Drat! I just discovered that this entry duplicates this older one. I could have simply left the information above as a comment there. That entry says that the building has been demolished.
When El Monte used its own street numbering system, east-west streets were numbered from Tyler Avenue, beginning with a 100 block. That would have placed this theatre on the south side of the street, somewhere near Palm Court (about the 10800 or block of Valley Mall today, I think.)
The El Monte Theatre is listed here under its old address, too- 110 East Valley Boulevard- but a picture link (dead, alas) in the comments gives the El Monte’s current address as 11020 Valley Mall.
The streets are oddly configured at that intersection. Huntington Drive splits in two, and one of the forks further splits, with westbound traffic on Huntington veering south and that on Colorado veering north. I was never able to tell for sure which name left off where, but Colorado Place does sound as though it would be the correct street name.
I have found reference to an article in Southwest Builder and Contractor magazine of February 27th, 1942. It says that Steed Brothers Construction of Alhambra had been awarded the contract for the Edwards Santa Anita Theatre. No architect was named, but the structural engineer was W.M. Bostock. It was described as a class “D” theatre building, and was to seat 750 patrons. The cost was estimated at $50,000.
Was this theatre called the Gem when it was a movie house? There was once a theatre in Garden Grove called the Grove (not yet listed on Cinema Treasures, unless this is it under another name.) I never saw it, but it was owned in the 1950s by the Vinicoff Theatre Circuit, which also operated the Garfield Theatre in Alhambra which it owned in partnership with Edwards Theatres. Every once in a while, tickets bought at the Garfield would say “Grove Theatre” on them.
The various Spanish style theatres that Balch and Stanberry designed for Fox in that era were so much alike that it almost seems as though they had set up an assembly line to produce the plans. In fact, maybe they did. So many theatres were turned out by the firm in such a short time, their offices must have been full of busy draftsmen copying bits and pieces here and there.
The 1947 view to which I have linked above looks northward, so 1555 Myers would be behind the camera. The current address of the State is 1489 Myers. I don’t know if FDY got the address wrong, or if the streets have been renumbered since 1950. I can’t think of any reason why Oroville would have renumbered its downtown streets, though, so the former seems more likely.
The “Ritz” sign in the photo would be at an even numbered address in the 1300 block. Terraserver has a 1998 aerial view of the area, and there is a building about the middle of the 1300 block that could have been a theatre. The definition of the aerial view is not good enough to tell if there is still a building at 1555, (assuming that FDY gave the correct address for the Empire.)
I’d like to go over to Oroville and take a close look at the area, but I don’t know when I’ll get a chance.
lostmemory and ken mc: The pictures of the Fox under construction and after opening both depict the Visalia Fox Theatre in Visalia, Tulare County, not the Fox Hanford. They are quite similar in style, having been designed by the same architectural firm of Balch and Stanberry, but they differ a bit in details.
ken mc: No, you were right the first time. The 1920s picture is of the Burbank Theatre on Main Street downtown, with its original, late 19th century facade still exposed. The front was covered up with the streamline-deco facade sometime in the 1930s or 1940s.
ken mc: If you want to post a link that has a bare URL as long as this one, I’d suggest using the tinyurl redirection service to shrink it. That way it won’t make the page too wide.
Alternately, you can eclose the URL in UBB code, in which the URL will vanish from the page, and your link will show as a name, as in the links I’ve made in this comment.
Although I have been unable to discover the address of the Gardella Theatre, there is at least one picture of it at the Cal State Chico web site: Gardella Theatre, ca1920s.
There is a possible hint of the theatre’s location in this picture of Oroville’s Myers Street in 1947. In the foreground is the State Theatre, but at the distant end of the street, four blocks away, can be seen a building closing the street with a roof-line very like that of the Gardella Theatre. If this was the theatre’s location, it was right next to the levee along the Feather River.
There is also a blade sign about halfway down Myers Street, on the left, which reads “Ritz.” This may have been another theatre, but I have never come across any written reference to it, or any other pictures that would give a better view.
I’ve never seen that shot before, but I remember seeing Broadway that bright, with all the signs lit up and lots of traffic, and pedestrians (who I’m sure would show in this picture had they not been made ghosts by the time lapse photograph.) It still looked like that by night into the mid-1960s (though this picture appears to be from the early 1950s.) One thing seems odd, though. Didn’t the Globe have a blade sign? It ought to be there on the left, in between the signs of the Lankershim Hotel and the Newsreel Theatre. But maybe I’ve misremembered, and the Globe had only its marquee.
This picture from the USC digital archive, Seventh Street looking west from Broadway, is labeled 1921, but must have been slightly earlier, as demolition of the buildings at the southwest corner, where Loew’s State Theatre was to be built that year, had not yet begun.
