A little bit more information turned up in the February 20, 1967, issue of Boxoffice. An item said that Deb Coble, who had recently taken over the Jewell Theatre in Valentine, was also taking over the Valentine Drive-In that had been owned by Roy Metzger of Winner, South Dakota.
The June 11, 1955, issue of Boxoffice said that the Valentine Drive-In had opened for its second year, and that over the winter CinemaScope equipment had been installed. The drive-in was then operated by a Mr. and Mrs. Robert Sharp.
From at least early 1938, the Jewell Theatre was owned and operated by a Mr. and Mrs. Harold Dunn (Mrs. Dunn’s name was Hazel.) They are mentioned in several issues of Boxoffice Magazine from that period. The February 26, 1938, issue said that Harold Dunn had begin remodeling the theater, and intended to redecorate the lobby, enlarge the foyer, install a new box office, and build lounges on the lower floor.
The April 2, 1938, issue said that Mrs. Dunn had been in Omaha to pick out some “…snappy blue and black leather and chromium furniture at Quality Theatre Supply for the remodel job on the Jewel Theatre.” (Boxoffice sometimes spelled the name Jewel and sometimes Jewell.)
There are various other mentions of the Dunns into the 1950s, but the December 18, 1961, issue of Boxoffice says that Mrs. Hazel Dunn, owner of the Jewel Theatre, had been visiting old friends in Omaha, so I guess that Harold was gone by then.
Finally, the June 30, 1969, issue of Boxoffice says that Deb Coble, operator of the Jewell Theatre, was closing the house for the summer and would operate only the drive-in. That’s the last mention of the Jewell I’ve found.
Joe Vogel
commented about
Mayanon
Mar 22, 2009 at 3:52 pm
LawMann, do you know the general period in which the Belasco ran movies? They surely would have been advertised in the L.A. Times, and somebody who has access to the Times archives at the L.A. Library could probably find some of those ads if they knew where to look.
If the place did run movies for a couple of years, or even a few months, then it certainly deserves a page here. Somehow, the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium got a page, and all they ever did was four-wall an occasional surf or ski movie, and a few of the Hollywood beach movies of the 1960s, long after they’d had their theatrical runs. (By those standards, practically every civic auditorium in the country should qualify.)
I think the photo Ken linked to in the first comment above might depict the Hiland Theatre in Des Moines, Iowa. There’s a night shot of it on this weblog. The marquee is the same. Also, the architectural style is very similar to other theaters by architects Wetherell & Harrison, who designed the Des Moines Hiland.
This theater replaced an earlier Hiland Theatre which was at 3602 Sixth Avenue. The second Hiland was expected to open by September, 1939, according to an item in Boxoffice Magazine’s issue of April 9 that year. The plans for the new house were being drawn by the architectural firm of Wetherell & Harrison.
The Rocket Theatre was featured in an article by theater decorator Hanns Teichert in the March 2, 1940, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. The new Tri-States Theatres house was designed by the Des Moines architectural firm Wetherell & Harrison.
This appears to have been a replacement for an earlier Rialto Theatre. The February 1, 1939, issue of Boxoffice magazine said that Jack Bouma, operator of the Rialto Theatre in Pocahontas, planned to begin construction on a new theater there that spring. The plans for the new house were being drawn by the Des Moines architectural firm Wetherell & Harrison.
The November 3, 1940, issue of Boxoffice Magazine ran an item saying that excavation had begun for a theater on Church Street in Ottumwa. Although the name of the theater was not given, the photos match the description of the facade of the proposed house, which was to be a brick building faced with glazed tile and glass blocks. The theater was designed by the Des Moines firm Wetherell & Harrison, and was to have 525 seats.
The Collegian Theatre was designed by the Des Moines architectural firm Wetherell & Harrison, according to this page about the Varsity Theatre at the Ames Historical Society web site.
Here’s an illustrated web page about the Varsity Theatre</a>, courtesy of the Ames Historical Society. It says that the Varsity was designed by the Des Moines architectural firm Wetherell & Harrison, and that the same firm also designed the Collegian Theatre in Ames.
