The photos displayed here should really be removed, because they have nothing to do with the Belair. The theater was in the mall that was previously on this property, but it was totally demolished and rebuilt. The centerpiece of the old mall was Hills supermarket, with the Belair adjacent. It was built in the very early ‘60s, and was not initially a twin. As a matter of fact, the last time I was in it, in the late '70s, it had yet to be twinned. There was nothing distinguished about the Belair, inside or out. It was just a plain auditorium, no more and no less.
Very cool, Flynn. That fits with the PSA two-reeler that I’ve seen on TCM, where theater owners and managers assail the government for the enormous taxes levied on movie theaters. I think the date of that film is also circa 1953, and shows a remarkable number of vintage theaters.
Oddly, my usual steel-trap memory recalls nothing innovative about the auditorium at all. Of course, I was only there once, and it was a long time ago; yet I remember everything else about that evening as if it were yesterday.
Providing a hyperlink is not important. All one has to do is copy the link and then paste it; it’s no big deal. It doesn’t involve any strenuous exertion or sweat, lol.
Mark and Paul, I agree wholeheartedly with your comments about the Roxy, as well as our other criminally destroyed landmarks. AGRoura, any IMDB member can update and correct, simply by going choosing the update option. I do it frequently.
I agree with LuisV that the theaters here should be posted by their most famoius name. When I put Loews Ator Plaza in the search engine, it came back as “theater not found”. What I’m not understanding about the Best Buy is: is it a theater, a club, or a concert venue?
I saw two Streisand films here in sneak previews, “The Way We Were” and “Funny Lady”. A very restless and disrespectful crowd sat through “The Stepford Wives” waiting for “Funny Lady,” and a lot of very funny comebacks were hurled at the screen.
Actually, it shows up on the Fox Movie Channel fairly frequently. We shouldn’t ban the art of yesterday because it doesn’t conform to the political correctness of today.
Ed, my recollection of the interior of the Arcade/Studio 1 is that it was very small and nondescript, very much like the interiors of the Bleeker Street Cinema and the Orpheum Thaeter in Manhatttan’s East Village. I was in this thater about a dozen times, under both of its names, and I don’t recall anything memorable whatsoever about the interior.
Ed Miller
I have to admit that I was very wrong when I posted my previous comment. The “modern building” I referred to has been there since the late 30s, and the Gate theater was actually in the very old building to the left of it.
Thanks for your answer, Don. I keep seeing an interstitial on Turner Classics that several times a year the downtown L.A. movie palaces open their doors to the public and show vintage movies.
Please take note on Don’s beautiful photo: you can see how Sutphin Boulevard was paved in brick, a childhood memory of mine that I’d nearly lost, until seeing this picture.
I’m an East Coast guy, but I’m an enormous classic film fan and movie palace enthusiast, so I have a sad question. Is downtown L.A. really “doomed,” as I read above? I’ve never been there, but I know it like the back of my hand.
What an extraordinary shame that here in the United States, we don’t preserve our history. That the Roxy, “the Cathedral of the Motion Picture,” should have been demolished is beyond criminal.
The Valley Stream, circa the early to mid-60s, when it was part of the Skouras chain.
The photos displayed here should really be removed, because they have nothing to do with the Belair. The theater was in the mall that was previously on this property, but it was totally demolished and rebuilt. The centerpiece of the old mall was Hills supermarket, with the Belair adjacent. It was built in the very early ‘60s, and was not initially a twin. As a matter of fact, the last time I was in it, in the late '70s, it had yet to be twinned. There was nothing distinguished about the Belair, inside or out. It was just a plain auditorium, no more and no less.
Very cool, Flynn. That fits with the PSA two-reeler that I’ve seen on TCM, where theater owners and managers assail the government for the enormous taxes levied on movie theaters. I think the date of that film is also circa 1953, and shows a remarkable number of vintage theaters.
Regarding saps' comment above, does anyone else recall the Hillside being a burlesque theater? I surely don’t!
Oddly, my usual steel-trap memory recalls nothing innovative about the auditorium at all. Of course, I was only there once, and it was a long time ago; yet I remember everything else about that evening as if it were yesterday.
What a pity that there’s only this photo here of what once was the Kingsway. I have to cruise the net to see if I can find some vintage pics.
Providing a hyperlink is not important. All one has to do is copy the link and then paste it; it’s no big deal. It doesn’t involve any strenuous exertion or sweat, lol.
saps, thanks for that link. OMG, what an Art Deco jewel (no pun intended)!
Thanks for that good-news update, CTCrouch!
MJuggler, that really stinks!
Mark and Paul, I agree wholeheartedly with your comments about the Roxy, as well as our other criminally destroyed landmarks. AGRoura, any IMDB member can update and correct, simply by going choosing the update option. I do it frequently.
I agree with LuisV that the theaters here should be posted by their most famoius name. When I put Loews Ator Plaza in the search engine, it came back as “theater not found”. What I’m not understanding about the Best Buy is: is it a theater, a club, or a concert venue?
I saw two Streisand films here in sneak previews, “The Way We Were” and “Funny Lady”. A very restless and disrespectful crowd sat through “The Stepford Wives” waiting for “Funny Lady,” and a lot of very funny comebacks were hurled at the screen.
AXminster must have been Brooklyn, then.
AXminster, right?
Actually, it shows up on the Fox Movie Channel fairly frequently. We shouldn’t ban the art of yesterday because it doesn’t conform to the political correctness of today.
If this was “Jeopardy,” lonixcap would have the correct answer.
Ed, my recollection of the interior of the Arcade/Studio 1 is that it was very small and nondescript, very much like the interiors of the Bleeker Street Cinema and the Orpheum Thaeter in Manhatttan’s East Village. I was in this thater about a dozen times, under both of its names, and I don’t recall anything memorable whatsoever about the interior. Ed Miller
I have to admit that I was very wrong when I posted my previous comment. The “modern building” I referred to has been there since the late 30s, and the Gate theater was actually in the very old building to the left of it.
Thanks for your answer, Don. I keep seeing an interstitial on Turner Classics that several times a year the downtown L.A. movie palaces open their doors to the public and show vintage movies.
Please take note on Don’s beautiful photo: you can see how Sutphin Boulevard was paved in brick, a childhood memory of mine that I’d nearly lost, until seeing this picture.
Wonderful photo, Don, and let me add my welcome to this site.
I’m an East Coast guy, but I’m an enormous classic film fan and movie palace enthusiast, so I have a sad question. Is downtown L.A. really “doomed,” as I read above? I’ve never been there, but I know it like the back of my hand.
What an extraordinary shame that here in the United States, we don’t preserve our history. That the Roxy, “the Cathedral of the Motion Picture,” should have been demolished is beyond criminal.
Wow, love the recent photos, with the old facade exposed!