Lou Bard Playhouse Bard's Hollywood Theatre Vista Continental The Vista | |
 The theatre in 2005. | |
 Interactive map of Vista Theatre | |
| Address | 4473 Sunset Drive Los Angeles, California |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 34°05′54″N118°17′13″W / 34.0984°N 118.2869°W /34.0984; -118.2869 |
| Owner | Quentin Tarantino |
| Operator | Vista Theater Inc. |
| Type | Movie theater |
| Capacity | 400[1] |
| Construction | |
| Opened | October 9, 1923 |
| Reopened | 2023 |
| Architect | Lewis Arthur Smith |
| Website | |
| www | |
Vista Theatre (formerlyLou Bard Playhouse,Bard's Hollywood Theatre andVista Continental), also known asThe Vista, is a historic single-screen movie theater inLos Angeles, California, located inLos Feliz on the border withEast Hollywood. Since 2021, it has been owned by filmmakerQuentin Tarantino.
Located at the intersection ofSunset Boulevard andHollywood Boulevard inEast Hollywood, Los Angeles, the location first came to prominence when directorD.W. Griffith built anantebellum town set there for his controversial 1915 filmThe 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.[2]
The Vista was designed by architectLewis A. Smith, and presents a hybrid of two different styles: while the exterior was designed first and sports aSpanish Mission Revival style, the interior features anEgyptian Revival style, inspired by the later excavation ofKing Tut's tomb in 1922.[3][2] The theater's forecourt features cement handprints and footprints of notable film figures.[3]
_03.jpg)
The Vista is one of the remaining historic structures from the 1920s, whenHollywood was first developed and began attracting residents to its new suburban homes from areas near downtown Los Angeles andEast Los Angeles, which, at the time, were middle-class and wealthy areas of Los Angeles.[citation needed]
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.[2] The cinema's first screening was the filmTips, starringBaby Peggy.[4] In addition to screening films, the theater also featuredvaudeville acts on its stage.[5] After experiencing only modest success, Bard sold the theater in 1927, when it was rebranded as the Vista.[2] Eventually, every other row of seats in the theater was removed to allow for increased legroom, reducing the number of seats to 400.[1]
In the 1950s, the Vista reopened as the Vista Continental and was the only southern California theater to screen films from theSoviet Union, a decision met with controversy in the midst of theCold War.[2] In the 1960s, the theater also courted controversy when they began screeningpornographic films, including those with same-sex themes,[2] which continued until its refurbishment by Thomas Theaters in 1980.[6] It also showed gay-oriented non-pornographic films, including the local premiere ofThe Times of Harvey Milk in 1984.[6]
After going through a number of different owners, the Vista was purchased byLandmark Theatres in 1982, but business declined with the advent and rise ofhome 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.[2]
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,[7]John Cho,[8]Lupita Nyong'o,[citation needed]Anne Hathaway[citation needed] andZoë Kravitz[citation needed] have attended screenings of their films at the Vista since 2018.
The theater closed indefinitely in 2020, due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[2]
.jpg)
In July 2021, directorQuentin Tarantino revealed that he had purchased the theater and intended to screen titles only on film, but added that, unlike his other theater, theNew Beverly Cinema, it would not be arevival house.[9] The theater also announced plans to sell beer and wine and open an arcade featuring 12 games.[10]
The Vista officially reopened on November 17, 2023.[11] Under Tarantino's ownership, the Vista incorporated a new70 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.[2] A 35mmVistaVision projector was installed for the presentation of the 2025 filmOne 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.[12] The theater began operating a cafe, Pam's Coffy, named afterPam Grier's 1973 filmCoffy.[13] It also hosts the Video Archives Cinema Club, a 20-seat micro-cinema named afterVideo Archives, screening films on16mm andVHS.[14]
The "Walls of Babylon" scenes fromD. W. Griffith's filmIntolerance (1916) were filmed on the site before the theater was constructed,[15] and the completed theater first appeared in the filmThe Crooked Web (1955).[16]
In 1980, the theater was featured as the "Starbrite" in season 4, episode 16 of the TV showCharlie's Angels. The theater has also made appearances in the TV seriesSouthland andLethal Weapon, and in themade-for-television filmReturn to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt (2003).[17]
The Vista also appeared in the filmsThrow Momma From the Train (1987),[17]The Big Picture (1989),[17]True Romance (1993),[18]Get Shorty (1995),[17]Café Society (2016),[17] and theAmazon original filmThe Idea of You (2024).[17] The interior appears in the filmScream 2 (1997), although the exterior is theRialto Theatre in Pasadena.[17]
The Vista is pictured on the cover ofSuicidal Tendencies' albumLights...Camera...Revolution! (1990).[15][19] Both the exterior and interior of the Vista appears in the 1997 music video forViolent Femmes' song "Blister in the Sun".[20][better source needed] It also appears in the nighttime portions of the music video forPharrell Williams's 2013 song "Happy".[15] On December 15, 2021, the Vista appeared in a new official music video forGeorge Harrison's 1970 song "My Sweet Lord", directed byLance Bangs and created as part of the ongoing 50th anniversary campaign for Harrison's albumAll Things Must Pass (1970).[21]
{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Media related toVista Theatre (Los Angeles) at Wikimedia Commons