The Capitol Theatre was extensively altered in 1942, removing shops from the building front, extending the balcony, and increasing its original seating capacity by 300. An article with photos appeared in the July 18, 1942, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. The renovated interior was in the Art Moderne style. The project was designed by the Des Moines architecture firm Wetherell & Harrison.
An article about the Esquire Theatre appeared in the December 9, 1939, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. The article includes some information about the Columbia as well.
The Columbia opened on Christmas Day, 1913, with 1000 seats. The article says that the Esquire was built “within the walls” of the Columbia, as a single-floor theater. The Columbia had seated only about 600 in the orchestra and 400 in the balcony, so getting the Esquire’s 835 seats onto one floor necessitated the removal of most of the Columbia’s stage. The roof was lowered as well, but the auditorium still had a fairly high ceiling.
The new theater was thoroughly Moderne in style, with just a lingering hint of Art Deco in some of the details. The Esquire was designed by the Des Moines architectural firm Wetherell & Harrison.
I think we’ve gt an ID problem here. Note the location of the Mirror next door to the Capitol in the postcard view Lost Memory linked to on February 14, 2008. Then note the position of the Telenews in the later postcard view ken mc linked to on December 24, 2008. The Telenews and the Mirror were not in the same location. The Mirror is gone in the second view, and its building either replaced or chopped down to one floor. The Telenews was in a building adjacent to the Mirror’s location.
The Telenews opened late in 1941, and an article about it was published in the July 18, 1942, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. There were quotes from the architect, Jack Corgan, and the impression I got from the article was that the Telenews was entirely new construction.
The photo would confirm that the La Shell was built as a theater, though.
I really don’t see how the Oriental could have been at the address the library gives. If they’d said 4321, where there is now a building built in 1948, it would be plausible, but the spot they say it was in there’s only that 1924 building that couldn’t possibly have been a theater. If there had been a theater there, and it had been demolished and the stores in front preserved and reduced to one story, then the Assessor’s office would have given an effectively-built date for it.
The stage house of the La Shell was apparently removed in the 1933 rebuilding, after the earthquake. The Southwest Builder & Contractor article said that the back of the building and stage house were to be rebuilt, but the La Shells must have decided to leave the stage house off. I still think it’s most likely that the library got the address wrong. Their photo collection is full of such errors.
The buildings actually look remarkably similar to me. The four wide second floor windows of the old building could have easily been narrowed into the eight windows of the La Shell, and the La Shell’s tower was undoubtedly part of the 3828 sq. ft. 1939 addition. That’s probably when the building got its Art Deco look.
Yes, the Boxoffice article confirms 1948 as the year the Nevada became the Crest. It was apparently called the Nevada for less than six full years, as the 1942 article said it had been the Wigwam before that year’s remodeling. I can’t find any earlier references to the Wigwam, so I don’t know how old it was when it became the Nevada.
One 1948 Boxoffice issue included an architects rendering of the remodeled Crest, but didn’t give the architect’s name. It was most likely done in-house by Fox, which means the lead architect would almost certainly have been Carl G. Moeller, who handled most of Fox’s designs during the Skouras era. In the pictures it certainly looks like his work.
The library also has this 1920’s photo, unearthed by ken mc, which depicts an Oriental Theatre, identified by the library as being at 5341 Long Beach Boulevard, which would have been across the street and down a block from the La Shell. Could the library have gotten the address wrong? Is it possible that Oriental was an earlier name of the La Shell?
The L.A. County Assessor’s office gives the construction date of the building on the parcel where the Oriental should have been as 1924, but that building bears no resemblance to a theater.
The remodeling of the Crystal Theatre to the Art Deco style was done in 1936. Architects for the remodeling were Otto A. Deichmann and Mark T. Jorgensen. A rendering of their design was published in the November 11, 1936, issue of Boxoffice Magazine, though the caption misspelled Jorgensen as Torgensen.
The Boller-designed Princess was a replacement for an older Princess Theater which was damaged beyond repair by a fire in March, 1943. Lead architect Robert Boller wrote an article about the reconstructed theater which was published in the July 21, 1945, issue of Boxoffice Magazine.
