An important collection of photographs chronicling the transition period from vaudeville to film, these photographs show the elaborate state designs for both live performance and silent films shown at Miller’s California theatre between 1919 and 1921. The California Theatre emerged during a transformative period in entertainment culture. Opening its doors on December 24, 1918, the theater played a significant role in the shifting landscape from live theater performances to the rising popularity of on-screen movies. The Beaux-Arts style theatre was designed by architect Alex B. Rosenthal, previously known for the Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara and was originally founded as Miller's California Theatre by Fred Miller. In 1919, the theatre was sold to Goldwyn Pictures who hired the young and burgeoning impresario Samuel Lionel "Roxy" Rothafel as the manager.

The present album chronologically-documents performances that took place at the California from 1919, after Rothafel took over, through 1921. Each photograph is accompanied by a typed-label on the facing page, noting the performance or performances that took place, and the show’s principle players and creators. The designs were elaborate creations. An article in the 1919 Los Angeles Evening Post Record for a showing at the California of the popular 1919 Orientalist silent film “The Red Lantern,” states that “actual photographs of the ancient city of Peking were secured in order to reproduce it for the magnificent production of ‘The Red Lantern’...Every detail of these photographs has been copied in the monstrous sets which are to be seen in the spectacle.”

The evenings were a mix of live performance, music, dance and silent film. For example, in 1921, the silent film “Roads of Destiny,” based on an O. Henry short story starring Pauline Frederick, was paired with a live production of “The Mountebanks,” which told the story of “life in a Gypsy camp,” and was staged by the theatre’s one-time owner Fred Miller. Another evening in 1920 with a “musical prelude” featuring an elaborately staged performance of Charles Wakefield Cadman’s “The Doe Skin Blanket.” “The Doe Skin Blanket” was one of several popular “Indian Songs” Cadman composed with Nelle Richmond Eberhart. A newspaper announcement declared that, “the theme of the verse will be portrayed word for word by the action and scenic effects.” This was followed by a screening of the silent mystery, “The Woman in Room Thirteen.”

The California Theatre's early years symbolize a dynamic era of transition, as audiences eagerly embraced the magic of the big screen while cherishing the remnants of traditional live theater performances. It stands as a testament to the evolving cultural landscape, where technology and changing tastes influenced the course of entertainment history.