Gaumont Champs Elysees Marignan

On a large parcel at the corner of the Avenue des Champs Elysees and the Rue de Marignan, a massive Art Deco style office building was erected, designed by architect A. Arfvidson. It included an elegant brasserie at the ground floor, shops and a movie theatre which was designed by architect Eugene Bruynell located beside the front building. A rotunda was at the ground level on the way to the stalls. The Marignan-Pathe opened on 1st April 1933 with the luxury of a movie palace. The fine Art Deco style design included the Pathe rooster on the walls, a mezzanine and a deep balcony. The orchestra pit had iron work bannisters and the orchestra could move to the level of the stage. Seating 1,800 patrons, it was one of the biggest movie theatres in Paris after the Gaumont Palace, the Rex and the Paramount Opera. People of Paris discovered Walt Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” at the Marignan and during World War II, it was a “soldaten kino” for the German military invaders.