The original Princess Theatre’s building had been built as a National Guard Armory in 1900. In 1907, it was converted to an opera house, with the addition of a stage and balcony. The building had become dilapidated by 1922, when it was repaired and converted into a movie house by D.E. Pitton and J. Glenn Caldwell. Caldwell eventually became sole owner, and in 1939 he gave the Princess a complete modernization.
Following the fire, despite wartime restrictions and shortages of labor and materials, with considerable assistance from other businesses in Aurora Caldwell managed to get the Princess Theatre rebuilt and opened before the end of 1943.
From Boxoffice Magazine, February 3, 1951: “The remodeled Covell Theatre in Modesto was opened recently. Bert Henson, manager for Modesto Theatres, said the cost exceeded $50,000.”
When the house was still called the Princess, it was closed following a fire, reopening in mid-1944. The June 3, 1944, issue of
Boxoffice described extensive repairs and renovations to the theater. It also noted that William B. David was the vice president and general manager of the circuit that operated Modesto Theatres. David was apparently involved in the design of the repairs and renovation, but the magazine didn’t say he was the architect.
So far I’ve found no references in Boxoffice from when the house was called the National Theatre. That might have been the opening name, as is suggested by the Historic Modesto web site. Unless the house was called the Covell only briefly after opening, my guess would be that the organ installed in the Covell Theatre in 1920 was ordered before the building was completed and the theater named, so the Wurlitzer company recorded the sale under the name of the hotel project.
Most likely the house was operated for some time under lease by the National Theatres Syndicate, which was based in San Francisco and which was well-established throughout California by the mid-1920s. Many of their theaters bore the company name, especially in the Central Valley.
The Nevada Theatre was remodeled and renamed the Crest Theatre in 1948. The February 21, 1948, issue of Boxoffice Magazine had this to say:
“What used to be he Nevada Theatre here is being transformed into the swank new Crest under a $100,000 improvement program. Fox West Coast is turning it into a first run showcase.”
The article went on to say that the Nevada Theatre had been the Wigwam Theatre before another remodel a few years earlier. Fox West Coast owned the Nevada, but until a year before its transformation into the Crest it had been leased to T&D Jr. Enterprises.
I’m cross-posting this comment to the Nevada Theatre page, as they are the same theater. The Nevada Theatre page should probably be renamed Crest Theatre, as that was the final name, and the house was the Crest longer than it was the Nevada.
The Nevada Theatre was remodeled and renamed the Crest Theatre in 1948. The February 21, 1948, issue of Boxoffice Magazine had this to say:
“What used to be he Nevada Theatre here is being transformed into the swank new Crest under a $100,000 improvement program. Fox West Coast is turning it into a first run showcase.”
The article went on to say that the Nevada Theatre had been the Wigwam Theatre before another remodel a few years earlier. Fox West Coast owned the Nevada, but until a year before its transformation into the Crest it had been leased to T&D Jr. Enterprises.
My guess would be that the scan of the Nevada State Journal from which Ken got the 1943 opening date was a bit blurry, and was actually from 1948.
The July 18, 1942, issue of Boxoffice ran a line saying that the renovated Wigwam Theatre in Reno would reopen as the Nevada “next week.” This page should probably be renamed Crest Theatre, as that was apparently the final name, and the house was the Crest longer than it was the Nevada Theatre in any case.
The El-Jon Theatre opened on March 23, 1945. There were 472 seats. It was designed by Kansas City architect Al Hauetter, who also designed the NRHP-listed Burlington Opry in Burlington, Kansas. He gave the El-Jon Theater a simple, streamline moderne facade of ceramic tiles in shades of rose, cream, and granite red.
The walls of the auditorium were covered with acoustic tiles laid in a pattern of light coral and buff. A ceiling tray held indirect lighting as well as the outlets for the air conditioning. The seats had plush upholstery, and the aisles featured the same carpeting as was used in the lobby.
An unusual feature of the new house was a basement recreation room with a juke box, cold drink bar, and a dance floor. This was called the Fiesta Room, and was decorated in bright colors with a Mexican theme.
The El-Jon was featured in an article in Boxoffice Magazine, July 21, 1945. The house was built for Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Bills, whose Roxy Theatre in Brunswick had burned to the ground in 1943. The new building was built of fireproof masonry.
