emphasis on first-run releases and occasional classics. A 35mm VistaVision projector was installed for the presentation of the 2025 film One Battle After Another, as the film had been shot in that format, making it one of only four cinemas in the world currently capable of screening VistaVision. The theater began operating a cafe, Pam's Coffy, named after Pam Grier's 1973 film Coffy. It also hosts the Video Archives Cinema Club, a 20-seat micro-cinema named after Video Archives, screening films on 16mm and VHS.

In popular culture

Film and television

The "Walls of Babylon" scenes from D. W. Griffith's film Intolerance (1916) were filmed on the site before the theater was constructed, and the completed theater first appeared in the film The Crooked Web (1955).

In 1980, the theater was featured as the "Starbrite" in season 4, episode 16 of the TV show Charlie's Angels. The theater has also made appearances in the TV series Southland and Lethal Weapon, and in the made-for-television film Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt (2003).

The Vista also appeared in the films Throw Momma From the Train (1987), The Big Picture (1989), True Romance (1993), Get Shorty (1995), Café Society (2016), and the Amazon original film The Idea of You (2024). The interior appears in the film Scream 2 (1997), although the exterior is the Rialto Theatre in Pasadena.

Music

The Vista is pictured on the cover of Suicidal Tendencies' album Lights...Camera...Revolution! (1990). Both the exterior and interior of the Vista appears in the 1997 music video for Violent Femmes' song "Blister in the Sun". It also appears in the nighttime portions of the music video for Pharrell Williams's 2013 song "Happy".

References

References

1. (August 19, 2003). "Cinemas Around the World - Vista Theatre, Los Angeles CA". CinemaTour.
2. Meares, Hadley. (November 17, 2023). "The Fascinating, Controversial History Of Quentin Tarantino's Revamped Vista Theater".
3. "Vista Theater - LA Conservancy".
4. "Welcome to Vintage Cinemas". Vintagecinemas.com.
5. "Vista Theatre". Cinema Treasures.
6. Gordon, Larry. (June 15, 1985). "Vista Theater May Have Had Its Last Revival". [[Los Angeles Times]].
7. (November 4, 2017). "Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Kevin Feige, and Taika Waititi surprise the Vista". Daniel Anderson (Glowbug).
8. "John Cho arrives to the Neon Los Angeles Premiere Of "Gemini" held at...".
9. Parker, Ryan. (July 5, 2021). "Quentin Tarantino Buys Vista Theatre".
10. Holmes, Mona. (March 14, 2022). "Quentin Tarantino's Vista Theatre Plans Include Cafe, Booze, and Arcade". Eater LA.
11. (November 7, 2023). "Quentin Tarantino-owned Vista Theatre will return with 'True Romance' and 'Thanksgiving'". [[Los Angeles Times]].
12. Tangcay, Jazz. (September 26, 2025). "'One Battle After Another' Formats: What Is VistaVision and What Are All the Ways to Watch?". Penske Media Corporation.
13. Roland, Rebecca. (February 16, 2024). "Quentin Tarantino's Coffee Shop Dedicated to Pam Grier Is Now Open at the Vista Theater".
14. (March 18, 2024). "Video Archives Cinema Club".
15. "Vista Theatre (Originally Bard's Hollywood Theatre)". Water and Power Associates.
16. (2010). "Location Filming in Los Angeles". [[Arcadia Publishing]].
17. (May 4, 2024). "Did You Know? The Vista Theater's Hollywood History x THE IDEA OF YOU". [[IMDb]].
18. Alleman, Richard. (2005). "Hollywood: The Movie Lover's Guide: The Ultimate Insider Tour to Movie Los Angeles". [[Broadway Books]].
19. ""Lights...Camera...Revolution!" by Suicidal Tendencies Album Cover Location".
20. kast0l. (2007-10-09). "Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun (clip)".