Beyond those doomed buildings, just right of center in the picture, can be seen the front of the Palace Theatre on Seventh Street, adjacent to the alley. Also of interest, the roof of a building on Seventh just beyond Hill Street has on its roof a large sign advertising the Alhambra Theatre, on Hill Street south of Seventh.
A bit to the left that sign can be seen the back wall of another theatre, which must have been located on the east side of Grand Avenue. Although the sign painted on its fly tower reads either “Strand Theatre” or (more likely) “Grand Theatre.” It is likely that this is the theatre originally called the Mozart, which opened in 1913 at 730 South Grand Avenue.
As Manwithnoname said in the first comment above (almost three years ago) the correct name of this ten screen multiplex is Edwards Atlantic Palace 10 (not that anything operated by Regal deserves to be given its correct name, or even mentioned at all.)
The original Alhambra Theatre is posted at Cinema Treasures under its final name, the Alhambra Twin Cinemas.
Selecting the keywords “Senator Theatre” from the list at this page will fetch 42 pictures of the Senator Theatre from the historic photograph collection at the Meriam Library of California State University, Chico.
ken mc: Redding has long been a good-sized town, usually rivalling Chico in size. Chico has supported at least two theatres at any given time since the 1920s, often three, and may have had as many as five operating at one time, so it isn’t surprising that Redding could support two large downtown theatres.
My first visit to Redding was about 1970, and by that time, many of the old buildings along California Street had been demolished to make way for parking lots serving the downtown businesses along Market Street, one block east. I think the Redding Theatre must have been among those demolished, as I have no recollection of it being there at that time.
The building is interesting. The style, with its Roman arched windows, looks to be late 19th century. This was probably Redding’s first big theatre. I’d bet they called it an opera house when it opened.
Drat! I just discovered that this entry duplicates this older one. I could have simply left the information above as a comment there. That entry says that the building has been demolished.
When El Monte used its own street numbering system, east-west streets were numbered from Tyler Avenue, beginning with a 100 block. That would have placed this theatre on the south side of the street, somewhere near Palm Court (about the 10800 or block of Valley Mall today, I think.)
The El Monte Theatre is listed here under its old address, too- 110 East Valley Boulevard- but a picture link (dead, alas) in the comments gives the El Monte’s current address as 11020 Valley Mall.
The streets are oddly configured at that intersection. Huntington Drive splits in two, and one of the forks further splits, with westbound traffic on Huntington veering south and that on Colorado veering north. I was never able to tell for sure which name left off where, but Colorado Place does sound as though it would be the correct street name.
I have found reference to an article in Southwest Builder and Contractor magazine of February 27th, 1942. It says that Steed Brothers Construction of Alhambra had been awarded the contract for the Edwards Santa Anita Theatre. No architect was named, but the structural engineer was W.M. Bostock. It was described as a class “D” theatre building, and was to seat 750 patrons. The cost was estimated at $50,000.
Was this theatre called the Gem when it was a movie house? There was once a theatre in Garden Grove called the Grove (not yet listed on Cinema Treasures, unless this is it under another name.) I never saw it, but it was owned in the 1950s by the Vinicoff Theatre Circuit, which also operated the Garfield Theatre in Alhambra which it owned in partnership with Edwards Theatres. Every once in a while, tickets bought at the Garfield would say “Grove Theatre” on them.
ken mc: The former Warner Hollywood became the Pacific 1-2-3.
The Palace on Powell Street is listed as the Pagoda.
The various Spanish style theatres that Balch and Stanberry designed for Fox in that era were so much alike that it almost seems as though they had set up an assembly line to produce the plans. In fact, maybe they did. So many theatres were turned out by the firm in such a short time, their offices must have been full of busy draftsmen copying bits and pieces here and there.
ken mc: The Amazon is listed as the Apollo.
The 1947 view to which I have linked above looks northward, so 1555 Myers would be behind the camera. The current address of the State is 1489 Myers. I don’t know if FDY got the address wrong, or if the streets have been renumbered since 1950. I can’t think of any reason why Oroville would have renumbered its downtown streets, though, so the former seems more likely.
The “Ritz” sign in the photo would be at an even numbered address in the 1300 block. Terraserver has a 1998 aerial view of the area, and there is a building about the middle of the 1300 block that could have been a theatre. The definition of the aerial view is not good enough to tell if there is still a building at 1555, (assuming that FDY gave the correct address for the Empire.)
I’d like to go over to Oroville and take a close look at the area, but I don’t know when I’ll get a chance.
The City of Oroville has altered its web site, and the link in my comment above no longer works.