A little bit more information turned up in the February 20, 1967, issue of Boxoffice. An item said that Deb Coble, who had recently taken over the Jewell Theatre in Valentine, was also taking over the Valentine Drive-In that had been owned by Roy Metzger of Winner, South Dakota.
The June 11, 1955, issue of Boxoffice said that the Valentine Drive-In had opened for its second year, and that over the winter CinemaScope equipment had been installed. The drive-in was then operated by a Mr. and Mrs. Robert Sharp.
From at least early 1938, the Jewell Theatre was owned and operated by a Mr. and Mrs. Harold Dunn (Mrs. Dunn’s name was Hazel.) They are mentioned in several issues of Boxoffice Magazine from that period. The February 26, 1938, issue said that Harold Dunn had begin remodeling the theater, and intended to redecorate the lobby, enlarge the foyer, install a new box office, and build lounges on the lower floor.
The April 2, 1938, issue said that Mrs. Dunn had been in Omaha to pick out some “…snappy blue and black leather and chromium furniture at Quality Theatre Supply for the remodel job on the Jewel Theatre.” (Boxoffice sometimes spelled the name Jewel and sometimes Jewell.)
There are various other mentions of the Dunns into the 1950s, but the December 18, 1961, issue of Boxoffice says that Mrs. Hazel Dunn, owner of the Jewel Theatre, had been visiting old friends in Omaha, so I guess that Harold was gone by then.
Finally, the June 30, 1969, issue of Boxoffice says that Deb Coble, operator of the Jewell Theatre, was closing the house for the summer and would operate only the drive-in. That’s the last mention of the Jewell I’ve found.
LawMann, do you know the general period in which the Belasco ran movies? They surely would have been advertised in the L.A. Times, and somebody who has access to the Times archives at the L.A. Library could probably find some of those ads if they knew where to look.
If the place did run movies for a couple of years, or even a few months, then it certainly deserves a page here. Somehow, the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium got a page, and all they ever did was four-wall an occasional surf or ski movie, and a few of the Hollywood beach movies of the 1960s, long after they’d had their theatrical runs. (By those standards, practically every civic auditorium in the country should qualify.)
I think the photo Ken linked to in the first comment above might depict the Hiland Theatre in Des Moines, Iowa. There’s a night shot of it on this weblog. The marquee is the same. Also, the architectural style is very similar to other theaters by architects Wetherell & Harrison, who designed the Des Moines Hiland.
The Charles Theatre was designed by the Des Moines architectural firm Wetherell & Harrison.
This theater replaced an earlier Hiland Theatre which was at 3602 Sixth Avenue. The second Hiland was expected to open by September, 1939, according to an item in Boxoffice Magazine’s issue of April 9 that year. The plans for the new house were being drawn by the architectural firm of Wetherell & Harrison.
The Rocket Theatre was featured in an article by theater decorator Hanns Teichert in the March 2, 1940, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. The new Tri-States Theatres house was designed by the Des Moines architectural firm Wetherell & Harrison.
This appears to have been a replacement for an earlier Rialto Theatre. The February 1, 1939, issue of Boxoffice magazine said that Jack Bouma, operator of the Rialto Theatre in Pocahontas, planned to begin construction on a new theater there that spring. The plans for the new house were being drawn by the Des Moines architectural firm Wetherell & Harrison.
The November 3, 1940, issue of Boxoffice Magazine ran an item saying that excavation had begun for a theater on Church Street in Ottumwa. Although the name of the theater was not given, the photos match the description of the facade of the proposed house, which was to be a brick building faced with glazed tile and glass blocks. The theater was designed by the Des Moines firm Wetherell & Harrison, and was to have 525 seats.
The Collegian Theatre was designed by the Des Moines architectural firm Wetherell & Harrison, according to this page about the Varsity Theatre at the Ames Historical Society web site.
Here’s an illustrated web page about the Varsity Theatre</a>, courtesy of the Ames Historical Society. It says that the Varsity was designed by the Des Moines architectural firm Wetherell & Harrison, and that the same firm also designed the Collegian Theatre in Ames.
