Vista Theatre, formerly Lou Bard Playhouse and Bard’s Hollywood Theatre, also known as The Vista, is a historic single-screen movie theater in Los Angeles, California, located in Los Feliz on the border with East Hollywood.
History
Opening of Lou Bard Playhouse, 1923
Vista Theatre opened on October 9, 1923,[2] as a single-screen theater. In addition to screening films, the theater also showed vaudeville acts on stage.[3] Originally known as Lou Bard Playhouse on opening day in 1923, the cinema played the film Tips starring Baby Peggy.[4] The original seating capacity in the auditorium held space for 838 seats. The owners later removed every other row to allow for increased legroom, reducing the number of seats to 400.[1]
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.
Until its refurbishment by Thomas Theaters in 1980, the theatre showed softcore pornography, then moved to hardcore porn and finally gay porn for 20 years. It also showed gay-oriented non-pornographic films, including the local premiere of The Times of Harvey Milk (1984).[5]
The theater is a local landmark. It was renovated to play new release movies, and retains its historic architecture. The theater's forecourt features cement handprints and footprints of notable film figures.
In July 2021, director Quentin Tarantino revealed that he had purchased the theater.[9]
The Vista is officially reopened on November 17, 2023.[10] Shortly afterward, the theater began operating a cafe (Pam's Coffy, named for Pam Grier) and a micro-cinema (the Video Archives Cinema Club, named for Video Archives), and offering beer and wine.[11]
On December 15, 2021, the Vista appeared in a new official music video for George Harrison's 1970 song "My Sweet Lord", directed by Lance Bangs and created as part of the ongoing 50th anniversary campaign for Harrison's album All Things Must Pass (1970).[17]
^Bible, Karie and Marc Wanamaker (2010). Location Filming in Los Angeles. Arcadia Publishing. Page 48. ISBN9780738581323.
^Alleman, Richard (2005). Hollywood: The Movie Lover's Guide: The Ultimate Insider Tour To Movie Los Angeles. Broadway Books. Page 168. ISBN9780767916356.