Tower Theatre (Los Angeles)

Tower Theatre
The building in 2025
Tower Theatre (Los Angeles) is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Tower Theatre (Los Angeles)
Location within the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Location800 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, California
Coordinates34°02′36″N 118°15′16″W / 34.043375°N 118.254444°W / 34.043375; -118.254444
Built1927
ArchitectS. Charles Lee
Architectural styleBaroque Revival
Part ofBroadway Theater and Commercial District (ID79000484)
LAHCM No.450
Significant dates
Designated CPMay 9, 1979[1]
Designated LAHCMAugust 16, 1989[2]

Tower Theatre (known as Apple Tower Theatre since its refurbishment by Apple[3][4]) is a historic movie theater that opened in 1927 in the Broadway Theater District of Downtown Los Angeles.[5] It is currently an Apple Store, and serves as Los Angeles flagship for the company.

History

Tower Theatre was commissioned by H.L. Gumbiner,[6] the businessman who also commissioned Los Angeles Theatre in 1931, and was the first theater designed by S. Charles Lee.[5] The theater replaced Garrick Theatre and sat 900 on a 50 by 152 feet (15 m × 46 m) site.[7][8]

Tower Theatre opened in 1927 with the silent film The Gingham Girl.[9] The theater was the first in Los Angeles wired for talking pictures and was the location of the sneak preview and Los Angeles premiere of Warner Bros.' revolutionary part-talking The Jazz Singer (1927).[6][9][10] The theater was also the first in Los Angeles to be air conditioned.[6]

The theater's name changed to Newsreel Theater for a short period in the early 1950s.[11] It closed as a theatre in 1988[12] and was declared Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #450 the following year.[13]

Modern use

As with many other historic theaters in downtown Los Angeles, Tower Theatre was abandoned for many years. In recent times, its lobby was leased to various vendors and the auditorium was used by Living Faith Evangelical Church.[5]

Apple expressed interest in leasing Tower Theatre as a retail location as early as 2015,[14] and in 2018, the company submitted plans to renovate the building.[15] Refurbishing was completed by 2021 and the theater reopened as Apple's Los Angeles flagship Apple Store on June 24, 2021.[16][17][18]

Architecture and design

The theatre in 2014

Tower Theater was designed in Baroque Revival style with French, Spanish, Moorish, and Italian elements executed in terra-cotta.[5] The theater's interior was modeled after Paris Opera House,[6] while its exterior features a prominent clock tower, the very top of which was removed after an earthquake.[19]

Filming location

Tower Theatre's exterior and/or interior can be seen in:

See also

References

  1. ↑ "California SP Broadway Theater and Commercial District". United States Department of the Interior - National Park Service. May 9, 1979.
  2. ↑ "Historical Cultural Monuments List" (PDF). City of Los Angeles. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Look inside Apple's new downtown L.A. store and event space, a symbol of its Hollywood ambitions". Los Angeles Times. June 24, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2025.
  4. ↑ "Apple Tower Theatre". LA Conservancy. Retrieved July 29, 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Lord, Rosemary (2002). Los Angeles: Then and Now. San Diego, CA: Thunder Bay Press. pp. 32–33. ISBN 1-57145-794-1.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Kaplan, Sam Hall (1989), L.A. Follies: A Critical Look at Growth Politics & Architecture, Santa Monica, CA: Cityscape Press, p. 199, ISBN 0-9622007-0-0
  7. ↑ "ZIMAS". zimas.lacity.org. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Tower Theatre - Historic Los Angeles Theatres - Downtown". sites.google.com. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  9. 1 2 "Tower Theatre". CinemaTreasures.org. Retrieved October 7, 2009.
  10. 1 2 "Tower Theatre Official Site". Retrieved October 7, 2009.
  11. ↑ Photo of Tower Theater, 1951, with "Newsreel" on marquee, USC Digital Library
  12. ↑ "Apple takes over DTLA's historic Tower Theatre after decades of vacancy". KCRW. June 29, 2021. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
  13. ↑ "Tower Theater, HCM #450, in Downtown Los Angeles". Office of Historic Resources, Dept. of Planning, City of Los Angeles. Retrieved October 8, 2009.
  14. ↑ "Rumors: Apple Store Taking Over Historic Tower Theatre in Downtown LA". DTLA Rising with Brigham Yen. November 9, 2015. Archived from the original on November 12, 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  15. ↑ "At the historic downtown L.A. Tower Theatre, Apple plans a store and event space unlike any other | Los Angeles Times". www.latimes.com. August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
  16. ↑ Hochman, David (June 23, 2021). "Behold Apple's Stunning Los Angeles Flagship Store In A 1920s Theater". Forbes. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
  17. ↑ Sharp, Steven (April 3, 2020). "DTLA's Historic Tower Theatre Continues Transformation into Apple Store". Urbanize LA. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  18. ↑ "Apple Tower Theatre now open in downtown Los Angeles". Apple Newsroom. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  19. ↑ Counter, B. "Los Angeles Theatres: Tower Theatre: recent exterior views". Los Angeles Theatres. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  20. ↑ "- YouTube". www.youtube.com.
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