The Capitol Theatre was extensively altered in 1942, removing shops from the building front, extending the balcony, and increasing its original seating capacity by 300. An article with photos appeared in the July 18, 1942, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. The renovated interior was in the Art Moderne style. The project was designed by the Des Moines architecture firm Wetherell & Harrison.
An article about the Esquire Theatre appeared in the December 9, 1939, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. The article includes some information about the Columbia as well.
The Columbia opened on Christmas Day, 1913, with 1000 seats. The article says that the Esquire was built “within the walls” of the Columbia, as a single-floor theater. The Columbia had seated only about 600 in the orchestra and 400 in the balcony, so getting the Esquire’s 835 seats onto one floor necessitated the removal of most of the Columbia’s stage. The roof was lowered as well, but the auditorium still had a fairly high ceiling.
The new theater was thoroughly Moderne in style, with just a lingering hint of Art Deco in some of the details. The Esquire was designed by the Des Moines architectural firm Wetherell & Harrison.
I think we’ve gt an ID problem here. Note the location of the Mirror next door to the Capitol in the postcard view Lost Memory linked to on February 14, 2008. Then note the position of the Telenews in the later postcard view ken mc linked to on December 24, 2008. The Telenews and the Mirror were not in the same location. The Mirror is gone in the second view, and its building either replaced or chopped down to one floor. The Telenews was in a building adjacent to the Mirror’s location.
The Telenews opened late in 1941, and an article about it was published in the July 18, 1942, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. There were quotes from the architect, Jack Corgan, and the impression I got from the article was that the Telenews was entirely new construction.
The photo would confirm that the La Shell was built as a theater, though.
I really don’t see how the Oriental could have been at the address the library gives. If they’d said 4321, where there is now a building built in 1948, it would be plausible, but the spot they say it was in there’s only that 1924 building that couldn’t possibly have been a theater. If there had been a theater there, and it had been demolished and the stores in front preserved and reduced to one story, then the Assessor’s office would have given an effectively-built date for it.
The California Index has a card for a book that mentions the Alhambra Theatre in San Pedro. Card.
The stage house of the La Shell was apparently removed in the 1933 rebuilding, after the earthquake. The Southwest Builder & Contractor article said that the back of the building and stage house were to be rebuilt, but the La Shells must have decided to leave the stage house off. I still think it’s most likely that the library got the address wrong. Their photo collection is full of such errors.
The buildings actually look remarkably similar to me. The four wide second floor windows of the old building could have easily been narrowed into the eight windows of the La Shell, and the La Shell’s tower was undoubtedly part of the 3828 sq. ft. 1939 addition. That’s probably when the building got its Art Deco look.
Yes, the Boxoffice article confirms 1948 as the year the Nevada became the Crest. It was apparently called the Nevada for less than six full years, as the 1942 article said it had been the Wigwam before that year’s remodeling. I can’t find any earlier references to the Wigwam, so I don’t know how old it was when it became the Nevada.
One 1948 Boxoffice issue included an architects rendering of the remodeled Crest, but didn’t give the architect’s name. It was most likely done in-house by Fox, which means the lead architect would almost certainly have been Carl G. Moeller, who handled most of Fox’s designs during the Skouras era. In the pictures it certainly looks like his work.
The L.A. Library has this view of the La Shell, dated 1947.
The library also has this 1920’s photo, unearthed by ken mc, which depicts an Oriental Theatre, identified by the library as being at 5341 Long Beach Boulevard, which would have been across the street and down a block from the La Shell. Could the library have gotten the address wrong? Is it possible that Oriental was an earlier name of the La Shell?
The L.A. County Assessor’s office gives the construction date of the building on the parcel where the Oriental should have been as 1924, but that building bears no resemblance to a theater.
The remodeling of the Crystal Theatre to the Art Deco style was done in 1936. Architects for the remodeling were Otto A. Deichmann and Mark T. Jorgensen. A rendering of their design was published in the November 11, 1936, issue of Boxoffice Magazine, though the caption misspelled Jorgensen as Torgensen.
