Pre-tiki Hawaii and El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood

5941 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA 90028
There aren't any tiki's so I'm posting this under Beyond Tiki.

From the Cinema Treasures website:
The Hawaii Theatre was opened on 6th May 1940, and designed by architect Carl Moeller, with Clarence G. Smale acting as consultant architect. The exterior of the Hawaii Theatre was dressed with a tropical mural over the box marquee. Round glass walls proceeded onto the sidewalk flanking either side of the front entrance.

Inside, the auditorium was decorated with tropical jungle murals and had a simple Atmospheric style effect on the ceiling to continue the theatre’s theme. All seating was on a single level.

The theatre was later converted into the Salvation Army Tabernacle in the early-1960’s and remains their Hollywood headquarters today.

Concept art.

Hula girl and man playing ukulele on the mural.

To the right side of the stage is the volcano which was animated with red glowing crater and white smoke which rose towards the ceiling. The murals glowed under the black lights.

What is looks like now.

This link is from the book "The Story of Hollywood: An Illustrated History". It has more background on the popularity of Hawaiian and Polynesian places in Hollywood. I hope the link works. It's pages 233 and 234.

http://books.google.com/books?id=9W4R_CZtFe8C&lpg=PP1&dq=the%20story%20of%20hollywood&pg=PA233#v=onepage&q&f=false

-Lori

[ Edited by: tikilongbeach 2014-11-13 11:05 ]

Love this. Thanks for posting.

The Paramount Theater, aka the El Capitan, had a tropical makeover in 1942. I wonder how long bamboo and rattan furniture would stand up to today's movie-going public.

"The Paramount's mezzanine lounge is inspirited with ingenuity
and 'fool the eye' decoration. Palms seem to grow from the floor
and overhang the rafters and there are massive fern beds which
emanate ceiling-high metal trellises interlaced with tropical vines.
The soft moss-like carpeting is inset with large splotches of deeper
tone which give an illusion of deep shade cast by the tropical foliage.
Rattan and bamboo furniture selected for comfort completes the scene.
...The addition of a streamlined 'milk bar' in the mezzanine lounge
gave the architects further opportunity to exercise their ingenuity.
It too is tropical in inspiration and is built to surround one of the
fanciful palm trees. Cocoanut milk as well as all other varieties
of soft drinks and refreshments are served and the bar is most
popular as a gathering place."

Still going strong after a remodel by Disney.