When the Bagdad Theatre opened on January 14, 1927 in the Hawthorne District audiences were drawn to the theater by bright lights, live music, and street dancers. But, the most remarkable attraction to the theater was a life-sized camel prop that would have been in the entrance to the theater. Before the theater opened Carl Laemmle, the president of Universal Pictures Corporation, sent the camel to be used as the mascot for the theater. The camel had been used as a prop in more than a dozen films made by Universal that were set in the Arabian Desert before being given to the theater. It received attention for being life-sized and for its realistic appearance.
While it may seem unusual for a theater to have a life-sized prop of a camel in the theater, it is fitting on this occasion because the theater’s decoration imitates Arabian architecture and decoration. The interior of the theater has striking archways that open up into the theater, a fountain, and paintings and tapestries that are reflective of the Middle Eastern style of architecture and art. Audiences were welcomed into the theater by an usherette riding on the back of the camel. Additionally, the usherettes, including the one riding the camel, wore costumes that reflected the clothing styles in the Middle East, which were designed by Marie Louise Bennett. She was a popular theatre costume designer, so audiences were immersed in the show from the minute they walked into the theater.
The architecture and atmosphere of the theater were some of the main attractions for audiences to the theater. The theater published advertisements with the slogan “Oasis of Entertainment”, which highlighted the theaters theme, along with illustrations of genies and oil lamps. Several advertisements also stated, “An amazing achievement of architectural beauty” to draw audiences to the unique style of architecture. The advertisements, in combination with a few local news stories created a buzz about the theater’s opening that attracted audiences to the theatre’s stunning architecture, and audiences certainly would have noticed the large camel in the entrance.