The Boller-designed Princess was a replacement for an older Princess Theater which was damaged beyond repair by a fire in March, 1943. Lead architect Robert Boller wrote an article about the reconstructed theater which was published in the July 21, 1945, issue of Boxoffice Magazine.
The original Princess Theatre’s building had been built as a National Guard Armory in 1900. In 1907, it was converted to an opera house, with the addition of a stage and balcony. The building had become dilapidated by 1922, when it was repaired and converted into a movie house by D.E. Pitton and J. Glenn Caldwell. Caldwell eventually became sole owner, and in 1939 he gave the Princess a complete modernization.
Following the fire, despite wartime restrictions and shortages of labor and materials, with considerable assistance from other businesses in Aurora Caldwell managed to get the Princess Theatre rebuilt and opened before the end of 1943.
From Boxoffice Magazine, February 3, 1951: “The remodeled Covell Theatre in Modesto was opened recently. Bert Henson, manager for Modesto Theatres, said the cost exceeded $50,000.”
When the house was still called the Princess, it was closed following a fire, reopening in mid-1944. The June 3, 1944, issue of
Boxoffice described extensive repairs and renovations to the theater. It also noted that William B. David was the vice president and general manager of the circuit that operated Modesto Theatres. David was apparently involved in the design of the repairs and renovation, but the magazine didn’t say he was the architect.
So far I’ve found no references in Boxoffice from when the house was called the National Theatre. That might have been the opening name, as is suggested by the Historic Modesto web site. Unless the house was called the Covell only briefly after opening, my guess would be that the organ installed in the Covell Theatre in 1920 was ordered before the building was completed and the theater named, so the Wurlitzer company recorded the sale under the name of the hotel project.
Most likely the house was operated for some time under lease by the National Theatres Syndicate, which was based in San Francisco and which was well-established throughout California by the mid-1920s. Many of their theaters bore the company name, especially in the Central Valley.
The Nevada Theatre was remodeled and renamed the Crest Theatre in 1948. The February 21, 1948, issue of Boxoffice Magazine had this to say:
The article went on to say that the Nevada Theatre had been the Wigwam Theatre before another remodel a few years earlier. Fox West Coast owned the Nevada, but until a year before its transformation into the Crest it had been leased to T&D Jr. Enterprises.I’m cross-posting this comment to the Nevada Theatre page, as they are the same theater. The Nevada Theatre page should probably be renamed Crest Theatre, as that was the final name, and the house was the Crest longer than it was the Nevada.
The Nevada Theatre was remodeled and renamed the Crest Theatre in 1948. The February 21, 1948, issue of Boxoffice Magazine had this to say:
The article went on to say that the Nevada Theatre had been the Wigwam Theatre before another remodel a few years earlier. Fox West Coast owned the Nevada, but until a year before its transformation into the Crest it had been leased to T&D Jr. Enterprises.My guess would be that the scan of the Nevada State Journal from which Ken got the 1943 opening date was a bit blurry, and was actually from 1948.
The July 18, 1942, issue of Boxoffice ran a line saying that the renovated Wigwam Theatre in Reno would reopen as the Nevada “next week.” This page should probably be renamed Crest Theatre, as that was apparently the final name, and the house was the Crest longer than it was the Nevada Theatre in any case.
The El-Jon Theatre opened on March 23, 1945. There were 472 seats. It was designed by Kansas City architect Al Hauetter, who also designed the NRHP-listed Burlington Opry in Burlington, Kansas. He gave the El-Jon Theater a simple, streamline moderne facade of ceramic tiles in shades of rose, cream, and granite red.
The walls of the auditorium were covered with acoustic tiles laid in a pattern of light coral and buff. A ceiling tray held indirect lighting as well as the outlets for the air conditioning. The seats had plush upholstery, and the aisles featured the same carpeting as was used in the lobby.
An unusual feature of the new house was a basement recreation room with a juke box, cold drink bar, and a dance floor. This was called the Fiesta Room, and was decorated in bright colors with a Mexican theme.
The El-Jon was featured in an article in Boxoffice Magazine, July 21, 1945. The house was built for Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Bills, whose Roxy Theatre in Brunswick had burned to the ground in 1943. The new building was built of fireproof masonry.