Here is the current link for the Oroville State Theatre page.
Enright’s Theatres of Canada has an entire page about the Revue Cinema.
lostmemory and ken mc: The pictures of the Fox under construction and after opening both depict the Visalia Fox Theatre in Visalia, Tulare County, not the Fox Hanford. They are quite similar in style, having been designed by the same architectural firm of Balch and Stanberry, but they differ a bit in details.
Here are three vintage pictures from the Tulare County Library:
The beginning of construction on the Fox
The Fox under construction
The Fox after opening
ken mc: No, you were right the first time. The 1920s picture is of the Burbank Theatre on Main Street downtown, with its original, late 19th century facade still exposed. The front was covered up with the streamline-deco facade sometime in the 1930s or 1940s.
ken mc: If you want to post a link that has a bare URL as long as this one, I’d suggest using the tinyurl redirection service to shrink it. That way it won’t make the page too wide.
Alternately, you can eclose the URL in UBB code, in which the URL will vanish from the page, and your link will show as a name, as in the links I’ve made in this comment.
This is how your picture link would look in UBB code: Jewel Theatre, Tujunga, 1925.
This is not the only reverse theatre in the country. Interestingly, there’s another one in the original Pasadena, as well: Pasadena, California.
Although I have been unable to discover the address of the Gardella Theatre, there is at least one picture of it at the Cal State Chico web site: Gardella Theatre, ca1920s.
There is a possible hint of the theatre’s location in this picture of Oroville’s Myers Street in 1947. In the foreground is the State Theatre, but at the distant end of the street, four blocks away, can be seen a building closing the street with a roof-line very like that of the Gardella Theatre. If this was the theatre’s location, it was right next to the levee along the Feather River.
There is also a blade sign about halfway down Myers Street, on the left, which reads “Ritz.” This may have been another theatre, but I have never come across any written reference to it, or any other pictures that would give a better view.
This is the foyer of the Oro Theatre, ca1910, and a wider view, about the same time.
I’ve never seen that shot before, but I remember seeing Broadway that bright, with all the signs lit up and lots of traffic, and pedestrians (who I’m sure would show in this picture had they not been made ghosts by the time lapse photograph.) It still looked like that by night into the mid-1960s (though this picture appears to be from the early 1950s.) One thing seems odd, though. Didn’t the Globe have a blade sign? It ought to be there on the left, in between the signs of the Lankershim Hotel and the Newsreel Theatre. But maybe I’ve misremembered, and the Globe had only its marquee.
The earliest references to the Sierra Theatre that I can find are pictures taken by J.H. Eastman in 1937, such as this one.
The Mozart opened on August 14th, 1913. There is some evidence that it was still operating, under the name Grand Playhouse, in the late 1940s.
This picture from the USC digital archive, Seventh Street looking west from Broadway, is labeled 1921, but must have been slightly earlier, as demolition of the buildings at the southwest corner, where Loew’s State Theatre was to be built that year, had not yet begun.
Beyond those doomed buildings, just right of center in the picture, can be seen the front of the Palace Theatre on Seventh Street, adjacent to the alley. Also of interest, the roof of a building on Seventh just beyond Hill Street has on its roof a large sign advertising the Alhambra Theatre, on Hill Street south of Seventh.
A bit to the left that sign can be seen the back wall of another theatre, which must have been located on the east side of Grand Avenue. Although the sign painted on its fly tower reads either “Strand Theatre” or (more likely) “Grand Theatre.” It is likely that this is the theatre originally called the Mozart, which opened in 1913 at 730 South Grand Avenue.
As Manwithnoname said in the first comment above (almost three years ago) the correct name of this ten screen multiplex is Edwards Atlantic Palace 10 (not that anything operated by Regal deserves to be given its correct name, or even mentioned at all.)
The original Alhambra Theatre is posted at Cinema Treasures under its final name, the Alhambra Twin Cinemas.
Selecting the keywords “Senator Theatre” from the list at this page will fetch 42 pictures of the Senator Theatre from the historic photograph collection at the Meriam Library of California State University, Chico.
ken mc: Redding has long been a good-sized town, usually rivalling Chico in size. Chico has supported at least two theatres at any given time since the 1920s, often three, and may have had as many as five operating at one time, so it isn’t surprising that Redding could support two large downtown theatres.
My first visit to Redding was about 1970, and by that time, many of the old buildings along California Street had been demolished to make way for parking lots serving the downtown businesses along Market Street, one block east. I think the Redding Theatre must have been among those demolished, as I have no recollection of it being there at that time.
The building is interesting. The style, with its Roman arched windows, looks to be late 19th century. This was probably Redding’s first big theatre. I’d bet they called it an opera house when it opened.