El Portal Theater in North Hollywood

El Portal Theatre is a historic landmark in the San Fernando Valley city of North Hollywood. The theater was originally built as a vaudeville house in 1926, The theater has featured Vaudeville acts, silent movies, and then film

The theater was divided into three theaters when it was rebuilt in the late 90's. It hosts performers like Debbie Reynolds (who is coming there in July) and stage plays like the Wonderettes, which I happen to see and found very entertaining.

The Art Deco marquee has the traditional curved, colored neon lines that were popular during that era. The symmetry of the artful patters was terrific back then.

The Art Theater

Way back when all theaters were art theaters--grand palaces that treated movie-goers as if they were royalty.

In Cleveland, Ohio as in the rest of the country the grand movie palaces, or "art" theaters as they are known today, sprung up like dandelions all across the big cities of Europe and the United States.

Today, some are closing, like the Ellen in Bozeman, Montana, while others are thriving not only as art theaters, but grand movie palaces showing the latest Hollywood features.

The grand Rex in Paris shows a variety of films from French comedies to American thrillers.

Many "art" theaters nowadays screen "art" films, offbeat indies, many of which come from other countries.

dmoz has some great links to all kinds of art theater history.

The Rex--Paris Art Deco

Le Grand Rex
1 Blvd Poissonnière - 75002 Paris
Metro Bonne-Nouvelle


The Grand Rex, built in 1932, is an Art Deco marvel. It's curvy towering architecture, ornate molds and grand neon, modernized going to the cinema. Its escalator – the first installed in a cinema, took movie-goers up to the mezzanine in a new and innovative fashion.